By Alejandra Garcia on January 4, 2022
Exactly one year ago, Chavismo regained the National Assembly in Venezuela, leaving behind the nefarious wake of the parliament in contempt that was subordinated to the farce of wannabe president, but couldn’t ever be, Juan Guaido. The new legislative mandate opened a chapter of hope and consensus for the Bolivarian people. One year after that memorable moment, Venezuela is a much more united country.
This year has been one of successive achievements despite the constant obstacles and the more than 440 sanctions imposed by the United States and the international right-wing.
According to the president of that Latin American nation, Nicolás Maduro, the unilateral measures applied by Washington against Caracas, hit terribly the economic life of the country, the working-class, Venezuelan families, and businesses.
“The coercive measures, especially those of the era of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) were like an atomic bomb for the country,” Maduro said and warned that they tried to undermine the production of oil, gold, and the cryptocurrency, created as an alternative for international purchases.
However, the people’s resistance paid off. “The Venezuelan economy is in a clear period of recovery. It has its own economic engines, industrial and technological capacity, human capital with the knowledge to move forward and replace the old capitalist economy of oil dependence,” the president highlighted during a recent interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet.
During that dialogue, Maduro assured that his country has left the state of hyperinflation – a period that began in November 2017 – after four months in a row with single-digit inflation.
“Venezuela takes steps towards sustainability. We are off to a good start in 2022, with economic growth that will be transformed into higher education, health, housing, income, and social happiness,” the president remarked.
Progress was palpable in the results of the recent regional elections, last November 21, when the leftist United Socialist Party of Venezuela achieved a resounding victory, with 210 out of 235 mayoralties in its favor.
The secret of the achievements of the Bolivarian people is “having built a leadership system. After all the war the western hegemony has waged on Venezuela, how is it that the Bolivarian and Chavista forces could obtain this tremendous victory?”
“We knew it would not be easy,” he said. “The mega-elections occurred amid the U.S. blockade, sanctions, and the problems in our daily lives. Imperialism believed it could shake the people’s confidence in their leaders. It wanted to crush us, to confuse us, but it didn’t succeed.”
This year, in addition to the sanctions, the country faced an invasion attempt through border territories with Colombia; the extradition to the United States of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, accused of “a thousand false elements,” according to Maduro; and a process of dialogue with the opposition, undermined by defamatory campaigns against the Bolivarian government.
Amidst the highest tensions and hostilities, Venezuela preserves peace. In thousands of opportunities, Maduro expressed his rejection of the political violence that the opposition has brought to Venezuela for several years, such as the well-known and deadly “Guarimbas” of 2014 and 2017. The leader neither surrendered to death threats, genocide attempts and calls for Washington’s invasion into Venezuela.
“We are for real. We have leadership, we face the people, we are with the people in good times and bad times, we are capable of renewing our discourse, our political program, we are capable of renewing ourselves spiritually, of renewing our smile, and looking people in the eye,” he said.
“What leftist, revolutionary force, a political movement of any doctrine or ideology in the world today can obtain a victory like the one obtained by the Bolivarian movement, the Chavista movement in Venezuela?” Maduro asked himself.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English