Sanctions have caused terrible hardship to the Venezuelan people, both directly and indirectly. Sanctions have severely damaged the economy (e.g. through lack of spare parts for machines, restrictions on exports, etc). Sanctions have damaged the health system (lack of drugs, vaccines, spare parts for medical equipment, etc)
Sanctions have also affected government policy. In an attempt to bypass US bans on dealing with Venezuelan government bodies, the Venezuelan government has used private companies as intermediaries, which favours tendencies towards privatisation and facilitates corruption. In this context, it is not surprising that some people in the poor suburbs blame the government for the hardship they suffer. Some put their hopes in a change of government to solve their problems. And when this doesn't happen, they are open to accusations that the results were falsified. This can lead to violence. We saw the same thing in the United States back in January 2021. For socialists in the US and its allies, campaigning against the blockade is the main task. We can criticise Maduro, but our main criticism should be directed against the US government. Chris Slee ________________________________ From: marxmail@groups.io <marxmail@groups.io> on behalf of Bobby MacVeety <bobbymacve...@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, 4 August 2024 7:39 AM To: marxmail@groups.io <marxmail@groups.io> Subject: Re: [marxmail] An Attack on Venezuela’s Democracy - ZNetwork Dan, do you consider this an unbiased report? I see no mention of the sanctions; all blame goes to Maduro On Aug 3, 2024, at 2:34 PM, dan via groups.io <dmaertens2=gmail....@groups.io> wrote: For those who, for some reason have not been able to follow the world news, in recent months; https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/03/maduro-has-lost-the-streets-in-venezuelas-barrios-former-loyal-voters-risk-all-in-protests -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31448): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31448 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107690873/21656 -=-=- 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: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
