Statement on the Crisis in Venezuela

The urgency of crisis and the imminent threat of war provoke a tendency to consolidate the nearest opposition, which makes a common response to minimize the difference between the state and the people. As libertarian socialists, our objective should be the opposite, to emphasize the liberatory light that falls outside the binary of capital and bureaucracy, and is omitted along with our criticisms.

This is not a special occasion to detail our criticisms of Maduro’s government. At this moment in history we are united in solidarity with the Venezuelan people wherever they must stand to defend themselves against the threat of US imperialism.

That given;

To the US government, we reinforce the resolve of the DSA, expressed in statements by individual chapters and the national organization^[1], with our caucus’ unequivocal opposition to the economic and military intervention in Venezuela;

To comrades in all of the world, uniting in defense of Venezuela, we wish not to forget the Venezuela that is cooperative, campesino, feminist, African, indigenous, green, urban, and young;

To the working-class people of Venezuela, we wish to affirm our solidarity and acknowledge our inspiration by the gains of the Bolivarian Revolution, most notably in the participatory neighborhood and workplace democracy.

We respect, and should seek to study and emulate, the thousands of active community councils within Venezuela. We are emboldened in our efforts toward building dual power by Venezuela’s extensive cooperative sector, one of the largest in the world, from this Cooperative of Weaving Women in Mérida, to the multi-state horizontalist cooperative of cooperatives CECOSESOLA, comprising agricultural production, funeral services, credit unions, health care, transportation, mutual aid funds, and more, and offering goods and services at significantly lower prices, for use, not exchange.

We recognize in the accomplishments of the Venezuelan people the possibility for a peaceful solution to the current crisis, from below and the left.

Some of the DSA statements:

DSA [National] Statement on Venezuela: https://www.dsausa.org/statements/dsa-statement-on-us-intervention-in-venezuela/

DSA SF: https://dsasf.org/dsa-sf-statement-against-us-backing-of-coup-of-in-venezuela/

DSA East Bay: https://www.eastbaydsa.org/news/2019/02/01/statement-venezuela/

DSA Sacramento: https://www.sacdsa.org/venezuela_solidarity_statement_01_30_19

Metro Atlanta DSA: https://madsa.ga/blog/2019/01/24/madsa-statement-on-american-interference-in-venezuela/