latin america
Supporters rally for PSUV candidate for Merida, Alexis Ramirez. Photo from YVKE Mundial.
By Tamara Pearson, Merida
December 16, 2012 -- VenezuelAnalysis -- With all votes counted to the point of results being irreversible, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has won 20 states, and the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition, three states in the December 16 regional elections.
The opposition lost control of Zulia, Tachira, Carabobo, Monagas and Nueva Esparta, but retained Amazonas and Miranda and Lara states.
In Miranda, one of the key states at stake, contested by PSUV ex-vice-president Elias Jaua, and the opposition presidential candidate and current governor of Miranda, Henrique Capriles, the opposition won with 50% to Jaua’s 46%.
In Bolivar state, where the results were very close, the opposition candidate Andres Velasquez is refusing to recognise his defeat and has called on locals to “defend” his “victory”.
Venezuelans and residents chose 23 state governors and 237 state legislators. The results of the state legislative voting have yet to be announced.
In the 2008 regional elections the PSUV won 17 of the 22 states being contested.
For state by state results see below.
Why is Cuba’s health-care system the best model for poor countries?
Cuba-trained medical student examines Peruvian child, Lima, Peru, December 2010. Photo by Don Fitz.
'The Greek people are at the epicentre of the capitalism crisis'
Speech given by Eric Toussaint at the SYRIZA youth festival in Athens on O
Rafael Correa discusses Ecuador's 'Citizens' Revolution' and answers his left critics
Rafael Correa speaks at a rally in support of his re-election in next year's poll, Quito, November 10.
By Federico Fuentes
November 11, 2012 -- Green Left Weekly -- While European governments continue to impose policies aimed at making working people pay for a crisis they did not cause, the Ecuadorian government of Rafael Correa has taken a different course.
“Those who are earning too much will be giving more to the poorest of this country”, a November 1 Reuters dispatch quoted Correa as saying. He was announcing a new measure to raise taxes on banks to help fund social security payments.
Ecuador’s banking sector has registered US$349 million in after-tax profits, a November 8 El Telegrafo article said. “The time has arrived to redistribute those profits,” said Correa.
Reuters reported that by lifting the tax rate on bank holdings abroad and applying a new tax on financial services, the government hopes to raise between $200 million and $300 million a year.
The proceeds will fund a rise in the “human development bonus payment” from $35 to $50 a month. About 1.2 million Ecuadorians receive the payment, mainly single mothers and the elderly.
El futuro del 'socialismo del siglo XXI' tras las elecciones
[In English at Venezuela: The future of ‘21st century socialism’ after Chavez's victory.]
Por Federico Fuentes, traducido para
La reelección del presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez el pasado 7 de octubre con más del 55 % de los votos fue vital por dos razones.
En primer lugar, el pueblo venezolano impidió el retorno de la derecha neoliberal al poder. De haber ganado ésta, hubiera intentado dado marcha atrás, con el apoyo de Estados Unidos, a los importantes avances conseguidos por la mayoría pobre desde el primer triunfo de Chávez en 1998. Entre estas mejoras se incluye un enorme aumento de los servicios básicos prestados por el gobierno (como educación, sanidad y vivienda), la nacionalización de sectores estratégicos anteriormente privatizados y la promoción de la participación popular en las comunidades y lugares de trabajo.
Venezuela: Michael Lebowitz on what we can expect from Chavez's fourth term
Michael Lebowitz in Zagreb. Photo by Jovica Drobnjak.
Click HERE for more articles by or about Michael Lebowitz.
Click HERE for more coverage and analysis of the Venezuelan revolutionary process.
November 1, 2012 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal – The following interview with Michael Lebowitz was recently published in Novosti, a left-wing newspaper in Zagreb, Croatia.
Venezuela: Hugo Chavez's six-year plan for the Bolivarian Revolution
October 31, 2012 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The following document is the political platform on which Hugo Chavez successfully sought re-election as the president of Venezuela. It was released in Spanish in June 2012. English translation courtesy of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Canberra, Australia.
Proposal of the Candidate of the
Homeland,
Commander Hugo Chávez,
for the Socialist Bolivarian Government, 2013–2019
INTRODUCTION
I
Venezuela: The future of ‘21st century socialism’ after Chavez's victory
Supporters celebrate the president's re-election on October 7 outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. Photo by Tamara Pearson/Venezuelanalysis.com.
Click HERE for more coverage and analysis of the Venezuelan revolutionary process.
By Federico Fuentes
[En espanol @ http://links.org.au/node/3085]
October 28, 2012 -- Green Left Weekly -- Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez’s re-election on October 7 with more than 55% of the vote was vital for two reasons. First, the Venezuelan people blocked the return to power of the neoliberal right. Had they won, these US-backed forces would have worked to roll back important advances for the poor majority won since Chavez was first elected in 1998.
These include a huge expansion in government providing basic services (such as education, health and housing), the nationalisation of previous privatised strategic industries, and the promotion of popular participation in communities and workplaces.
Ecosocialism 2025
