Venezuela’s real story: Grassroots forum counters U.S. propaganda on elections

You may or may not remember — about a month ago, at the beginning of August, the corporate press ran nearly carbon copy coverage of Venezuela’s election. The U.S. State Department issued a statement that the New York Times must have used as a template.

In fact, the State Department released another statement a few days ago titled “Marking One Month Since Venezuela’s Presidential Election.” 

It’s like clockwork. A country’s people elect a leader who won’t kiss the ring of the U.S.; then, the U.S. uses its entire arsenal to delegitimize and destabilize its entire government. 

The Peoples Power Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland, held a film screening and forum to tell Venezuela’s real story. 

After screening Oliver Stone’s “South of the Border,” the forum began with two eyewitness reports from Venezuela’s elections. The first was a report from Venezuela’s 2018 elections, and the second was from 2024. 

“What really struck me was how ordinary it all was,” said this writer, who visited Venezuela in May 2018 as an elections observer. “On election day, we visited voting precincts all over the country, both in the cities and the countryside. What we saw were completely calm and orderly voting procedures.”

“We even toured the factory where the voting machines are built. They showed us how the machines are completely air-gapped — meaning they have never had any interaction with the internet. This keeps them safe from cyber-attack.” 

The voting machines are air-gapped for good reason. Though the pro-imperialist opposition cannot cyber-attack the machines themselves — they would if they could — they attack ensuing communications of election reports, slowing down the process of verifying the actual election results. 

Jill Clark-Gollub, a member of Friends of Latin America, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, and the Americas Without Sanctions, reported on her time as an elections observer this year.

“On July 25, 2024, the last day that campaigning was allowed before the July 28th vote, I saw the largest gathering of Venezuelans since the days of Hugo Chavez,” reported Clark-Gollub. “The people’s enthusiasm for their revolution is still going strong!”

“No wonder, since the government has managed to deliver 5.1 million low-cost or free homes; free health care has been brought to every neighborhood through the Barrio Adentro program; education is free with more previously poor students studying in higher education; illiteracy has been eliminated; participatory democracy flourishes through a system of communes and councils; and the country has overcome the crisis caused by crushing U.S. unilateral coercive measures, or ‘sanctions.’” 

The vote on Sunday, July 28, 2024, Clark-Gollub reports, was another civic festival. There was a high turnout in a process that was peaceful, orderly, and upbeat. Violence only broke out the day after, but on a much smaller scale than in previous episodes. 

“Fortunately, the violence ended within 48 hours,” reported Clark-Gollub, “thanks in large part to the huge turnout of ordinary Venezuelans who took to the streets to show that the majority of the people are in favor of peace and support their revolution.”

The audience in attendance completely agreed — Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution must be defended, especially from U.S.-led interference, sabotage, and sanctions. 

On Aug. 22nd, Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice — their equivalent of a Supreme Court — verified President Maduro’s victory. The very next day, the U.S. State Department released a statement questioning the credibility of the ruling without any evidence at all.