Red Pepper's Venezuela Blog

Venuzuela's Co-op Boom

[Yes! Magazine's Michael Fox look at the boom in Venezuela's cooperative sector. --Ed]

Estrella Ramirez learned to read, and then to run a business with the help of Venezuela’s new literacy and job training “missions.” She and some of her co-workers started Manos Amigas, a co-op that makes uniforms. Credit: Michael Fox.

IMF and World Bank Face Declining Authority as Venezuela Announces Withdrawal

[Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the U.S. based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), argues that Venezuela's decision this week to pull out of the IMF and the World Bank could have an impact on both institutions, whose power and legitimacy in developing countries has been waning steadily in recent years. --Ed]

5th ALBA Summit in Venezuela Strengthens Regional Integration

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Chris Carlson reports on the 5th ALBA Summit, held last weekend in Venezuela. The idea of ALBA, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, was first proposed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2001 as an alternative to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) promoted by the United States government. The initial ALBA agreement was signed in December 2004 between Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, and Bolivia and Nicaragua later joined the agreement. Haiti and Ecuador have also expressed interest in the agreement, but have not yet formally joined. --Ed]
Cuba's Vice President Carlos Lage, left, hugs Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez as Bolivia's President Evo Morales, right, and Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, far left, look on at the inauguration of the Alba Games in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Saturday, April 28, 2007. Venezuela is hosting the Alba Games alongside the fifth summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, a trade and cooperation group which aims to provide an alternative to U.S.-backed free trade efforts in Latin America. Credit: Leslie Mazoch/AP

Venezuelan Support for Uruguay Provokes Bush-Chavez Debate

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Michael Fox argues that Venezuela’s investment in Uruguay has been characteristically different from the free market private investment that President Bush promoted during his recent trip to the country, highlighting a growing debate in Uruguay over its global integration: A la Bush or a la Chávez. --Ed]

Venezuela's Chávez Announces World Bank Debt Has Been Paid Off

[Telesur report on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's announcement last Friday that Venezuela had paid off the debt it owed to the World Bank. Chavez's announcement was made during a ceremony that was held around the Presidential Palace of Miraflores, to commemorate the 13th of April of 2002, the day when a civic-military rebellion restored the constitutional order in Venezuela. For a Spanish version of this article click here. --Ed]

Venezuela to Introduce Local Currencies

[Venezuelanalysis.com editor Gregory Wilpert reports on the announcement made last month by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that his government would like to introduce local currencies in communities, so as to help their development and to alleviate poverty. Chavez said such currencies “can improve life and above all for the construction of a new social, economic, and political system” by creating an “alternative system of commerce.” --Ed]   
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a Center for ideological formation, where he announced the idea of introducing local currencies in Venezuela. Credit: ABN

Noam Chomsky on Recent Changes in Latin America: Neo-Liberalism and Empire in Latin America Today

[In this interview excerpt with Sameer Dosani, Noam Chomsky argues that Venezuela has helped countries in Latin America free themselves from U.S. controls, exercised in part through the traditional threat of violence, which has been much weakened, and in part through economic controls. For the full-length interview, which also discusses Iraq and Asia click here. --Ed]

Chavez Exploits Oil to Lend in Latin America, Pushing IMF Aside

[Bloomberg report on how Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is squeezing the International Monetary Fund out of Latin America, the region that once accounted for most of its business. --Ed]

The Legacy of the Caracazo: The Fourth World War Started in Venezuela

[Counterpunch's George Ciccariello-Maher argues that those seeking the origins of the global rebellion against neoliberalism will need to look further back than Seattle 1998 (U.S.-centric activists are notorious for claiming that the movement began in Seattle). Before Seattle, there was the Caracazo. On this, the 18th anniversary of this epic struggle, it is worth looking back at this singularly important but oft-overlooked event. --Ed]

A gallery of photos       from the Caracazo can be found here: http://abn.info.ve/galeria/

Ask the Expert: Chávez and Venezuela

[Richard Lapper, the FT's Latin America Editor, joins Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC and Francisco Rodríguez, former chief economist of the Venezuelan National Assembly and assistant professor of economics and Latin American studies at Wesleyan University to answer questions on Venezuela. --Ed]