Fraud allegations, street confrontations, repression and the murder of at least 14 people at the moment evidences that elections from last Sunday have considerably worsen the deep crisis Venezuela was already into. Strictly, itwas the only expectable result if we take into account that last election was the consequence of an agreement between political bloc responsible of taking our brother country to the edge of a humanitarian crisis and the scrappingof it. We are talking about the ruling clique of Maduro’s government, the far-right opposition gathered around the Mesa de Unidad Democrática (MUD) and the North American Government. Elections were carried out in the context of a crisis in which Maduro’s ruling clique reluctantly accepted to go forward with a rigged electoral process with the participation of the oligarchic far-right opposition, while north American imperialism diminished the very hard sanctions on Venezuela, allowing north American and European oil monopolies to carry out big investments on Orinoco’s basin. United States’ change of attitude had nothing to do with an abstract defense of democracy, it was rather the result of circumstances imposed by the outbreak of imperialist war in Ukraine which affected energy demand worldwide. In this way, United States and Maduro’s agreement was against Venezuela’s ally, Putin, and allowed yanky’s monopolies, led by Chevron, to appropriate the big Venezuelan oil reserves. 

Elections were part of the hatching of a wider agreement which included the terms of what a transition in Venezuela would involve if the opposition won, this would include guaranties and self-conducts for Maduro’s ruling clique and the army. 

A variety of foreign States were part of these talks, besides the United Stated there was also European Union, Brazil, Colombia and Qatar.These talks were held behind the suffered Venezuelan people’s back which had nothing whatsoever to do with them, a detaildisregarded by those who defend the “democratic” way out. Maduro’s ruling clique took this agreement in the way that it would not only allow an income of foreign currency but also, and most of all, to strengthen links and gain support among big oil monopolies, showing themselves as a safer ally than the heterogeneous opposition in MUD. 

Taking this into account, Maduro considered that in order to preserve and expand business with him these monopolies, among with their governments, would support an electoral fraud that would keep him in power. As for the Yanky’s imperialism, the agreement allowed them to move forwards an economic penetration in Venezuela, owner of the most important oil reserves in the world, disputing that loot with its world rival block Rusia, China and Iran. This way, Venezuela and its suffered and hungry people is a victim of an international dispute between great powers. The dispute around elections results shows that these political agreements have fall into crisis, at least for now. Maduro’s proclamation as winner is as hard to believe as the percentages awarded by the far-right opposition. For the time being none of them have hand over the totality of electoral records to show the real results. Maduro will insist to proclaim himself as the winner and will try to expose the opposition’s weakness, offering greater governability to oil monopolies. The far-right opposition needs to resort to mobilizations because they fear foreign powers and their monopolies end up accepting Maduro and its ruling clique’s business offer. Again, Venezuelan people will be used based on the same interests that led them into a humanitarian crisis and a forced emigration that numbers by millions. 

Maduro’s ruling clique, allied to the army by millionaire business, claims to represent the defense of national sovereignty and even to embody a socialist project. This is a nonsenseof cosmic proportions aimed to fool people and avoid any independent political action. 

In Argentina we had a similar experience when, during the 70st, Perón talked of a “socialist homeland” to end up creating the Triple A (a paramilitary force) that killed more than 1000popular and workers activists. In Venezuela’s case, the reference to socialism was a screen to enrich a national bourgeoisie (the so called “bolibourseoisie) linked to the ruling clique, the army and sectors of the international capital. 

In Venezuela there are also paramilitary groups patrolling the streets of Caracas, attacking and intimidating people, which adds up to the actions of the army that has al already killed 14 protesters and imprisoned more than 750. 

The fraud carried out in the election is at the service of the perpetuation of a policy that hasplunged Venezuela into a humanitarian crisis.Venezuelan and Latin American left groups that support Maduro’s government in the name of the Chavist speech, confirms their tailing policy to national bourgeoisie in their own countries.  

When they talk in the name of socialism, they leave out the fact that Russia and China’s support to Maduro comes from two regimes that characterize themselves as the absolute antagonism to socialism, they are rather the direct carriers of capitalist restauration responsible to end any conquest of workers revolution’s left. As a sort of retreat plan this left organizations call to support Maduro at least to avoid the far right to move forwards in the continent but what’s really a major favor to the far right is to have a tailing policy to a repressive regime such as Maduro’s. Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD), Venezuelan opposition, gathers oligarchic and pro imperialist right and it’s been making attempts to take power in Venezuela since 2002 up to this date. Its main figure is María Corina Machado, who has gotten to the point of requesting the United States a military invasion to Venezuela.  

Although her speech is full of references in defense of democracy, they skip her support to economic sanctions from the State Department imposed to Venezuela, including the heist of gold reserved carried out by the United Kingdom. Needless to say, that these sanctions are an attack against her own country, but it also conditions the political, economic and social process creating an opposed scenario toany possible democratic election. Unfortunately, part of the left organizations that had a tailing policy to Chavism in its first years are now in the side of the far-right in the name of democracy defense. These kinds of organizations show a complete lack of independence policy and keep oscillating between capitalist options.    

Javier Milei’s government has launched a demagogic campaign about Venezuela, showing himself as a protector of freedom and human rights, when in fact in Argentina he stands up for genocides of last dictatorship and represses and persecutes political opposition and popular struggles. 

He blames “socialism” for the misery in which Venezuelan people are immersed when in fact this desperate situation is the result of both international sanctions and predatory capitalist policy of Maduro’s clique.

The solution to Venezuela’s crisis will not comefrom the forces that have generated it. North American imperialism and OAS accelerate their interference in Venezuela either in order to carry out a coup with oligarchic opposition or to subdue Maduro and his regime even more in the search for more of energetic resources, crucial to the ongoing international war.  The intervention of countries of the region, specially Brazil and Colombia, will oscillate between their agreements with United States and China andRussia’s Block with whom they share the BRICS and important economic interests. Therefore, the key issue for revolutionaries is to stand up for an independent workers way out of this crisis, in opposition to all regime options. The starting point is to reject repression and fraud, coup and self-coup maneuvers and all kinds of economic sanctions and imperialist interference. The stand up for national issue, so important for Venezuela, is not about supporting Maduro’s government, but for the implementation of a true economic plan in the hands of a workers’ government that uses energetic resources as a vehicle to industrialize the country. The slogan of the moment is the independent organization of the workers.

El Partido Obrero ante la situación de Venezuela

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