Above photo: After the official ceremony in the National Assembly, Nicolás Maduro swore in with the people of Venezuela outside the Miraflores Palace. Zoe Alexandra.
The US once again brought out its “democracy and human rights” talking points in an attempt to install opposition leader Edmundo González as president.
While this effort failed, they will not stop in attempts to loot the country’s resources.
On Friday, January 10, in Caracas, Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for a third term (2025-2031). Hours later, about 587 miles away in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the failed candidate of the far-right opposition, Edmundo González, a self-proclaimed commander-in-chief, issued a message on social media ordering Venezuela’s military high command to “disregard the illegal orders given by those who have seized power.”
Just last Thursday, in the Dominican Republic, flanked by a group of right-wing former Latin American presidents, González announced his intention to take possession of the presidency in Caracas. However, that did not happen. Despite claiming in his statement yesterday that “the soldiers are part of the same people and owe obedience through me,” the Bolivarian National Armed Forces reaffirmed their loyalty to Maduro.
His supporters also failed to demonstrate strength in the streets. Although they claimed they would mobilize a million people, only a few thousand attended their protests last Thursday. To gain attention, they fabricated a supposed arrest of their leader, María Corina Machado, which never occurred and for which they provided no evidence.
Despite not commanding his country’s army, lacking control over any territory, and having to send public messages from another country, González does have support from a segment of the international community—most notably from the United States, Europe and Israel—which recognize him as president. He has become a caricature of the already cartoonish Juan Guaidó, who served the Western powers that backed him by handing over the stolen wealth of the Venezuelan people.
In an attempted show of force, on January 10, the day of Maduro’s swearing-in, the US Department of Treasury announced sanctions against a new set of Venezuelan officials, including the president of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., (PdVSA) and the Minister of Transportation and president the state-owned airline CONVIASA. The US Department of State also announced that it was increasing the reward it originally offered in 2020 for Maduro’s capture to USD 25 million.
Though the United States’ support is framed as part of a democratic crusade and a defense of human rights (conveniently overlooked in the case of the genocide in Gaza), the reasons behind the focus of Western media on Venezuelan elections are different. Venezuela is an energy powerhouse, holding the largest oil reserves in the world, the fourth-largest gas reserves, and a robust petrochemical industry that major powers seek to control for their own benefit.
Alongside unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela, the United States and European countries have engaged in blatant theft of Venezuela’s public assets, comparable to the actions of historical pirates. The vulture fund Elliott Management acquired the state oil company Citgo and its network of refineries and distribution in the US, with assets amounting to 10% of Venezuela’s GDP. Meanwhile, British entities are holding 31 tons of gold bars, valued at USD 1.9 billion, in the vault of the Bank of England. By supporting González, Washington aims to continue this looting.
The “recognition” of the opposition candidate is based on a website of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which claims 83.5% of the electoral records supposedly demonstrating his victory in the elections held on July 28. However, as was evident from the start, many of these records are fraudulent and were created by public relations firms in the US. An analysis of the metadata from the alleged electoral table receipts confirms the massive opposition fraud.
Upon taking office as president yesterday, Nicolás Maduro explained why major powers do not want him leading his country. “I have never been, nor will I ever be, president of the oligarchies, of the richest families, of supremacists, or of imperialists. I have one ruler: the common people,” he stated. He also called for broad dialogue to advance constitutional reform.
It is clear and simple: Venezuela belongs to the Venezuelan people, not to empires and their corporations, which seek to steal its oil, gas, and natural resources.
Manolo De Los Santos is the co-executive director of the People’s Forum and is a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He co-edited, most recently, Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War (LeftWord Books/1804 Books, 2020) and Comrade of the Revolution: Selected Speeches of Fidel Castro (LeftWord Books/1804 Books, 2021).