The Venezuela Reader

  2015:Despite Saying that Venezuela was NOT a Security Threat to the U.S., President Obama Refused to Cancel the Venezuelan Emergency Declaration On March 9, 2015 President Obama signed Executive Order 13692 declaring a National Emergency due to the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela.” He activated The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and sanctioned seven Venezuelan officials. On April 2, 2015,119 U.S. academics, activists and NGOs sent a letter to Obama to rescind the Executive Order on Venezuela saying “we see nothing that could conceivably be described as an ‘extraordinary threat ‘to the U.S”.[2] Signers included Noam Chomsky, Ramsey Clark and Cindy Sheehan. Sixteen Democratic members of the House of Representatives signed a letter on May 15, 2015 criticizing President Obama’s declaration arguing that the US unilateral declaration against Venezuela threaten...

  2015: U.S. Sanctions on Venezuela Result from President Obama’s “National Emergency” Declaration that Venezuela Is an “Extraordinary Threat” to U.S. National Security Under U.S. law, the President has the authority to declare a “National Emergency.” National Emergencies are routinely declared as a result of natural disasters (floods, hurricanes, fires). The Emergency Declaration makes immediate action possible. US national emergencies can also be declared in situations that are not the result of a natural disaster. The procedures for a presidential declaration of a US National Emergency are defined by federal law: •   The emergency is valid for one year (Can be renewed) •   123 standby laws become available to the President •   Does not need congressional authorization •   Can be terminated by a majority vote in Congress and the President’s signature •   The President can veto Congress’s termination bill •   Congressional action would r...

  1976: The Theft That Never Was: Inside Venezuela’s 1976 Oil Takeover Recently, Stephen Miller, a key advisor to U.S. President Trump, said that US companies developed the Venezuelan oil industry only to see it stolen and weaponized against them. A response to Miller’s statement was made by Marcus Golding, who earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of Texas at Austin in 2025, with a dissertation titled  The Price of Doing Business: Foreign Oil Companies and the Venezuelan Petroleum Industry (1936–1976).  His essay can be read here: https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2025/12/26/the-theft-that-never-was-inside-venezuelas-1976-oil-takeover/ Here are some excerpts from his Essay: “Venezuela’s 1976 oil nationalization was engineered to preclude confrontation. Getting the history right matters. If the current U.S. administration wants to cite this episode to justify pressure, escalation, or exceptional measures, it has chosen a poor example, precisely because th...

  2025: “Trump Might Not Invade Venezuela Yet, But What He Is Doing Is Worse” President Trump has stationed a large amount of US military force in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela. He has threatened to destroy targets in Venezuela if Nicolas Maduro is not removed as President. US forces have intercepted ships transporting Venezuelan oil. A recent essay by Michelle Ellner, the Latin America Campaign Coordinator at CODEPINK, analyzes the potential consequences of the U.S. not invading Venezuela with military force, but rather using a strategy of economic coercion. Her essay can be read here:     https://venezuelanalysis.com/opinion/trump-might-not-invade-venezuela-yet-but-what-he-is-doing-is-worse/ Here are some excerpts from her Essay: “The loudest question in Washington right now is whether Donald Trump is going to invade Venezuela. The quieter, and far more dangerous, reality is this: he probably won’t. Not because he cares about Venezuelan lives, but because he h...

  2024: Five Mayors Broke from the Opposition and Endorsed President Maduro Six days before the 2024 Presidential election, five mayors of the state of Trujillo renounced their ties with the opposition and declared themselves in favor of the candidacy of President Maduro.[1] The Mayors were members of political parties that had endorsed opposition candidates in the upcoming election. Through a video released on social media networks, mayors Wilmer Delgado of the Monte Carmelo municipality, Servando Godoy of the municipality of Jose Felipe Marquez Canizales, Francisco Aguilar of Andres Bello, Heriberto Materan Tapia from Motatan, and Dilcia Rojas from Campo Elias released a statement:[1] ·        “We have had 25 uninterrupted years of political conflict, and the only palpable results are poverty, pain, division, and separation of the Venezuelan people. As an opposition, we have not had political maturity, and we have not lived up to the change deman...

  2013: The US Response to Hugo Chavez’s Death and Funeral President Hugo Chavez died on March 5, 2013.President Obama offered no condolences to the Family of Hugo Chavez or to the Venezuelan people on his death. Obama appointed a delegation to represent the United States at his funeral which consisted of one current member of Congress (Gregory Meeks, D-NY) and one former Congressman (William Delahunt, D-MA). Delahunt and Meeks were among a group of American and Venezuelan officials that began meeting in 2002 to improve relations between Chavez and the US government. Obama’s decision to send a delegation to the funeral was criticized by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) who called the decision “weak and irresponsible.”[1] Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement:[2] ·        “Rosalynn and I extend our condolences to the family of Hugo Chavez. We met Hugo Chavez when he was campaigning for President in 1998 and the Carter Center wa...

  2013: the International Response to Hugo Chavez’s Death and Funeral President Hugo Chavez died on March 5, 2013.A five-mile long march of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans accompanied the procession of Chavez’s coffin from the Hospital to the Military Academy in Caracas where the funeral was held on March 8. 55 countries sent delegations to the funeral, 33 of them were headed by presidents or heads of governments. [1] Every Latin American president attended. This was a funeral with few precedents. The funeral of Ronald Reagan in 2004 gathered 36 former and current heads of state. The funeral of Hugo Chavez brought together at least 38 former and current heads of state.[1] The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, broke down and cried on television as he said his country was “destroyed” by Chavez’s death.[2] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received a standing ovation as he took his place in a guard of honor, then broke protocol to touch the casket and kiss the ...

  2012; Venezuelan Government Called President Obama’s Comments about Hugo Chavez “Despicable” In 2011, President Chavez was diagnosed with cancer. Medical treatments were not successful in stopping its spread and his condition steadily deteriorated. In December 2012, Chavez was in a hospital in Cuba after his fourth operation. In an interview with WLTV Univision 23 in Miami on December 13, President Obama was asked about his message for the Venezuelan people. Obama’s response was: ·        “The most important thing is to remember that the future of Venezuela should be in the hands of the Venezuelan people. We’ve seen from Chavez in the past authoritarian policies, suppression of dissent.” The Venezuelan government reacted with fury at Obama’s comments at a time of national anxiety over his battle to recover from cancer surgery.[1] The comments were seen as showing no concern for the massive, collective emotional difficulties millions in the co...

  2022:   By Blocking Exports of Microscope Parts, the US Deprived Venezuelans’ Right to Health Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc is a U.S. company with $40 billion in annual sales making and selling lab equipment (microscopes, centrifuges), instruments (mass spectrometers), software, and services for research. Thermo Fisher had a number of customers in Venezuela including hospitals, universities, the state oil Company (PDVSA), and the steel company Sidor. Thermo Fisher sold fourteen electron microscopes for several million dollars to Venezuelan institutions. In 2018 two of the electron microscopes needed spare parts.[1] Thermo Fisher applied to the U.S. government for export licenses for the shipments of parts. (Export licenses for electron microscopes are required due to their dual-use potential (military/scientific.) The US government refused to issue an export license. By 2022, only three of the microscopes were working correctly.[1] All of Thermo Fisher’s requests for expo...

  2017: President Trump Banned the Venezuelan Government from U.S. Financial Markets On August 24, 2017, President Trump issued Executive Order 13808 prohibiting the purchase of new debt or equity issued by the government of Venezuela and its State oil company, PDVSA, as well as the purchase of previously issued debt held by the government.[1] Banks were prohibited from lending to the government and to PDVSA. The ban also barred dividend payments to Venezuela from its offshore subsidiaries [1] The ban did not include financial transactions to import oil. The ban was the result of the Venezuelan government’s decision to hold elections for a Constituent Assembly.   Trump promised that if the elections were held, the United States would respond with “strong and swift economic actions.” [2] The vote took place, and Trump responded three weeks later with the financial ban.[1] By prohibiting issuance of new debt by the government or PDVSA, the EO effectively prohibited any res...

  2011: An Issue of The Newspaper 6toPoder was Banned for Degrading Women On August 20, 2011, the weekly newspaper 6toPoder (6 th Power) published a satirical article entitled “The Powerful Women of the Beautiful Revolution” where it depicted high ranking female public officials in a show orchestrated by President Hugo Chavez. The story was accompanied by a photo montage that superimposed the heads of six female public officials onto the bodies of cabaret dancers [2]. The six officials were: the President of the Supreme Court (Luisa Estella Morales), the Attorney General (Luisa Ortega Diaz), the President of the National Electoral Council (Tbisay Lucena), the Ombudsman (Gabriela Ramirez), the Vice President of the National Assembly (Blanca Eeckout) and a Cabinet Secretary.[3][1] On August 21, a group of Venezuelan women marched to the District Attorney’s Office in Caracas demanding that the office take action against the newspaper. [3] The National Assembly demanded an inves...

  2001: Hugo Chavez Refused President Bush’s Demand to Retract Criticism of US Bombing in Afghanistan Following the 9/11/2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, President Bush announced a “War on Terror,” saying: “Either you are with us, or you’re with the terrorists.” On October 7, 2001, the US began bombing suspected terrorist camps in Afghanistan. On a TV broadcast in Venezuela on October 29,2001, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez held up a photo of children killed by the US bombing. He condemned the US bombing in Afghanistan as a “slaughter of innocents,” saying: “This is fighting terrorism with more terrorism.” [1] He said their deaths had “no justification, just as the attacks in New York did not either.” [1] The U.S. State Department reproached Chavez for making the comparison as “totally inappropriate.” [1] Following Chavez’s TV appearance, Donna Hrinak, US Ambassador to Venezuela, was recalled to Washington for “consultations.” [1]. After returning to V...

  2016: President Maduro Accused the U.S. of Deliberately Increasing Oil Production to Drive Down the Price of Oil and Damage Venezuela Presidents Bush and Obama promoted policies to increase US oil production with the goal of reducing US dependence on oil imports. Improvements in fracking technology resulted in an increase in US shale oil production from close to zero in 2008 to about 4.25 million barrels per day in 2016.[4] Total US oil production increased from about 5 million barrels per day in 2008 to 8.9 million barrels per day in 2016. Oil imports fell from 60 to 20 percent of US consumption.[1] Due to national security concerns, US exports of crude oil had been banned since 1975. The ban was lifted in late 2015 and the US exported 500,000 barrels per day in 2016.   From 2010 until mid-2014, world oil prices had been fairly stable, at around $110 a barrel. Between mid-2014 and early 2016 world oil prices dropped by 70%.[2] The increase in U.S. oil production was a pri...

  2015: President Maduro Canceled Decree for Chinese Development of New Coal Mines In January 2015, China agreed to invest $20 billion in Venezuelan projects. One project was for the development of new coal mines in the Northwestern Perija mountain range. On February 10, 2015, President Maduro signed Presidential Decree 1606 which granted the Chinese state-owned Sinohydro-the largest hydroelectric construction firm in the world-a 30-year lease to exploit the coal reserves of the Guasare river basin and the mountainous Sierra de Perija region, comprising approximately 24,192 hectares(nearly 60,000 acres)[1].According to government plans, Sinohydro would export coal from five designated lots, while constructing a coal-electric plant which would generate between 8,000 and 10,000 megawatts for Venezuela’s western states[2].The electric plant would require the rerouting   of the Socuy River. The region was populated by Wayuu and Yukpa indigenous people. Activists from diverse...

  2024: Venezuela Was Elected as a Vice President of the United Nations The twenty-one Vice Presidents of the UN General Assembly are elected annually by the General Assembly through a vote, following nominations from five regional groups. Three of the Vice Presidents represent Latin American states. In 2024 Venezuela was one of the three countries nominated by the Latin American member countries. On June 6, 2024, Venezuela was elected as a Vice President of the UN by acclamation and without a vote. The United States was the only member state that opposed the selection.[1] Venezuela’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Samuel Moncada, assumed the role as a Vice President of the 79 th General Assembly session (2024-2025). It was the first time that Venezuela had been elected as a UN Vice President. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to President Biden expressing “profound outrage” at the election of Venezuela.[2] Rubio urged Biden to cut U.N. funding as a result of Ven...

  2025: UN Experts Condemn Coercive Intervention in Venezuela by the United States On October 21, 2025, the UN’s Human Rights Council distributed a press release entitled:           UN Experts Condemn Coercive Intervention in Venezuela by the United States: [1] ·        “Covert action and threats of using armed force against the Government of Venezuela by the United States violate Venezuela’s sovereignty and the UN Charter, UN experts said today.” ·        “These actions also violate the fundamental international obligations not to intervene in the domestic affairs or threaten to use armed force against another country,” the experts said.” These moves are an extremely dangerous escalation with grave implications for peace and security in the Caribbean region.”   ·        “They noted reports of a significant U.S. military buildup already...

  2013: President Maduro Expelled Three US Diplomats On September 30, 2013 during a live TV appearance, President Nicolas Maduro expelled the top US diplomat in Venezuela (Kelly Keiderling, Charge D’affaires) and two other embassy employees shouting” Out of Venezuela” and “Yankees Go Home.” Maduro said that the group was “dedicated to meeting with the Venezuelan extreme right, to financing it, and feeding its actions to sabotage the Venezuelan economy.” [1] Footage aired on Venezuelan state television showed the US diplomats leaving the offices of Sumate, an NGO which was founded in 2002 by the opposition politician Maria Machado.[4] In 2004, Sumate conducted a recall referendum to remove President Hugo Chavez. In 2005 Machado met with President George Bush in the White House and repeatedly referred to the funding her group had received from the US. The US State Department rejected allegations the US was involved in “any type of conspiracy to destabilize Venezuela’s government.”[...