In my Links article, I said: "Today, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez is in a difficult position. Venezuela is under a naval blockade that prevents it from exporting oil without US permission. It is also threatened with renewed bombing if Rodriguez defies Trump's demands.
"Under these circumstances, any agreement reached between Venezuela and the US will be extremely unfair. If Venezuela refuses to sign a bad agreement, the US will continue the blockade and Venezuela's oil industry will be shut down. "Should we condemn Rodriguez if she signs a bad agreement? For those outside Venezuela, such a condemnation would be pointless. Our task is to build a movement opposing the US blockade." In response, Fred Fuentes says: "The issue Chris ignores here is that far from arguing that the new situation is the result of an unfair agreement imposed by force, the Rodriguez government is opening claiming responsibility for the unfolding changes, saying that in fact it is what it wanted to do all along. .... "Why would a progressive government seek to claim ownership of an unfair law imposed by US imperialism that will mean oil transnationals now pay less tax in "anti-imperialist" Venezuela than in imperialist Canada or Mexico? This is the reality that the pro-Maduro left cant find answers to. "Instead they say we must simply oppose the blockade - even though everyone does. But should we oppose US imperialism's capture of Venezuela's oil sovereignty, which the Venezuelan government presents as a step forward for the people? Here they tell us "such a condemnation would be pointless." So, from prioritising imperialism, we end up having to not talk about imperialism's theft of Venezuela's sovereignty." Firstly, Fred's statement that "everyone" opposes the blockade is incorrect. Perhaps he means that "everyone on this list" opposes the blockade. But we need to reach a much broader audience. We need to win mass support. We need to explain to workers and students in the US, Australia, etc the harm done to the Venezuelan people by the blockade. Secondly, we should indeed talk about "imperialism's theft of Venezuela's sovereignty". We should explain how the US has used the blockade to pressure the Venezuelan government to overturn progressive policies, including the oil law. We should denounce the US for violating Venezuela's sovereignty by blockading its ports to impose a change of policy. What I called "pointless" was denouncing the Delcy Rodriguez government for conceding to US demands. Take an analogy from Palestine. The Gaza ceasefire agreement was unjust. It left Israel in control of half the Gaza strip. It allowed Israel to obstruct the distribution of aid. It did not prevent Israel from continuing to kill Palestinians (even if at a reduced rate). We should denounce the US for imposing such an agreement. But should we denounce Hamas for agreeing to a ceasefire? I think that such a denunciation would be "pointless". Hamas was coerced into agreeing by bombing and blockade. In the case of Venezuela, the government's capitulation followed ten years of economic blockade, followed by the imposition of a naval blockade, and culminating in the January 3 attack. I agree with Fred that Delcy Rodriguez should have said that the new oil law is a product of coercion. We can criticise the Rodriguez government's response to the blockade. We can publicise the views of those Venezuelans who advocate different responses. But we should recognise that the Venezuelan government is acting under duress. We should denounce the US for coercing Venezuela. Should we also denounce Rodriguez for giving in to coercion? I don't think this is very useful for those of us living in the US and its allies such as Australia. Our denunciation should be reserved for the US government. Chris Slee -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#40492): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/40492 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/117554663/21656 -=-=- 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]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
