Venezuela’s anti-blockade law and the Dec. 6 elections

On Sunday, Dec. 6, the Venezuelan people will vote to elect the new deputies of the National Assembly. This election is enormously important for the Bolivarian Revolution. The progressive forces are mobilizing nationwide to win back the assembly from right-wing politicians who won the majority in December 2015. It is not a contest between one political party and another. It is the struggle for the very survival of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution against a brutal U.S. economic war and coup plots. U.S. imperialism has captured the nation’s enormous resources and wealth and severely blockaded the country for years now. Regaining the National Assembly is one immediate goal for the revolutionary government, to restore control of the country’s resources, reestablish legislative legitimacy, and help to overcome the economic hardships the U.S. blockade has caused in the population. To combat the U.S. economic war, a new strategy was unveiled on Sept. 29 by President Nicolás Maduro, called the “Anti-Blockade Constitutional Law for National Development and Guarantee of Human Rights,” or anti-blockade law for short. It was approved in a session of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC by its Spanish initials) on Oct. 8. The ANC has served as an interim legislative body after the right-wing-led National Assembly was declared in contempt for illegal election practices and other violations. The siege by the U.S., Canada and its European allies against Venezuela includes the U.S. seizure of CITGO and other Venezuelan properties, the withholding of the country’s gold and money reserves by Britain and Portugal, and a severe sanctions regime. They have cut off its ability to import spare parts and critical chemicals for the oil and mining industries, particularly imports from the U.S., with its dominance in oil technology. Read the full article: https://www.liberationnews.org/venezuelas-anti-blockade-law-and-the-dec-6-elections/