Venezuela: Making Peace . . . With Capitalism?
By Chris Gilbert, Monthly Review Zine, 10 April, 2014
Today in Venezuela the capitalist class is back in action, trying to discipline the institutions of political power which, with Chávez, escaped a bit from their usually restricted field of operation. The government, which feels cornered, calls the opposition's activity "economic warfare," but the truth is that this is just business as usual for the capitalist class. Speculating, playing with prices, and tinkering with supply and demand is not strictly speaking a perversion of capitalism but an integral part thereof.
Venezuela: Chavistas Debate the Pace of Change
By Steve Ellner, NACLA, 21 April 2014
The violent anti-government protests that shook Venezuela in February have once again thrust the issue of the pace of change into the broader debate over socialist transformation. Radical Chavistas, reflecting the zeal of the movement’s rank and file, call for a deepening of the “revolutionary process,” while moderate Chavistas favor concessions to avoid an escalation of the violence. The same dilemma confronted the socialist government of Salvador Allende in the early 1970s, but under different political circumstances. Unlike in Chile, Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro have won nearly all national elections over a period of 15 years by absolute majorities. In addition, Chavistas, since the early years, have maintained firm control of the two most important institutions in the country: the armed forces and the state oil company PDVSA.
Political Violence Stokes Inflation in Venezuela, Says Central Bank
By Ryan Mallett-Outtrim, venezuelanalysis.com, 26 April, 2014
Venezuela’s central bank has blamed political violence for the highest monthly inflation rate in four months. Inflation increased by 4.1% in March - up from 2.4% in February, according to the latest figures from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV). Comparatively, inflation rose by 2.8% in March 2013. In a statement released yesterday, the bank attributed the spike to violence perpetrated by “a radical opposition”.
Venezuela: Fresh right-wing violence despite public rejection
By Tamara Pearson & Ewan Robertson, greenleft.org, 25 April, 2014
Venezuelan polling firm Hinterlaces found that 90% of Venezuelans support the talks underway between the government and opposition. It found 45% of respondents felt Maduro was the most “sincere” in wanting dialogue, while 33% felt the opposition was the more sincere in its intentions.
US Inciting Civil War in Venezuela for Oil: Bolivia
The US is pushing Venezuela toward a “civil war” as it has eyes on the country’s oil wealth, Bolivian President Evo Morales has warned. “I believe [the US] is trying to incite if not a coup d’état then a civil war from their empire,” Morales told a Latin American Youth Summit in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz on Friday.