1. Renowned Venezuelan revolutionary murdered in Caracas
By Z.C. Dutka, Venezuela Analysis, April 29, 2014
On Saturday, renowned Chavista revolutionary Eliecer Otaiza, 49, was found dead in the municipality of Baruta in Caracas. His body, struck by multiple bullet wounds, was identified yesterday afternoon.
Otaiza’s vehicle was also discovered with bullet marks in another part of Baruta, according to the Venezuelan Body of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation (CICPC). According to Communications Minister Delcy Rodriguez, President Nicolas Maduro has personally ordered an in-depth investigation of the crime.
2. The Story of Venezuela's Protests May Be Different From What You Are Told
In reacting to the protests in Venezuela, the biggest Western media outlets have drafted a charmingly simple narrative of the situation there. According to this story, peaceful protesters have risen up against a government because of shortages, high inflation, and crime. They have taken to the streets and been met with brutal repression from a government that also controls the media.
It doesn't take much digging to take down this narrative. First, while there have been some peaceful opposition marches, the daily protests are anything but peaceful. In fact, about half of the daily death toll from Venezuela that we see in the media - now at 41 -- are actually civilians and security forces apparently killed by protesters. A much smaller fraction are protesters alleged to have been killed by security forces. As for the media, state TV in Venezuela has only about 10 percent of the TV audience; the New York Times recently had to run a correction for falsely reporting that opposition voices are not regularly heard on Venezuelan TV. They are on TV, even calling for the overthrow of the government - which has been the announced goal of the protest leaders from the beginning. These are not like the protests last year in Brazil, or the student protests from 2011-13 in Chile, which were organized around specific demands.
3. Venezuela: Can a country have a revolutionary state and a capitalist economy? An interview with Steve Ellner
Interviewed by Professor Evaristo Marcano, Links Interbational Journal of Socialist Renewal, 22 April, 2014
At various moments in the interview with Steve Ellner, I welcomed the explanations that he offered in response to my questions. I most identified with the idea of the state as developed by Nicos Poulantzas in which in addition to, and beyond, being an object of a given class, the state is conceived of as a type of mirror that takes in and reflects the nation’s social dynamic. According to this conception, the state is a relation of forces that grows and changes in accordance with the capacity to mobilise each social force. The thesis makes much practical sense in the context of the current process taking place in Venezuela.
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4. Venezuela to raise minimum wage by 30 per cent, Maduro says
Venezuela will raise the minimum wage by 30% on 1 May, President Nicolas Maduro has announced.
He said he would also raise pensions by the same amount. The increase is below the level of annual inflation, which official figures put at 56.2% for 2013. The announcement comes after almost three months of mass protests against Mr Maduro's government triggered by rising inflation, shortages of some basic goods and a high crime rate.
