A-Infos (en) Italy, FDCA, Cantiere #42 - Venezuela: Against Imperialism and Dictatorship - Libertarian Communist Platform (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Venezuela is rich in oil, but its people are impoverished by 
imperialism, the exploitation of its resources and its workers. The 
election of Hugo Chávez in 1999 transformed the country into the bête 
noire of the United States. The so-called "Bolivarian Revolution" and 
its increasingly authoritarian drift have profoundly affected Venezuela 
and have resulted in economic collapse for years. It is against this 
backdrop that Donald Trump, on January 3, 2026, launched Operation 
Absolute Resolve, which was nothing short of an act of state piracy. 
Let's revisit some historical elements to understand what is at stake.

Oil has been at the heart of the Venezuelan economy for decades. It has 
attracted significant private investment, particularly from the United 
States, as in the case of the Paraguaná refining complex.

In the 1980s, Venezuela was governed by a centrist coalition. On 
February 27 and 28, 1989, a popular uprising erupted in Caracas 
following a sharp increase in fares, particularly on public 
transportation, and economic reforms imposed by the International 
Monetary Fund. On the second day, President Carlos Andrés Pérez 
activated the Ávila Plan and sent the army against the revolting 
population, resulting in over 3,000 deaths in just a few days.

Two coup attempts followed in 1992, one led by Hugo Chávez. He was 
elected president of the Republic on December 6, 1998. Despite his 
anti-imperialist discourse, Chávez had adapted well to US imperialism 
from the beginning, as the United States remained the main customer for 
Venezuelan oil.

After 2003, thanks to rising hydrocarbon prices, a more relaxed 
political climate, and the resumption of state control over the national 
oil company PDVSA, Venezuela experienced an average economic growth rate 
of 13.5% until 2009, one of the highest in the world according to 
official data and those of the International Monetary Fund.

Beginning in 2001, the government launched so-called missions in the 
areas of education, nutrition, and healthcare. The poverty rate dropped 
from 54% to 26% of the population between 2003 and 2008, with a 
significant reduction in undernutrition and illiteracy.

But oil revenues haven't been used exclusively for social programs. 
Endemic corruption is inseparable from the Chavista regime. It has 
allowed the import of all kinds of consumer goods for the benefit of the 
Bolivarian bureaucracy.

Already in those years, numerous other problematic aspects of the 
"Bolivarian Revolution" emerged. Among these were the continued ban on 
abortion-except in cases where the woman's life was in danger-and its 
harsh repression. The same reactionary attitude from those in power 
manifested itself toward same-sex marriage, prohibited by the 1999 
Constitution. Socially, Chavismo was characterized by strong 
conservatism, indulgent toward so-called "honor killings" and supportive 
of practices that allowed the victim to "solve a rape problem" by 
marrying her attacker.

Chavismo also involves repressing workers' struggles, especially within 
the factories of large Western multinationals. Suffice it to recall what 
happened on June 9, 2011, in Ciudad Guayana, when an armed gang from 
Hugo Chávez's party, the PSUV, attacked a Ferrominera workers' assembly 
held outside the company gates. One worker was killed and two others 
were injured in this violent attack.

Internationally, Venezuela has joined the network of dictatorships, 
alongside Putin's Russia, Gaddafi's Libya, Ahmadinejad's Iran, and 
Assad's Syria. Beyond the pretext of anti-Americanism, this membership 
reveals an alliance of authoritarian regimes united by the desire to 
maintain absolute power over their own populations.

Chavismo was based on a broad patronage system and a heavy dependence on 
oil. But Chavista oil policy was disastrous, marked in particular by a 
chronic lack of investment in infrastructure. Thus, despite the oil 
revenue, the Chávez years were marked by a sharp increase in public 
debt, from $28 billion to $130 billion, especially owed to China, the 
country's main creditor.

These years were also marked by growing authoritarianism - with the 
regime gradually evolving towards a one-party authoritarian state - and 
a sharp increase in crime, with the homicide rate quadrupling.

Venezuela's unbalanced economic structure, its atrophied industry, 
chronic food shortages, and extremely high inflation have never been 
addressed. The collapse of oil prices in 2008 reversed the situation, 
triggering the economic collapse of Chavismo.

The Maduro Years

Hugo Chávez led the country until his death in 2013. Before dying, he 
appointed Vice President Nicolás Maduro as his successor, who became 
interim president and narrowly won the 2013 presidential elections with 
50.62% of the vote.

The legislative elections of December 6, 2015, however, marked a large 
victory for the right-wing opposition. On October 25, 2016, the 
Venezuelan Parliament, controlled by the right-wing opposition, approved 
the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the president. After a 
long period of political deadlock, in July 2017, Maduro attempted to 
bypass Parliament by electing a Constituent Assembly entirely controlled 
by Chavistas.

A phase marked by violence and harshly repressed social protest 
followed, to the point that the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights denounced "an excessive use of force" against the 
demonstrators.

The United States introduced its first economic sanctions against 
Venezuela in 2015, under President Barack Obama, justifying them by 
stating that the country posed an "unusual and extraordinary threat to 
the national security and foreign policy of the United States." In 2017, 
the European Union also adopted a sanctions plan aimed at strangling the 
Venezuelan economy.

On May 6, 2025, the daily newspaper l'Humanité wrote: "Washington is 
seeking more than ever to stifle the Bolivarian revolution and is once 
again aiming for a return to the 'maximum pressure' strategy." The aim 
of these policies is "to deliver the final blow to an economy that is 
just recovering from the consequences of what UN rapporteurs have called 
'cruel measures' with 'devastating effects on the entire population': a 
GDP collapse of over 80% between 2013 and 2020, the worst episode of 
hyperinflation recorded in the world since the end of World War II 
between 2015 and 2021, and more than 90% of Venezuelans falling below 
the poverty line that same year."

On January 23, 2019, Juan Guaidó, president of the Parliament, 
proclaimed himself interim president of Venezuela and took the oath 
during a rally in Caracas. Maduro remained in power thanks to the 
support of the Venezuelan armed forces.

It is against this backdrop that, starting in August 2025, Trump 
deployed a massive war fleet near Venezuela's maritime borders, 
threatening armed conflict. The following December, the US president 
announced a naval blockade of Venezuela by the US military to prevent 
the circulation of oil tankers. On January 3, 2026, Caracas was bombed 
for several hours by the US military as part of Operation Absolute 
Resolve, and Donald Trump announced the capture of Nicolás Maduro and 
his wife.

Trump's drug trafficking accusations against Maduro, now all but 
vanished and replaced by a blatant desire to seize Venezuelan oil, 
appear for what they were from the beginning: Trump-style fake news . 
Fake news designed to mask an imperialist offensive aimed at imposing 
its dominance in what the US government considers its "backyard" and 
countering China's political and commercial influence in Latin America.

Against imperialism and dictatorship

We've seen it: the situation in Venezuela is extremely complex. Faced 
with this reality, what political stance should we take? It seems to us 
that the best option is to let Venezuelan comrades speak out.

The militants of the National Committee of Conflict of Workers in 
Struggle , who participate in the International Trade Union Network of 
Solidarity and Struggle, have published the following text, which we 
believe is important to disseminate:

«First, to make things clear, even if this point is as obvious to you as 
it is to us: we totally condemn the US military intervention.

Before January 3, there had already been twenty-two US armed operations 
against Venezuela. On January 3, none of the three Venezuelan armed 
forces (air, land, and sea) responded. One hundred and fifty US planes 
flew over the capital, fifteen US helicopters landed there, with no 
response. This raises questions... For years, the government has been 
telling us that Russia would protect us in the event of a US imperialist 
attack!

The fact is that the regime is still in place, as are the repression and 
restrictions on freedoms; indeed, all of this has been strengthened 
since January 3rd. A new decree has been issued, justified by the state 
of emergency.

The president of the United States is posing as the world's policeman. 
We know full well that what interests him in Venezuela is not democracy, 
but oil! One key thing must be understood: even under Chávez, and 
obviously after Chávez, US imperialism never disappeared from our 
country; multinationals have always been present in Venezuela. Chevron 
is its main symbol. When oil unionists denounced oil gifts to Cuba, 
Iran, Russia, or China, they were accused of being agents of 
imperialism! To formally comply with the Constitution, a Venezuelan 
company appears in every oil contract, always as a minority player and 
subordinate to a multinational. The Russian and Chinese states have 
invested massively in Venezuela. Today we find ourselves in the midst of 
competition and deals between US, Russian, and Chinese imperialisms!

Under the guise of anti-imperialism, the ruling group that was in 
government-and still is-has become pro-imperialist. The lack of a 
response to the military intervention of January 3rd and the continuity 
of government through the former vice president demonstrate the 
existence of a tacit agreement with the United States.

It's true that some people in the country were hoping for this kind of 
external intervention to restore freedoms. This is not our position, nor 
is it in the interests of the working class. As already stated, this is 
not at all the goal of the US intervention, nor what the US-sanctioned 
government intends to do. Furthermore, we cannot accept the very 
principle of imperialist military intervention.

As workers and trade unionists, what are our priorities? We must 
continue the fight for democracy, for the release of all political 
prisoners, for workers' rights, and for respect for the right to 
self-determination of peoples, including our own.

It is necessary to provide some concrete elements to comrades from other 
countries so that they can fully understand our situation, the condition 
of the Venezuelan working class, in continuity with what was already 
expressed during the meeting of the International Trade Union Network of 
Solidarity and Struggle in November 2025:

In 2018, very harsh austerity measures were adopted, dubbed the 
"economic recovery, growth, and prosperity program." This resulted in a 
freeze on wage increases, while prices were liberalized.

The official salary is less than a dollar a month! That's the cost of 
two liters of gasoline. There are bonuses, generally between $120 and 
$150. There haven't been any pay increases in years.

In the oil sector, the collective bargaining agreement has not been 
renewed for four years; this is one of the multinationals' demands that 
has been met.

We have won numerous lawsuits: for unpaid wages, against unjustified 
dismissals, to obtain reinstatement, etc. But public companies are not 
complying with these decisions, and the government has allowed it. Since 
January 3rd, we have the impression that directives have been issued to 
ensure that the rulings actually contradict the legitimate demands of 
workers.

In the oil sector alone, one hundred and twenty workers are in prison, 
without any charges; anti-union and anti-worker repression is very 
severe. The state of emergency decree legalizes extrajudicial 
detentions. Controls, for example, on the contents of personal phones, 
are intensifying. The army is intensifying pressure within companies.

More than ever, our task is to unite the working class around its 
demands and the demand for its rights. While the "great national 
mobilization of January 15th" is currently suspended, there will still 
be actions in the coming days and weeks. The support of international 
trade unionism will be essential for us.

Internationalism is equally important for the millions of Venezuelans in 
exile. Illusions about US intervention and multinational "aid" must be 
dispelled.

The law provides for workers' control of businesses and popular control 
of public finances. But none of this exists. It is also on these issues 
that we must insist, to demonstrate that the solution to poverty, 
repression, and everything we have been experiencing for years cannot be 
found in multinational capitalism or imperialist intervention.

"We must continue the dialogue with our colleagues, with our neighbors, 
and ensure that as many people as possible share our positions: defense 
of workers' demands, release of political prisoners, respect for 
freedoms, and denunciation of all forms of imperialism!"

Conclusion

In conclusion, we would like to return to the tasks that directly 
concern us in France. First, we feel it is essential to denounce US 
imperialist intervention and the arbitrary arrest of a sitting head of 
state. But denouncing Western imperialism cannot exhaust our efforts in 
the Venezuelan situation.

We are also called to denounce the "campist" theses that emerged during 
the former USSR, which relativized criticism of Soviet imperialism under 
the pretext of combating Western imperialism. This is the same logic we 
see at work today when a segment of the French left refuses to criticize 
the Venezuelan regime, instead focusing all its attacks on Trump's 
United States. International solidarity cannot be built on such 
mystifications.

Finally, we believe it is equally important to denounce the regime in 
power in Caracas, before and after the US intervention: the repression 
against the social movement and trade unionism, the absence of 
democracy, the appropriation of wealth by a "Madurista" neo-bourgeoisie.

This type of "socialism" does not build human emancipation. Class 
struggle remains our compass, here as in Venezuela.

https://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/wpAL/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en