Solidarity with Venezuelan intellectuals

Since the fraudulent 2024 elections, the Maduro government has escalated repression against critical voices on the left. More than 2,000 people were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the elections, and cases of targeted persecution have multiplied. Human rights activist Martha Lía Grajales was arbitrarily detained and charged after denouncing the brutal beating of over fifty mothers who had gathered to demand the release of their imprisoned children. María Alejandra Díaz, a Chavista lawyer and former member of the 2017 Constituent Assembly, was stripped of her license to practice law, fined, and harassed at her home after she filed a constitutional appeal demanding transparency in the 2024 vote count. Even after she was granted asylum by Colombia, the Venezuelan government initially refused to let her leave. These examples illustrate a broader pattern of intimidation and criminalization designed to silence dissent, even among former government allies and established human rights defenders.

It is within this repressive context that the government has now targeted some of the most respected figures of Latin American critical thought — Edgardo Lander, Emiliano Terán, Alexandra Martínez, Francisco Javier Velasco, and Santiago Arconada. Alongside these individuals, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, among others, has been denounced as part of an alleged “network of foreign interference,” despite its longstanding opposition to US imperialism and US interference in Venezuela and its role in supporting critical scholarship and its ties to Germany’s Die Linke.

This attack on prominent academics and institutions working on issues like the Orinoco Mining Arc and Venezuela’s ecological crisis represents an effort to delegitimize independent research and critical voices. Importantly, some of those now under attack are regular collaborators with Tempest members and part of the broader international left. Signing this petition is a concrete way for Tempest to express solidarity with our comrades in Venezuela and to join the global call to defend academic freedom, human rights, and critical thought in the face of mounting repression.

Please sign the petition here.

Statement in  Solidarity with  Edgardo Lander, Francisco Javier Velasco, Santiago Arconada, Emiliano Terán Mantovani, and Alexandra Martínez

We view with deep concern the serious accusations against university community members by official media sources that attempt to criminalize academic activity in our country. Teachers with a vast national and international recognition, committed to research and critical reflection on the reality of the Venezuelan population and territory, such as Edgardo Lander, Franscisco Javier Velasco, Santiago Arconada, Emiliano Terán Mantovani and Alexandra Martínez, have publicly advocated with honesty in the process of recovery of Venezuelan universities.

Their work on the Orinoco Mining Arc, the environmental crisis and the loss of constitutional rights is a reference for all of us and reflects worries that we share in the context of the global ecosocial crisis.

We reject any attempt to enforce a climate of fear, censorship and self-censorship in the university community and hope that free and committed expression, essential for the functioning of academic life, will be maintained.

We call on national, Latin American, and worldwide universities and research centers to show solidarity in the face of the critical situation in Venezuela and reject the official media’s criminalization.

We say no to the criminalization of academic and research activity in Venezuela.

Comunicado de Solidaridad y Reconocimiento a Edgardo Lander, Francisco Javier Velasco, Santiago Arconada, Emiliano Terán Mantovani y Alexandra Martínez

Vemos con profunda preocupación los graves señalamientos a miembros de la comunidad universitaria por parte de fuentes oficiales que intentan criminalizar la actividad académica de nuestro país.

Docentes con un vasto reconocimiento nacional e internacional, comprometidos con la investigación y la reflexión crítica sobre la realidad de la población venezolana y del territorio como Edgardo Lander, Francisco Javier Velasco, Santiago Arconada, Emiliano Terán Mantovani y Alexandra Martínez, se han desenvuelto con honestidad y de manera pública como miembros y necesarios para el proceso de recuperación de las universidad venezolanas.

Sus trabajos sobre el Arco Minero del Orinoco, la crisis ambiental y la pérdida de derechos constitucionales son una referencia para todas y todos.

Rechazamos cualquier intento de forzar un clima de miedo, censura y autocensura en la comunidad universitaria y, para ello, esperamos que se mantenga la expresión libre y comprometida imprescindible para el funcionamiento de la vida académica.

Llamamos a las universidades y centros de investigación nacionales y de América Latina a solidarizarse con la situación crítica en nuestro país y rechazar la criminalización de los docentes nombrados por parte de los medios oficiales.

¡No a la criminalización de la actividad académica y de investigación en Venezuela!

¡Solidaridad en defensa del pensamiento crítico!

Please sign the petition here.