I have now been here a week and I think that I have absorbed enough to attempt a little analysis, as opposed to the simple impressions I gave shortly after arrival.
Those impressions remain valid however: this is not a repressive state. I was on the Randy Credico show live on WBAI New York on Friday, and by chance my friend, the renowned FBI whistleblower Colleen Rowley was also on, from Minnesota (where I have stayed with Colleen and her husband in their home).
I was explaining that, in a week of going all round Caracas, I had yet to see a checkpoint, that nobody had at any stage asked me who I am, what I was doing or prevented me from going anywhere, and that the shops, bars and restaurants are all functioning normally.
Colleen reported from Minneapolis that there were checkpoints everywhere, that the streets are full of heavily armed men, that people are frequently stopped, questioned, asked to produce documents, and diverted, and that many shops bars and restaurants are closed because the staff are afraid to venture out into the streets. Colleen is heavily involved in detainee support and in getting supplies to people sheltering in their homes.
Remind me again, which of us is in a supposed dictatorship?
I want to tell you a couple of things to help explain Venezuela. I visited the mausoleum of Simon Bolivar, a genuinely heroic man. He has now been removed from the main Venezuelan Pantheon into a connected dedicated modern mausoleum. The Pantheon itself contains the remains of many of the heroes of the Venezuelan War of Independence, and monuments to all of them.
The Venezuelan War of Independence was, of course, in many respects similar to the United States war given the same name. It was a war between colonial elites and their metropolitan masters. Unlike the founders of the USA, Bolivar himself was genuinely opposed to slavery, but that was not true of many of his key allies.
So the Pantheon as originally conceived in the late 19th century was inhabited by the remains and memories almost entirely of those heroic people of Spanish descent who fought against the colonial control of Spain. This is the great founding ideal of Venezuela.
When Chavez and Maduro came to power, they made a very important change. They added a monument to the liberated slaves who had fought against the Spanish. Then Chavez and Maduro each added an extra monument: to leaders of the Native Americans who had fought against Spanish invasion in the first place.
This caused outrage among right wingers furious that the purity of the Pantheon, the great focus of Venezuelan nationalism, was being desecrated for what they viewed as political purposes. Which brings me to what I think is a fundamental observation. Politics in Venezuela are basically racial.
I am treading on eggshells here, but in 2019 I published this post noticing the contrast between opposition and government group photos. The leadership of the right wing are basically whiter. That is simply who they are.
Of course the divide is not absolute, and individual exceptions exist. But it is there. Politics in Venezuela are strongly class based, and in this post-colonial society it is difficult to disentangle race from class.
What the opposition want is simply to turn back the clock and restore economic apartheid in Venezuela. I had a very interesting talk with Ricardo Vaz of Venezuela Analysis. He explained how Chavez’s revolutionary policies had brought people into political discourse who had always been ignored in what was historically an extremely unequal society:
“The rulers, now the opposition, suddenly found that their cook, their cleaner, their driver and even their gardener were learning to read and write and starting to get political ideas. They did not like this at all”.
They still don’t like that. It is not possible for me here now to capture what happened exactly in the 2024 elections. Plainly the opposition performed relatively well, though I do not in the least believe they got 68% of the result. Maduro’s closing rally had 1 million people while the opposition’s had 50,000.
For the government to remain in power against the will of 68% of the population would require a degree of state repression which simply does not exist here. There is very little surveillance compared to Western states, let alone to acknowledged dictatorships. There are no politicised police or militias in the streets. There are no restrictions on people moving around and mingling.
Machado has discredited herself, as effectively as she has discredited the Nobel peace prize. Giving the prize to Trump made her look foolish and suppliant, and praising the bombing of her own country which killed fellow citizens has really not gone down well at all, even with opposition supporters.
But even that has not harmed her nearly as much as her remark to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee that 60% of Venezuelans are involved in narcotics or prostitution. This is not quite what she said, but it is near enough and it really annoyed people here:
We have the Colombian guerrilla, the drug cartels that have taken over 60% of our populations, and not only involving drug trafficking, but in human trafficking, in networks of prostitution. So this has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas…
Which takes me back to personal impressions. I have, as those who follow me would expect, assiduously been checking out the bars of Caracas. I have found some very beautiful ones – Juan Sebastian Bar is one of the most lovely bars that I have ever seen. A piece of stunning interior design. I took these photos before it opened one evening. It serves mojitos even better than you can get in Havana.
That is not a mirror, those are two grand pianos!
The point is that not in my hotel, not in any bar, not on any street, have I seen a single person who appeared to be operating as a sex worker. Not one – and I might perhaps be viewed as a pretty archetypal target. Similarly I have not seen any sign at all of narcotics abuse. In two days in Salisbury investigating the Skripal hoax I was shocked by how many obvious drug addicts we saw on the streets. There is nothing of the kind in Caracas.
While I appreciate that the allegation is that Venezuela exports narcotics rather than consumes them, you always get clusters of addiction around production points and transit nodes. I just see no evidence that the common tropes about Venezuela and Venezuelans are true: and I am a trained and seasoned observer.
Sanctions against Venezuela did not start after the disputed 2024 election; they have been applied by the Western powers more or less since the very start of Chavez’s socialist experiment. The repression of socialism in Latin America has been US policy for a century, and the more Chavez succeeded the more the West sought to suppress it. France refused to provide spares for the Mirage jets of the Venezuelan air force, and equally refused to supply spare parts for the trains of the Metro service.
The gold and foreign currency reserves abroad of the government of Venezuela have simply been stolen by foreign governments, and the blocking of Venezuela from the Swift bank transfer system for a while caused havoc. It has however spurred BRICS to develop an alternative, not fully adopted, not finished but working in Venezuela, which accounts for the full stocks in the shops and ultimately might represent a significant moment in international economics.
Slowly, unwillingly, the Socialist Party under Maduro has been forced precisely by the crippling effect of sanctions to allow more space for the private sector and move from a fully socialist to a more social democratic model – though to describe the reforms under Maduro as “neoliberal” is ridiculous. It may theoretically be possible to build socialism in one country, but if the major economic powers join forces to destroy you, it becomes very difficult indeed.
A dangerously simplistic narrative about what has happened in Venezuela has taken hold in the West, fuelled by Trump, CIA and Machado/Miami sources.
On this reading, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez is in collusion with Trump, betrayed Maduro and stood down defences on the night of his kidnap, and is now instituting neoliberal policies, including a new petroleum law which states only the USA may ship Venezuelan oil and that payments for it will go exclusively through the US in Qatar.
In fact this is not true at all. Venezuela’s new petroleum legislation contains no provisions banning oil exports to China or Russia and no provision for payments to be routed through the USA. The new petroleum law is in fact legislation which sets out a new commercial basis for the operation of the Venezuelan petroleum sector on the same kind of concession, licensing and royalty basis as pertains in almost every other oil producer.
The key point is that the legislation was drafted under Maduro, with extensive consultation and debate. It came for its first reading to the Assembly literally the day after Maduro was kidnapped. That was already scheduled, not a result of the kidnapping. The notion that Maduro opposed the legislation and Rodríguez had to get rid of him to get it through is patent nonsense.
The legislation is unrelated to the United States’ current hijack of the sale of Venezuelan oil. This is proceeding through simple piracy. Trump decreed that only two companies, Vitol and Trafigura, would be allowed to load Venezuelan oil, and those companies would pay for the oil to the United States, into a special account held in Qatar under Trump’s name.
This new scheme has been enforced by simple piracy. Any tankers carrying oil not owned by Vitol and Trafigura from Venezuela have been illegally seized at sea by the US Navy, sometimes assisted by the UK government. The United States has been claiming that Venezuela agrees to this arrangement. That is not true. Or it is true in the sense that a hostage held at gunpoint agrees to stay put, rather than get a bullet through the skull.
The Venezuelan government simply has no physical ability to prevent the United States Navy from seizing oil tankers.
Nor is it true that the Venezuelan government gave the United States information on non-Vitol and -Trafigura tankers and requested their interception. Obviously the United States could get the information on “rogue” tankers from Vitol and Trafigura.
Trafigura have featured in my writing for decades as the archetypal extremely corrupt Western corporation. Their record for deliberate pollution and corruption in Africa is appalling, including in Angola and Ivory Coast. They have frequently been involved in CIA schemes for regime change.
How Vitol and Trafigura came to be the beneficiaries of a duopoly, and what backhanders that may have involved, is another question. In fact this is the one area of domestic pressure that has forced a step back from Trump, and last Friday it was announced that the arrangement will be expanded to include more companies.
It is worth noting that the system has not just been invented for Venezuela. It is almost identical to the system imposed on Iraq after its destruction by the United States and its allies, with payments for Iraqi oil made to the USA and a percentage of them returned to the Iraqi government.
The difference is that the Iraqi revenues were paid to the US Treasury, whereas the Venezuelan funds are going to a Qatar account under Trump’s personal control, removed from the reach of Congress. At its most charitable reading, it gives him a massive slush fund to pursue policy outside the United States legal framework. It is like Iran-Contra on a massive scale.
To reiterate: none of this sales arrangement has been agreed by Rodríguez and none of it is contained in the new Venezuelan hydrocarbon legislation on concessions and royalties. There are two separate things being widely conflated.
The line that Delcy Rodríguez agrees both to the kidnap of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia, and to the hijacking of Venezuelan oil sales and revenues, has been deliberately spread by the US and its acolytes, despite Delcy Rodríguez’s furious denials.
If Rodríguez really was Trump’s placed woman, then boasting about it would fatally undermine her within Venezuela and bring about her downfall – which obviously would be entirely counterproductive were there any truth in the claim.
So why is this rumour being spread? Well the obvious reason is precisely to undermine Rodríguez and destabilise the government of Venezuela.
But perhaps a more important factor is Trump’s obsessive need to claim victory. He gathered a massive military force off the coast of Venezuela, and stood in danger of mockery as the Grand Old Duke of York if he simply sailed it away again.
The seizure of Maduro has in fact changed nothing in policy terms within Venezuela, but it has provided a spectacular operation for Trump to claim as a victory. In truth, as a demonstration of the capabilities of the United States’ offensive military technology, it was indeed technically impressive.
For the removal of Maduro to be portrayed as a triumph, Trump has to claim that Rodríguez is solidly pro-USA, even though this is plainly not true. It is merely a part of the parade of triumph that is an essential component both of Trump’s ego and of the bombastic Trump method.
What now happens to Maduro and Cilia is, on this reading, not really relevant. The entirely false narrative of the non-existent Cartel de los Soles has already been abandoned as part of the prosecution. In the USA’s misnamed “justice” system, they have a variety of witness accusations from diverse figures prepared to sign nonsense against Maduro as part of a plea bargain agreement. These include rococo Trump-pleasing standouts such as testimony that Maduro was involved in fixing the 2020 US Presidential election on behalf of Biden.
My prediction is that Trump will “pardon” Maduro before the prosecution gets too silly, and present that as another part of his triumph. But who can predict a madman?
That is precisely the conundrum now facing Delcy Rodríguez. She is dealing with two imponderable equations.
The first was already difficult enough. Historians and ideologues will debate for centuries whether Chavismo could have succeeded economically with its full-on socialist programme, had the Western world not determined to destroy it with crippling sanctions.
What is I think beyond dispute is that the sanctions were so crippling that they caused considerable public hardship, and massive inflation. At the same time, the very fact that Venezuela is not highly dictatorial and both Chavez and Maduro broadly allowed debate, free opposition political parties and media, and the operation of Western-funded NGOs, meant that the Venezuelan population were continually bombarded with Western propaganda which blamed the problems caused by sanctions on the Bolivarian Revolution.
This eroded support for the socialist project, which though still intact, has crumbled at the edges. The Bolivarian government has been obliged to try to mitigate the effects of the sanctions which stole the government’s own capital, and to seek the removal of some sanctions, by the opening up of more space for capitalist investment and operation in the economy, notably but by no means only in the oil sector.
In other words the government has been forced to concede some ground to the West by inching along the spectrum from socialist to social democratic, while attempting to maintain the massive social gains of the Chavez revolution.
This is an exercise in which Nicolás Maduro himself was fully engaged. I believe that both Maduro and Rodríguez have the intention of inching back from social democracy towards socialism over time, once pressures have eased. Theirs is a game of strategy, not of tactics.
To this already extremely sensitive calculation is added the extraordinary factor of Trump. His willingness to simply kill innocent people, to shatter international law, and to impose his will by exploiting massive United States military advantage over a small country, changed all the rules of the game.
The pressure to make changes faster to appease somebody who is plainly mentally unstable, the difficulty of understanding his limits and true goals, is an excruciating experience when the lives and deaths of Venezuelans are in your hands. Trump’s incredible bombast, his wild claims that Venezuelan land and oil is stolen from the USA, are not contained within the realm of normal diplomatic negotiation.
Delcy Rodríguez is not so much walking a tightrope, as navigating an Indiana Jones tunnel full of traps.
One thing that Trump has in fact got right is his contention that Machado does not have the public support to rule. This seems to me indisputable, and an attempt to impose her would result in civil war. This of course in itself undermines the contention that Machado’s team massively won the 2024 election.
Meanwhile life in Venezuela goes on for ordinary people. I had the great pleasure to attend a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra on Sunday. It was very accomplished, and the auditorium was full. The programme was entirely of Venezuelan composers, and I had never heard any of the music before. The opening symphonic poem by Juan Bautista Plaza would stand alongside the European repertoire without blushing.
I make no apologies for bringing little slices of ordinary life to you, because the picture we have been given of Venezuela is so strangely and massively distorted, it requires multiple points of correction.
Chavez instituted a programme of musical education for working-class children that became the envy of the classical music world, known simply as La Sistema. Much more heart-rending examples of Western sanctions might be found, involving medical provision. But as an example of the cruel absurdity of the sanctions regime, the youth orchestra of Venezuela has difficulties getting hold of simple consumables – strings, reeds, plectra – because of sanctions.
In bringing violin strings to a child I should be committing a crime in the United States of America. Let that be a testament to the absurdity of using sanctions to crush human spirit.
I am very aware I have not left Caracas yet and of the limitations of my experience so far. But I am already struck by the great advantage of being here over commentators in the West who I see daily, even when well-intentioned, getting it all wrong. The mainstream media of course produce a fake narrative entirely as a matter of policy.
I am delighted to say that today our new videographer and editor are starting and we will be able to bring you video content. I also hope today to conclude rent of an office/studio space.
We now have a Venezuela reporting crowdfunder. I have simply edited the Lebanese GoFundMe crowdfunder, because that took many weeks to be approved and I don’t want to go through all that again. So its starting baseline is the £35,000 we raised and spent in Lebanon.
I do very much appreciate that I have been simultaneously crowdfunding to fight the UK government in the Scottish courts over the proscription of Palestine Action. We fight forces that have unlimited funds. We can only succeed if we spread the load. 98% of those who read my articles never contribute financially. This would be a good moment to change that. It is just the simple baseline subscriptions to my blog that have got me to Venezuela, and that remains the foundation for all my work.
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Craig wrote:
– “Trump decreed that only two companies, Vitol and Trafigura, would be allowed to load Venezuelan oil…”
Funnily enough, Trafigura was the subject of the first major publication by Wikileaks, regarding pollution in South America, I think. I don’t know if this ties in with the US lawfare persecution of Donziger.
I wrote:
– “…regarding pollution in South America”
No, Craig has it right; it was Africa.
Julian Assange discussed the Trafigura toxc dumping incident at the 2009 “26th Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin” – see here: https://youtu.be/CihW5I1NNhY?si=RkGVLHUZoPZLZETp&t=222 (the original file was removed by YouTube).
The actual files can be seen here: https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Category:Trafigura
I read somewhere that the US, as part of its kidnapping of Maduro, had bombed the tomb of Chavez. A remarkably petulant action if true. Is that the case, and if so, how much damage was inflicted? Can the tomb be restored?
Thankyou forstanding in for the whole western media.
Yes Trump needs this to appear as a victory. And as a very aggressive nasty one at that. Fear of waht US might do is pretty much all that remains to the US now. it has pulled out of conflict with Russia and China, and it looks like Trump’s military advisers are telling him to pull out of conflict with Iran too. Yet the fate of even the dollar (and certainly of Israel) depends on the world being scared of USA.
Fascinating article. This type of first-hand experience should be a norm in journalism. But it isn’t. To all our detriment.
I suppose what we’re seeing in the so-called West is decadence. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said the quiet part out loud just in the last couple of weeks – the “rules based order” was always a sham, the rules selectively applied, but “we” went along with it because it was favourable to “us”.
But now with Trump the mask is off, which must mean that the financial powers that made Trump the President of the USA now feel far less need to manufacture fake credibility.
Here’s an illuminating video of Machado, offering to sell the resources of Venezuela:
https://xcancel.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1988937942933598578
(xcancel.com is a privacy front-end for x.com. If you’d rather use the official, billionaire-controlled version, just edit out ‘cancel’ in the URL)
Thanks for another eye-opening report. I understand, however, that the Carter Center raised concerns about the legitimacy of Maduro’s election.
Small typo: “none if it is contained” -> “none of it is contained”[ Mod: Thanks. Amended. ]M.J.
February 3, 2026 at 12:40
From the Carter Center commentary.
“However, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council made just one announcement on election night, simply saying Maduro had won. It provided no results from the country’s 30,026 voting precincts.”
Is there any rebuttal of this claim?
But how can you hold ‘free and fair’ elections in any country subject to a U.S. ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, involving economic sanctions? Sanctions specifically designed to create collective hardship and thus foment unrest against a ruling party? The U.S. has such dominant control over so many global instruments of economic coercion : IMF and World Bank, headquartered in Washington D.C. Decisions in the IMF require an 85% supermajority and the U.S holds roughly 16-17% of the voting power giving them a veto. SWIFT & Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS) payment systems; Wall Street and capital markets; the UN, via funding, or the lack thereof recently.
Craig, outlined above, how the socialist experiment – initially genuinely popular – was strangled by the U.S. And yet you seem to think that backdrop of a massive concerted effort aimed at discrediting socialism, is somehow irrelevant?
Goose,
I’m just querying whether the Carter Center observation:
“However, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council made just one announcement on election night, simply saying Maduro had won. It provided no results from the country’s 30,026 voting precincts.”
was accurate.
I’ve no idea?
My point was simply about how looking at things in isolation, and not seeing the bigger picture, loses the context.
Demanding the ruling party act with the utmost electoral probity, while the country is subject to economic warfare(sanctions), sanctions cheered on by the US’s ‘preferred’ wealth transferring, pro-privatisation opposition leaders, who wish to sell the country off to the highest bidders. Well, it would make the best of people act in ways they otherwise wouldn’t.
JK Redux.
Muchado and the Old Fella that stood (because she couldn’t ) claimed that they had many exit polls which ‘ proved that the Opposition had won.
As far as I know no -one has published these Exit Polls and records.
I hear that this was a Digital Ballot meaning I think that all votes were digitally recorded.
So, if Muchado – The Carter Center and any other Observers have ‘ proof ‘ then let’s see it.
Muchado was asked by the Venezuelan Electoral Authorities to prove their evidence.
She and her supporters didn’t.
“Is there any rebuttal of this claim?”
There was a master at my school who, if anyone asked him where something was, he would either tell them if he knew or point out that they had exactly the same equipment as himself, i.e. two eyes, to look for it themselves. I offer you this piece of advice, modified to include a computer, search engine and ten fingers along with the two eyes.
now show the conclusion of the report. your quote is meaningless.
Thank you Craig
Dear Craig, thank you for taking the trouble to summarise your impressions. Yours will be the part of history that will be available to counter the propaganda of USA CIA and Trump. It is an honest and remarkable account So… please stay safe. Scotland needs you!
I don’t often comment these days although I do follow the blog.
The article has the ring of truth about it but it is just one component in a rapidly shifting perception of how ‘democracy’ works in the west. the UK shamocracy has been unravelling fast, though the collapse has been signposted for years. Is this finally the end times?
One senses that the current Mandelson/revelations will spell disaster for Starmer a man uniquely ill equipped to adopt the role of a leader of the UK.I can only hope that the current turmoil will result in Scottish independence.
But isn’t that the idea from the United States and their lackeys in the British media: Try to discredit both the Prime Minister and the Royal Family, with smears and surveillance, then install their far-right stooge Farage taking orders from Washington? It is another phase of their attempted takeover that began with Cameron’s forced resignation ten years ago this summer. Perhaps the last part is a bit too tin-foil hat, and it probably won’t work, but nevertheless it looks a roughly plausible scenario.
Ironically, Craig’s terrific journalism from Venezuela rather ties in.
Starmer is both apologising to Epstein’s victims (presumably to those who were sexually abused when underaged, not to all the other victims of the Epstein operations) AND saying he had no reason to doubt Mandelson. Then what’s he got to apologise for? If I had no reason to doubt someone, surely I was right not to doubt them? It’s not like realising I did have a reason to doubt them, in which case I’d have been wrong to think otherwise. Vetting is about doubt. Security is about doubt. And this f***king creep is prime minister! You have to ask why an idiot like him got the job as chief prosecutor, even before you ask why he got the gig as Zionist Corbyn-remover and then as premier. But then you realise what kind of issues pass across the chief prosecutor’s desk… and who his wife is. The c*** should be in the dock with Mandelson.
Never mind political parties. Starmer is very much in the same mould as Sunak and Truss.
Unfortunately Venezuela is not mentioned in the Epstein files, so we’re unlikely to hear anything about her for some time.
” If Music be the food of love, play on”,, with reference to promoting music to children, especially those who can’t afford musical instruments. Why not in UK? – oh, yeah, it’s . uuuh, socialism.
Venezuela is mentioned over 1000 times in the Epstein documents.
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/search
^ Type in “Venezuela”
For a taster:
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01907869.pdf
and
https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02011270.pdf
I think you should offer your Venezeulan reports to The Guardian – they’re just not getting the best of the street! Well done, Craig.
The Guardian?! Under current editor-in-chief, Kath Viner, it’s very much ‘on message’ and ideologically attuned with the regime changers’ in Washington and London. They also bought heavily into the ‘Russiagate’ nonsense narrative too. They carry an opinion piece today, on Iran, by Dr Sanam Vakil, who is the director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa programme. It contains all the well-worn western talking points, and not once does it mention the illegality of any military action. Their in-house editorial opinion piece on Iran, was the same.
Press freedom in the UK ended in 2014, with TPTB’s response to the Snowden revelations. The near-hysterical reaction was that the common people must never again be allowed to know about the State’s surveillance of them.
Several people have remarked that today’s successful politicians seem to regard Orwell’s 1984 as a goal to be attained instead of a dystopia to be avoided. I don’t think that’s literally true, but it’s certainly hard to disprove from their actions.
Surely nobody needs reminding (but let me do it anyway!) that that proposition is hard to disprove even from words spoken brazenly in public, such as these, by the appalling Shabana Mahmood:
“When I was in justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.”
I’m not given to visions, but years ago, long before Starmer’s mob was elected into power, I had a terrifying visionary waking glimpse of Starmer as future PM, appearing as a kind of Big Brother, somehow also uniformed as Joseph Stalin. The current political “reality” in the UK feels exactly like what I foresaw. Many other people also saw pretty exactly what was coming, of course; it’s just that I’m never been terrified in that almost hallucinatory way by any other politician, no matter how obnoxious. He chills me to the bone! (Sorry to rant on so, but I need an outlet occasionally! I’ll clamber back into the teapot now. Forget what the Dormouse said.)
Not just state surveillance but the total oneness of the state (in the form of NSA, GCHQ, etc.) and big “IT” business (Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) when it comes to surveillance, behaviour modification, and advances in these (rather like in China). That was the biggie from Snowden, even if he himself hasn’t pushed it. It has been rather whitewashed with all this Hollywood-level cack about the heroic New York Times and Guardian – supposedly run, or at least supplied, by “men for all seasons” like Thomas More, with the god of journalistic purity (chief priests Woodward and Bernstein) standing in for the mother church Ecclesia.
Reply to Goose …
Agreed. It’s now said to be the paper of the UK security state, although really they all are … in particular how many BBC journalists are really spooks? >35-40 years ago, the Grauniad was probably quite good.
The Lab MP Graham Stringer said after the so called ‘COVID times’ that the least bad ‘COVID’ coverage had probably been in the Mail & Torygraph. He meant that those two allowed a few dissenters, like Prof. Carl Heneghan, to write articles.
Andrew Bridgen ex-Tory MP, who I now believe is mainly telling us the (pretty awful) truth, said that ‘right’ vs ‘left’ is irrelevant if a debate is between right and wrong. True. Anyone who’s read the ‘alternative media’ since 2020 can now get a pretty good idea of the lies being told and what the truth may possibly be.
That would surely be casting pearls before swine! I think Hell will freeze over before the Grauniad ever again publishes anything by Craig.
I see they published an interview in 2004; he wrote for them about Uzbekistan in 2005, and he wrote an article entitled “My Week” for the Observer in 2007. There are several more articles from 2005 and 2006. He was allowed to compare UK “democracy” to Uzbekistan in 2010. Has there been anything more recent, say since they took an angle grinder to their hard drives at the behest of the secret police in 2013?
I lazily asked Google’s AI (which I normally swear at, not by). For what it’s worth, it gave the date of Craig’s last article for the Grauniad or Observer as 2011. (The AI gives its source as Craig’s author profile at the Grauniad. I can’t read that at the moment, but there’s a 2014 archived copy at https://archive.ph/tUZrT.)
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/craig-murray
A February 2011 comment on the Raymond Davis killings (murders more like) in Pakistan. Reading some of the 200+ comments it is quite striking how much easier was the censorship regime at Guardian Towers back in the day. Craig is in the comment thread, unacknowledged as the contributor. I think the chance of Viner inviting Murray to write an offering is as likely as (choose your own polite metaphor).
What happened next: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Allen_Davis_incident. CIA operative with a lethally severe anger management problem!
You say “Grauniad”. Maybe worth mentioning that they don’t like Craig much at Private Eye, where that term originated, either.
The Guardian style manual used to have an entry for the word “goy”, which it said its scribblers should avoid because it’s racist. Then the entry got sent down the memory hole, never to appear again.
I wonder how many of that rag’s scribblers are aware of this, these days, and how many would actually give a damn if they were told? Or indeed how many would understand what they were being told.
If she didn’t betray him, who did?
I don’t suppose the US are going to let Craig or anyone who comments on this blog know who their mole in Maduro’s circle is. It’s not as if he or she is not still useful to them.
Cui bono?
Trump
Most, if not all, governments will have people who are willing to sell out their country, their colleagues or even their Grannies for money or people who have been compromised by their dubious lifestyles. These people are known as politicians , and in today’s society sadly many of them ARE corrupt. Venezuela is no different.
Oh really, what is your source of information for “Venezuela is no different”? I take it from the article that it is quite different. People I know who have been to Cuba also tell me it is “quite different.”
Venezuela is a state and all states are fascist.
Terrific report, Craig. Very enjoyable hearing about day to day life in Caracas which certainly beats Minneapolis hands down. The open piracy of the Trump regime is quite extraordinary in its brazen theft, not to mention the funnelling of the illegitimate proceeds into a Qatari bank account. It needs to be said, once again, that one man who takes the trouble to go there under his own steam, can shame the billion dollar media outlets of the West when it comes to reporting from countries whose mere existence enrages our pontificating, illiterate commentariat.
It’s always the details which stand out: “In bringing violin strings to a child I should be committing a crime in the United States of America. Let that be a testament to the absurdity of using sanctions to crush human spirit.” This sums up succinctly the effect of the punitive embargos and who they hurt. Palestine and Iran have been similarly treated, needless to say it is always blameless people and their children who are denied basic foods, medicines and goods. How that must make Western leaders and their propagandists so proud. The same is happening in Cuba right now:
https://substack.com/inbox/post/186674981
Also great to be reminded of La Sistema, which via conductor Gustavo Dudamel took the classical world by storm around 2008 or so. It was so admired that a pilot scheme was set up in Stirling, with council estate kids, wihich achieved impressive results. There are now four schools running such schemes under the umbrella of Big Noise. There is an article about the Stirling scheme here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61900376
The thought of denying kids in Venezuela the resources to learn instruments in this way is one of the most life-denying, niggardly, wretched consequences of the corporate West, as if they didn’t have enough capital already. Naturally the lionising of Dudamel ignored the social and cultural origins of this pioneering system.
If you are looking for some suggestions of where to go, there are some excellent ideas in this wonderful programme on Venezuela and its music here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p005xkqv
which only makes me want to go there and join you
Looking forward to your videos and reports
Ian, thank you for that post and for the excellent links, Ian. Especially the piece about El Sistema in Stirling.
Venezuela, surely has to resist, in order to avoid Iraq’s predicament: colonial subjugation via denial of its economic sovereignty. I’d imagine most Americans aren’t even aware of the perverse power over Iraq’s finances & politics, the US govt still grants itself; long after the war officially ended, in 2011. It’s a highly pertinent issue too. This, from just the last few days:
Iraq’s leading candidate for prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, on Wednesday denounced what he called Washington’s “blatant interference” after President Donald Trump threatened to end all US support if Maliki takes office.
Maliki fell out with US over his alleged ties/closeness to Iran. The Trump admin’s threat is serious too; as Iraq still has to request release its own oil revenues. Requests that the US can grant, delay or deny. The US leverages this arrangement to dictate Iraq’s political configuration and its policies, both macro and at micro management level, it’s direct, blatant interference.
“The Trump admin’s threat is serious too; as Iraq still has to request release its own oil revenues. Requests that the US can grant, delay or deny. ”
This is something that puzzles me. Why can’t the Iraqi government just stick two fingers up at the USA and sell their oil to someone who will pay in something other than dollars?
Interesting article on the comparison between the Iraqi and Venezuelan arrangements here: https://www.energyintel.com/0000019c-05c6-d7ea-a39e-5fefc55f0000
Evan Ellis, Latin America research professor at the US Army War College, told Energy Intelligence. “But then the question becomes, how far can that go?” Ellis asked, adding that at some point, when it comes to US demands, there are some “lines that Rodriguez or whoever’s in power can’t actually cross.”
Bayard.
Very much like The Gulf States who remind me of their Mum and Dad ( the US) telling their ‘ free ‘ young shavers what they can and can’t spend their Pocket Money on.
The older sons and daughters are now the Europeans.
Outstanding journalism !!
Uwontbegrinningsoon
It’s old fashioned Reportage.
John Pilger did it and sometimes I would agree with it and sometimes I would not.
But, at least someone has an opinion.
I like opinions because the MSM only have one opinion.
That is: to pretend to not have one.
Thanks for this report on what you are seeing. The comparison between Caracas and Minneapolis is a brilliant, showing the false narrative of ‘we are the good guys’ we are continually fed by main stream media and politicians. The stark difference between reality and what most people here are fed and believe makes it difficult for me to share with them and not get a blank stare.
Thanks for your outstanding real journalism from Venezuela, much appreciated.
I asked myself the question as to the 98% who rarely contribute to your excellent writing, how much money they spent weekly on keeping the odious lying MSM alive? whilst enjoying your revelations at tea time with a selection of biscuits.
Looking forward to your forthcoming videos and hope that many more will support you in future.
I for one shall carry on to support you, take you good care boar.
Great writing and analysis, as ever.
Mods, quick typo correction: “Rodríguez had to get rid of him to get it thorough”. That should be through, not thorough.[Mod: Thanks. Now corrected. ]I think the bottom line is, you can be a bloody dictator who chops journalists to pieces or sprays rebels with mustard gas, but this is OK as long as you spend your petrodollars buying American weapons and investing in Western banks. But you absolutely can’t give your petrodollars to the poor.
Hi Craig,
Have you come across any of the recently qualified Cuban doctors and nurses who are spending part of their Cuban National Service working in Venezuela for their Cuban wages by way of medical aid for Venezuela and for which Cuba receives or received in return oil and gas.
Shortages of oil and gas in Cuba mean electricity rationing of four hours out of 24 with the tie of provision changing weekly to a different four hour slot of provision and so it goes in six weekly cycles.
Electricity rationing means that drinking water can no longer be pumped from aquifers through treatment plants and thence to water towers nor can bottling plants supply all the local Casas del Agua.
Excellent report. The regime begun by Hugo Chavez is not perfect but it deserves huge respect for, among other things, its effort to increase literacy and other living conditions among the poor and the unprivileged majority. Don’t forget that one aspect of this effort was the ban on violent video games. This ban irritated the bejeesus out of bourgeois pro-USA brats (who infest rich areas in many if not most countries), but I’m sure it was welcomed by most working class parents (although, to be clear, I’d have supported it even if it wasn’t). @Craig – How are things going on this front now? Are they still banned? (Worth recalling that one of the big players in the development of violent videogames is the USA army.)
I’d suggest a government ban on (violent) games is an infringement of peoples rights and freedom of speech. I’d also suspect that laws already exist that cover abuse of minors and access to unsuitable materials, as such another law would not be required. Like in most cases the problem is that the authorities don’t enforce the laws they already have.
In what way is a ban on violent video games an infringement of people’s rights, except to the the extent that all laws are a ban on people’s “right” to do whatever they like?
Video games are not speech in any way, shape or form.
breaking news story.
“Six British pro-Palestinian activists have been acquitted of aggravated burglary … ”
—
[ Mod: Comment moved to Palestine Action Judicial Review. ]
US economist, Steve Hanke, estimates inflation in various countries around the world. He estimates Venezuela’s at 700%pa. In its attempt to survive sanctions, is the government risking hyper-inflation and economic collapse?
Well he might, but is it true? It’s not difficult to find a reputable-looking website that gives Venezuela’s inflation rate as 25%.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/inflation-rate-by-country
Sounds as though Hanke is lying. He says on Musk’s service “Venezuela’s annual inflation, which I measure daily, soars to 710%. Over 700% not seen since June 2015.” Then he posts a graph sourced to the Venezuelan Central Bank, Dolar.nu, Dolar Paralelo, Paralelo Venezuela, and “Calculations by Prof. Steve H Hanke”.
If he measures retail prices every day, which is what he says he does, why does he need to calculate from other people’s measurements? He knows the difference between measurement and calculation, right?
https://xcancel.com/steve_hanke/status/879420684434386944
Trump has hassled Harvard for not kowtowing to Zionists enough. John Hopkins has also been hit. Creeps like Hanke are a known type.
Some might like to investigate Dolar.nu, Dolar Paralelo, and Paralelo Venezuela, and for that matter also to find out what exact figures supplied by the central bank this wretch Hanke is relying on. You need two figures to get a percentage. What dates are they for?
Addendum: Hanke also says “These inflation rates are implied by the movements in the black market VEF/USD exchange rate”.
He’s one of the world’s leading practitioners of what Thomas Carlyle called the “dismal science”, apparently. What a joker. Incidentally a price rise of 19% over the last month would give an annual inflation rate of more than 700%. But just because a statistic can be calculated doesn’t mean there’s any good use for it.
Trump, Zionist kow-towing & John Hopkins: I’m not sure what your point is. On measures of inflation, I am asking, not pretending to know. You are making categorical assertions, so presumably believe you do know. As I understand, Hanke is using the black market exchange rate & some measure of PPP in the belief this provides a more accurate and timely indicator of inflationary pressures in a highly dollarized economy with an official exchange rate that diverges markedly from the market rate & official data with a history of inaccuracy. Is he wrong in this? Does this unofficial measure have a history of providing false signals? It has frequently happened in the past that a government facing extreme economic pressures (such as those imposed by US sanctions) resorts to printing money as a last resort, which does not avoid collapse, merely postpones it. It is possible the US will succeed in its assault on Venezuela even without further military action.
“As I understand, Hanke is using the black market exchange rate & some measure of PPP in the belief this provides a more accurate and timely indicator of inflationary pressures in a highly dollarized economy…”
Or, more likely, in the belief that using the black market rate gives the desired result. It’s bollocks, anyway. The black market rate for foreign currency is mostly affected by supply and demand: when the supply goes down, the rate goes up and vice versa for the same demand. This has bugger all to do with the actual inflation rate.
That site states UK inflation as 2.3% whereas the most recent figure is 3.4% for 2025. As it says there are different ways of measuring inflation and thinking back to when UK inflation was that high 25% is no joke. Also from World Population Review:-
With an inflation rate that has soared above one million percent in recent years, Venezuela has the highest inflation rate in the world. At times, prices in Venezuela have changed so rapidly that stores stopped putting price tags on merchandise and instructed customers to simply ask employees what each item cost that day. This level of runaway inflation is known as hyperinflation, an economic crisis that is usually caused by a government overspending (often as a result of war, a regime change, or socioeconomic circumstances that decrease funding from tax revenue) and printing large amounts of additional money to cover its expenditures.
“With an inflation rate that has soared above one million percent in recent years, Venezuela has the highest inflation rate in the world. ”
Then they’ve done bloody well to get it back down to 25% then. I am not saying 25% is a picnic, but it’s a lot better than 750%. Also, as you point out, it’s a rate a “normal” developed country like the UK might have.
7th Feb.
“The black market rate for foreign currency is mostly affected by supply and demand: when the supply goes down, the rate goes up and vice versa for the same demand. This has bugger all to do with the actual inflation rate.”
Sit down quietly with an introductory economics textbook. The nominal exchange rate has a great deal to do with inflation.
Craig, Thank you so much for your work. Just a note; the belief that El Sistema was a project of the Chavez government is a common error. Its focus on bringing educational opportunity and artistic enrichment to those without means is so perfectly aligned with chavismo that the mistake is understandable. But in fact El Sistema was founded in 1975 by the late José Antonio Abreu, 24 years prior to Chavez’ coming to power. Maestro Abreu’s invaluable contributions were recognized by governments prior to Chavez. https://elsistema.org.ve/historia/
I suspect Caracas is not typical of Venezuela as a whole. What steps can you take, Craig, to eliminate any concerns on that score? On a different score I’ve been lucky enough to watch the Bolivar SO playing in Edinburgh: El Sistema’ is a wonderful way of encouraging natural talent.
No healthy baby is born with any less capability than another for learning to play a musical instrument well.
History begs to differ, we are not all equal, everyone is different. Not everyone has equal natural talent whether it’s physical, mental or artistic: Usain Bolt, Einstein, Mozart, to mention three, who were blessed with more natural talent in their areas than their peers. Most people have to work hard in their chosen area to just be better than average but encouragement and opportunity helps. In the west our masters see us as cattle we must conform, we mustn’t excel, talent is dangerous.
Caracas (population 2.8 to 3.2 million over 2024 – 2026) represents about 11% of Venezuela’s population (28.5 to 28.6 million in early 2026). If you include the city’s metropolitan area (estimated at 5 million) then Caracas represents 16 – 17% of Venezuela’s population.
It is proper that CM spends most of his time in Caracas (if his time and budget are limited) since the city and its suburbs hold a fair proportion of Venezuela’s population, and the culture and influence of the city probably spread far beyond its administrative boundaries.
Looking at maps of Venezuela and its population distribution, I see that most people live along the northern coast and the northern Andean region where Caracas and other major cities are located. So Caracas residents may actually be representative of most people in Venezuela.
Hi Craig, wonderful reporting and many thanks. The steam is coming out of my ears at the treatment of a sovereign country by a great big bully. There is a Canadian reporter prowling around in Venezuela coming to the same conclusions you are. His name is Dimitri Lascaris. You may have run into him. You said in your previous post that the Venezuelans had access to plenty of food and electronic stuff, and that the stores were full. Are you saying that the US sanctions are not really working ie only with regard to the US obedient servants ie the Europeans. Are they bypassing sanctions, as can Russia, by importing through neighbouring friends. I was reading about the Iran China Railway which has been operational since last May. Iran is shipping oil to China this way. Maybe South America could do the same – link the continent by rail – with China’s help. Then they could ship goods overland instead of using the Panama Canal or going around the Horn – be cheaper and not as subject to US interference.
Great reportage and analysis.
The British journalists who claim that the Venezuelan ‘regime’ is repressive should travel to any of the many states where the British government has established the apparatus of repression and contributes to its operation.
That is, the majority of the world’s repressive states.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-11-britain-backs-most-of-the-worlds-repressive-regimes-new-analysis-shows/
Trump btw also has much in common with *today’s* Grand Old Duke of York.
Nevertheless, nothing will stop our journalists assuring us that the west’s ruling Epstein class is fighting for global freedom and democracy.
Thank you for this excellent report. I highly regard your “on the ground” journalism, and your credible analysis, based on what you find, not ideological blinkers or client journalism. This is even better than your Lebanon trip.
I already support your blog but will contribute to the Crowdfunder.
Oh dear. I fear I have been drawn in to the Epstain rabbit hole [Epstein, Bannon, Mubarak/Sisi [Eygpt], and then Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Chairman and CEO of DP World with Mandelson].
Email exchange between Epstein and Bannon- July 24, 2018, from Epstein to Bannon explicitly states “btw, you and i can see mubarak /sisi as well. . just need to schedule”.
Then after some wrestling with an AI search engine it reported that Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem (corresponder with Epstein) then disclosed the following links with Mandelson:
The newly released DOJ documents reveal that Jeffrey Epstein and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Chairman and CEO of DP World, maintained a close personal and professional relationship spanning nearly two decades.
Epstein acted as a high-level intermediary for bin Sulayem, leveraging his political connections for DP World’s interests:
UK Port Project: In 2009, Epstein helped bin Sulayem lobby then-UK Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson to secure £1.8bn in government loan guarantees for the London Gateway port.
AI also reports:
Israel-UAE Backchannel: Years before the Abraham Accords, Epstein brokered secret meetings between bin Sulayem and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. These discussions reportedly focused on Emirati investment in Israeli surveillance and military technology.
I THEN ASKED AI: How did Epstein help lobby then-UK Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson to secure £1.8bn in government loan guarantees for the London Gateway port ?
Part of the Answer:
The specific mechanisms of this lobbying, as detailed in the files, included:
Email Intermediary: In May 2009, Epstein forwarded an email from bin Sulayem directly to Mandelson. In the message, the Sultan described the project as the “UK’s largest inward investment infrastructure project” and explicitly requested government support for site infrastructure.
Personal Contact Provision: Epstein provided bin Sulayem with Mandelson’s personal email address to bypass formal government channels and attempt to arrange private meetings.
Soliciting Loan Guarantees: Correspondence from July 2009 shows the Sultan urging Epstein to help secure UK government loan guarantees. He noted that because banks were pessimistic about the UK economy, government backing was essential for the project’s viability.
Pressure on UK Banks: The files suggest Mandelson was called upon to encourage UK banks to meet any funding shortfalls for DP World on “appropriate terms”.
Strategic Timing: The lobbying was intensified ahead of a state visit by the UAE Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, to emphasize the diplomatic importance of the deal.
Following this coordinated effort, DP World confirmed in January 2010 that it would proceed with the project. Then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly hailed the investment as a “massive vote of confidence” in the UK’s economic recovery, despite the private lobbying that had occurred behind the scenes.
If Craig has time, a visit to El Helicoide might be worthwhile?
For a less rosy description of the situation in Venezuela, see https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260205-venezuela-political-prisoners-got-out-of-jail-but-they-still-are-not-free .
You do realise what the main thrust is of this post and the previous one about Venezuela, don’t you?
Bayard
February 5, 2026 at 18:39
Bayard, I’ve never been to Venezuela. Nor have most of us posting here.
Hat tip to Craig for doing what most of us have never done.
I believe that the less savoury aspects of the governance of Venezuela deserve investigation – as do the positive aspects.
I’ve been on this forum for years and I will be very surprised if Craig is less than clinical in his reportage.
The rather major point that Craig makes that the Western MSM are telling complete lies about what is going on in Venezuela seems to have gone right over your head, given that you cite one of the organs of the Western MSM as your source for the “less savoury aspects of the governance of Venezuela”.