The illness of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has created uncertainty over the future direction of his government, and specifically its commitment to revolutionary change and socialism.
Throughout the 14 years of his presidency, the key to Chavez’s political success was the constant deepening of the process of change, which invigorated the rank-and-file of his movement.
Venezuela
Venezuelan ecosocialist Miguel Angel Nuñez, an adviser to Chavèz on agro-ecology, discusses one of the big challenges for the revolution "How can the revolution be liberated from the oil economy" in an interview for Green Left TV. The interviewers were Jim McIlroy and Coral Wynter, authors of Voices from Venezuela. Filmed and edited by Peter Boyle.
Representatives from Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics (INE) have revealed that the 14th National Census of Population and Housing, conducted during 2011, showed significant cuts to poverty levels during the previous 10 years.
In 2001, 11.36% of the population were measured to be suffering from extreme poverty. President of the INE, Elias Eljuri, said the 2011 census showed that only 6.97% did, a cut of nearly half in a decade. Other conclusions included a rise in life expectancy, from 74.5 years to 79.5 years.
Venezuela's Vice-President Nicolas Maduro and government ministers marched with up to one million people on January 23 to defend the Bolivarian revolution, which has signficantly reduced poverty and promoted new forms of participatory democracy, on the country's Democracy Day. The right-wing opposition march turned out to be a small rally. Further, sectors of the far right have called on the armed forces to resist what they referred to as the “invasion” of “Castro-communism” in Venezuela.
Venezuela's US-funded opposition and the international corporate media has used President Hugo Chavez's serious health issues to run a campaign against the Venezuelan government.
In particular, the opposition has claimed that the failure of Chavez, who is recovering from surgery in Cuba, to be sworn-in by the National Assembly by the originally scheduled date of January 10 means he is no longer president. Chavez was re-elected president for a six year term in October with more than 55% of the vote.
Tens of thousands of supporters gathered in Caracas today for a huge rally in support of Venezuela's ill President Hugo Chavez. The gathering was in response to the controversy surrounding his absence on January 10, the date set for his inauguration day after he was re-elected for a new six-year term in October.
The Venezuelan government has responded to opposition and private media accusations that it is being “mysterious” regarding information on Chavez’s health situation, and has called such statements as well as rumours being spread on social networks “psychological warfare”.
Venezuelans went to the polls for the second time this year on December 16, and delivered another overwhelming victory to President Hugo Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
Chavez is leading a process of social change, known as the Bolivarian revolution, that has halved poverty in the oil-rich nation and promoted participatory democracy.
After presidential elections returned Chavez with more than 55% of the vote, the PSUV increased its majority of state governorships and legislatures.
Venezuela Analysis is the main English-language website, read around the world, providing serious news and analysis on the Bolivarian revolution under way int he Latin American nation. Green Left strongly supports VA's work, regularly reprints its articles and is proud of its collaboration with the site.
Below, is an appeal for financial support from VA to ensure it continues to get out the real story of the inspiring struggle of Venezuela's people for "socialism of the 21st century"
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It’s a warm night in the small village of Chuao in Venezuela. Dozens of children are playing in the square in front of the old colonial church, and a local man, beating a drum he holds between his knees, sings: “This is the taste of my cocoa. This is what we have, we black people of Chuao.”
The people of Chuao, descendants of Africans brought to Venezuela’s coast as slaves by the Spanish, have been growing cocoa for more than 400 years.
Venezuela has abolished entrance visas for Palestinian visitors among a set of new agreements with the Middle Eastern country.
Venezuela became the first country to abolish visas for Palestinians carrying civil or diplomatic passports as part of talks in early December in Caracas between representatives of the two countries. Venezuela also committed itself to build a new hospital in Palestinian territory and made new agreements in the areas of health, education and tourism.
President Hugo Chavez announced on public television on the night of December 8 that he would return to Cuba to receive surgery for new malignant cells, and that vice-president Nicolas Maduro will be in charge during his absence.
Chavez said Cuban doctors informed him that the area where he has previously been affected will need to be operated on again, as new malignant cells have appeared.
He also said that “there are always risks in processes like this” and that “if anything happens to me that hinders me [from performing as president]”, Maduro was his preference to replace him.
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