| Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela República Bolivariana de Venezuela | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
 | |
| Official languages | Spanish |
| Recognized national languages | 26 indigenous languages |
| Area | |
• Total | 916,445 km² |
| Population | |
• 2018 estimate | 28,887,118 |
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,[1] is a country on the northern coast of South America, sharing borders on the west with Colombia, Brazil by the south, Trinidad and Tobago on the north-east, and on the east with Guyana. It consists of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea.
Venezuela has been the target of hostility from the US imperialists due to its significant reserves of oil, as well as its recent trend of electing left-leaning progressive governments which prioritize social programs and the implementation of what some observers describe as Socialism of the 21st century.[2]
History
Early history
In 1895, a boundary dispute between Venezuela and Britain emerged. The United States asserted the imperialist Monroe Doctrine, which considers the Americas to be territory for colonization by the USA rather than colonization by Europe, causing Britain to back down in the dispute. The affair was an early instance of the Monroe Doctrine being invoked and the U.S. asserting itself as an imperial power.[3][4]
From 1902 to 1903, Venezuela was blockaded by European navies.[5]
During the Dutch-Venezuelan crisis of 1908, the U.S. Navy helped Venezuelan Vice President Juan Vicente Gomez seize power in a coup. Gomez endeared himself to Washington and Wall Street by granting highly lucrative concessions to foreign oil companies including Standard Oil (ExxonMobil today) and Royal Dutch Shell.[4]
Bolivarian government 1999-present
The Bolivarian Revolution refers to a left-wing populism social movement and political process in Venezuela led by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez who founded the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. The "Bolivarian Revolution" is named after Simón Bolívar, an early 19th-century Venezuelan and Latin American revolutionary leader. According to Chávez and other supporters, the "Bolivarian Revolution" seeks to build a mass movement to implement Bolivarianism—popular democracy, economic independence, equitable distribution of revenues, and an end to political corruption—in Venezuela. They interpret Bolívar's ideas from a populist perspective, using socialist rhetoric.[6]
The US maintains a blockade against Venezuela to try to strangle their independent economy. In August of 2021, Peru announced it would no longer participate in the blockade.[7] The blockade against Venezuela even negatively affects US businesses[8] and has caused 40,000 deaths due to lack of food and medicine.[9] Venezuelan capitalists have burned food[10] and buried it underground.[11] Despite this, Venezuela's malnutrition rate has decreased from 13.2% in 2001 to 8.2% in 2017.[12]
In 2021, president Maduro spoke to the UN General Assembly saying that 'we must build a "new world without imperialism"'[13]
Despite their elections being declared democratic by the US-based Carter Center[14], and not having the death penalty[15][16], the US media insists that Venezuela is a dictatorship with no regard for human rights, thus trying to lay the groundwork for "humanitarian interventions"[17]
Despite attempts at economic isolation, the US was forced to re-engage the Venezuelan economy for its oil.[18]
On March 17, 2022, President Maduro announced a new social media app called Ven App which will be used as a means of direct communication with the government, in an effort to help the government reach citizens with better services. It has been inspired by Russia's VK and China's WeChat.[19]
Imperialist aggression
US coup attempts
Chavismo has attracted repeated attacks from the US imperialists to the north, including coup attempts in 2002, 2019, and 2020[20], among others.[21][22]
In his 2020 memoir The Room Where It Happened, John Bolton, former National Security Advisor under U.S. President Donald Trump, wrote regarding Venezuela:
Shortly after the drone attack [on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on August 4, 2018][23], during an unrelated meeting on August 15, Venezuela came up, and Trump said to me emphatically, “Get it done," meaning get rid of the Maduro regime. “This is the fifth time I've asked for it,” he continued. [...] Trump insisted he wanted military options for Venezuela and then keep it because “it's really part of the United States.”[24]
Sanctions
The United States and Canada have placed sanctions on Venezuela. Donald Trump encouraged the EU to sanction Venezuela as well.[25]
References
- ↑ "Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela" (15 December 1999). Archived from the original.
- ↑ https://pt.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Resolucoesdo3oCongressoPT.pdf
- ↑ “Milestones: 1866–1898 - Office of the Historian.” 2023. State.gov. 2023.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wilkins, Brett. “The History - and Hypocrisy - of US Meddling in Venezuela.” Telesurenglish.net. teleSUR. 2018. Archived 2023-03-07.
- ↑ "US Imperialism in Nicaragua and the Making of Sandino" (2020-02-21). Archived from the original on 2021-03-05. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
- ↑ https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivarianism-vs-fake-us-democracy/38258/
- ↑ Peru Will no Longer Support Blockade on Venezuela
- ↑ Blockade Against Venezuela Makes US Businesses Suffer: US Exports Dropped by 93% from 2012 to 2020 by Orinoco Tribune
- ↑ Andrew Buncombe (2019-04-26). "US sanctions on Venezuela responsible for 'tens of thousands' of deaths, claims new report" Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
- ↑ Venezuela Protesters Set 40 Tons of Subsidized Food on Fire (2017-06-30). TeleSur. Archived from the original on 2018-05-14.
- ↑ Venezuela's Economic War: Tons of Food Found Buried Underground (2015-08-17). TeleSur. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26.
- ↑ Food and Agriculture Organization. "Prevalence of undernourishment (% of population)" World Bank. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
- ↑ Venezuela at UN: We must build 'new world without imperialism' by Ben Norton of Moderate Rebels on Substack Sep 22, 2021
- ↑ Carter Center > Venezuela > Monitoring Elections
- ↑ Roger G. Hood. The death penalty: a worldwide perspective, Oxford University Press, 2002. p10
- ↑ Determinants of the death penalty: a comparative study of the world, Carsten Anckar, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-33398, p.17
- ↑ Venezuela’s Strange Dictatorship by Orinoco Tribune
- ↑ Francisco Dominguez (2022-06-01). "MADURO’S SUCCESS: PRINCIPLED RESISTANCE TO IMPERIALISM PAYS OFF" Morning Star, Popular Resistance.
- ↑ "Ven App: Venezuela’s New Social Media" (2022-03-27).
- ↑ Benjamin Norton (2022-02-06). "CIA backed failed 2020 invasion of Venezuela, top coup-plotter says" Multipolarista.
- ↑ https://elpais.com/diario/2002/04/17/internacional/1018994403_850215.html
- ↑ https://www.rt.com/usa/497111-trump-ruined-venezuela-coup/
- ↑ Joe Parkin Daniels (2018-08-05). "Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro survives apparent assassination attempt" The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- ↑ “Shortly after the drone attack, during an unrelated meeting on August 15, Venezuela came up, and Trump said to me emphatically, “Get it done," meaning get rid of the Maduro regime. “This is the fifth time I've asked for it,” he continued. I described the thinking we were doing, in a meeting now slimmed down to just Kelly and me, but Trump insisted he wanted military options for Venezuela and then keep it because “it's really part of the United States.””
John Bolton (2020). The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir: 'Chapter 9: Venezuela Libre'. Simon and Schuster. - ↑ Eugene Puryear (2017-10-11). "Is Venezuela Turning Further Left?" Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-11-27.