Orinoco Tribune: Venezuela Condemns US Supreme Court Ruling on CITGO The Venezuelan government condemns the recent decision by the US Supreme Court to ratify the dispossession of CITGO Petroleum Corporation. The action violates the agreements signed in Barbados last year. The measure continues the ongoing aggression against Venezuela, seizing the assets rightfully belonging to the Venezuelan people. This theft has been justified by highlighting debt claims that Venezuela has been unable to honor due to the US sanctions and legal arbitrations that Venezuela could not continue fighting since the failed US’ Guaido “regime change operation” put CITGO in the hands of Venezuelan far-right politicians who had no legal right to manage it.
Infancia Under Siege [Children Under Siege]: The Impact of the US Blockade on Venezuela’s Children English translation of Introduction and Chapter 1, “Unilateral Coercive Measures: A Threat to the Right to Development.” A review of definitions of UCMs and of Venezuela’s Anti-Blockade Law.
Venezuelanalysis: US Sanctions Relief, Leverage and Venezuelan Sovereignty US temporary sanctions relief permits US actors to invest and buy Venezuelan oil and gas until April 2024. US officials issued threats they would reimpose sanctions if the Maduro government did not comply with unspecified “democratic” conditions. The ability to export crude “openly” has meant selling much closer to market prices, and oil revenues could grow by $3.7 billion due to this price gain. The projected production increases from the Chevron, Maurel & Prom and Repsol ventures add up to around 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the next few years. Venezuela’s output last registered at 780,000 bpd. Due to sanctions the recent arrangements with Chevron, Maurel & Prom, Repsol and Shell saw PDVSA constrained to enter into very unfavorable agreements compared to past standards.
Tom Whitney: Cuba’s Government Analyzes and Responds to Economic Woes Díaz-Canel called for “creative resistance” and “confidence in victory,” while insisting that dissatisfaction “is a motor that moves revolutionary energies. It provokes embarrassment that ends up activating people’s full participation, without which socialism is impossible.” In 2023 Cuba’s GDP will have fallen almost 2%t. Exports were $770,000 million below predictions. Food production was less than that of 2022. Tourism income increased by $400 million in 2023 but represented only 69% of the yield in 2019. Overall production was down due mainly to state enterprises held back by shortages of supplies and fuels. State business entities employ 1.3 million workers while accounting for 92% of goods and services produced in Cuba and 75% of exported products. A prime goal of US policy has been to deprive Cuba of money, and that has come to pass. Revolutionary Cuba’s very survival depends on US citizen activists forcing their government to shed its blockade of Cuba. The great need now is for Cuba to be removed from the US list of terrorist-sponsoring nations. That designation causes most international financial institutions to refuse handle dollars on Cuba’s behalf.
Events
– January 21: “Nicaragua: Working to Make Earth Green Again.” features Valdrack Jaentschke, leader of the Nicaragua delegation to COP 28, the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference. REGISTER: bit.ly/NicaJan21
– January 21: Reports from European Tribunal against the US Blockade of Cuba, and Cuba Conference of the Cuban Diaspora
– January 27, 2024: Latin America conference in London 18th annual conference in solidarity with Latin American progressive movements. Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG) will be holding a seminar during the Conference – ‘Nicaragua: The Threat of a Good Example’. Speakers: Roger McKenzie, International Editor, Morning Star; Julie Lamin, Chair, NSCAG Executive Committee and Luis Erick Rodriguez, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the UK. Chair: Tony Burke, Member of NSCAG Executive Committee and Member, London Print Branch UNITE
Delegations
– Labor and other Trips/Delegations to Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 
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