Posted June 17, 2025 Article

Neither authoritarianism nor exploitation

Venezuela and Marea’s political vision

Tempest is publishing the following English translation of a statement issued by the Venezuelan socialist organization Marea Socialista. A longstanding anti-capitalist and anti-bureaucratic current within the Venezuelan Left, Marea emerged from the revolutionary process begun under Chávez but broke with the ruling party as it shifted toward authoritarianism and neoliberalism.

The statement offers a powerful critique of the Maduro government and its increasing authoritarianism, as well as the complicity of both traditional right-wing opposition forces and international actors. At the same time, Marea Socialista puts forward an urgent call for rebuilding working-class organization and political independence in Venezuela, situating their struggle within a broader internationalist and anti-capitalist framework.

This statement was originally published in Spanish in Aporrea on May 21 and reflects the perspective of a left force in Venezuela that rejects both the repression of the Maduro regime and the neoliberal alternatives promoted by the traditional opposition. Tempest presents this translation in the spirit of international solidarity and to help amplify the voices of those resisting authoritarianism and exploitation from below. Minor translation edits have been made for clarity.

The first months of the year in Venezuela have been and continue to be marked by several key issues, such as Trump’s sanctions, announcements of constitutional reform, the economic emergency decree, the deportation and imprisonment of Venezuelan migrants in El Salvador at the behest of the U.S., continued political detentions and criminalization of activism under Maduro, forced disappearances, the continuation of the “zero wage” policy for the working class, and the regional and legislative elections scheduled for the end of May. Also significant are the diverging strategies among factions of the right-wing opposition.

The phase opened on January 10 and its international framework

In previous statements, we noted that Venezuela had already fully entered into a de facto government. Maduro’s swearing-in occurred without proper electoral records from the National Electoral Council (CNE), meaning the regime is upheld by repression from the military-police apparatus, authoritarian control by a bureaucratic caste, and state management for the benefit of a corrupt, lumpen-bourgeois elite. All of this took place in a geopolitical environment characterized by Trump’s hostility toward Venezuela. After an apparent initial “flirting,” the US tightened its pressure and returned to prioritizing alliances with China and Russia. However, the US has not been truly able to escape the conditions imposed on the production and sale of Venezuelan oil by the United States. Despite Venezuela’s nationalist rhetoric, actual sovereignty has been lost, worsened both by sanctions and by the regime’s own destruction of the productive apparatus and national treasury.

The policy of the Maduro-Military-PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) government prolongs the worst aspects of the period opened by the economic sanctions. The US withdrawal of licenses for doing of business with Venezuela affects not only Chevron—which was being positioned to replace PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the state-owned oil and gas company of Venezuela) amid the collapse of the “corruptocracy” — but also undermines Venezuela’s trade relations with other nations and companies, once again triggering a drastic drop in national income and worsening the hardships faced by the Venezuelan people. Maduro uses these sanctions to justify repressive anti-worker measures.

Trump not only attacks Venezuelan migrants who hoped to improve their lives by living and working in the U.S. due to the unlivable conditions in Venezuela, but also makes life even harder for the Venezuelan people back home. We reject these sanctions, which primarily harm the population and serve as an economic and political excuse for the government’s authoritarian and anti-worker practices.

The government’s lack of transparency and its arbitrary handling of resources, revenue, and their distribution make it difficult to clearly determine how much damage is due to the economic sanctions and how much is the government’s own responsibility. However, in a country that has already suffered massive embezzlement—greater than its foreign debt and occurring even before the sanctions—it is clear that the sanctions have only intensified and worsened harm that was already being done to the population.

Subservience and right-wing complicity with Trump’s attacks on Venezuela

In this regard, we denounce the complicity of right-wing and pro-imperialist opposition sectors, such as those led by María Corina Machado, who are calling for and supporting sanctions that are more harmful to the Venezuelan people than to the government itself. In exchange for overthrowing Maduro, they offer to hand the country over to the United States and transnational corporations, and to continue the worst exploitation of ultra-cheap labor we have ever known. In this last point, they hardly differ from Maduro; only that Machado aligns with the US and is a groveling ally of Trump, while Maduro pragmatically relies on whoever serves him best to stay in power and sides with Washington’s competitors. But both, Maduro and Machado, represent two modalities of Venezuelan capitalism and two sectors vying for power against the interests of the working class.

A sector of the bourgeoisie adapts to and benefits from Maduro’s policies

There are, however, other sectors of the ruling class and their politicians, who, seeing no prospects for Maduro’s departure, are accommodating themselves by seeking some benefit or opting for coexistence with the regime to endure and wait for a more favorable time. They are trying to survive politically (and economically) and gain some ground, such as the Rosales and Capriles, and others of their ilk, by taking advantage of the electoral loopholes that will allow them to reappear after the latest government fraud in the presidential elections of July 2024.

The obstacles of the flawed electoral system and repression

In those last elections, Marea Socialista (with other leftist organizations) called for null votes because it was impossible to run candidates who represented working class and popular interests due to electoral obstacles, bans and disqualifications. We did not do this because we are abstentionist by principle, despite the difficulties, we have tried to participate in elections in the past without renouncing the vote. We have always sought to use even the narrowest democratic margins to bring our politics to the heart of the people. But, for us, participation in elections is a tool to advance the workers’ and popular struggle with anti-capitalist objectives and to defend the rights of the exploited.

Marea Socialista and other leftist organizations opposed to this corrupt, counterrevolutionary, and authoritarian government have been obstructed, impeded, or arbitrarily prohibited from participating in elections with their own candidates. The government, the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Supreme Court (TSJ) readily authorize political parties that negotiate with Maduro, but they exclude and trample on the left that confronts him and denounces his poor parody of “socialism,” the usurpation of revolutionary banners, and the imposition of a form of capitalism even more brutal than that known in the past.

In response to this, there have been — and still are — some sectors of the anti-Maduro left that choose to support bourgeois candidates, supposedly in order to pave the way for “Maduro’s departure.” Unfortunately, this approach ends up strengthening the very forces that exploit the people and abandons the struggle for independent, working-class goals. Instead of building class consciousness, organizing autonomously, and mobilizing from below, these groups align themselves with the political representatives of wealthy business interests or affluent bureaucrats—both of whom act against the interests of the working class.

For all these reasons, and even more so after the events surrounding the the July 2024 elections and the unilateral self-proclamation in January 2025, we reaffirm that there are no electoral or democratic guarantees, nor are there any candidates worthy of our votes among those who can (or are allowed to) run under the current situation. We are not excluding ourselves voluntarily; rather, we have been forcibly excluded from electoral participation due to the complete absence of guarantees to exercise this right, as well as the lack of respect for democratic norms, and the will of the electorate.

They left us no alternative but electoral abstention—but for us, this does not mean withdrawing from politics. On the contrary, it means channeling all our efforts into organizing, denouncing injustice, political education, and defending rights in every social and public space. Our goal is to help build an independent social and political force rooted in the working class and the people—free from the political leaderships mentioned above, from the government bureaucracy, and from capitalist sectors who, even if they claim to “oppose” the government, benefit from or exploit its anti-worker policies. These sectors are complicit in maintaining the most miserable wages seen in the country in decades—even by the standards of the most impoverished nations in Latin America and the world.

Our fundamental task is to resist and rebuild the social and political strength of the working class

Our central task is rebuilding autonomous organizations of workers and popular sectors, strengthening their capacity for mobilization around their own agenda – rather than the one imposed by the government or the political opposition of the business class. In this regard, we have joined efforts like the National Meeting for the Defense of People’s Rights, alongside the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV-Dignidad), the historic leadership of Patria Para Todos (PPT-APR), the Party of Socialism and Freedom (PSL), and Communist Revolution. We also regularly coordinate joint actions with the Socialist Workers League (LTS), with various unions and labor movements, feminist groups, and committees demanding freedom for political prisoners. By developing this kind of social and political force, we will be better positioned to keep moving forward to continue fighting for democratic, economic, and social rights, and to bring closer the horizon of political change that empowers the working class and allows us to win better living conditions—on the path toward a government of workers and the people, one that wrests control from the bureaucracy and capital and drives the transformations needed in favor of the vast majority.

The fight for wages is central to improving living conditions and promoting mobilization

Right now, our top priority is the fight to defend wages against the starvation-level and semi-slavery pay imposed by the Maduro–military–PSUV government and the business elite, who have repeatedly violated the Constitution by enforcing what we call a “zero wage” policy. For years, the minimum wage has remained stagnant and currently sits below two US dollars a month—sometimes even less, due to the ongoing collapse of the bolívar. Meanwhile, the cost of a basic food basket1 exceeds $500, and the full basic basket2 is over $1,000. This clearly violates Article 91 of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’s Constitution, which states that the minimum wage must be based on the cost of the basic basket. And if there is no wage, all other rights are lost or severely undermined.

We reject the adaptation of union bureaucracies to the agenda of corporate interests, which simply aims to convert government-paid bonuses into formal wages and set the minimum wage at just $200. But that’s far below what people need to live—less than half the cost of the food basket (just food), and less than 10 percent of the full basic basket (which includes housing, transportation, education, health, etc.).

We also reject the common excuses that sanctions prevent higher wages, or that the economy must grow first, or that higher wages are simply not “realistic” or “possible,” especially since those same officials never sacrifice the profits they earn through corruption, nor does it sacrifice the profits businesses earn by squeezing nearly all wages into surplus value since wages don’t even cover the cost of getting to work.

The myth that raising wages causes inflation has long been debunked, as we have endured hyperinflation for years while wages have remained frozen. The looting of the country has been so extreme that any real “economic recovery” would have to begin with the expropriation of all those who have been robbing us in one way or another through dirty dealings and corruption.

We welcome any step that moves toward restoring the constitutionally guaranteed minimum wage, but only as a step in the larger fight to secure what is our legal right – one that is non-negotiable and should not be undermined by the constitutional reform the government now seeks, aimed at eliminating Article 91, the very article they have blatantly violated.

Constitutional reform to “legitimize” its own violations of rights

The unconstitutional reform and the state of economic emergency decree serve no other purpose than to undermine our rights and give a veneer of legitimacy to the violations that have already been committed and those still to come—disguising everything in the misleading language typical of the leaders of the PSUV and the government. We demand: No rollbacks on the rights formally won under the 1999 Constitution!

We have no doubt that this reform would pave the way for greater authoritarianism and repression, and more discretion in the corrupt or elitist handling of national resources.

Reclaiming class organization and political independence

Let us reclaim our organization, our union, and political independence and democratically forge our own agenda for struggle without subordinating it to the bureaucracy or to capital. Let us reclaim union democracy, coordinate our struggles, and practice solidarity among workers as a path to recovering our identity and strength. Through the patient and gradual reconstruction of the working-class social fabric, let us prepare ourselves to help catalyze and channel the uprising of the people in defense of their freedom and justice.

Let us not follow those who tell us to obey the ruling bureaucracy or the millionaire owners of major corporations, transnationals, and their revolving candidates. We call on the people who oppose Maduro to break with those in Venezuela who serve Trump’s agenda and who tighten the noose of misery around Venezuelan workers and the broader population. We call for a break with those who today show not the slightest concern for the Venezuelans who were forced to migrate due to this disastrous government—and yet support the US president who deports them as if they were criminals and sends them to prison camps for “terrorists” in El Salvador (as we’ve already denounced in a previous statement). We are speaking, among others, about the positions taken by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González.

The issue of Venezuelan migration

We therefore denounce María Corina Machado for being an accomplice to Trump in his measures against Venezuelan migrants, just as we denounce Trump and Bukele for practicing forced disappearances, human trafficking, kidnapping, and legally imprisoning innocent people in prisons, without due process and with total disregard for human rights, maintaining a slave regime in prisons and commercializing the judicial-prison system.

Maduro, for his part, does something similar with Venezuela’s judicial system, police forces, and prisons, using them to persecute and imprison political opponents, dissenters, and social activists. The very abuses Maduro criticizes Trump and Bukele for, his own government commits in Venezuela, violating democratic and human rights.

We welcome the social mobilizations in defense of immigrants in the United States, not just out of solidarity, but also as essential to combating the authoritarian and fascist threat emerging in that country, one that endangers the entire world, seeks to dismantle hard-won rights, and which is complicit in the genocide in Gaza and the attacks on civilians in Yemen, among other crimes.

The alternative we need

We need an anti-capitalist, anti-bureaucratic, and internationalist alternative, because the current situation cannot be resolved by repackaging the same failed model. Any real solution must connect with the struggles of the working class and oppressed people internationally. This is not a crisis that can be solved within the borders of a single country—it demands global resistance against the dominant powers that exploit and oppress us. That is why we aim to strengthen both Marea Socialista and maintain its ties with the international organization of revolutionary parties, the International Socialist League (ISL), a global network of revolutionary parties. That is why we also want to strengthen the Venezuelan opposition left and advocate for abandoning the positions of left-wing sectors that, pretending to bet on a false “lesser evil,” support the right in an attempt to “get rid of Maduro by any means necessary.”

The path is one of class consciousness and political independence, —organizing and mobilizing around our own struggles, building the political tools we need, and forging alliances from below to overcome bureaucratic authoritarianism and capitalist exploitation in Venezuela.

Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”

Featured Image credit: Andrés E. Azpúrua; modified by Tempest.

Translated from Spanish by Anderson Bean.

Marea Socialista View All

Marea Socialista is a longstanding anti-capitalist and anti-bureaucratic current within the Venezuelan Left.