Venezuela & ALBA News 9.3.2021 Venezuelan Extremist Opposition Relents and Agrees to Participate in Elections; Delegations to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba

 

Venezuela
Venezuelanalysis: Hardline Venezuelan Opposition Relents and Agrees to Participate in Elections Opposition figure Henry Ramos Allup said the decision to take part in the vote had the blessing of the US, Canada, and the European Union. The decision by the Unitary Platform (Democratic Action, Popular Will, Justice First and A New Era) marks an important departure for the hardline elements that had opted not to take part in elections since 2017.  Former two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles of the Justice First party had been one of the most active voices in calling on the opposition to abandon the insurrectionary strategy promoted by Leopoldo López and the self-declared “Interim President” Juan Guaidó, both from Popular Will.

Peoples Dispatch (Leonardo Flores): Venezuela dialogue offers way out of crisis Despite the intense pressure by the Trump administration, the Maduro government enters the talks with the opposition in its strongest position in years. The governing PSUV party swept legislative elections in 2020; the response to the pandemic has been successful, despite dire prognostications; and victories in presidential elections in Mexico (2018), Argentina (2019), post-coup Bolivia (2020) and Peru (2021) have eased regional pressure. Currently, the threat of an invasion or coup is almost non-existent. The opposition faction in these talks, extremists because they supported the sanctions and attempted several coups while boycotting elections, enters divided and weakened.

Venezuelanalysis: Washington’s Consensus Broken Inside the House Ociel López examines increasing cracks in the US’ sanctions policy against Venezuela.

Fightback News: Homelessness becoming thing of the past The Misión Vivienda program, which President Chavez started, and President Maduro expanded, has built 3.6 million houses for communities all over Venezuela. Even during the pandemic, the Venezuelan government continued to build housing. Meanwhile in major cities in the US, there is rampant homelessness, housing prices are dramatically increasing, and 20 to 30% of those in living in large U.S. cities were at risk of homelessness during the pandemic. (Other recent Fightback News articles on Venezuela here.)

Bloomberg News: China’s Top Oil Producer Prepares to Revive Venezuela Operations China’s top oil producer is planning to revive output in Venezuela as the country finalizes legislation to attract more international investment. For Maduro, CNPC would be an important investor as he seeks to triple the country’s crude production by the end of this year. Current output of about 500,000 barrels a day is about a sixth of peak production in 2008.

Mision Verdad: Colombia is Creating False Conflicts at its Border with Venezuela The Colombian National Navy has tried to promote a border conflict between Colombia and Venezuela claiming that members of the Bolivarian National Guard had inspected a civilian vessel in Colombian territory, thus violating Colombia’s national sovereignty.The Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry condemned the Colombian statement, which has tried “to increase tensions between the two countries, generating false conflicts in interactions that could be resolved though coordination among local authorities.”

TeleSur: Russia to Resume Shipments of Sputnik V Vaccines to Venezuela  Venezuela has received almost 1.5 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, with a 92% efficacy rate. This vaccine has been distributed in Venezuela free of charge to the entire population, including foreign residents in this country. Russia has sold about 130 million Sputnik V vaccines to other 60 countries. Besides the Sputnik V vaccine, Venezuela acquired 1.8 billion doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine and expects to receive 12 million Abdala vaccines from Cuba. “Starting in October, we will extend vaccination to the population between three and 18 years of age thanks to the arrival of new doses,” Maduro announced. So far, over 3.3 million Venezuelans, or about 11.7% of the population, have been fully immunized against the coronavirus.

The Grayzone: Meet US govt-backed regime-change guru Gene Sharp, mastermind of soft coups Max Blumenthal and Marcie Smith Parenti talk about Sharp’s NED-funded Albert Einstein Institution; his explicitly neoliberal, pro-corporate, and pro-imperialist politics; and the manuals he wrote teaching people how to do so-called “color revolutions” (soft coups) against Washington’s targets, from Yugoslavia to Venezuela to Hong Kong. Marcie Smith “Change Agent: Gene Sharp’s Neoliberal Nonviolence (Part One)”

 

 

Nicaragua
John Perry: Ordinary Nicaraguans Should Guide Progressive Left’s Stance It’s hardly surprising that Nicaragua’s right-wing critics would ignore FSLN achievements, but why are they ignored by the left? Rather than acclaiming a country that is lifting itself out of poverty, it is apparently much more important to judge it against hypocritical Western standards about “democracy” and “human rights” while disregarding the government’s need to defend the country’s gains against attacks from Washington and elsewhere.

 

Bolivia
Kawsachun News: Evo & Mexican Air Force Dodged Coup Regime’s RPG Rocket During 2019 Rescue Bolivian coup leaders fired a rocket at the Mexican Air Force (FAM) plane that rescued Evo Morales in November 2019, detailed the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in his new book.

 

 

Delegations to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba
Nov. 17-27: Delegation to Venezuela – witness effects of sanctions and responses on the ground in the context of the 2021 Venezuela regional elections
2021-22 Nicaragua Delegation Information
Witness for Peace 2021 delegations to Cuba
IFCO Pastors for Peace Delegations to Cuba

 

 

Webinars
Codepink webinar video:  Hybrid War, Sanctions & US Regime Change in Nicaragua Vijay Prashad, Alex Main, Jill Clark-Gollub
Ben Linder Solidarity School every Saturday  A 10-week virtual course to study and strengthen solidarity with Nicaragua and its popular organizations like the Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo (Rural Workers’ Association), and international movements like La Via Campesina. This course is meant for anyone who is interested in strengthening internationalism and accompanying social movements.
September 9: Hands Off Venezuela! Online Picket
September 12: Partners in Crime: the US-Canada Hybrid War Against Venezuela Mariá Páez Victor
September 12: North American Activists Speak Out on US Sanctions on Africa and Latin America Sara Flounders, Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture, Omowale Clay, Margaret Flowers
September 23: Conversation with Nicaragua Foreign Minister Denis Moncada

 

 

To follow Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cuba daily:
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Ultima Noticias (English)
NicaNotes
Tortilla con Sal
Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua
Friends of Evo’s Bolivia
Kawsachun News
Cuba News

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