Venezuela is rich in oil, but its people are impoverished by imperialism, the exploitation of its resources, and the exploitation of its workers. The election of Hugo Chávez in 1999 made the country a thorn in the side of the United States. The "Bolivarian Revolution," and its subsequent slide into dictatorship, profoundly marked Venezuela and has resulted in economic collapse for years. It is in this context that Trump launched his "Absolute Resolve" operation on January 3, 2026. This was nothing more than an act of state piracy. Let's revisit some historical elements to understand the stakes!
Oil has been at the heart of the Venezuelan economy for decades. It has been the source of significant private investment, particularly from the United States, as exemplified by the Paraguaná refinery complex.
In the 1980s, Venezuela was governed by a "centrist" coalition. On February 27 and 28, 1989, a popular uprising took place in Caracas, following a surge in prices, particularly for public transportation, and economic reforms imposed by the International Monetary Fund. On the second day, President Carlos Andrés Pérez launched the Avila Plan and sent the army against the rebellious population, killing more than 3,000 people in a few days.
This was followed in 1992 by two attempted coups, one led by Hugo Chávez. He was elected President of the Republic on December 6, 1998. Despite his anti-imperialist rhetoric, Hugo Chávez was, from the outset, quite comfortable with US imperialism, as the United States was the main customer for Venezuelan oil.
After 2003, thanks to rising hydrocarbon prices, a more relaxed political climate, and the state's takeover of the national oil company PDVSA, Venezuela experienced an average economic growth rate of 13.5% until 2009, one of the highest in the world, according to official figures and those of the International Monetary Fund.
Starting in 2001, the government launched "misiones" (missions) in the education, food, and healthcare sectors. The poverty rate fell from 54% to 26% of the population between 2003 and 2008, resulting in a significant decrease in malnutrition and illiteracy.
However, oil revenues were not solely used for social programs. Latent corruption is inseparable from the Chavista regime. It facilitated the importation of all kinds of consumer goods for the benefit of the Bolivarian bureaucracy.
And from that time onward, many other points became problematic within the "Bolivarian Revolution." These include the continued prohibition of abortion-except in cases where the pregnant woman's life is in danger-and its severe repression. The same reactionary attitude of the government was expressed regarding same-sex marriage, which was prohibited in the 1999 constitution. From a societal perspective, Chavismo is characterized by strong conservatism, complacency toward "honor killings," and the ability to "resolve a rape case" by having the victim marry her attacker.
Chavismo also means the repression of strikes, especially in the factories of large Western multinationals. We recall the example of June 9, 2011, in Ciudad Guayana, when an armed group from Hugo Chávez's party, the PSUV, attacked a workers' assembly at the Ferrominera factory gates. One worker was killed and two others wounded in this violent attack.
Internationally, Venezuela has joined the network of dictatorships alongside Putin's Russia, Gaddafi's Libya, Ahmadinejad's Iran, and Assad's Syria. Beyond the pretext of anti-Americanism, this membership clearly characterizes an alliance of dictatorships united by the desire to maintain their absolute power over their populations.
Chavismo was founded on a vast system of patronage and a major dependence on oil. But Chavista oil policy was disastrous, particularly marked by a chronic lack of investment in oil infrastructure. Thus, despite oil revenues, the Chavez years are characterized by a significant increase in the country's debt, which rose from $28 billion to $130 billion, primarily to China, its main creditor.
These years were also marked by both increasing authoritarianism - the regime gradually evolving into a single-party authoritarian state - and a sharp increase in crime with a fourfold rise in the homicide rate.
Venezuela's unbalanced economic fabric, its atrophied industry, chronic food shortages, and rampant inflation remained unchallenged. The 2008 collapse in oil prices reversed the situation, triggering the economic collapse of Chavismo.
The Maduro Years
Hugo Chávez led the country until his death in 2013. Before his death, he designated Vice President Nicolás Maduro as his successor, who became interim president and then narrowly won the 2013 presidential election with 50.62% of the vote.
However, the legislative elections of December 6, 2015, resulted in a landslide victory for the right-wing opposition. The Venezuelan Parliament, controlled by this opposition, approved the opening of impeachment proceedings against the president on October 25, 2016. After a long period of political deadlock, President Maduro attempted in July 2017 to bypass Parliament by having a Constituent Assembly elected that was entirely controlled by Chavistas.
This led to a climate of violence and social unrest that was violently repressed, prompting the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to denounce the "excessive use of force" against protesters.
The United States imposed its first economic sanctions against Venezuela in 2015, under the presidency of Barack Obama, because the country was deemed an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." In 2017, the European Union also adopted a sanctions plan aimed at crippling the Venezuelan economy.
On May 6, 2025, the newspaper L'Humanité wrote: "Washington is seeking more than ever to suffocate the Bolivarian Revolution and is once again relying on a return to the 'maximum pressure' strategy." The objective of these policies is "to deliver the final blow to an economy that is just recovering from the consequences of what UN rapporteurs have described as 'cruel measures' with 'devastating effects on the entire population': a drop of more than 80% in GDP between 2013 and 2020, the worst episode of hyperinflation ever recorded in the world since World War II between 2015 and 2021, and more than 90% of Venezuelans living below the poverty line that same year."
On January 23, 2019, Juan Guaidó, president of the National Assembly, proclaimed himself "Acting President" of Venezuela and was sworn in during a demonstration in Caracas. Maduro remains in power thanks to the support of the Venezuelan armed forces.
It is in this context that, starting in August 2025, Trump deploys a massive naval fleet near Venezuela's maritime borders, threatening to start a war. In December, the US president announces a naval blockade of Venezuela by the American military to prevent all oil tanker traffic. On January 3, 2026, Caracas is bombed for several hours by the US military as part of Operation "Absolute Resolve," and Donald Trump announces the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
The accusations of drug trafficking leveled by Trump against Maduro, which have now virtually disappeared in favor of a desire to seize Venezuelan oil, appear for what they were from the outset: Trumpian fake news! Fake news aimed at masking the imperialist offensive to impose its power in what the US government considers its own backyard, and thus to counter Chinese policy and trade in Latin America.
Against Imperialism and Dictatorship
As we have seen, the situation in Venezuela is highly complex. Faced with this, what political stance should we take? It seems to us that the best course of action is to give a voice to Venezuelan comrades.
The Venezuelan activists of the National Committee of Workers' Conflict, participating in the International Trade Union Network of Solidarity and Struggle, have published the following text, which we feel is important to share:
"First and foremost, to be perfectly clear, even though this point is obvious to you and to us: we totally condemn the US military intervention.
Before January 3rd, there had already been 22 armed interventions by the United States against Venezuela." On January 3rd, none of the three branches of the Venezuelan military (air, land, and sea) reacted. 150 US aircraft flew over the capital, and 15 US helicopters landed there, without any response. This raises questions... For years, the government has been telling us that Russia would protect us in the event of a US imperialist attack!
The reality is that the regime is still in place, as are the repression and restrictions on freedoms; this has even intensified since January 3rd. A new decree has been issued, justified by the state of emergency.
The President of the United States is positioning himself as the world's policeman. We know full well that what interests him in Venezuela is not democracy, but oil! One essential thing must be understood: even under Chavez, and of course also after Chavez, US imperialism has never disappeared from our country; multinational corporations have always been present in Venezuela. Chevron is the leading example. When oil sector union members denounced the oil handouts given to Cuba, Iran, Russia, or China, they were labeled as puppets of imperialism! To comply with the Constitution, every oil contract includes a Venezuelan company, but always a minority one, under the control of a multinational corporation. The Russian and Chinese states have invested heavily in Venezuela. We are now in the midst of the struggle and agreements between the US, Russian, and Chinese imperialists!
Under the guise of anti-imperialism, the ruling group that was in government, and still is, has become pro-imperialist. The lack of response to the military intervention of January 3rd, and the continuation of the government through the former vice president, demonstrate a tacit agreement with the United States.
It is certain that some people in the country hoped for this type of foreign intervention to restore freedoms. This is not our position, nor is it in the interest of the working class. As previously stated, this is not at all the objective of the US intervention, and it is not what the US-backed government intends to do either. Furthermore, we cannot accept the very principle of an imperialist military intervention.
As workers and trade unionists, what are our priorities? We must continue the struggle for democracy, for the liberation of all political prisoners, for workers' rights, and for respect for the right to self-determination of peoples, including our own.
We need to provide some concrete information to our comrades in other countries so they can fully understand our situation, the situation of the Venezuelan working class, following up on what we already expressed at the meeting of the International Trade Union Network for Solidarity and Struggle in November 2025:
- In 2018, there were very harsh austerity measures, under the name of the "Recovery, Growth, and Economic Prosperity Program." This resulted in a ban on wage increases, while prices were deregulated.
- The official salary is less than one dollar a month! That's the cost of two liters of gasoline. There are bonuses, generally between $120 and $150. There hasn't been a wage increase in years.
- In the oil sector, the collective bargaining agreement hasn't been reviewed for four years; this is one of the demands of the multinationals, and it's being met.
- We've won many legal cases: for the payment of unpaid wages following unjustified dismissals, to demand reinstatements, etc. But the state-owned companies aren't respecting these decisions, and the government has turned a blind eye. Since January 3rd, it seems that instructions have been given to ensure that the decisions themselves are contrary to the legitimate demands of the workers.
- In the oil sector alone, there are 120 workers in prison without even a single charge; the anti-union, anti-worker repression is very strong: the state of emergency decree legalizes extrajudicial arrests. Controls, for example, on the contents of personal phones, are increasing. The army is intensifying pressure on businesses.
More than ever, our task is to unite the working class, based on its demands and the assertion of its rights. While the "major national mobilization of January 15th" is currently suspended, there will nevertheless be actions in the coming days and weeks. The support of international trade unionism will be crucial for us.
Internationalism is also important with regard to the millions of Venezuelans in exile. Illusions about US intervention and the "aid" of multinational corporations must be challenged.
The law provides for worker control in companies and popular control of public accounts. But this doesn't exist. It is also on these kinds of things that we must focus, to show that the solution to the poverty, repression, etc., that we have been experiencing for years, does not lie in multinational capitalism or imperialist interventions.
We must continue discussions with our colleagues, our neighbors, and ensure that as many people as possible share our positions: defending workers' demands, freeing political prisoners, respecting freedoms, and denouncing imperialism!
In conclusion, we would like to reiterate the tasks incumbent upon us in France. First and foremost, it seems important to denounce the US imperialist intervention and the arbitrary arrest of a sitting head of state. But denouncing Western imperialism cannot encompass our actions in the face of the situation in Venezuela.
We are compelled here to denounce the "campist" theses that emerged during the era of the former USSR and resulted in a relativization of criticism of Soviet imperialism under the pretext of fighting Western imperialism. We see this same logic at work when a segment of the French left refuses to criticize the Venezuelan regime, preferring to focus its attacks on Trump's USA. International solidarity cannot be built on such charades.
It also seems important to us to denounce the regime in power in Caracas, both before and after the US intervention, the repression of the social movement and labor unions, the lack of democracy, and the appropriation of wealth by a "Maduro-esque" neo-bourgeoisie.
This kind of "socialism" does not build human emancipation. The class struggle remains our guiding principle, here as in Venezuela.
https://plateformecl.org/venezuela-contre-limperialisme-et-la-dictature/
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Link: (en) France, PCL: Venezuela: Against Imperialism and Dictatorship (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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