Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on a successful, fair and transparent election, and congratulates President Nicolas Maduro on his re-election with 51.2% of the vote, announced shortly after midnight by the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), the Venezuelan election authority. The victory of President Maduro is a victory for the Bolivarian revolution, the people of Venezuela, the Palestinian people, and everyone struggling against imperialism everywhere in the world.
Mohammed Khatib, the Europe coordinator of Samidoun, is currently in Venezuela representing Samidoun as a part of approximately 1000 international solidarity delegates and election observers to witness the presidential elections, which were conducted on July 28, 2024. “The victory of President Maduro in this election is a victory for Venezuela, for Palestine, for the Bolivarian revolution and for everyone confronting imperialism,” Khatib said.
“Throughout the day and our entire delegation, the vibrancy and depth of Venezuelan political life was abundantly apparent. In popular neighbourhoods, people entered the streets to raise the Venezuelan flag and cheer for President Maduro and the Bolivarian promise. There was tremendous participation by women and youth in the electoral process, and a powerful presence of working-class struggle everywhere we went,” Khatib noted.
After a busy day of polling, in which international observers viewed an orderly, transparent and well-run election system at polling places throughout Caracas and nationwide, the eagerly awaited election results were announced shortly after midnight on July 29. President Maduro won with 51.2% of the vote, followed by his primary opposition challenger Edmundo Gonzales, with 44.2% of the vote, with an overall turnout of 59% of the 21.3 million-person voter base.
As expected, US-backed opposition figures, far-right figures from across Latin America from Mauricio Macri to Ivan Duque to Javier Milei have weighed in attempting to undermine the democratic process in Venezuela for no reason other than that they, and their sponsor in the United States, are unhappy with the election results. The people of Venezuela have spoken again, as they have repeatedly over the past 25 years, and again on this July 28 — Hugo Chavez’ birthday — for the Bolivarian process and for socialism.
Maduro, representing the Socialist Unity Party of Venezuela (PSUV) ran as the Chavista candidate, continuing the process begun by Hugo Chavez of the Bolivarian Revolution. Under Chavez, Venezuela cut all ties with “Israel” in 2009, amid the “Operation Cast Lead” aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Chavez’s willingness to confront U.S. imperialism openly in a wide range of international arenas, alongside his commitment to the Bolivarian socialist project in Venezuela, won him strong support globally, including from Palestinians and Arabs.
In 2018, Ahmad Sa’adat, imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a prominent leader of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, wrote:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been a stalwart friend of the Palestinian people. In all international arenas and forums and through practical support and material solidarity, the Venezuelan people and state have stood with the Palestinian people, confronting imperialism and Zionism. Venezuela’s rejection of diplomatic ties with the Israeli colonial regime stands as an example in the world of principled solidarity and boycott, especially as the Palestinian movement, including the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, urges international boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel… We know well the words and actions of Hugo Chavez in support of the Palestinian people and his clear condemnations of the Zionist attacks on the Palestinian people. ‘The State of Israel has become a murderous lackey at the service of imperialism…It’s a genocidal government. I condemn that Zionist government that persecutes the heroic Palestinian people,’ Chavez said. His words on Palestine and in support of the struggle of our people have bolstered the strength and resolve of Palestinians everywhere.
On the other hand, the Venezuelan opposition, backed by the United States, imperialist powers including the European Union and Canada, and an array of global far-right forces aligned with imperialism, has sought out an alliance with the genocidal Zionist regime. Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition — for which Gonzales was selected as a replacement, as she was barred from running due to her repeated involvement in subverting democracy in Venezuela, including her role in promoting Juan Guaido as “interim president” in 2019 in a failed coup attempt. She was involved in prior coup attempts in 2002 and 2014, and promised to privatize 90% of state industries in Venezuela, bring an end to free health care, cut social programs and otherwise devastate the Chavista program. While this won her accolades from far-right libertarian Javier Milei of Argentina, it is no surprise that this failed to find an echo in the popular neighbourhoods of Venezuela.
Of course, Machado also sought an alliance with Zionism. In 2018, Machado wrote a letter to the infamous war criminal, genocidaire and Prime Minister of the zionist entity, Benjamin Netanyahu, requesting the occupation’s participation in a military intervention in Venezuela, through a document published on her X social media account. She gave interviews to Zionist TV, not only pledging to reestablish diplomatic ties with “Israel” but to establish a Venezuelan embassy in occupied Jerusalem.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that as the people of Venezuela celebrate the victory of their Bolivarian Revolution in the streets of Caracas, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken — best-known for his fervent support for the continuation of “Israeli” genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza — appeared in Japan to fan the flames of discredited assertions by far-right opposition figures that, somehow, despite the presence of their own observers at the polls and the highly transparent and regulated election system in Venezuela, the results “do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.” It is clear, instead, that the results do not reflect the will of U.S. imperialism. The Venezuelan people will not allow themselves to be manipulated by media smear campaigns or a campaign of hybrid and economic warfae against their country and will instead choose the path of sovereignty, independent development and resistance to imperialism.
As the ffact-finding mission to Venezuela of the International People’s Tribunal on US Imperialism, in which Samidoun participated one year ago, wrote: “From Palestine to Venezuela, imperialist crimes can never be stopped through concessions to its demands: It is RESISTANCE that wins. It is clear, more than ever, that the U.S. empire is not able to achieve its ends by committing these crimes, and that we are witnessing a brutal attempt to maintain U.S. hegemony amid an emerging pluripolar world.”
US imperialism has waged an intense hybrid war upon the Bolivarian revolution and the Venezuelan people, including sanctions, blockades, attempts to foment a coup, attempts to destroy the Venezuelan economy and impoverish the people of Venezuela into ‘regime change,’ theft of Venezuelan assets and the ongoing subversion of Venezuelan democracy. As we confront the US-Zionist genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the attack on Venezuela is part and parcel of the same imperialist regime of plunder and devastation. We stand firmly against any attempts to undermine the Venezuelan people’s democratic electoral process by the United States, the European Union, Canada, Britain or their allies.
Today, after President Maduro cast his vote, he said: “Viva Palestina Libre!” In 2022, he noted: “The Axis of Resistance exists throughout the world; it exists in Africa, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Latin America and in the Caribbean. The Resistance also belongs to the people who are fighting against neoliberalism, racism and various forms of colonization…The 21st century is our century. It is the century of the unity of the people. It is the century in which people will be liberated. It is the century of justice and truth. Empires are in decline, and people’s projects for well-being, development and greatness have just begun. This century is our century.”
Indeed, this century is our century: of the fall of Zionism and imperialism, and the victory of the people, from Venezuela to Palestine and beyond. On this historic election day, we once again congratulate the people of Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro, and all of the participants in the great Bolivarian Revolution. We are certain that our victory, to end the genocide and to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea, is made closer with every victory over imperialism around the world.
