Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, July 29, 2024.- The people and government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines congratulate the Venezuelan People who exercised their free will and voice in the recently held elections, reaffirming once again their commitment to democracy.
We also congratulate President Nicolas Maduro Moros on his victory and re-election to the Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for a third term.
Read the full Communiqué
Caracas, July 29, 2024.- The president of the Electoral Branch, Elvis Amoroso, announced the first bulletin of the results of the 2024 Presidential Election, with 80% of the ballots transmitted and a strong and irreversible result.
The electoral authority reported that there was a voter turnout of 59%, for which 21,392,464 registered voters were called to participate in the electoral roll.
The candidate Nicolás Maduro received 5,150,092 votes, with 51.20%; the candidate Edmundo González received 4,445,978 votes, with 44.02%; and other candidates received 462,704 votes, or 4.6%.
The highest electoral authority reported that the data transmission system suffered a sabotage attack, which adversely delayed the transmission of the electoral results of the 2024 Presidential Election. In this regard, it was stated that an immediate request was made to the Prosecutor General of the Republic to initiate an investigation into the terrorist actions against the electoral system, polling centers, and electoral officials.
Likewise, President Elvis Amoroso called on the people of Venezuela to respect the Constitution and the laws of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as the mandate of the people expressed through the voting machines, and to maintain peace throughout the national territory.
He announced that the detailed results by polling station would be available in the coming hours on the Electoral Branch’s website, as has been done historically thanks to the automated voting system. Additionally, the results will be provided to political organizations on a CD, in accordance with the law.
CNE (National Electoral Council)
Caracas, July 28, 2024.- “People are voting, the system is very secure, with no incidents reported so far, the polling stations are set up, and the voting process is very quick,” Jorge Arreaza, the executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) said after voting at the Manuel Palacio Fajardo High School in 23 de Enero, Libertador municipality of Caracas.
Arreaza mentioned that July 28 commemorates the birth of Commander Hugo Chávez, “and the first thing I want to do is remember him and express my gratitude to him for leaving us an absolutely democratic country, and today is a demonstration of that, the country is in absolute tranquility.”
“We have had 31 elections, but there have been nearly 100,000 elections for Communal Councils and Communes since 2006, where the people, from their territory, democratically and actively elect their representatives,” he added.
He also stated that this is a day to reaffirm Venezuela’s independence through voting and to overcome any international interference.
“The communes are mobilized; today is a day for history (…) There are 10 candidates on the electronic ballot, and the people will know very well, with a big smile, which candidate to choose as the President of Venezuela,” he concluded.
Caracas, July 28, 2024.- He said he was born by chance, on a very rainy night, “a night of fierce downpour over the dark plain.” It was a winter night, according to his mother, and from midnight into the day – as they say in those plains – he would see the light in Sabaneta, at his grandmother Rosa’s house, when the pains of his mother, who was only 20 years old, became unbearable. There was no permanent electric light at that time, but there was plenty of water and rain. “There was no moon, no rooster; it was a dark night.”
On that July 28, 1954, fifteen months after one of his brothers, under the sign of Leo in the Western horoscope – like Simón Bolívar and Fidel Castro – and under the sign of the horse according to Chinese tradition, the world would welcome to the great human that was Hugo Chávez, with a “divine mix for those who believe in astrology,” as described by Spanish writer Ignacio Ramonet in his book “Mi primera vida (My first life)”
However, he said that he did not believe in predestination, nor that the course of life was charted at birth by a sign or by stars. But at the same time, he recognized that in those plains where he came into the world, there was a strong vibe, a presence of an almost wild but varied and authentic nature, resistant to the men who have tried to dominate it. And for that reason, in him, and in every llanero (people from the plains) from those lands, their personality and culture were imbued with a challenge for greatness, goals and objectives, for endless wars, magic, and legends.
“Being a llanero also represents a culture: music, the harp, poetry, the couplet… A way of approaching existence, work, nature, love, the greatness of the journey… This is a country of Quixotes,” he used to say.
According to him, the plain was both beautiful and terrible, and within it coexisted beautiful life and atrocious death. To be a llanero, moreover, was to be a poet; while some developed this talent, others carried it in their souls, expressing it through songs or in their lifestyles.
He summarized the circumstances of his birth like this: “It’s like a seed. You throw a seed into a stony ground or a sandy area, and the chances of it sprouting are slim. In contrast, it seems that I was born in fertile soil for something to sprout. It was not only about a man, but a historical time and to participate in it.”
That has been Chávez since then: more a historical time, a mantle that constantly moves from the earthly to the divine, making us return to him again and again, as he is reborn and shows us how much we need him each day. It is essential, then, to drink from his imperishable energy, to walk with him through plains and mountains, cities and poor neighborhoods, to hear him speak from the most diverse platforms or embraced by a young person from the village he encounters along the way.
Chávez has been and is, like never before, in the llanero spirit of his Venezuelan people, in the generosity of those who do not surrender and fight in every corner of Our America, and in the poetry that emerges from ten-line stanzas, songs, traditional religious celebrations, and even in great political speeches that challenge ignominy and defend the best of humanity.
That is him, from the very rainy, dark, and rebellious dawn in which he was born: he is the spirit of struggle, dignity, history, and the essence of the Nation that he helped recover and transform. Today, it stands as a fighter and revolutionary, despite unimaginable dangers and threats. He resides in his people and in that simple warrior wisdom that drives them not to surrender before any adversity.
Yes, he was born in fertile soil, and in his short but eternal existence, he transformed the stony ground and the muddy landscape of our Venezuela, of Our American homeland, into a better place to live. He sowed his seed among all, for all, to be reborn—not every 200 years—but every day, as the peoples fight and are reborn.
Cuba Sí.
Caracas, July 24, 2024.- As part of the 2nd Meeting for a World Social Alternative: From Bolívar to Chávez, a panel titled “Alternative for the World’s balance” was held, where prominent analysts discussed the evolution of current geopolitics and the growing multipolarity.
Researcher Georgette Kuri, a member of the Network in Defense of Humanity, shared her insights on the importance of consolidating identities and overcoming common challenges in Latin America and the Global South.
During her speech, she emphasized the need to build a social agenda that allows for the articulation of historical experiences of struggle and advances toward new political paradigms.
Kuri stressed that the challenge of the 21st century lies in recognizing the potential of the peoples. She stated that this process, which begins with forums and debates, aims to lay the groundwork for significant change in how politics is conducted in the region.
In this context, she highlighted the case of Venezuela, a country that, according to Kuri, stands as a reference point in the search for alternatives to the traditional hegemonic model.
“The socialism of the 21st century, as it has been called, is not merely a political term; it encompasses a comprehensive vision that promotes profound transformations in society.”
Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein, an international analyst, pointed out that “the first conflict” lies in our perception of a multipolar world and the decline of the United States as a hegemonic power.
The creation of a bipolar world system had benefited Washington until the mortgage crisis of 2008-2009. At that time, Russia began to regain its status as a global power, and China had already asserted its economic influence, he explained.
The year 2012 marked a turning point in this new configuration. The reelection of Vladimir Putin in Russia coincided with the election of a new leader in China, both key players in a historical and political process that defined the post-World War II era, during which imperialism had delineated the opposition between these countries.
“In contrast, Russia and China, after their respective recovery processes, began to establish trade relations that in 2010 barely reached 10 billion dollars, but which were projected to exceed 200 billion by 2020,” he explained.
Rodríguez Gelfenstein emphasized that this bilateral dialogue fostered the proposal for a new world order centered on a vast Eurasian space, which could balance the dominance held by the United States in the North Atlantic since the end of World War II.
In consequence, the United States, through the eastward expansion of NATO, attempted to prevent the consolidation of this new alliance, reigniting a geopolitical rivalry similar to the one experienced during the Cold War, where each power seeks to protect its sphere of influence.
Additionally, Ramón Grosfoguel, a sociologist and decolonial thinker, provided his perspective on the role of imperial elites in this context.
Grosfoguel warned that “we cannot underestimate the imperial elites,” arguing that despite their apparent decline, they possess “new ideas and dystopian projects” that threaten life on the planet.
He emphasized that these elites, particularly the financial capital that gathers annually in Davos, are working on what they call “the new reset,” which reveals that “they have a project that we must understand and combat.”
Caracas, July 24, 2024.- On the second day of the 2nd Meeting for a World Social Alternative, organized by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) and the Simón Bolívar Institute (ISB) at the Bolivar Theater of Caracas, recognized experts participated on the 5th Panel “Alternative for economic justice,” contributing to reflection and consensus-building on this matter to consolidate a unified stance of social movements and progressive governments in the region, aimed at confronting and ultimately overcoming the imperialist hegemony of the global north.
The panel included Paula Giménez (News from Latin America and the Caribbean), Andreína Tarazón (Center for Advanced Studies on Development and Emerging Economies), Yosmer Arellán (Advisory Team of the ALBA-TCP Secretariat), Jorge Coronado Marroquín (Latin American Network for Economic and Social Justice), and Carlos Vega (Hostosiano National Independence Movement of Puerto Rico), moderated by Guillermo Barreto, an executive member of the ISB.
In a brief intervention, Jorge Arreaza, ALBA-TCP executive secretary, informed that it was President Nicolás Maduro who generated the idea to advance the initiative for a World Social Alternative and shared the greeting sent to the event by the Venezuelan leader: “The triumph of Venezuela will be the triumph of the unionist, independentist project, of a future for our beloved Homeland and for Great Homeland, Our America. It will be the victory of an alternative model to savage capitalism, neoliberalism, dependency, and destruction; the victory of an alternative model created by the intelligence and power of a people, that is Venezuela.”
Paula Giménez from Argentina commented on her collaboration with a team in publishing a book that explains how the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by imperialism as a political event to send healthy humanity back to their homes and impose a new era of digitalization. They present this in their work as a new phase in the capitalist system, characterized by the advancement of digitalization, which brings greater voracity, exploitation, and worsening living conditions under a freedom appearance.
“We believe we are going to digital platforms to enjoy and entertain ourselves, thinking that consumption on social networks brings greater freedom when in reality it brings greater exploitation because it is not just about working hours; rather, the time spent on digital platforms is generating wealth for the new financial and technological aristocracy,” she explained, emphasizing that this represents an “expansion of levels of exploitation.”
She affirmed that there are alternatives to capitalism, and there are possibilities to propose another model that places the human being at the core. In this regard, the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela with 21st Century Socialism serves as a successful example.
The unequal distribution of wealth in the world
Andreína Tarazón from Venezuela presented economic figures predicting that inequality will persist in a global context. “We do not have— for example—equal conditions in access to the distribution of global wealth, which is evident in access to technology that could relieve poverty and extreme poverty,” she stated, highlighting significant challenges for progressivism.
She affirmed that the right to development is a fundamental banner for Venezuela, which, as an energy power, faces the challenge of increasing its oil and gas production, conceived under the banner of environmental sustainability. She spoke about the strengthening of new power blocs, such as BRICS, which presents “a huge opportunity to influence decision-making and where the world is headed,” as well as China’s Belt and Road Initiative aimed at providing the world with new opportunities for commercial interconnection.
Yosmer Arellán, also an executive at the Central Bank of Venezuela, presented two proposals: to create the Center for Economic Thought of the World Social Alternative and to establish an economic fund to allocate resources.
He indicated that what is done with unilateral coercive measures, wrongly called sanctions, is a form of warfare through a suffocating, Machiavellian, and ruthless mechanism, using as weapons the hegemony of currency, trade, payment systems, financing, and creating dependency, such as with oil in the Venezuelan case. He demonstrated through slides the impact of these measures, showing a loss of $228,773 billion over 8.3 years. He celebrated that with the implementation of an alternative model, there is a real recovery of the economy, reflected in the lowest inflation rates in the last 20 years and sufficient supply from national production.
Jorge Coronado, a sociologist from Costa Rica specializing in Political Economy, emphasized that economic justice should be a central theme in the debate among the left and progressivism in the region. He explained that the imposed neoliberal system has dismantled national economies and “turned us into producers and exporters of agricultural commodities and raw materials to benefit large multinational corporations.” He also discussed tax fraud, which causes Latin American countries to lose $423 billion annually due to tax evasion, resulting in the continent remaining the most unequal in the world.
“Social movements are taking on the challenge of economic justice and social justice, and it is important to link what we do from social movements and alternative think tanks with the actions of progressive governments and the left. It is imperative that we develop a higher level of political dialogue in Latin America regarding proposals.” He also suggested placing the issue of wealth taxation on the discussion agenda for Latin America.
Carlos Vega stated that the failure of the capitalist economic model in his country is a reflection of the failure of the global capitalist model: “Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy in 2016; its external debt is unsustainable and cannot be paid.” He identified that it is the colonial government that has incurred these obligations, and in that year, former president of the United States, Barack Obama, established a Fiscal Control Board for the island, composed of seven people appointed by him. This board imposed brutal neoliberal austerity measures on the people, who suffer from privatized healthcare, efforts to eliminate public education, and have experienced a massive migration of five million compatriots. “Living in the belly of the beast, they are discriminated by the racist society” of the United States.
“There can be no peace without national sovereignty, and our country lacks that sovereignty to make its own decisions… The freedom of Puerto Rico must be a task for all Latin America. The U.S. extracts immense wealth from our archipelago that does not return to improve the quality of life for our compatriots,” he denounced.
Caracas, July 24, 2024.- The discussions and proposals continued on Wednesday, July 24, during the second Meeting for a World Social Alternative, taking place at Bolivar Theater of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
Lawyer Claudia Rocca, president of the American Association of Jurists from Argentina, opened the panel “Alternative for justice in politics,” a topic that caught the attention of some international delegates attending this event organized by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) and the Simón Bolívar Institute (ISB).
Rocca expressed that the justice sought by the peoples is one that guarantees equality, as well as the defense and sovereignty of nations. “Without sovereignty, it is not possible to obtain any rights—political, social, or cultural,” she emphasized, as well as she said that it is important to promote integration with other peoples and create new independent judicial powers.
On the other hand, Karina Olivo, a member of the Popular Party of Chile, asserted that the judiciary in each nation must free itself from its role of disciplining divergent thoughts and transformative processes in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Her proposal is for social organizations and progressive regional blocs to promote the transformation of political justice—one that defends human rights and not the powers and governments of the far right.
Laila Tajeldine, a Venezuelan lawyer and representative of the Free Alex Saab Movement, stated that it is indeed possible, with the strength of the peoples, to liberate citizens who have been victims of corrupt judicial systems. “Only a judicial revolution can overthrow lawfare (legal warfare),” she emphasized.
Quoting the commander of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chávez, Tajeldine stated that it is essential to drive a transformation of political justice. “Judicial action in countries like Argentina, with (Javier) Milei, hinders the peoples and also threatens Venezuela and other nations in the region,” she denounced.
Finally, Nidia Díaz from the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (El Salvador) considered that currently not only is the struggle on social media relevant, but also the judicial struggle.
“All peoples must prepare for this fight; we must get ready for this historical journey,” Díaz emphasized, who also urged to defeat the imperial strategy that interferes with judicial powers and alters historical narratives.
Díaz denounced that in El Salvador and other countries there is a phenomenon called “judicial hitmen,” against which a battle must also be waged.
Caracas, July 24, 2024.- Regarding the 2nd Meeting for a World Social Alternative: From Bolívar to Chávez, a panel on the Alternative for unalterable peace took place this Wednesday.
Socorro Gomes, from the Brazilian Center for Solidarity with the People and Struggle for Peace, emphasized the aspiration of peoples around the world to live in peace and stated that this is only possible when they are free and masters of their own destiny.
She highlighted that there are currently significant threats to peace, being imperialist intervention the greatest one, especially from the United States, “which, although in decline, is heavily armed and has over 800 military bases around the world,” putting life on the planet and the fate of free peoples at risk.
She also specified that “peace is not possible in an oppressed people,” while applauding the initiatives of organized peoples to strengthen peace, especially the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), as it is a “great instrument for the peace of the peoples seeking an alternative.”
Moreover, Elisa Salvador from the Angolan League of Friendship and Solidarity with the Peoples stated that “to have peace, we must have tranquility, and many of us in other countries, primarily in Africa, live in misery, we live with hunger, we live with wars; therefore, it is not possible to talk about peace.”
In this regard, she emphasized that to achieve peace, it is necessary “to have goodwill from our leaders, from our rulers, from institutions; only by uniting in this way, we could achieve it.”
David Denny, representative of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, began his participation by expressing his “solidarity with the Government and the people of Venezuela” regarding the upcoming electoral process. “For us, this is a very important day; Venezuela is a sister nation that has always stood by the poor peoples of the Caribbean region… we wish the best for July 28 and hope to see the victory of the people.”
He indicated that “we are in the midst of an ideological, economic, political, and military war. We must unite our forces to defend our region from U.S. imperialism,” urging to “work together, build unity in the region, and continue the struggle for reparations.”
The Peace Council from the United States was represented by Bahman Azad, who pointed out that “the balance of power on a global scale has begun to shift, and we are facing many dangers and brutal, criminal negative reactions against peoples and progressive forces… We are witnessing the crimes against humanity that the Zionist state of Israel is committing against Palestine.”
In this regard, he emphasized the power of the unity of peoples to achieve peace and specified that “imperialism is not just a matter of politics; it is a system.”
Finally, Carolus Wimmer from the International Solidarity Committee and the struggle for peace extended his solidarity to the leftist movements in the United States and those who “fight against that unjust, imperialist system.”
Wimmer stated that to build a future, it is necessary to review history and work towards self-determination, “for Bolívar, peace was not pacifism or tranquility; for Bolívar, peace was justice, independence, freedom.”
He also invited the peoples not to “lower their guard,” as that is what the enemy expects in order to attack.
Caracas.- A total of 1,326 national and international press professionals have been accredited by Venezuela to cover the presidential elections on Sunday, July 28.
This large group of journalists includes 164 special envoys from 76 international media outlets, among them major agencies such as AP, AFP, EFE, Bloomberg, and Thomson Reuters.
Also from Kyodo News, Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Newspaper (Japan), ARD Broadcasting (Germany), BBC News, BBC World, and newspapers like The Guardian and Financial Times (United Kingdom), RTVE (Spain), Liberation, Le Monde, and France 24 (France), as well as Al Jazeera English (Qatar), The Washington Post, New York Times, and CBS News (USA).
Along with photographers, cameramen, and technical staff from foreign press outlets, they began arriving in the country since last Wednesday to complete the accreditation process with the National Electoral Council, in addition to the 106 professionals from 31 media organizations with correspondents in Venezuela.
Additionally, 1,056 communication workers from 33 national public and private media outlets have been accredited, bringing the total to 140 media organizations that will cover the elections and all electoral events during next Sunday.
Part of this extensive journalistic team comes from Germany, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Dominica, the USA, Spain, France, Japan, Lebanon, Paraguay, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
Next Sunday, Venezuela will hold presidential elections for the 2025-2031 constitutional period, in which 10 presidential candidates are competing; 9 of these belong to opposition parties and one is the candidate of the Bolivarian revolution, Nicolás Maduro.
FIN/AVN/ PI
Caracas, July 24, 2024.- The Bolivarian people of Venezuela and the world celebrate 241 years since the birth of the Homeland’s Father, the America’s Liberator and genius of all times, Simón Bolívar, whose anti-imperialist legacy from his revolutionary independence struggle remains relevant today in the pursuit of his unfinished dream: a Great Homeland that is free, sovereign, and united.
“Bolívar is the childbirth that never ends…” expressed Commander Hugo Chávez Frías on July 24, 2012, in his last speech on the occasion of the 229th anniversary of the Father Liberator’s birth.
“I believe that Bolívar is born every day within us, in his people, in these boys, in these girls, in the cornfields, in the sprouting of plants, in the struggle for life, in the struggle for social justice. There Bolívar is born and reborn. That’s why I said, paraphrasing Miguel Ángel Asturias, ‘The struggle that never ends,’ the childbirth, the birth that never ends. The Homeland, the Homeland!” Chávez added on that July 24, 2012, when he presented the face of the immortal hero after a scientific reconstruction following the unprecedented public revelation of his eternal bones in 2010.
“Now that we have presented his face, (…) Long live Bolívar! The real Bolívar and we are jubilant in Venezuela, and in all the countries of Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond. Because truly Bolívar was, is, and will be one of the greatest giants of humanity. A true giant of the human cause, of the human struggle! The best of the human beings,” he added during the historic ceremony.
President Nicolás Maduro Moros confirmed these words when he recalled that Simón Bolívar rides firmly through every corner of the Homeland to transform his struggle into a moral force for the present and future.
“The Father Liberator is the greatest reference of our truth and of the dreams to fulfill,” wrote the Head of State in 2021 on the occasion of the 238th anniversary of Bolívar’s birth.
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios y Blanco was born in Caracas on July 24, 1783.
His parents, Doña María de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco and Colonel Juan Vicente Bolívar, formed a wealthy family from the high aristocracy of colonial Caracas.
He had great teachers such as Andrés Bello and Simón Rodríguez, who instilled in him a love for the anti-imperialist struggle.
In his early years, he was cared for by Matea Bolívar, known as “La Negra Matea,” whom he considered a mother.
Young Simón became an orphan at an early age, losing both his mother and father. At the age of 18, he married María Teresa del Toro Alayza, who was 20 years old (on May 26, 1802).
In July of that same year, the young couple moved to Caracas, where his wife contracted yellow fever and died on July 22, 1803.
In his grief, Bolívar swore never get married again. This personal tragedy and the history of his own family led him to reflect on life, and his mentor, Simón Rodríguez, directed him toward the mission to which he would dedicate his life and personal wealth: to liberate Venezuela and America from Spanish rule.
In 1813, he was granted the title of Liberator by the Cabildo of Mérida in Venezuela, which was ratified in Caracas later that same year after his reconquest of the Andes and central areas of the country through the Admirable Campaign.
For twenty years, he led the struggle in hundreds of battles against the royalist monarchical army of Spain to achieve independence for Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Bolívar was the founder of Colombia, a union of nations formed by the newly liberated republics from Spanish imperial rule, which existed between 1819 and 1831. The name Gran Colombia was attributed by 20th-century historians to the vast territory of this united republic to distinguish it from present-day Colombia, which only adopted this name in 1863 when it was referred to as the United States of Colombia.
On June 16, 1822, El Libertador met Manuela Sáenz, a prominent figure in the independence history of Ecuador and La Patria Grande, who would become the great love of his life and his most loyal defender.
Bolívar survived numerous assassination attempts, particularly in Colombia, where Manuela prevented the traitor Santander from successfully carrying out an assassination attempt in September 1828.
The Liberator managed to come out of the hundreds of battles he commanded without any wounds that threatened his life.
But on December 17, 1830, Bolívar passed away in Santa Marta, Colombia, presumably from tuberculosis, at the young age of 47. However, the real causes of his death are still being studied, in the face of historical questions that remain unresolved.
His republican, anti-imperialist, strategic, and humanitarian ideas, as well as his civil and military works during his lifetime, reveal an extraordinary thought that is still relevant in today’s world.
He is considered for his actions and ideas as “The Genius of America,” and he is a significant figure in Universal History; countries in Latin America and around the world honor his memory.
Two countries have been named in his honor: the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Venezuela, whose official name, Bolivarian Republic, reaffirms the revolutionary and anti-imperialist legacy he left in his homeland.
