John Perry, Roger Harris: It’s not only about Venezuela The US military threats against Venezuela have a wider agenda. Their game plan is regime change, but not only in Venezuela. This is the objective – on a longer timescale in some cases – across several of the countries in the Caribbean Basin, aiming to cleanse the region of governments deemed undesirable to Washington. After Venezuela, in the current US line of fire, is Honduras. This Central American country faces an election on November 30 which will determine whether the leftist Libre Party stays in power or whether the country reverts to neoliberalism. In addition, if the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela collapsed, it would embolden the US-sponsored dissidents in Cuba, who feed on the discontent rained upon their country by US sanctions.
US-imposed regime-change in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua – where the “socialist plague” has taken deep root – is a bipartisan project. For other progressive and left-leaning Latin American states – Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, and even Chile – the pax americana prescription stops short of outright deep regime change; infiltration, intimidation and co-optation are employed to keep them subordinate.
The Grayzone: Trump pardons convicted narco-trafficking former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez amid plot to rig Honduran election President Trump declared he will pardon the former Honduran President, who was sentenced to 45 years in a New York prison in 2024 for his role in helping smuggle 400 tons of cocaine into the US in a drug-running scheme linked to the Sinaloa cartel. While Hernandez was President of Honduras, he initiated contracts worth over half a million dollars with Republican lobbying firm BGR Group. BGR has since donated tens of thousands of dollars to the campaign of Marco Rubio, who now serves as Trump’s Secretary of State. “If someone sells drugs in a country, that doesn’t mean I should arrest the president”: This was Trump’s response regarding the pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández
Peoples Dispatch: Venezuelans break record in Popular Consultation vote with 6.5 Million amid US war threatsThe Popular Consultation vote called on community members to identify projects of benefit for their neighborhoods and decide which will be funded and implemented. More than 5,000 communal circuits participated in the election and were able to choose from more than 36,000 proposed projects. Each commune chooses seven projects that are put to a vote. The two most voted receive USD 10,000 each so they can be implemented. Presently, 49,000 Communal Councils are active throughout the country. More Than 6.5 Million Participated in the National Popular Consultation
Peoples Dispatch: Mass mobilization in Caracas rejects US threats of interventionTens of thousands marched through central Caracas November 25 and demanded an end to military threats against Venezuela. For his part, Trump is keeping the lines of communication open with Caracas while increasing pressure on Chavista leaders. The march, the “Great Civic-Military, Police March for our National Flag and the Sword of Bolívar”, brought together various groups of military personnel, police, and civilians who demanded an end to Washington’s pressure on the Caribbean country.
TeleSur: Venezuela Launches Special Plan to Face U.S. Threats to Its AirspacePresident Maduro is implementing a “special plan” to bring home citizens stranded abroad following widespread flight suspensions. President Trump, in a move out of his jurisdiction, urged worldwide pilots and airlines to consider Venezuelan airspace closed. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration then alleged a “potentially hazardous situation” in Venezuelan airspace, prompting indefinite flight suspensions to the South American country from several airlines. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez noted that Venezuela has activated all multilateral mechanisms in accordance with international law for “the immediate cessation of this illegitimate and unlawful action.”
TeleSur: Third Venezuelan Aid Ship Docks in Cuba with Vital SuppliesThe supplies include machinery, materials for the construction and repair of homes, bridges, and roads, as well as mattresses and other essential items. Venezuela is also sending its citizens to work on the island. Díaz-Canel stated that the presence of these young people in Cuba, ready to provide technical and construction assistance, “is related to the brotherhood and friendship between two peoples, between two revolutions.”
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US Economic Warfare Through Currency Rate Manipulation: Cuba
Granma: What is the story behind the operators of El Toque? As they did with Dolar Today in Venezuela, the US Government ‘secretly” finances El Toque In a publication titled The Untold Story Behind the Operators of El Toque, they point out that the medium tries to carry out in Cuba the same thing as in Venezuela or Chile in 1970, when the enemy acted through think tanks, pressure groups, national business organizations and financial lobbies to promote economic destabilization. The depreciation of the Cuban peso that El Toque seeks to boost, causes, Venezuelan economist Pascualina Curcio Curcio says, “import costs rise, causing a supply shock in the economy, characterized by the decrease in aggregate supply that is reflected in two effects, on the one hand, the increase in general prices and on the other, the decrease in national production, that is, it generates stagflation.”
Resumen Latinoamericano: Operation El Toque: a Maneuver Against the Cuban People The US is betting on creating a chaotic scenario, shutting down our homes, paralyzing industry, transportation, and life itself. The U.S. intelligence community is carrying out a strategy to distort Cuban finances and induce inflation within the Cuban market. The economic warfare strategy is divided into several stages: shortages, induced inflation, supply boycotts, and financial blockade to limit the inflow of foreign currency into the country, mainly dollars. These actions focuse primarily on undermining tourism and medical services. The second phase includes the use of US financed platforms such as El Toque, to stimulate inflation. This involves the similar procedure carried out by Washington in Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, Argentina (Dólar Blue, via Telegram) and Venezuela (Dólar Today). El Toque serves to degrade the income level of the population through speculative manipulation of the exchange rate. The El Toque platform has accelerated the artificial increase of the US dollar, with the aim of reaching an exchange rate of 480-500 pesos per dollar (now at 450 per dollars, per El Toque).
A New Mechanism of Financial Terrorism Against Cuba: How the Exchange Rate Became a Political Weapon El Toque publishes black market exchange rates directed at Cuba. Black market currency exchange is a very common practice, affecting virtually all segments of the population: from those who receive dollars from relatives abroad or tourists and those who bring them back from trips abroad. Rates vary significantly: while the official dollar is currently worth just over 100 pesos, you can get four times that amount on the black market. A black market exchange is common. Even souvenirs at the airport were sold based on the black rate, not the official one. Such manipulations further devalue the Cuban peso and weaken the state, as recently emphasized by the country’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Initially, El Toque filled the vacuum created by the state’s failure to offer a transparent and accessible official foreign exchange market. It became a “thermometer” measuring the temperature of the unregulated market. However, this “thermometer” evolved into a “conductor.” The platform went from reflecting market trends to actively shaping them. The publication of a new, often sharply increased, dollar exchange rate immediately triggered a chain reaction: private traders followed suit, raising prices, and then a wave of higher prices would sweep across the entire market, including essential goods.
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Upcoming Events and Campaigns
Grant visas NOW for qualifying games of the 2028 Olympics & Para-Olympics. Road to Los Angeles 2028, visa campaign for Cuban athletes Letcubaplay@gmail.com
December 2, 7:30 ET webinar: Hands off Cuba! Hands off Venezuela! Edwin Cristian Garcia Vivas (ICAP), Jesus Rodriguez Espinosa (Venezuela) (https://meet.google.com/unv-eerg-qao)
December 3: Blockades and Coercive Measures – Stop the War on Children! Speakers from Palestine, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela on the children’s health impact of US-driven Blockades and Economic Coercive Measures. Hosted by SanctionsKill; Americas Without Sanctions
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Delegations to Cuba, Nicaragua:
Cuba
Witness for Peace 2026 delegations to Cuba
December 20- January 3: ICAP hosted International Solidarity Brigade to Cuba
Friendly Planet delegations to Cuba
Nicaragua
Casa Ben Linder Email casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com to apply:
7-15 March 2026: Power & Protagonism: Women in Nicaragua
June 2026: Global Health: Family and Community Health in Nicaragua
July 2026: Solidarity in Action: Nicaragua’s Popular Revolution
October 2026: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua
This is also available at ChicagoALBASolidarity.org. If you have events to publicize, send them to venezuelaweekly@afgj.org or stansfieldsmith100@gmail.com
Chicago ALBA Solidarity 