By Carlos Aznares on March 13, 2018
Bolivarian Venezuela has managed to generate a movement of solidarity as special and profound as those that occurred at the peak of the Sandinista struggle or the constant fraternity that continues with the Cuban Revolution. This time, Caracas received hundreds of representatives of political and social organizations who support the Bolivarian Revolution and understand that the threat of imperialism (which takes place in the economic war, media disinformation and even the possibility of an armed intervention) must be counteracted by embodying the slogan: “We are all Venezuela”.
The second international meeting in support of Venezuela was hosted by high-ranking officials of the Bolivarian government, led by President Nicolas Maduro, Chancellor Jorge Arreaza, President of the Constituent Assembly Delcy Rodriguez and Director of International Relations of the Constituent Assembly Adan Chavez. Each one of them gave their point of view on the current status of the Bolivarian revolution and how much it means to keep challenging the lies that are spread about Venezuela internationally.
Maduro warned against the persistent attacks that the government of the United States is implementing through economic sanctions that effectively constitute a blockade. The empire has trained its minions in each of the countries where the right has won the elections. In particular, Maduro criticized Peruvian President Pablo Kuczynski, who dutifully complied with Trump’s order to prevent Venezuela from participating in the upcoming Summit of the Americas.
Venezuela’s President also measured himself against another international leader who harshly criticizes him; Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who “made 600 thousand families homeless”, while the Bolivarian Revolution built two million homes for the people.
But the Chavista leader also addressed the 300 representatives of international solidarity to exhort them to begin a communication counteroffensive, which should initially focus on the upcoming general elections in May, but also would become a more long-term strategy to counteract the misleading information that is being spread about Venezuela.
“Media, networks and walls” is the slogan of what Maduro calls a “revolution in communication”, referring to the three vehicles of the message: traditional media outlets, online social networks and street art or graffiti.
An initiative like this is indispensable to try to neutralize the enormous campaign led by the US and the Group of Lima, who will have the world believe that there is a “humanitarian crisis” or a “dictatorship” in Venezuela. We have to show what the right wants to hide. In countries under neoliberal regimes, more and more people are becoming homeless, suffer from hunger, and have no access to education. And despite having devoted doctors and nurses, they don’t provide hospitals with enough supplies to care for their people; while militarization and police brutality are common in the poorest neighborhoods, causing many violent deaths.
This is true from Argentina to Mexico and even in the United States. Everybody knows this but they try to sugar-coat that reality. And to divert attention, neoliberals like Macri, Temer and Kuczynski criticize Venezuela. Therefore, our battle must be fought in two fronts: on one hand, showing the world that these “democrats” are not at all representative of the people, and even in some cases were elected through fraud or corruption.
On the other hand, we need to insist, day after day, about the truths of the Bolivarian Revolution, which is far more advanced in the areas of health, education and housing than any right-wing government on the continent.
We need to fight both fronts using accurate data and with thoughtful behavior. It is evident that in Venezuela, the poor and even the middle class suffer the lack of medicine or food due to lack of supply. This, except for occasional planning mistakes and corrupt elements that are being duly punished, is not the government’s fault as the media terror campaign argues, but the result of a brutal blockade, comparable to the one that has been illegally imposed on Cuba for 58 years and counting. Most people around the world haven’t even heard of this blockade or underestimate its consequences. This blockade prevents Venezuela from buying all kinds of products in the international markets, cuts air traffic routes and causes artificial shortages. This is only one of the ways in which imperialism threatens the Revolution.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to increase our activities of solidarity. These are not times for distractions. Now we must defend the continuity of the revolution, stop the attempts by Trump and the European Union to isolate the country, get Venezuela to be able to participate in the Summit of the Americas in Lima, and campaigning for the May 20 presidential election. Media, networks and walls are at our reach and we will use them to take down lies and spread the truth.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano, translation by The Dawn