One prominent Venezuelan intellectual and activist’s perspective on the current political situation and tasks ahead, Denis argues that there is a larger opening now for the opposition to take power, and that the grassroots are talking of regrouping, and are at a “critical crossroads”.
The corridors are always packed in the Metropolitan Council of Popular Power for People with Disabilities, situated in a building just down the street from Plaza Diego Ibarra in Caracas. Wheelchairs come and go, sometimes squeezing to the side in order to let another person pass first...
By Julia Buxton - Latin American Bureau, Apr 28th 2013
Julia Buxton has been an observer at elections in Venezuela for nearly twenty years. In April 2013 this was the first election without Hugo Chávez since 1999. This is her report.
By Reinaldo Iturriza - Saber y Poder, Apr 21st 2013
A couple of friends agreed that the close result of 14 April was equivalent to starting again. “It’s as if we were just beginning” and “it’s like going back to 2002” each one commented to me in different moments. I think that this assessment, correct in my opinion, encloses one of the keys to treading firmly in such a shifting political moment.
By Tamara Pearson - Venezuelanalysis.com, Apr 15th 2013
Why was the presidential election result so close, and why did some government supporters switch to supporting Capriles? As the opposition causes violence around the country, calling "fraud", what was it that worked with Capriles' campaign, and that didn't with Maduro's?
El barrio 23 de enero is a solid bulwark of the Bolivarian Revolution. Originally named December 2 to evoke the date when the dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez came to power, its humble neighbors decided in 1958 to rename it with another date; his overthrow.
By Lee Brown - Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, Apr 4th 2013
With 10 days to go until Venezuelans elect their next President, polls show that Hugo Chávez’s favoured successor, Nicolas Maduro, is set to achieve another landslide victory for the progressive alliance that has governed Venezuela since 1998.
By Tamara Pearson - Venezuelanalysis.com, Mar 27th 2013
Although the results of the presidential elections in a few weeks are quite predictable, we are going through a fragile, vulnerable period, with a future that is less predictable. These elections, because of their place in history- the start of the era of the Bolivarian revolution without Chavez – have some special characteristics and factors.
When Americans ask me why there is such an outpouring of emotion among Venezuelans over the death of this man, I point out that the ordinary people of Venezuela saw themselves in President Chávez. The President was a compendium of the very fabric of the country.
The image of a young woman in front of President Hugo Chavez’s casket with her hand on her heart and her left fist in the air was spread around the world, to become a symbol of the continuation of the Bolivarian revolution.
When Hugo Chávez triumphed in the 1998 presidential elections, the neoliberal capitalist model was already floundering. The choice then was whether to re-establish the neoliberal capitalist model, or to go ahead and try to build another model.
Media in Latin America have traditionally been consolidated into the hands of a few wealthy families and large media conglomerates. Over the last decade and a half, however, several governments in the region, including Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay, have moved to democratize media.
By Tamara Pearson - Venezuelanalysis.com, Jan 24th 2013
If anyone is clearest about what Chavez’s absence means and what it could mean in the future, it is the grassroots activists and revolutionaries in Venezuela. While private international and national media paint a picture of hopelessness, economic chaos, a power vacuum and power struggles in Venezuela, the grassroots are experiencing a different reality, and have a much more positive outlook for the future.
By Jorge Martín - In Defence of Marxism, Jan 9th 2013
Taking advantage of Chavez’s ill health, the Venezuelan oligarchy and imperialism have renewed their campaign of destabilisation against the Bolivarian Revolution. They risk unleashing the wrath of the workers and the poor.
