Latin American Publications!

Economically, Venezuela has suffered extreme hardship under illegal US sanctions and an economic embargo, which has blocked Venezuela from accessing the US-dominated international financial system and prevented Venezuela from exporting its oil and fixing/updating its oil infrastructure, causing government revenue to shrink by a staggering 99% (according to the top UN expert on sanctions, the special rapporteur Alena Douhan). However, Venezuela’s economy is in a better state today than it was during the previous US-led coup attempt in 2019-20, which caused hyperinflation. The inflation rate has fallen a lot. Real wages have risen. Food and everyday necessities are affordable. The economy has dollarized a lot, however, which erodes the monetary sovereignty of the Venezuelan government. The latest US attacks will likely end up increasing support for the Venezuelan government, because it will make it clear that there are only two realistic options: either Maduro or a right-wing US puppet — like the US government-funded far-right coup leader María Corina Machado, whom Washington wants to put in power, and who has been open about the fact that she wants to privatize Venezuela’s massive oil reserves and sell off the country’s assets to US corporations. One clear similarity between Venezuela and Syria was the economic warfare waged by the West. The Syrian government fell in part because the US/EU “Caesar” sanctions had devastated the economy. Syria could not get access to hard currency, and thus had very high inflation. The Syrian military was unable to pay its officers and soldiers, so they were not willing to fight. There were also shortages of food and oil. Syria was blocked from accessing its oil and wheat fields, which were militarily occupied by the US. One major difference is the Western-sponsored war on Syria, which started in 2011. The Syrian state was significantly weakened by more than a decade of war. Moreover, Syria had been invaded by multiple foreign powers, including the US, Turkey, and Israel. Large parts of its territory were not under the control of the central government, but rather by extremist groups and mercenaries funded and armed by the US, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar.