Author: Susan Spronk
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A Short Guide for Canadian Anti-Imperialists on the Current Crisis in Venezuela
With the Lima Group meeting in Ottawa, the news of the crisis in Venezuela has hit Canadian headlines. This short guide intends to provide some key talking points for progressives who might not be ready to comment on what is happening in Venezuela, but are critical of the interventionist stance of the Canadian government. Keep reading »
Hands Off Venezuela!
What Has Been Happening Since February and Why It Matters The recent destabilization campaign waged by the right-wing opposition has yet again made Venezuela a darling of the international media. While there is always a deafening media silence when the Bolivarian government wins an electoral mandate, throughout the month of February 2014 viewers were assailed with … Keep reading »
February Traumas
The Third Insurrectionary Moment of the Venezuelan Right “Today the counter-revolutionary Right is reactivating itself,” according to long-time Venezuelan revolutionary Roland Denis, “taking advantage of the profound deterioration that this slow revolutionary process is suffering. Its reappearance and interlacing with ‘democratic civil society’ is a clear signal to the popular movement that we either convert this … Keep reading »
21st Century Eco-Socialism? Struggles over Nature in Venezuela
Santiago Arconada was the first Community Coordinator for the Caracas metropolitan region of HIDROCAPITAL, the city’s water utility, and subsequently held several prominent positions in HIDROVEN, the national water company. He was part of a team of reformers responsible for implementing the participatory model of the technical water committees (mesas técnicas de agua, MTAs) throughout … Keep reading »
Venezuela: “Open Horizons”
An interview with Roland Denis Roland Denis is a leading intellectual and revolutionary in Venezuela. He served as Vice Minister of Planning in the Hugo Chávez government in 2002-03, but resigned after ten months in protest of the lack of grassroots involvement in the planning process. He is the author of many books and articles. The … Keep reading »
“Now is the time!”: Struggle for Sexual Diversity in Venezuela
An Interview with Maria Gabriela Blanco Alianza sexo-género diversa revolucionaria(Revolutionary Alliance of Sex-Gender, and Diversity, ASGDRe) Under Hugo Chávez, there have been many gains in the struggle for liberation, including for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people (LGBT). Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was outlawed in the 1999 Labour Organic Law but anti-discrimination … Keep reading »
The Revolution Will Not Be Decreed
An interview with Gonzalo Gómez, Marea Socialista (Socialist Tide) In Caracas, we caught up with Gonzalo Gómez, a founder of the radical website aporrea.org and militant in the Trotskyist organization, Marea Socialista. In this interview, Gonzalo describes his own path to militancy, the different phases of the Bolivarian process, and the dangers of bureaucracy, the “boli-bourgeoisie,” … Keep reading »
“This Process Belongs to the People”
An interview with Juan Contreras, Coordinadora Simón Bolívar Born and bred in one of the most militant inner city barrios of Caracas, 23 de enero, Juan Contreras participated in the urban guerrilla movements that sprang up in Caracas in the mid-1970s and is now a militant in the Bolivarian process. We interviewed Juan in his office … Keep reading »
Fighting for Land and Territory in Urban Caracas
An Interview with Héctor Madera Jeffery R. Webber and Susan Spronk (JW and SS): We’re here in Caracas, Venezuela, with Héctor Madera, one of the founders of the Comités de Tierras Urbanas (Committees of Urban Land, CUTs) and member of Movimiento de Pobladores (Poor Peoples’ Movement, MP). As an introduction, can you tell us a little … Keep reading »
Venezuela: Voices on the Struggle
In mid-June 2010, we caught up with three revolutionary socialist activists, Gonzalo Gómez, Stalin Pérez Borges, and Luis Primo in Caracas, Venezuela to discuss their views on the contradictions and prospects of the Bolivarian process. JRW and SS: Can you tell us a little bit about your political lives? GG: I am a co-founder of … Keep reading »
The Labour Movement and Socialist Struggle in Venezuela Today
An Interview with Pedro Eusse In mid-June, 2010, we met with Pedro Eusse, National Secretary of the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) and part of the provisional executive committee of the labour confederation, Unión Nacional de Trabajadores (National Union of Workers, UNT). Revolutionary figures from times past stared down at us from the paintings hung on the … Keep reading »
Communal Power in Caracas
An Interview with Wilder Marcano We caught up with Wilder Marcano, director of the network of Comunas in Caracas, on the morning of June 18, 2010. He talked with us just before addressing a crowd of a few hundred representatives of different comunas from around the capital who had gathered in the offices of the Ministry … Keep reading »