RESOURCES ON VENEZUELA
Originally posted on February 7, 2019
Updated Jan 29, 2020
On Monday, February 4, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted Canada’s support for “the people of Venezuela and a peaceful transition to democracy in the country.” Canadian HELPED ORGANIZE THE OPPOSITION to back Juan Guaido in his attempt to stake his claim as president of Venezuela, despite the recent re-election of Nicolas Maduro as president. Due to the massive media campaign against the Bolivarian Revolution since the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, liberals in the West have characterized Venezuela’s socialist government as an authoritarian dictatorship that is essentially starving its people. This of course ignores the achievements made by the Bolivarian Revolution as well as the ever-worsening media and economic warfare that the West has engaged in against Venezuela, especially since the death of Hugo Chavez and the election of Nicolas Maduro.
It’s important to stand against Western imperialism and the devastation is has invariably brought to any place it has asserted itself.
I’ve compiled a brief list of articles and conversations that help elaborate on the conditions Venezuela finds itself in, background on the country’s history and the ways it has been represented in Western media.
On the crisis:
Monthly Review: “THE POLITICS OF FOOD IN VENEZUELA”
Center for Economic and Policy Research: “REPORT FINDS US SANCTIONS ON VENEZUELA ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DEATHS”
Twitter threads discussing methodology and responses to critiques of report:
— HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/FRRODRIGUEZC/STATUS/1125422342019198976 (Includes link to critical response)
— HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/MARKWEISBROT/STATUS/1125459573949837313
The Independent: “VENEZUELA CRISIS: FORMER UN RAPPORTEUR SAYS US SANCTIONS ARE KILLING CITIZENS” (scroll past the video)
The Nation: “HOW SEVERE IS VENEZUELA’S CRISIS?”
Moderate Rebels Podcast:
— "REVOLT OF THE HAVES: VENEZUELA'S US-BACKED OPPOSITION AND ECONOMIC SABOTAGE W/ STEVE ELLNER"
— “ECONOMIC STRANGULATION OF VENEZUELA: HUMAN TOLL OF US SANCTIONS AND REGIME CHANGE W/ STEVE ELLNER"
— “WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING IN VENEZUELA? REPORTING ON THE COUP FROM INSIDE CARACAS W/ DIEGO SEQUERA”
On media representations of Venezuela in the West
Revolution Tube: RESPONSE TO PRAGERU’S VIDEO CLAIMING THAT SOCIALISM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR VENEZUELA’S PROBLEMS
Empire Files:
— COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE TO JOHN OLIVER’S INFAMOUS (AND MUCH TOUTED BY LIBERALS) VENEZUELA EPISODE
— “INSIDE VENEZUELA’S MARKETS”
— ON CLAIMS OF “NO FREE PRESS IN VENEZUELA”
— “VENEZUELA’S CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY: DICTATORSHIP OR DEMOCRACY?”
— ABBY MARTIN INTERVIEWS MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION
— RESPONSES TO THE OPPOSITION BY VENEZUELAN DEFENSE MINISTER
Alan Macleod:
— Race & Class Journal: “CHAVISTA ‘THUGS’ VS. OPPOSITION ‘CIVIL SOCIETY’: WESTERN MEDIA ON VENEZUELA” (This article is a paywalled academic article, linked through sci-hub for open access. If at any point the sci-hub link doesn’t work, hit me up on TWITTER and I can send you the PDF)
— Routlege Focus: “BAD NEWS FROM VENEZUELA: 20 YEARS OF BAD REPORTING FROM VENEZUELA”
— The Grayzone: “‘SEXY TRICKS’: HOW JOURNALISTS DEMONIZE VENEZUELA’S SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT, IN THEIR OWN WORDS”
— Frontiers in Communication Journal: “REPRESENTATIONS OF THE US GOVERNMENT IN AMERICAN COVERAGE IN VENEZUELA”
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting:
— “THE ‘VENEZUELAN PEOPLE’ ARE WHOEVER AGREES WITH DONALD TRUMP”
— “HOW WESTERN LEFT MEDIA HELPED LEGITIMATE US REGIME CHANGE IN VENEZUELA”
Moderate Rebels Podcast: "THE REAL VENEZUELA: FROM CARACAS, PROF. ALINE PIVA EXPLAINS US COUP ATTEMPT"
Alborada: “OBSERVING VENEZUELA’S ELECTION AND THE MYTHS AROUND IT”
Venezuela Analysis: “DEBUNKING FOUR MISTRUTHS ABOUT VENEZUELA’S HUMANITARIAN AID SHOWDOWN”
On the coup and the opposition
The Nation: “VENEZUELA: CALL IT WHAT IT IS—A COUP”
The Globe and Mail: “CANADA’S LEADERSHIP ON VENEZUELA IS MISGUIDED, MISDIRECTED – AND A MISTAKE”
Venezuela Analysis: "VENEZUELA: COUP D’ETAT OR CONSTITUTIONAL TRANSITION?“
The Independent: “VENEZUELA: JUAN GUAIDO WILL OPEN UP OIL DEALS TO FOREIGN PRIVATE COMPANIES, OPPOSITION LEADER’S US ENVOY SAYS” (scroll past the video)
Venezuela Analysis: “VENEZUELA OPPOSITION ABANDONS TALKS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC”
New York Times: “FOOTAGE CONTRADICTS US CLAIM THAT MADURO BURNED AID CONVOY”
CNN: “THE AUGUST PLOT TO KILL MADURO WITH DRONES”
Counterpunch: “AN OPEN LETTER TO JUSTIN TRUDEAU ON VENEZUELA”
More context of Venezuelan history and politics
Political theorist and scholar George Ciccariello-Maher has written two excellent books on Venezuela:
— We Created Chavez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution
— Building The Commune: Radical Democracy in Venezuela
Proles of the Round Table Podcast: “BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTIONS”
The Conversation: “VENEZUELA’S LONG HISTORY OF RACISM IS COMING BACK TO HAUNT IT"
London Review of Books: “DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN“ (on Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution and the conditions in which each developed)
Alborada: ANOTHER COLLECTION OF LINKS (some overlap with this list)
