Published on 8 February 2018 by Venezuelanalysis

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CNE President Tibisay Lucena confirmed the date Wednesday.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council has confirmed Sunday April 22 as the official date for the country’s upcoming presidential elections.

CNE President Tibisay Lucena made the announcement Wednesday evening following a period of absence that has seen her withdraw from public life for several months due to an undisclosed illness.

“Elections are convoked for April 22nd of 2018,” said Lucena.

Published 28 January 2018 by Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!

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After weeks of protests, a general strike against the result of the manipulated elections of 26 November began on 21 January. Called by the Opposition Alliance Against The Dictatorship, organised by ex-president Zelaya, it continued for a week until 27 January when it blockaded roads around the capital’s national stadium where Hernández was reinstalled as President for an unprecedented second term. Tear gas drifted across flaming barricades in clashes between police and angry protesters. The opposition boycotted Hernandez's inauguration, and held a symbolic swearing-in for its presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla on the same day.

So far 33 people have been killed during the continued protests since the elections. ‘This was armed robbery,’ Nasralla said of Hernández’s election ‘victory’. The UN and IACHR experts reported that even before Christmas more than 1,500 people had been detained abused and maltreated. The new parliament began its first session on 25 January with the opposition protesting vociferously inside the chamber at the swearing in of new ministers.

Published on 10 January 2018 by teleSUR English

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Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly member Tomas Lucena (R) was shot dead Wednesday afternoon. | Photo: Twitter @DrodriguezVen

Tomas Lucena, a legislator from Trujillo, was shot dead by armed assailants while driving his car in Trujillo's capital on Wednesday afternoon.

A member of Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly (ANC), 31-year-old Tomas Lucena, has been shot dead on the street by armed assailants in Valera, the capital of Trujillo.

The assassination was immediately denounced by ANC President Delcy Rodriguez on Twitter: "The people responsible for this terrible crime will be punished! Fly high, Tomas. Nothing will stop the Constituent Assembly and its defense of Venezuela."

She also expressed her sympathy for Lucena's surviving parents, wife, children and friends.

Mayra Linares, a local journalist, reported that Lucena was gunned down while driving his car at about 1pm. He was shot at least three times by assailants in an unmarked vehicle.

Henry Rangel Silva, Trujillo's governor, said Lucena was taken to hospital but died of his injuries. "We categorically condem the assassination of the young constituent from the Escuque municipality Tomas Lucena," he said.

Lucena, from the Escuque municipality, was formerly a youth leader from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in his community.

Source: Postcards from the Revolution.

by Eva Golinger, 29 June 2011

Presidents Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad The US government has been increasing aggressive actions against the Chavez administration in an attempt to isolate the major petroleum producing nation and aid in ousting the Venezuelan President

During a hearing last Friday, June 24, in the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives regarding “Sanctionable Activities in Venezuela”, democrats and republicans requested the Obama administration take more aggressive actions against the government of Hugo Chavez. The head of the Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs for the Western Hemisphere, Connie Mack, a Florida Republican, branded the Venezuelan government “terrorist”, saying “it’s time to act to contain the dangerous influence of Hugo Chavez and his relations with Iran”.

Published on 9 January 2018 by Venezuelaanalysis

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Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza shakes hands with his Portuguese counterpart, Augusto Santos Silva, following Monday’s meetings. (Twitter/JorgeArreaza)

 

Venezuelan and Portugal ratified 22 cooperation agreements following a series of high-profile bilateral meeting in Caracas on Monday. The talks were attended by the Portuguese minister of international business, foreign ministers from both countries, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as well as other cabinet ministers. 

Published on 14 January 2018 by teleSUR English
 
A statement by several Caribbean organizations declares Donald Trump "Persona Non-Grata" in the Caribbean. The statement, which will be formally announced at a press conference on Monday, is part of a chorus of condemnation emanating worldwide in protest at statements allegedly made by Donald Trump in regards to Haiti and El Salvador.

"We, the under-signed representatives of the sovereign people of the Caribbean, hereby declare that President Donald Trump of the United States of America is "Persona Non Grata" in our Caribbean region!

We further declare that as a "Persona Non Grata" President Donald Trump is NOT welcome in any territory of the Caribbean, and we hereby confirm that we - the Caribbean people - will petition our Governments, vehemently protest against any Trump visit, and engage in popular demonstrations designed to prevent President Donald Trump's entry into any portion of the sovereign territory of our Caribbean region.

As sons and daughters of the Caribbean, we hereby affirm that the continent of Africa is the revered Motherland of a sizable majority of our people and that the Republic of Haiti -- the seminal architect of the destruction of the system of chattel slavery that held our ancestors in bondage -- is the foundational cornerstone of our Caribbean Civilization, and we, therefore, consider that any insult or attack that is directed at the African continent or at the Republic of Haiti is intrinsically an insult and attack that is directed at us as well.

We further affirm that we Caribbean people -- in light of our history of experiencing, resisting, and surviving the most horrendous forms of enslavement and colonialism -- consciously regard ourselves as champions and defenders of the dignity and fundamental human rights of all Black or African people, and that we are guided by an over-arching and non-negotiable principle of zero tolerance of any manifestation of anti-Black or anti-African racism or discrimination.

It is against this background that we, the sovereign people of the Caribbean, have determined that by describing the nations of Africa, the Republic of Haiti and the Central American nation of El Salvador as "shithole" countries, U S President Donald Trump has committed a despicable and unpardonable act of anti-Black, anti-African, anti-Brown racism that has served to further energize and fortify the vile White supremacy system that the said President Trump has self-consciously sought to champion and lead.

We -- the sovereign people of the Caribbean-- hereby declare to the entire world that we vehemently and unreservedly denounce President Donald Trump and the evil and inhuman White supremacy value system that he represents"

ENDORSED AND SUPPORTED BY THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS :


1. Clement Payne Movement of Barbados
2. Pan-African Coalition of Organizations (PACO)
3. Israel Lovell Foundation of Barbados.
4. Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration (CMPI)
5. Caribbean Chapter of the International Network in Defense of Humanity
6. Global Afrikan Congress
7. Caribbean Pan-African Network (CPAN)
8. Peoples Empowerment Party (Barbados)
9. Pan-African Federalist Movement--Caribbean Region Committee
9. International Committee of Black Peoples (Guadeloupe)
10. Jamaica/Cuba Friendship Association
11. Jamaica LANDS
12. SRDC Guadeloupe / Martinique Chapter
13. Ijahnya Christian  (St. Kitts and Nevis)
14. Dorbrene O'Marde  (Antigua and Barbuda)
15. NswtMwt Chenzira Davis Kahina  (Ay Ay Virgin Islands-US)
16. Ivana Cardinale (Venezuela)
17. Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad & Tobago
18. Organization for the Victory of the People (Guyana)
19. Gerald Perreira (Guyana)
20 Black Consciousness Movement of Guyana
21. Conscious Lyrics Foundation  (St. Martin)
22. Myrtha Delsume (Haiti)
23 Anthony "Gabby" Carter (Barbados)
24. Cuban /Barbadian Friendship Association
25. Friends of Venezuela Solidarity Committee (Barbados)
26.  Maxi Baldeo (Barbados)
27. Dr. Nancy Fergusson Jacobs (Barbados)
28. Ayo Moore (Barbados)
29. Haiti / Jamaica Society
30. Anthony Reid (Barbados)
31.Cheryl Hunte (Barbados)
32. Hamilton Lashley (former Barbados Minister of Government)
33. Erica Williams (Guyana)
34. Kilanji Bangarah (Namibia / Jamaica)
35. International Movement for Reparations  (Martinique)
36. Alex Sujah Reiph (St Martin)
37. Thelma Gill-Barnett  (Barbados)
38. Khafra Kambon (Trinidad and Tobago)
39. Margaret Harris (Barbados)
40. Jacqueline Jacqueray  (Guadeloupe)
41. Garcin Malsa (Martinique)
42. National Committee for Reparations (Martinique)
43. Officers and Members of the Global Afrikan Congressuk  (GACuk)
44. Jamaica Peace Council
45. Ingrid Blackwood (Jamaica)
46. Glenroy Watson (President, RMT's London Transport Regional Council / Jamaica)
47. Paul Works (Jamaica)
48. Abu Akil (United Kingdom / Jamaica)
49. Kwame Howell  (Barbados)
50. Ian Marshall  (Barbados)
51. Michael Heslop (Jamaica)
52. Andrea King  (Barbados)
54. Cikiah Thomas  (Canada / Jamaica)
55. Bobby Clarke (Barbados)
56. Trevor Prescod, Member of Parliament (Barbados)
57. David Denny (Barbados)
58. John Howell (Barbados)
59. Lalu Hanuman (Barbados / Guyana)
60. Onkphra Wells (Barbados)
61. Rahmat Jean-Pierre (Barbados)
62. Philip Springer (Barbados)
63. Cedric Jones  (Guyana)
64. David Comissiong (Barbados)
65. Selrach Belfield  (Guyana)
66. Kathy "Ife" Harris  (Barbados)
67. Andrea Quintyne  (Barbados)
68. Felipe Noguera  (Trinidad & Tobago)
69. Suzanne Laurent  (Martinique)
70. Line Hilgros Makeda Kandake (Guadeloupe)
71. Kerin Davis  (Jamaica)
72. Delvina E. Bernard  (Africentric Learning Institute, Nova Scotia, Canada)
73. Muhammad Nassar  (Barbados)
74. Anthony Fraser  (Guyana)
75. Troy Pontin  (Guyana)
76. Nigel Cadogan  (Barbados)
77. Ras Iral Jabari  (Barbados)
78. Nicole Cage  (Martinique)
79. Robert Romney  (St Martin / Guadeloupe)
80. Anne Braithwaite  (Guyana)
81. Icil Phillips  (Barbados)
82. Marie Jose Ferjule (Martinique)
83. Errol Paul  (Guyana)
84. Erskine Bayne (Barbados)
85. Robert Gibson (Barbados)
86. Alister Alexander (Barbados)
87. Mark Adamson  (Barbados)
88. Junior Jervis (Guyana)
89. Lee Bing  (Guyana)
90. Akram Sabree  (Guyana)
91. Rudolph Solbiac  (Martinique)
92. Stephane Eveillard  (Haiti)
93. Suzy Sorel (Martinique)
94. Luciani Lanoir  (Martinique)
95. Ras Bongo Wisely  (St Lucia)
96. Caribbean Rastafari Organization
97. Dr. Rodney Worrell  (Barbados)
98. David Bannister  (Barbados)
99. Ismay Griffith  (Barbados)
100. Edson Crawford  (Barbados)
101. Guy M A Vala  (Guadeloupe)
102. Urielle Guillaume
103. Laetitia Fernandez
104. Fraiderik Jean-Pierre
105. Vivi Romney (Guadeloupe)
106. Emmanel Fleurant (France)
107. Colette Galiby
108. Monique Ravenet
109. Djaka Apakoua
110. Laura De Lacaze
110. El B Gourdin
112. Joseph Jacques
113. Bella Nazaire  (Martinique)
114. Jean-Claude Dorvil  (Haiti / Canada)
115. Aisha Comissiong (Barbados)
116. Donai Lovell (Barbados)

Published on 11 December 2017 by venezuelanalysis

Venezuela’s socialists have won a landslide victory in municipal elections Sunday, taking 21 out of 23 state capitals as well as the Caracas Capital District.

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Puebla, Mexico, December 11, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s socialists scored an overwhelming victory in mayoral elections Sunday, taking over ninety percent of the country's municipalities. 

President Nicolas Maduro’s United Venezuelan Socialist Party (PSUV), along with its allies, have secured victory in 308 of Venezuela’s 335 municipalities. According to preliminary results, the governing socialist party managed to take 21 out of the country’s 23 state capitals as well as the Caracas Capital District.

Meanwhile, the only state capitals to remain in opposition hands are Tachira’s San Cristobal and the Libertador municipality of Merida, which were won by the Movement Towards Socialism and Christian Democrat (COPEI) parties, respectively. 

Limited grassroots victories, conflict with PSUV, CNE

With large opposition parties boycotting, grassroots movements to the left of the PSUV leadership decided to launch candidacies in several municipalities in a bid for greater diversity within the revolutionary process. 

In Apure, Jose Maria "Chema" Romero from the Bolivar and Zamora Revolutionary Current won the Paez municipality in alliance with the ruling socialists. Thirty-eight-year-old Romero has pledged to institutionalize the power of communes and social movements in the municipality as well as promote a local productive economy.

Elsewhere, however, local movements launched their own challenges to PSUV candidates, sometimes viewed as an imposition by the party machine.

In one such case, local commune leader Augusto Espinoza defeated his PSUV rival to become the mayor of Sucre state’s Cajigal municipality. 

 Nonetheless, several grassroots Chavista candidacies have sparked conflict with Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE).

In Lara state, commune leader and Simon Planas candidate Angel Prado accused electoral authorities of refusing to recognise his victory. Despite his PPT party ticket securing over 57 percent of the Simon Planas vote, Prado said the CNE refused to acknowledge his candidacy and instead handed his votes to the PSUV. The CNE had previously blocked Prado's candidacy on the grounds that as a delegate to the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) he did not have the permission of the body to run. 

Prado's El Maizal commune took to the streets Monday and has vowed to remain there until their candidate's victory is recognized. 

Published on 28 November 2017 by venezuelanalysis

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Venezuela: Communal Activists Protest ANC to Demand Permission for Local Candidate

Communards accuse the National Constituent Assembly leadership of blocking the mayoral candidacy of commune leader Angel Prado.

Communards protest outside Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly to demand permission for Angel Prado to run for mayor. Sign reads, “We make the revolution within the revolution.” (@ComunaElMaizal)

By Lucas Koerner 

Caracas, November 28, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) –Nearly a thousand members of the El Maizal Commune in Lara state marched on Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC) in Caracas Monday to demand the body authorize their candidate for local mayor.

The communards made the over five-hour trek to the capital to urge the body to give permission to local communal leader Angel Prado, who is an elected ANC delegate, so he can run for mayor of the Simon Planas municipality on December 10.

“We have come to peacefully protest because our rights are being violated,” explains El Maizal member Jose Peraza.

Prado has been tied up in a protracted bureaucratic dispute with Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which has yet to register his candidacy despite the communal leader having the backing of four leftist political parties and over nine thousand signatures from local residents.

On November 24, the CNE informed Prado that he must have permission from the ANC leadership in order to launch his candidacy, though this instruction was reportedly communicated to the electoral authority’s state office a full 17 days prior.


 

Upon arriving at the headquarters of the National Constituent Assembly in downtown Caracas, the communards requested a meeting with ANC President Delcy Rodriguez. However, they were instead met by the ANC secretary who informed them that the request for permission must be issued in writing, despite Prado having already submitted the application on November 24.

Supporters of Prado have accused the CNE of attempting to block his candidacy in order to ensure the victory of the handpicked United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) candidate, Jean Ortiz.

They point out that the ANC leadership has never hesitated in giving permission to its delegates to run on PSUV tickets.

“The governor of Lara state is a delegate, the governor of Falcon is a delegate, and [defeated Anzoategui gubernatorial candidate] Aristobulo [Isturiz] is also a delegate, and they gave them permission to compete,” observes Peraza.

“Why don’t they give this permission to someone from the communes movement? … If Chavez said ‘commune or nothing’, why do they fear a communard participating in municipal elections?” he added, alluding to late President Hugo Chavez’s strong support for the communes as the vanguard of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution.

Having yet to receive a positive signal from the ANC, the communards marched on the assembly for a second straight day on Tuesday.

 

“Although the response remains negative regarding the permission for Angel Prado’s candidacy, the people remain and we thank all: people, public figures, sister communes who have stood in solidarity with this cause,” the communal activists said in a Tweet.

The communards have resolved to maintain pressure on the ANC until their demand is met.

Boycotted by the majority of opposition parties, the upcoming elections have opened spaces for grassroots movements and leftist parties within Chavismo to field their own challengers to PSUV candidates, who are sometimes viewed as "imposed” or hand-picked by party leaders.

Prado, for his part, has pledged to turn his municipality into a model for the institutionalization of communal power within existing local governance structures, which often stand in tension with the communes.

Comprised of 22 communal councils, the El Maizal Commune is one of the largest and most successful agricultural communes in the country. The commune has numerous communally owned and operated businesses and an annual yellow corn production that surpasses 4,000 metric tons. 

Communards chant "Commune or nothing" outside of the ANC. 

 

Published on 15 September? 2017 by studentvoices.co.uk

Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly shines a beacon for real Democracy | Jay Sutherland

 Look at the UK today, an increasingly right wing conservative minority government narrowly clenches onto to power due to an alliance with the DUP who got less than 1% of the overall vote. For Britain to be called a democracy would be laughable. If we look to Latin America and more specifically Venezuela we can see a real example of people powered democracy in the form of the Constituent Assembly election.