Marv says that the Venezuelan masses are "politically exhausted" as a result of the hardships they have suffered.
There is considerable truth in this. The hardship created by the US economic blockade caused many to emigrate. There was also an increased rate of abstention in the 2024 presidential election. In addition, the shock of the bombing and the kidnapping of the president on January 3 would have tended to undermine people's confidence in the government, which was unable to resist this attack. Nevertheless, demoralisation is not universal. Earlier this year there were large rallies demanding the freedom of Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores, and the ending of US sanctions. There have also been protests against some government policies, for example on wages, but as far as I am aware these have been small. Marv refers to polls indicating that most people would vote for right-wing politician Maria Corina Machado. Opinion polls in Venezuela are notoriously unreliable. Different polls give widely different results. The Hinterlaces poll shows strong support for Delcy Rodriguez: https://www.hinterlaces.net/monitos-pais-81-de-los-venezolanos-prefiere-que-la-presidenta-e-delcy-rodriguez-resuelva-los-problemas-economicos-del-pais/ The small size of anti-government protests suggests that the Hinterlaces poll may be correct. Chris Slee ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Marv Gandall via groups.io <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 19 July 2026 2:56 AM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [marxmail] "Its blowing in the wind" - Diosdado hears changes It's safe to say the left-wing opposition to the Rodriguez government is caught between a rock and a hard place. Its criticisms of the Rodriguez government for publicly prostrating itself before the Trump administration and effectively allowing it to run the country may be justified, but protest activity is now almost non-existent. The masses appear to be politically exhausted after all these years of economic deprivation and fruitless struggle against the blockade, especially under a less inspiring leadership since the death of Hugo Chavez. Polls suggest that if the masses were given the opportunity to vote, they wouldn’t vote for the left-wing opposition but for the favourite of the right-wing Venezuelan emigre community, Maria Corina Machado. Given the objective situation described below, the Venezuelan CP, disaffected Chavistas, and other left-wing forces seem to me to be in the same position as the many left-wing trade unionists who have lost strike votes because the base is no longer confident and is feeling overwhelmed by the superior resources and staying power of the employer. In that sense, Chris and Fred are both correct in respectively criticizing both the blockade and the government for abjectly surrendering sovereignty. I would emphasize the first element in public, as AOC, Ilhan Omar, and other US lawmakers and progressive groups have done, and leave the second for discussion of alternative approaches within left-wing circles such as this one. According to https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/us-lawmakers-call-on-white-house-to-lift-indiscriminate-sanctions-against-venezuela/: "Since 2017, Washington has levied wide-reaching sanctions against Venezuela, targeting key sectors such as banking, mining, trade, and especially the oil industry. Coercive measures against Venezuela’s all-important energy sector have caused revenue losses estimated at more than US $20 billion per year. The sanctions regime imposed during Trump’s first administration was largely kept in place by the Joe Biden White House. "Venezuela’s GDP contracted by three-quarters between 2014 and 2020, with 88 percent of the contraction taking place under the US economic blockade...Venezuelan leaders have called on Washington and its allies to lift sanctions and unfreeze assets for reconstruction efforts. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez penned a letter to UK King Charles III requesting the release of around US $4.5 billion in Venezuelan gold held by the Bank of England. "The US and European allies are estimated to hold over $10 billion in other assets, including frozen bank accounts and roughly $5 billion in IMF-issued Special Drawing Rights (SDR). In contrast, US offers of post-earthquake humanitarian aid have only totaled $386 million." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#42537): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/42537 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/120295008/21656 -=-=- 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/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
