Steve Ellner

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By Steve Ellner

October 30, 2020 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Like other Venezuelan centrists, Claudio Fermín – a protege of neoliberal president Carlos Andrés Pérez in the early 1990s – has changed course and now vehemently opposes both US interventionism and his nation’s radical right. His changes show just how much Venezuelan politics have been transformed over the recent past. Since the attempted coup of April 2002, leftist governments have been pitted against a united opposition intent on achieving regime change by any means possible. But now such extreme polarization seems to be weakening. 

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By Steve Ellner

February 9, 2019 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal  republished from NACLA: Report on the Americas —  Since its outset, the Trump administration has ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela and radicalized its positions. In the process, the Venezuelan opposition has become more and more associated with—and dependent on—Washington and its allies. An example is the opposition protests slated for February 4. The actions were timed to coincide with the European Union’s “ultimatum” stating that they would recognize the shadow government of Juan Guaidó if President Nicolás Maduro did not call elections within a week’s time.

 
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By Steve Ellner October 13, 2018
— Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Alborada — The siege-like conditions which Venezuela has been subjected to from both foreign interference and domestic opposition present a myriad of challenges for the country to move forward. On 5 October, Venezuela expert Steve Ellner gave a talk entitled ‘Venezuela under Siege: Challenges From Within And Without’ at the James Connolly Forum in Troy, New York. You can watch the full video here.
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By Steve Ellner May 13, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from NACLA — With the intensification of political conflict and economic deterioration in Venezuela, harsh all-encompassing criticism of the government is originating not only from the right side of the political spectrum, but also from the left. Gone are the days when late President Hugo Chávez could boast of having unified the nation’s notoriously fragmented leftist movement, ranging from Trotskyists and Communists to social democrats.