Steve Ellner, a retired professor at Venezuela's Universidad de Oriente, is an associate managing editor of Latin American Perspectives and editor of the forthcoming book Latin American Extractivism: Dependency, Resource Nationalism, and Resistance in Broad Perspective.
For years, right-wingers have sought to destabilize Venezuela, and even proclaimed their own rival “president,” Juan Guaidó. But average Venezuelans understand that US sanctions hurt them — and should be resisted.
If you want evidence that the US government doesn’t actually care about drug trafficking, violation of democratic norms, violation of human rights, or widespread corruption, just look at how the Trump administration has treated Honduras versus how it has treated Venezuela.
It took Andrés Manuel López Obrador twelve years to become president-elect of Mexico. Now comes the hard part.
The Bolivarian Revolution hasn’t been perfect, but it’s improved the lives of millions in the face of violent opposition.