Can the hysterical shouting of two deputies suffocate the voice of thousands of persons? They can, if those who give them the microphone are the mainstream media, paid by those who want to convince the world that they should take the side of the oppressor: the side of this tiny number of families that possess the wealth of the planet, robbing the natural resources of the people and taking maximum advantage of the labour force.

A system that is clearly unjust and irrational, that destroys surpluses produced instead of distributing them –it’s the market, baby! –, that increases the number of unemployed, while they oblige those who work to do so intensively, without guarantees and with ever lower wages.

If they were to observe the facts, the obstinate and complex reality, the masses that march under false flags would clearly see the precipice towards which they are marching. But the facts, the harsh reality of the facts or the materiality of the relations between classes, are distorted precisely by the media propaganda: by the media of war, participants in the business that is derived from all this. Until the popular uprising breaks out, formerly in the Caracazo, today in Paris, then everything becomes clearer.

It is clear that the attack is against countries such as Venezuela, that stubbornly maintain the possibility of an alternative to capitalism, and which put their stakes on digging their way out from inside. The bourgeoisie’s fear of a return to socialism is evident. The obsession of the strong powers against the “unbearable” Maduro, against the “dictator” who, in his first five years of government, has subjected himself to the proof of 9 elections, is evident…

The more that he is able to advance, avoiding obstacles and traps as he can, the more the chorus resounds of those who wish to celebrate the De Profundis: the death of socialism, which should be wiped out of history. “There are no alternatives – says the refrain –, they can manoeuvre as they know how and hasten to buy (at a high price) a front-row seat in the luxury cruiser to the abyss” . . .

For this reason, the visit to Mexico by Nicolás Maduro, enthusiastically welcomed by the popular sectors, in a great hall full of workers, was invisible in the media, which instead amplified the reaction of the four cats making an outcry in defense of the oligarchy. Despite international pressure, the newly elected Mexican president, Manuel López Obrador, AMLO, did not succumb to the blackmail of the United States and the group of conservative forces that asked him to exclude Maduro from the possession ceremony. That is how history registered the photo of Nicolás Maduro with Evo Morales and Miguel Diaz-Canel, ready for new victories.

Otherwise, AMLO would have turned his back on a substantial part of his electorate: the popular movements that, in international meetings, have received the support of Cuba, Venezuela and the progressive governments of Latin America in the face of evident violations of human rights in their neoliberal countries (from Mexico to Colombia, from Brazil to Argentina, from Honduras to Guatemala) ...

But this evidently is of no concern, either to the ineffable Luis Almagro, secretary general of the OAS, nor to the patrons of those governments who rose to power to guarantee their privileges, while forcing their own peoples to their knees before the western gendarme. In Colombia, popular leaders are killed every day, the last to fall was an indigenous governor, in Cauca. Many families are forced to flee from paramilitary groups protected by the state apparatus.

In Caracas, at a recent meeting held at the headquarters of the Ombudsman's Office and to which journalists were invited, there were representatives of UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Perhaps they were there to attract the attention of the Maduro government, responsible, according to the rightwing, for a gigantic "humanitarian crisis" within the country and on its borders?

It has not remotely occurred to the representatives of UNHCR that have been in the Bolivarian country for months, to think of developing a reception plan on the border with Colombia, where the victims of violence, especially women who have lost everything, arrive to claim refugee status. Representatives of UNHCR provided the data and illustrated the projects, which also include training for the staff in charge and activation of the communities.

Another important axis of Bolivarian politics is that of peace diplomacy, which is carried out in all international organizations where Venezuela has the opportunity to intervene, both as a political actor and as a leader. This is the case of the Non-Aligned Movement, the second largest international entity after the UN, of which Venezuela is temporary president. This is also the case, of the temporary presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

On his return from Russia, where he concluded important economic-commercial agreements, Maduro announced that, within OPEC, there was an agreement with 10 allied countries, including Russia, to reduce daily oil production. And this will increase the price of the barrel "and investment for our people," said the president. The Declaration of Cooperation, promoted by Maduro, will be the working basis of the international organization for 2019.

"We have achieved a very important objective, we are responding to the development of the countries of the world, energy must be for the development of the peoples, not for speculation," said Venezuelan oil minister Manuel Quevedo.

A policy of sovereignty that displeases those who see themselves as Trump's "nice little dog". And, in fact, both Colombian President Iván Duque and his Argentine ally Mauricio Macri, as well as newly-elected Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro, launched attacks and threats against Maduro. A Brazilian general says he is convinced that there will soon be a coup in Venezuela. Bolsonaro, who will take office on January 1, has reaffirmed his commitment to "fight against communism" and has offered Brazil as the seat of a hypothetical court of justice to judge the "dictatorships" of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

A proposal that comes from the "gusano" (worm) Orlando Gutiérrez, ironfisted opponent of the Cuban government who moved to the United States. One of those who fight against the appointment of Nicolás Maduro for his second term on January 10. Everyone is waiting for the bone thrown by the owner. On the other hand, the Bolivarian people, with these latest elections, completed a stage of their revolution and are looking towards the horizon.

(Translation: Jordan Bishop and ALAI).

12/11/2018