In the face of the presidential inauguration of Nicolás Maduro on the 10th of January 2025, we, activists and militants of the popular field who are part of the Political Current COMUNES, express the following:
- We all know what happened in Venezuela on 28th of July. The Government of Nicolás Maduro that begins 10 January is the result of a series of unconstitutional and unlawful actions committed by the public powers in order to ignore the will of the majority. It signifies the opening of a new stage in the political history of the country in which the total loss of democracy is interlocked with the seizure of the State by the economic, political, and military elites. The 10th of January 2025, a de facto government is born in Venezuela.
- Social injustice and the loss of democracy go hand in hand. The Maduro government, –supported by an alliance of business sectors, the arbitrary use of force, and the systematic dissemination of falsehoods- virtually suspends both the civil and political rights enshrined in the Constitution (to vote, to demonstrate, to express oneself, not to be arbitrarily detained, to have a fair trial, not to be tortured, etc.), and the social rights (salary, pensions, and decent income; quality education, food, health, and a healthy environment). To maintain their privileges and neoliberal policies, the elites need: inequality and exploitation, and a people too demanded by basic survival, without rights and democracy, fearful and demobilized.
- Beneath the apparent “normalization” lies our insurgence, waiting for the moment and the manner to express itself. As a people, at the moment our state of mind is of indignation and rage, but also of frustration and fear. There are reasons for this. The National Electoral Council and the Supreme Justice Tribunal mocked the will of the majority. The mobilization against the electoral fraud was repressed by police, military, and policing civilian groups. Young people from the popular sectors and activists continue to be unjustly imprisoned by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the courts, with the complicity of the Ombudsman’s Office and the Public Defense. But arbitrariness and repression are not enough to make our indignation and desire for change disappear, they only manage to contain it partially and temporarily. Our upheaval continues to simmer –sometimes on low heat and other times on high and crackling heat-, waiting for the means and moments to be uttered in pursuit of profound democratic transformations.
- A politic that contradicts right-wing shortcuts and false hopes for the people. Ensuring that our rebellion helps bring about democratic changes that favor social justice is our main challenge. This is not a short-term endeavor. That is why we reject the idea –pledged by the right- that invading armies, mercenaries, or new US sanctions (harmful to the people and advantageous to Maduro´s corrupt circle), will save us. The right and imperialism are co-responsible of our breakdown. From our standpoint, a resolution that is long-lasting and favorable to the rights of the majority, must come from within and not from outside. As such, it must also come from the below and the popular field.
- Let us organize insurgence; wishful thinking does not bring change. According to each one’s possibilities and availability, we call for diverse engagements to unite and collectively transform the country.
- We should come together in multiple ways. From small gatherings with neighbors, coworkers, fellow students, or Venezuelans migrants abroad; to organizing platforms for social justice, human rights, and the protection of the Constitution, we can get together. If we believe that we are at risk, it should be done without much fanfare. Organized rebellion opens the way for change, thus we should get together if we ought to build organic networks for that purpose. Individualized anger and solitary confinement only produces frustration.
- We must debate and reflect. In our organizations or in informal spaces we must collectively reflect on the causes, consequences, and solutions to the country’s downfall. How did we manage to get here? Who benefits from the loss of democracy, our low wages, or the loss of sovereignty over our resources? What can we do –from our life spaces, and activism- to transform the situation in the country?
- Small actions in life spaces. Establish a position on issues of collective interest through trifling conversations about local or national problems, to communicating argumentative and profound point of views on issues of collective interest in more open forums or media.
- Social and political mobilization in demand of our rights. We must continue to demand, in the streets and through different means, our rights. Although Maduro’s government is illegitimate, it has control of the territory and the population, and that obliges it to guarantee the rights of the people: to a decent salary, income and pensions; full freedom and reparation for those unjustly detained; the rights of teachers and the right of the children to a quality education (with 5 days of class a week); the right to have functioning public services; to question corruption and to demand accountability of public resources; the right to request the annulment or reform of anti-democratic laws; the respect of the electoral will of the people. We the people adhere to the Constitution, even if those in power ignore it. Under difficulties, our determined struggles will open pathways.
- Articulation. The organizations and collectives of the common –the common and everyday people: workers, peasants, city dwellers- must articulate between us. Then advance with other organizations of the popular and democratic field around a proposal of social and political mobilization and a minimum program for the transformation of the country.
They want us isolated: Let us organize and articulate ourselves!
They want us silent: Let us debate and express our rebellion and proposals!
They want us paralyzed by fear: Let us mobilize to demand our rights, defend democracy and build social justice!
COMUNES
Political Current
10th January 2025
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