Orinoco Tribune: Venezuela: President Maduro Leads in the Polls Before Presidential Elections According to Hinterlaces, which carried out a national survey by sampling with respect to gender, age, locality, and socio-economic and educational levels, President Maduro leads voting intentions with 54.2%, far ahead of his closest contender, the candidate of the right-wing Unitary Platform (PUD), Edmundo González (21.1%). In response to the question “With which political party do you sympathize the most,” 52.1% chose PSUV-GPP, 14.4% selected the Unitary Platform, and 15.2% expressed support for other opposition parties. While 6.4% chose the option “Others”, 12.9% opted for Do not know/No response.
Steve Ellner: What the Mainstream Media Isn’t Saying About Venezuela’s María Corina Machado The center-right’s strategy for reaching power differs from that of Machado and the far-right in two aspects. First by focusing its message on unseating Maduro, as opposed to specific policies, the center-right hopes to guarantee unity of the opposition by avoiding divisive positions. And second, a less aggressive discourse would stand a better chance of convincing the Chavistas to accept unfavorable electoral results…Washington’s unconditional support for Machado is not only an intrusion in the internal affairs of Venezuela, but in the internal affairs of the Venezuelan opposition.
Most of the salient features of Machado’s discourse and positions coincide with those of reactionary leaders and movements that have emerged in twenty-first century Latin America…This pattern manifests itself in Milei’s commitment to “destroy the state from within” and his concomitant shock treatment policies.
In many countries, the center-right (the Partido Popular in Spain and US Republican Party leaders) have made deals with the far right. In other countries traditional centrist parties have been reduced to a shadow of their former selves and have been displaced by the far right (Colombia, Argentina). The political polarization behind these tendencies is exactly what is taking place in Venezuela. There on July 28 voters will be choosing between a far-right candidate and Nicolás Maduro, situated on the left side of the political spectrum.
TeleSur: Over 635 International Observers To Be Present in the Elections Foreign Minister Ivan Gil noted that Venezuela has consolidated a participatory democracy over the last 25 years, despite all the difficulties caused by over 930 arbitrary sanctions imposed by the US. “The Venezuelan electoral system is transparent and auditable. It is perhaps one of the world’s most perfect systems,” Gil stressed, mentioning that electoral experts from the United Nations, the Carter Center, the African Union, and 65 countries will be present in Venezuela on July 28.
TeleSur: Autodefensa Conquistadoras de la Sierra Warns of Destabilizing Attempts by the Far Right Against Venezuela The military group issued a statement warning of the intentions of extreme right groups in Venezuela to destabilize the Maduro government.. According to the Autodefensa forces, these right-wing groups tried to contact them to carry out acts against the Venezuelan state. They “have made all kinds of requests, among them, to attack the electrical infrastructure, to act against the president candidate Nicolás Maduro, to act in case he is re-elected infiltrating us in protests and generating chaos in the streets.” The military group rejected the offer since, it “does not engage in internal affairs of other countries, that our organization owes itself and aims to maintain order in the sierra nevada”. They also said they were fully willing to contact the Venezuelan authorities to give more details.
TeleSur: President Maduro Announces New Popular Consultation to Finance Community Projects He called for a new National Popular Consultation, to be held on August 25, for the communal councils to vote on their 4500 development projects. Maduro announced that “we will make a quarterly consultation, four consultations a year, for infrastructure projects selected by you at the base without interference from bureaucrats or technocrats!” Maduro explained that these actions will allow the country to “move towards a direct democracy where the people have power.” This initiative, emanating from both the People’s Power and the Communal Power, is described by the head of state as the “only formula there is,” to prevent Venezuela from being dominated by a “system of savage capitalism. ”
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Cuba
ResumenLatinoamericano: Cuba Neutralizes New Terrorist Plan from the US This week Cuba reported that it thwarted the attempts of a network of Cubans living in the US who tried to enter the island illegally with weapons, and with the purpose of starting a social outbreak. The Ministry of the Interior disclosed details of a plan, neutralized in December 2023, to promote and organize terrorist actions. In late November 2023, a Cuban citizen illegally entered by sea with firearms and ammunition. The individual, identified as Ardenys García Álvarez, entered the island through the Manuel Canal area, in the province of Matanzas, with a Jet Ski type nautical motorcycle, registered in Florida.
US Conference of Catholic Bishops: Letter to Secretary of State Blinken on Removal of Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism List, July 9, 2024 “On May 15, 2024, the State Department submitted to Congress the list of countries that do not fully cooperate with our country’s anti-terrorism efforts; we were pleased to see that, unlike in recent years, Cuba was not included in that list….I urge you, Mr. Secretary, to remove Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, and to maximize our country’s engagement for the good of the Cuban people.”
Cuba President Miguel Díaz-Canel speech at the 10th Extraordinary Summit of ALBA-TCP At times like these [after the failed coup in Bolivia], we must increase our solidarity in the face of political polarization and the division of our societies promoted by the opponents of Latin American and Caribbean unity and integration. The far right uses this polarization to use manipulation and deception to attack popular-oriented governments and hinder their social development policies.
If they achieve their goals, there … will be repression and persecution of social leaders; atrocious neoliberalism and the handing over of natural resources to transnational corporations. It is urgent and necessary to reject coup methods, which constantly strive to emerge and to denounce the use of modern tools of manipulation that try to stop… progressive political processes in Our America. We see this repeated over and over again in our sister country of Venezuela, where they are trying to generate violence once again, now in the context of a new electoral process. We can confirm this in the constant US interference in the internal affairs of Nicaragua, where we still remember and grieve the terrible events of 2018.
In These Times: Liz Oliva Fernández on Life in Cuba Under U.S. Embargo This news magazine normally has hostile coverage of Cuba. “Oliva Fernandez, who traveled to the US to promote the film she co-created, says the sanctions have a huge impact. ‘We’re not talking about a small country in the Caribbean sanctioning another one. We’re talking about an empire like the United States that not only stops Cuba having normal relations with the United States, but also stops it having normal relations with the rest of the world. If you can’t do business with any country, If you have to pay three or four times the regular cost of everything because you’re buying from far away countries, if you can’t use dollars, if you can’t create bank accounts, if you can’t pay with credit cards, there is nothing you can do…When you talk about the US’ Cuba policy, you’re really talking about the Trump Biden Cuba policy because they’re the same.”
Noam Chomsky, Vijay Prashad book: On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle
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Bolivia
TeleSur: 24 Bolivians Face Up to 25 Years in Prison for Role in Failed Coup Attorney General Cesar Adalid Siles Bazan said Bolivia is putting 24 suspects on trial for their role in a failed coup attempt on June 26, with the possibility of facing up to 25 years in prison. “Six formal charges have been determined, where the Prosecutor’s Office has shown sufficient evidence of criminal responsibility against these 24 people,” he said. Of the 24 suspects charged, three are under house arrest, while the remaining are in preventive detention in Bolivian prisons, he added in an interview with Bolivia TV.
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Nicaragua
TeleSur: Over 82% of Nicaraguans Approve of the Ortega Administration Currently, 82.4% of citizens approve of President Daniel Ortega’s administration, 12.4% neither approve nor disapprove, and 4.8% disapprove. According to 91.8% of the respondents, Ortega generates a sense of hope regarding the present and future situation in Nicaragua. The data also shows that 83.2% of citizens believe that the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) is leading the country in the right direction. This assessment has been consistent in all SISMO surveys conducted since 2011.
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Events
July 13: NNOC Spring/Summer virtual meeting from 12-3 PM ET fill out the form to register
July 14 Webinars ‘Venezuela Chooses: What is at Stake in the Coming Elections?’ Diego Sequera, Steve Ellner, Ben Norton, Alan MacLeod
July 15 Protest at the Republican National Convention. Join contingents against the US blockades and economic warfare on Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua
July 20: 9 am ET The Nicaraguan Revolution 45 years on: Global Solidarity in a Changing World Speakers: Carlos Arguello, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the Netherlands and Nicaragua’s representative to the International Court of Justice (ICJ); Ismara Mercedes Vargas Walter, Cuban Ambassador to the UK; Ruby Cox, Member of the NSCAG Executive Committee; Roger McKenzie, International Editor of the Morning Star
July 22, 1:30 pm ET: What’s Really Happening in Venezuela with Venezuelan Ambassador Felix Plasencia and Francisco Dominguez
July 23: Venezuela: High Stakes Election Threatened by US Sanctions
August 19-22 Protest at the Democratic National Convention. Join contingents against the US blockades and economic warfare on Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua
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Delegations to Cuba, Nicaragua
Cuba Delegations
December 1-9: National Single Payer: Invitation To Join Our Delegation To Cuba
Witness for Peace delegations to Cuba
Friendly Planet delegations to Cuba
Nicaragua Delegations Casa Ben Linder 2024
Email casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com to apply:
November 8-17 2024: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua
February 2025: The Bird Brigade: Birding in Solentiname Arquipelago
March 2025: Power & Protagonism: Women in Nicaragua
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Chicago ALBA Solidarity 