Image is of a colectivo: an armed group, usually operating in impoverished areas, which act to support and defend the socialist government of Venezuela. They are often derided as vigilante terrorist groups which prop up the government, because cops are only bad when they are socialist and not murdering minorities, I suppose.
Maduro's party, the PSUV, has won the election after a staggering amount of propaganda by the opposition, who said their polls suggested they were going to win and that Maduro's loss was inevitable. The reaction across Latin America is what one would expect. Left-leaning leaders are generally respecting the results and congratulating Maduro, while those on the right and/or are US puppets (such as in semirecently-couped Peru) are calling for recounts, or even that the election was illegitimate. The US itself is also unhappy about the results. We shall soon see if their unhappiness boils over into yet another coup attempt.
Personally, I think they should have ran Guaido again.
Thank you to @Redcuban1959@hexbear.net for the election coverage here, and everything else they do in the news megathread.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Venezuela! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
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The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
About the 2002 Venezuelan Coup, the most dangerous one and the one that almost killed Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution:
Huge Answer
After the electoral victories of Chavez in 1998 and 2000, besides the victory at changing the constitution in 1999. Chavez had initially allied himself with traditional socdems and liberals in the congress, he didn't have the majority. But he worked to isolate the opposition in congress. Chavez basically promises he will be a Social Democrat, he keeps his talks with IMF and even visits Wall Streets and seem to calm down the Americans investors there.After the 1999 and 2000 elections he gained the majority in congress, which secured his goverment from any attempt of deadlock. The price of oil had also risen, which meant the goverment also had economical stability. With this, and his popular support meant that it was time for Chavez to act. He begun live on Venezuelan TV (Chavez had his own TV Show, and you could call him live on TV and state your problem and he would try to help you or give advice) to kick out the Americans and Venezuelan comprador from the positions inside the privatly owned Oil Companies.
That made the Pro-US Trade Unions, Venezuelan Elite, Reactionary Generals and Gusanos begun organazing a coup with aid and help from the USA. In 2002 massive protests begin, and they quickly turns into riots, and it turns violent. Chavez gets a call from Fidel informing that the US had been planning a coup. Fidel first tries to convinces Chavez to escape to Cuba, where he could live to fight another day, Chavez wanted to fight the Pro-US military forces. Then Chavez agree to surrender to the Military, but not before refusing to sign any document, specially any resignition notes, an advice Fidel Castro gave him.
The Western Media quickly supported the coup, from EL País to WSJ, to their biggest supporter, CNN Spanish.
The US and Venezuelan elite, chooses Pedro Carmona as their new "president". Carmona dissolves the congress, supreme court and constitution, and becomes basically the dictator of a Military-Civic Dictatorship. Carmona orders the arrest of people like Nicolas Maduro, Cilia Flores (Future wife of Maduro) and Tareck William Saab. A Group of Cuban Gusanos, led by the Venezuela opposition neoliberal, Henrique Capriles, attempted to invade the Cuban embassy, in an attempt to kill any Chavista there was inside there.
Meanwhile, Chavez daughter, talks with the press, despite the massive censorship campaign. She reveals to everyone that her father was being held by the CIA at a military base. She also reveals that her father never resigned de jure as president. Chavez was transferred from Fort Tiuna to the Turiamo Naval Base, where he wrote a note indicating that he had not resigned “to the legitimate power that the people gave me”.
After that, thousands of Chavez's supporters had come out to protest in front of the Miraflores Palace (Presidential Palace) and at the Paratroopers Brigade in Maracay. A few Generals opposed Carmona's government and began to actively seek a way to restore Chavez to power. Either because they were simpathetic to Chavez, or because they were loyal to the constitution.
The people went on the gates of the Miraflores Palace, and began shouting and protesting. Members of the Presidential Guard, Police and Military Soldiers surrounded the Presidential Palace. Carmona and his ministers (Mostly Male White Venezuelans), began to fear for their lifes. They began calling the Colombian and Americans embassies. They quickly began running away when the Loyalist army, police and protestors stormed the gates. Many people were arrested. But Carmona escaped to Colombia.
Chavez's ministers (Mostly progressive Natives, Afro-Venezuelans, Working Class Whites, Feminists, Socialists, etc...) return to power and Vice-President Diosdado Cabello, who had remained hidden, was received at the Presidential Palace and installed as provisional President of the Republic to avoid the vacuum of power, after this, Cabello's first decision was to order the rescue of Chávez from the military prison in La Orchilla Island in the North of Venezuela.
It was believed Bush had ordered the CIA to kill Chavez or to send him to Colombia, but fortunely it seems they failed to do that because of the chaotic situation after the fall of Carmona's Dictatorship. So, Chavez's triumphal return to Maracaibo and the restitution of democracy took place in the early hours of the morning. Chavez gave a huge speech and said to the crowd and military personel there.
After that the opposition attempted another coup in 2004, a referendum to remove Chavez from power. But it failed, and they said it was fraud. Which was part of the economic sabotage act by the US backed trade unions, known as the Paro Nacional or the Paro Nacional of 2002-2003. This coup failed too.
wow tbh I hadn't really read up much on Venezuela before but this was an incredibly interesting read, thank you!
Theres a lot that I didn't talk about, like the reasons why Hugo Chavez, a radical member of leftist group in the army and arrested fro an attempt coup, won the 1998 elections. Like the 1980's and 1990's massacres done by the neoliberal goverments, etc. Theres a good documentary called "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised/Chávez: Inside the Coup" that shows the 2002 coup.