Charlie says: "U.S. imperialist pressure on Venezuela has been unrelenting for years. The people kept Chavez and then Maduro in office time after time."
Imperialist pressure has had an impact, causing some people to lose hope about the possibility of progressive social change. This is not a new phenomenon. The opposition won the 2015 National Assembly elections. This followed the beginning of US sanctions, which (along with a fall in oil prices) contributed to an economic crisis in Venezuela. At some subsequent elections there have been high abstention rates. On the other hand, a significant section of the population continued to vote for the PSUV, even at the height of the economic crisis. In the 2018 presidential election Maduro got 68 percent of the vote on a 46 percent turnout. This means that about 31 percent of potential voters voted for Maduro. The CNE's figures for the 2024 election show Maduro on 52 percent of the vote with a turnout of 58 percent. This means that about 30 percent of potential voters voted for Maduro. In other words, a slight decline since 2018, perhaps explained by the CP withdrawing its support. Charlie says: "But the Maduro regime changed, the working people do not want to be lambs for the Boli-bourgeois feast, and this year they did not keep him in office. They protested the regime's violation of the election." The Maduro government has certainly made concessions to private capital. These are said to be necessary to circumvent the blockade. The US tries to prevent anyone from trading with Venezuelan government agencies such as PDVSA (unless granted an exemption under conditions that are very unfavourable to Venezuela). To circumvent the blockade, the government uses private companies as intermediaries, but this leads to the privatisation of government functions and the growth of corruption. Whether the concessions are just an emergency measure in response to the blockade or reflect a permanent neoliberal turn I am not sure. Those who say the government is still progressive often point to its support of the communes and its house-building program. I see no reason to doubt the CNE's voting figures. The big rallies in support of Maduro since the election show he still has substantial support. The exclusion of left candidates critical of Maduro from the ballot paper is a different issue, and should be condemned. Charlie says: "Things change, and if anything is politically dishonest, it is the gambit of telling the working people of Venezuela to accept the Maduro lies and the Maduro mass arrests." I assume Charlie is referring to the arrests following the election. Some, at least, of those arrested committed acts of violence and destruction. This is not a new phenomenon. Whenever the opposition loses an election, they claim there has been fraud and their supporters go on a rampage. If innocent people have also been arrested, that should be condemned. It is not unusual that in a society under siege, the government becomes more repressive. Our main task is to demand an end to the siege. Chris Slee -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31797): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31797 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/108065934/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
