By Reagan Gray 28 September 2024
On 29 August, The Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG), through its campaign Rock Around the Blockade (RATB), held a public webinar on ‘What is really happening in Venezuela.’ When the Venezuelan Presidential elections on 28 July resulted in a victory for incumbent Nicholas Maduro of the Party , violent riots and media attacks ensued. This chaos was organised by the US backed opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado, who serve as imperialist puppets in order to foster instability in Venezuela through violent sanctions, media lies, and government backed coup attempts since the Bolivarian Revolution began in 1999.
RATB and the RCG organised this public meeting to affirm the anti-imperialist perspective on the situation in Venezuela and to amplify the Venezuelan voices on the ground who are being actively suppressed, as they challenge the narrative and interests of the ruling class.
Carolina Graterol, a Venezuelan journalist and filmmaker, joined us to speak about her experience as a participant and electoral observer in the election on 28 July. She shared her extensive knowledge of Venezuela’s electoral process, and explained the rigorous processes that the government follows to ensure democratic integrity of elections. Her first hand accounts of the election process were an invaluable perspective and a testament to the democratic processes that Venezuela has upheld despite unceasing media attacks.
Earlier this month the World Congress against Fascism, Neofascism and other similar expressions was held in Caracas, Venezuela. Solidarity organisations, social movements and political parties from over 190 countries participated in the two day long conference. Amongst the numerous political outcomes of the congress was the declaration that the weekend of the 28th/29th of September would be an international weekend of solidarity demonstrations, a demand which Rock Around the Blockade supporters answered enthusiastically!
On 20 September, protesters gathered outside the London offices of the Guardian, to demand an end to its hostile media blitz against Venezuela.
In the build up to, and since the Venezuelan presidential election on 28 July, The Guardian and its sister newspaper The Observer have churned out a steady stream of hostile coverage calling into question the result which saw the re-election of socialist party candidate Nicolas Maduro.
The Guardian's Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips produced over 30 articles on Venezuela’s election in a single month, constantly repeating the lie that the election was rigged, in order to soften up public opinion to accept more sanctions and intervention (see ‘In defence of the Bolivarian revolution’ on our website).
Friends and supporters of the RCG and RATB spoke outside the Guardian exposing its role as a mouthpiece of the British ruling class, all the more dangerous for its supposedly progressive garb. They highlighted the Bolivarian Revolution’s achievements such as free healthcare and education for all Venezuelans, and over four million social housing units constructed since 2011 in spite of deadly US, EU and British sanctions which have devastated the country’s economy. Over $1bn of Venezuela’s sovereign gold reserves have been illegally confiscated by the Bank of England, which refused to release them even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic to allow Venezuela to purchase urgently needed medicines.
We say: hands off Venezuela! Victory to the Venezuelan masses against imperialism! No more British media lies!
Thursday 29 August, 7pm (British summer time)
Venezuela’s presidential elections on 28 July offered the electorate a choice between a right-wing opposition backed by US imperialism, or Nicolas Maduro, leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), whose progressive government continues to defend the gains of the Bolivarian Revolution in the most difficult conditions. President Maduro’s victory has been denounced by the opposition as a fraud; the United States and its allies refuse to recognise the result. The opposition has fomented violent uprisings while the defeated candidate of the opposition United Democratic Platform (PUD), Edmundo Gonzalez, had declared himself president and called on the armed forces to support him. The mainstream media is on manipulation overdrive.
Hands off Venezuela! No right wing coup! No imperialist intervention!
The Revolutionary Communist Group, FRFI and Rock around the Blockade stand against the attempts by the US imperialist-backed opposition in Venezuela to overturn the result of the 28 July election. Imperialist media and right wing opposition forces announced well in advance that they would not accept any outcome except the installation of a pro-imperialist candidate as president. They are provoking violent protests and street blockades in a replay of previous violent coup attempts in 2019, 2017, 2014 and earlier.
Supporters of Rock Around the Blockade held protests across the country this week in solidarity with Cuba and Palestine, marking the anniversary of the 26th July Moncada attack.
The activists emphasised the connection between the anti imperialist struggles in Cuba and Palestine, and the attacks that both of these causes face from countries like Britain and their institutions.
Here is a roundup of actions from around the country:
On Sunday, July 7, the international #1c4Cuba campaign has called a webinar to show solidarity with the news outlets Cubainformacion and Euskadi Cuba, who have been persecuted for reporting the truth about the blockade of Cuba. Cuba Informacion and the Euskadi-Cuba Association are under attack for reporting on counter-revolutionary groups slandering Cuba’s medical solidarity brigades.
Join us for an important display of solidarity with these outlets and to hear from the following guests:
- Jose Manzaneda – editor of Cubainformacion
- Milagros Acea – Basque based Cuba organisation ‘Desembarco del Granma’
- A speaker from Euskadi Cuba, which until 2020 hosted Cubainformacion
To register and join the webinar, click here.
Sunday July 7, 10:30am (Vancouver/Pacific) / 1:30 pm (Havana/Eastern) / 6:30 pm (London)
Cuba Informacion 12.06.24
Cubainformacion - Artículo: Denuncian plan para destruir la cooperación vasca con Cuba
Imagine that an association of migrants from a country in the Global South is dedicated to questioning and trying to prevent a Basque city council from financially supporting vulnerable groups in their country of origin.
Their actions would be described as, at the very least, miserable. This is what the so-called Cuban-Basque Association Demokrazia Kubarentzat (democracy for Cuba, in Basque country) has just done in the town hall of Durango (Bizkaia), this association is made up of “anti-Castro” Cuban men and women residing in the Basque Country. The Durango council had approved a donation of 19,000 euros for a cooperation project coordinated by Euskal Fondoa (a grouping of local Basque entities, which brings together 121 municipalities) for “Comprehensive Care for the Elderly in Havana” (1). The councillor of the Popular Party, Carlos García, expressed in the municipal plenary session, the “concern” of the aforementioned Cuban-Basque Association Demokrazia Kubarentzat, to ensure “the money… does not fall into the hands of the Cuban dictatorial regime” (2), and demanded the council “clarify the purpose and management” of the subsidy “by the Cuban dictatorship” (3).
Rock around the Blockade, a campaign of the Revolutionary Communist Group, held its 15th solidarity brigade to Cuba from December 2023 to January 2024. While learning about the inspiring achievements of Cuban socialism, the brigadistas also witnessed the devastating impacts of the US blockade on Cuba. The US blockade is an act of war, contrived ‘to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government’ as conceived by then-US Assistant Secretary of State Lester Mallory in 1960. It is an act of genocide under the UN Genocide Convention. The blockade restricts access to resources in every sector: medical equipment for children’s intensive care units, insulin for diabetic patients, materials for schools, food and energy. The tightening of the blockade under the US Trump administration, and then under Biden, has imposed a severe economic crisis on Cuba with severe material shortages. But the Cuban people we met and spoke to, from the farmers and economists to the doctors and cleaners, and particularly the young people, remain committed to resisting the blockade and defending the gains of their socialist revolution
On Wednesday 8 May 2024 Rock Around the Blockade hosted an international online meeting, drawing out the connections between the struggles for self-determination against imperialism in Palestine, Cuba and Venezuela.
The meeting was attended by over 100 people connecting from across the globe, including student activists from the Palestine Solidarity encampment in Manchester, who made a contribution to the meeting: