Opinion & Analysis

Unlike the large majority of the writing on Venezuela in the Chavez era, which focus on Chavez’ “style” or personality, Ellner focuses on substantive issues, especially around class and race.

The attempt of the Venezuelan government to regain control over the resources of the country is entirely justified. Yet it has been met by howls of protests from the multinationals. How can these gentlemen speak of the so-called efficiency of the private bankers?

Only when Chávez became the leader of what was beginning to become an important trading partner and threatened to destabilize a status-quo that was not in Venezuela’s favor, did the United States express much concern over the well-being of the latter’s population. The sudden intense concern that then followed seems directly tied to the U.S.’s economic interests.

Chavez critics don't explain Venezuelan law or how Supreme Court rulings interpret it. Nor do they report how the Enabling Law works, that the nation's Constitution authorizes it, that four other presidents used it, among many other things. How can they? It would expose their false accusations and discredit their entire argument.

Since the inception of the oil industry in the early twentieth century, Venezuela has had strong cultural ties to the United States. President Hugo Chávez however has sought to change this by cultivating a sense of cultural nationalism in his country.

International Crisis Group (ICG), issued a report on Venezuela entitled, “Venezuela: Political Reform or Regime Demise?”  Considering that the ICG is recognized today as one of the leading sources for the prevention and resolution of violent conflict in the world, the report is underwhelming in the amount of factual information and objective sources it utilizes.

Cooperativist ecological farmers supported by the Venezuelan government’s land reform programs were attacked last Thursday by armed and masked men who, the farmers say, were hired by large estate owners in the area to cut short the changes heralded by the “Bolivarian Revolution” in their rural Andean Mountain valley.

Caruna is the body that administers funds made available for development projects in Nicaragua within the framework of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). Nicaragua's experience is important as an example and model of the economic alternative based on solidarity and fair terms of trade that ALBA represents.

On June 11, President Chavez, accompanied by several of his principal ministers, met with the 500 most important employers in Venezuela. He called there for "national unity". The socialist journal Marea Socialista asked Stalin Perez Borges to evaluate this meeting in the present Venezuelan context.

The process of change that is being brought about in Venezuela and its positive results in the social area, supported by international organizations is becoming a constant motive for study in academic circles in the United States. An interview with a U.S.-Indian Doctor who visited Venezuela's Barrio Adentro mission.