“During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes have invariably meted out to them relentless persecution, and received their teachings with the most savage hostility, most furious hatred, and a ruthless campaign of lies and slanders.”[1]
Vladimir Lenin, (As cited by Maria Páez Victor in her presentation.)
But it was in the early months of 2019 that America played the regime change card in this geostrategic poker game. While Venezuelan PresidentNicolás Maduro was being sworn in for a second term in high office, opposition forces were orchestrating an effective coup d’etat. A relatively unknown politician by the name of Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president with the backing of the U.S., Canada, the European Union and the countries and several Latin American nations.
When the military stayed loyal to the elected president, and the masses marched in under-reported parades of support for Hugo Chavez’s chosen successor, a second attempt was launched which involved a caravan of aid supplies being stopped at the Columbia-Venezuela border. The official line parroted by mainstream media outlets was that Maduro’s forces were destroying aid intended for the desperate Venezuelan citizens being victimized by a callous dictator. It would later be revealed however that the opposition forces were responsible for the burning of these vital supplies.[2]
In the weeks and months that would follow, more calamities would be visited on the Venezuelan people, such as the power failures in March. Nevertheless, as the year 2019 has come to an end, it would seem that these efforts to dislodge President Maduro from power have proven to be unsuccessful.
The Venezuelan situation was one of the highlights of the 2019 annual forum of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE). As detailed in the last episode, WAPE is an international academic organization dedicated to utilizing modern Marxist economics to analyze and study the world economy, reveal its laws of development, and offer policies to promote economic and social progress on the national and global levels. In her keynote address, Venezuelan-Canadian sociologist Maria Páez Victor elaborates on the dynamics affecting her countrymen, breaking down the social and economic factors in play, and places the crisis in a historical and geopolitical context.
The talk, entitled Venezuela: Disturbing Echoes of History builds her thesis around answering three basic questions – 1) What is really happening in Venezuela, 2) Why is it happening, and 3) What will happen next?
Audio of this talk was recorded by Paul Graham. The unabridged speech is embedded below.
Dr. Maria Páez Victor is a sociologist, born in Venezuela and educated in Caracas, New York, Mexico City, England and Canada. For several years she taught the sociology of health and medicine as well as health and environmental policies at the University of Toronto. Dr. Páez Victor has national and international experience in policy analysis and impact assessment, with expertise in the areas of health, environment, and energy. She is an active member of the Latin American community in Canada. She is also the author of “Liberty or Death! – the life and campaigns of Richard L. Vowell, British Legionnaire and Commander, hero and patriot of the Americas” (2013) (Tattered Flag, UK).
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