Caracas, 26 oct (Prensa Latina) La presidenta encargada de Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, declaró hoy que el proceso de diálogo que se adelanta en el país es algo muy serio.
The post Presidenta encargada califica de algo muy serio diálogo en Venezuela first appeared on Noticias Prensa Latina.
This week, editors Peter Suderman, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch are joined by Associate Editor Liz Wolfe to discuss California's proposed 5 percent wealth tax on billionaires, which a Hoover Institution study suggests could ultimately cost the state $39 billion in lost revenue. With wealthy residents already leaving California, the panel examines whether the measure will survive next week's vote, why Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes it, and how public sector unions have helped fuel the state's spending problems.
The panelists then look to France, where mounting unrest and economic stagnation raise questions about the long-term consequences of high taxes, expansive welfare programs, and pension obligations that increasingly burden younger generations. Next, they discuss Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returning home after 10 months in exile. Then, with the midterm elections next week, the editors examine whether Trump's tariffs, war with Iran, and mounting allegations of corruption will deliver Democrats control of Congress. Finally, a listener asks whether today's democratic socialist movement will ultimately be remembered like the libertarian and Tea Party movements of the early 2010s.
0:00—California's wealth tax proposal
13:02—Will France protests influence America?
22:50—Corina Machado returns to Venezuela.
31:19—Listener question on the DSA
44:40—2026 Midterm elections preview
58:34—Weekly cultural recommendations
Reason Versus - Authoritarianism Is a Right-Wing Problem, November 10
"Will the Wealth Tax Fail?" by Liz Wolfe
"France Is a Warning to California's Tax-the-Rich Crowd," by Veronique de Rugy
"California's 'Wealth Tax' Could Cost the State $39 Billion," by Eric Boehm
"Report: California's Proposed 'Billionaire Tax' Is Based on Bad Research," by J.D. Tuccille
"A Wealth Tax Built on Billionaires Who Aren't Really Billionaires," by Veronique de Rugy
"New Book Says Jared Kushner Funneled Money to Middle East Mercenaries. Kushner Denies It." by Matthew Petti
"Trump's Tariffs Are Politically Toxic," by Eric Boehm
"The Democrats' Socialist Moment," by Matt Welch
"Family Separation Drama Fjord Is a Haunting Depiction of Unchecked State Power," by Peter Suderman
The post California's Wealth Tax Could Cost the State $39 Billion appeared first on Reason Magazine.
© Illustration: Fatima Ruiz
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel will return to the Auditori de Barcelona on November 3 with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, as part of a tour marking the 50th anniversary of Venezuela’s National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs ( in spanish El Sistema).
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Havana to Host 42nd International Jazz Plaza Festival in January 2027
The performance was rescheduled twice—first due to air travel restrictions in Venezuela, and subsequently because of earthquakes that affected the country.
The concert, organized by the Barcelona-based series BCN Clàssics, will be dedicated entirely to Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad,” composed during the Second World War amidst the Nazi siege of that Russian city. The work is regarded as a symbol of resistance and hope in the face of the devastation caused by the conflict.
The concert is part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations of “El Sistema,” a social and cultural initiative of the Venezuelan state founded in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu. The National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela is described by the organizers as one of the flagship ensembles of this pedagogical model and a benchmark for artistic excellence.
Radetzky March, Op. 228 by the renowned composer Johann Strauss I.
— Life is beautiful (@GTran78613) October 19, 2026
This is a majestic and energetic march. A special feature of this work is the interaction between the conductor, orchestra, and audience: conductor Gustavo Dudamel simultaneously conducts the orchestra and turns… pic.twitter.com/pigpM3bMrU
Dudamel—who himself received his training through “El Sistema”—returns to the Catalan capital following his appearance three weeks ago to open the 2026–2027 season of BCN Clàssics, where he conducted the New York Philharmonic on its first international tour, alongside the Orfeó Català.
The performance is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. in the Sala Pau Casals at the Auditori de Barcelona. The program will consist exclusively of Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60—one of the most expansive and powerful works in the 20th-century symphonic repertoire.
#Venezuela | Thousands marched through Caracas to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, calling for early detection, accessible treatment, and greater support for patients and survivors.#BreastCancerAwareness #WomensHealth #teleSUREnglish pic.twitter.com/W0xsmhZOKW
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 22, 2026
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Some of the remnant socialist governments appear to be sliding toward subservience
“Respect for sovereignty is the most significant norm in international politics, and its purpose is to minimize war and facilitate peaceful relations among states.”
—John Mearsheimer
American political scientist and international relations scholar and professor
The U.S. war against Vietnam was driven by the imperialist assumption that Vietnam was one of many inevitable dominoes that would fall to communism. But the communist dominos did not fall. Instead, today, we face a dramatic, devastating loss of progressive governments throughout Latin America, with the domino game won by the reactionary forces.
We must learn from history, or we are doomed to repeat it. But today, there is little public discussion and analysis of what led to these Latin American losses, if not outright condemnation of such questions.
Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?
— John Milton
English poet, polemicist, and civil servant
During the Cold War, the U.S. had a long pattern of supporting right-wing coups, dictatorships and death-squad operations, driven by the imperatives of big business which wanted to exploit Latin American resources.
One of the most notorious cases was Chile, where the CIA backed a coup against democratically elected leader Salvador Allende that brought in fascist Augusto Pinochet.
Today, as Peoples Dispatch reported: “The far right in Latin America is shaped by an anti-left agenda that it inherits from the Cold War, which means that its political formations typically endorse the era of U.S.-backed military dictatorships. The ideas of the left, whether from the Cuban Revolution (1959) or from the era of the Pink Tide (after 1998), are anathema to these political forces; these ideas include agrarian reform, state-led finance for industrialization, state sovereignty, and the importance of trade unions for all workers and peasants.”
Glenn Greenwald agrees: “Other than Uruguay, Brazil is the last country in South America still governed by a left-wing or center-left government, with one country after another electing leaders on the right: Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, etc.”
Medea Benjamin also agrees: “Across the continent—from Colombia and Peru to Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Bolivia and Panama—there has been a stark reversal of the region’s progressives that brought hope for a more independent and socially just Latin America. The only two major powers in Latin America still governed by the left are Mexico and Brazil—and Brazil faces a fiercely contested presidential election in October.” Unfortunately, the recent election requires a runoff, as neither Bolsonaro nor Lula received over 50% of the vote. What is particularly concerning, is that Lula did not come in as strong as most predicted.
Alan MacLeod reports in Mint Press that “The United States is interfering in the Brazilian presidential elections, pressuring the Brazilian electorate into voting for right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of disgraced former president, Jair Bolsonaro. If that does not work and President Lula da Silva secures a fourth term in office, the groundwork is already being laid for a potential military intervention.”
Colombia’s domino fell when its left-wing presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda conceded defeat on June 24 to hard-right populist Abelardo de la Espriella following a tight run-off race.
“There had been doubts among the Cepeda camp about the legitimacy of the vote process, with President Gustavo Petro—who was closely involved in the leftist candidate’s campaign—openly alleging fraud and foreign interference before and after the election.”
As CovertAction Magazine has warned, “Colombia is Fast Becoming a Neo-Colonial Outpost Under Its New Right-Wing President.
Nicaragua faces electoral interference as well. As reported in The Grayzone, “In his national address on July 19, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega stated that, when the country’s next elections take place in 2027, none who promoted a violent anti-government insurrection in 2018 will be allowed to stand for office.” He declared that Nicaragua has the “sovereign right to fight foreign interference in its electoral process…Washington’s plans for regime change in Nicaragua are hardly a secret…The National Endowment for Democracy’s president, Damon Wilson, bragged to a House committee in February that his organization is funding media in Nicaragua with an eye to undermining its Sandinista government.”
Lest we forget, government control of media is essential for fascism to take hold. Benjamin outlines how “The market concentration of Latin American media conglomerates is among the highest in the world, with four transnational companies controlling 89 percent of the broadcast media across six major countries…The market power of these huge media conglomerates is a real obstacle to any movement for democracy or socialism.” Even darker, she reports that Allen Weinstein, a founder of the National Endowment for Democracy, told The Washington Post in 1991, “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”
After Venezuela was subject to a U.S. military invasion on January 3, which resulted in the kidnapping of sitting president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Celia Flores, then-Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said “We found ourselves alone.”
In the article titled “The U.S. Tried to Decapitate Venezuela: The Revolution Survived,” those who question whether U.S.-installed interim President Delcy Rodríguez had a choice are told that is the context which needs to be understood.
It was certainly a devastating disappointment that Russia and China, or neighboring countries such as Colombia and Brazil, did not (though under the boot of the U.S.) more militantly advocate for Maduro and Flores’s return. The illegal murders on the open seas of the Caribbean—with impunity—was writing on the wall that Venezuela was the next domino to fall. Why did the efforts to prevent the fall fail?
Months before the kidnapping, Rodríguez told The New York Times: “The Pentagon always had a strategic objective of obtaining Venezuelan reserves.” Today she asserts: “There is something that must be made absolutely clear: Venezuela retains the ownership and sovereignty over its resources.” However, former Vice President and veteran Chavista figure Elías Jaua accused Washington of stripping the nation of its sovereignty and taking control of its natural resources. When is sovereignty lost?
Maduro and Flores still sit behind bars in New York. On September 3, Maduro urged the judge to dismiss the criminal drug-trafficking charges against him, arguing he should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign country.
Is Venezuela still a sovereign country? Former Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said, “Everything is now negotiated” with Washington, requiring a daily give-and-take with Caracas. When does it become regime change if everything must be negotiated with Washington?
Peoples Dispatch reports that, “Despite every attempt to overthrow the government of Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro remains in charge and has mobilized large sections of the population to defend the Bolivarian Revolution against any threats.” But as is acknowledged, “…U.S. imperialism, by having a gun pointed to the government’s head, is in a position to exert substantial coercion leading to unpalatable decisions, such as Alex Saab’s deportation.”
Doesn’t “substantial coercion” trespass upon sovereignty? When domestic peace occurs due to a gun to your head, is it the measure of success? Saab’s deportation is more grievous than unpalatable.
Although María Corina Machado is now hiring D.C. lobbyists for access to Venezuela’s future, those who question Rodriguez’s decisions are compared to Machado. “It was not so long ago that it was the likes of far-right María Corina Machado who highlighted ‘cracks and fissures within the Chavista ranks’ and anticipated ‘the beginning of a social explosion’ against the elected Venezuelan government. Now some solidarity activists are saying the same.”
Criticizing a government does not make one equivalent to a particular opposition figure. Asking questions is not counterrevolutionary, but essential. What insights have we gained during this period of U.S. imperialism?
CovertAction Magazine’s “Cuba Is Not Venezuela or Jamaica as It Refuses to Become a U.S. Neo-Colony” recounts how, when Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley refused Henry Kissinger’s demand to end support for the Angola liberation struggle, the U.S. made sure Manley would lose the next election. Jamaica has been a willing servant of the Empire ever since, recently ending an essential Cuban health care program that brought doctors to the country. A neo-colony is certainly not sovereign.
It is tragic that Venezuela is used as the current example of what other countries want to avoid. Maduro recently posted that “Venezuela will be reborn.” Venezuelan popular movements now call for ‘anti-imperialist resistance’ to the recent oil deal for its lack of transparency and implications for Venezuelan sovereignty. Organizer Orlando Vega argued that the Venezuelan government “stumbled” in its response to the January 3 U.S. attacks. He urged a demand for the release of Maduro and Flores and a review of legislation approved “under U.S. coercion.”
But a key political question is: “What remains of Bolivarian sovereignty if control over the country’s primary energy resources is gradually transferred to private actors linked to U.S. interests?…A process born in the name of sovereignty and independence risks resulting in the subordination of key strategic resources to the interests of a foreign power…Venezuela faces what appears to be the liquidation of sovereignty, self-determination, and the legacy of the Bolivarian Revolution.”
“History shows that, more often than not, loss of sovereignty leads to liberalization imposed in the interests of the powerful.”—Noam Chomsky
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) recently issued a memo which states that Cuba is not Venezuela. They predict that “The same people who keep ’57 Chevrolets on the road with a coat hanger will wreak havoc against a foreign-imposed regime.”
Cuba refuses to accept a dialogue based on subordination. It declares it will engage in dialogue with Washington, but will not negotiate under pressure or cede its sovereignty. “We have no alternative but to resist. We must resist,” said Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who explicitly linked the defense of socialism to the defense of national independence and sovereignty. Is Cuba’s refusal to kneel to Uncle Sam the reason the U.S. strategy for Cuba recently shifted from the military option to sanctions?
“Our position is that we do not accept conditions of any kind which may affect the independence and sovereignty of our country just with the view to solve economic problems existing between the United States and Cuba.”—Fidel Castro
The Soviet Union helped Cuba survive its illegal sanctions, begun in 1960, but since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba suffered and struggled under increasing sanctions—mostly alone. In a promising new development, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov recently announced that Russia and Cuba will continue strengthening their strategic partnership despite attempts to undermine bilateral cooperation through intimidation and political pressure.
The Pillar of Sovereignty
The Peace of Westphalia, which established the nation-states in 1648, enshrined the concept of state sovereignty into international law, which was formalized centuries later by the United Nations Charter. The founding principle was that every State, regardless of size and economic importance, has an equal right to sovereignty. This cornerstone of modern international law establishes the concept that a nation-state has supreme, independent authority over its own territory and domestic affairs.
In tragic irony, sovereignty is used to justify the right to kill in defiance of international law. Carl Schmitt, a German philosopher and jurist who joined the Nazi Party in 1933, defined sovereignty as the “power to decide the state of exception.” William Blum’s Rogue State outlines in brutal detail how the U.S. has long been a lawless state, blind to others’ sovereignty, and the devastating danger that state of exception reflects.
Recently, Marco Rubio had the audacity to claim that “The ICC [International Criminal Court] poses an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty.” Then on October 9, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on the ICC, apparently because the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge who once criticized Israel.
However, “The ICC is not claiming jurisdiction over conduct in the United States,” said Kenneth Roth, of Human Rights Watch. “Rubio is dressing up his quest for impunity for American war crimes under the label of national sovereignty, which ignores the sovereign right of other nations to invoke the ICC for crimes committed on their territory.” Sovereignty does not imply immunity, but accountability to the rule of law.
Vijay Prashad outlines the struggle for sovereignty in the Global South: “Can the nations of the Global South act together with sovereignty and dignity? Can they build institutions that serve their peoples rather than global capital?…A political consciousness that favours sovereignty and strategic autonomy is rising in the Global South.”
When a country gives up strategic autonomy, has it compromised its sovereignty? Prashad concludes: “The peoples of the Global South demand sovereignty, equality, and peace.” Sovereignty is becoming a mantra, though its clear meaning remains elusive.
“How does any country give up any sovereignty and expect to survive as a government?…That would be political suicide.”—Benigno Aquino III
Geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar explored modern global sovereignty in “Eurasia, the Hegemon, and the Three Sovereigns,” asserting that true, uncompromised national sovereignty in contemporary geopolitics requires reconceptualizing the understanding of sovereignty. He addressed the need to “pierce far beyond sovereignty as interpreted in conventional political science and predominant international relations narratives.”
When does genocide of resident civilians cancel the right to sovereignty over them? Banning a native language is legally genocide. Ukraine banned the Russian language on the first day of the 2014 coup.
So did Russia violate Ukraine’s sovereignty when it began the SMO? The Donbas, after 12,000 civilian deaths in eight years, voted—overwhelmingly—to rejoin the Russian Federation. The Duma voted to accept their request for reunification.
When international law fails, with total UN abdication, and agreements like Minsk I and Minsk II are used as a ruse, how is Ukraine’s alleged sovereignty legitimate while it commits genocide against its own people?
Cuba remains a sovereign socialist country which says it will not surrender. Venezuela reminds us how quickly a revolution can be compromised when sovereignty becomes a negotiable variable. What is the “difference between sovereignty and subordination, between resistance and surrender?”
When Castro won the Cuban Revolution, he immediately distributed guns to the peasants, because he knew that he needed the people to maintain the victory. And he certainly agreed with Frederick Douglass that “It’s better to die free, than live as a slave.”
Sovereignty requires that the people of each country are free to make their own choices, without coercion or a gun to their head.
Original article: covertactionmagazine.com
It was a long and emotional day for thousands of Venezuelans who could not believe it when they heard on Sunday morning that the opposition leader María Corina Machado had returned to Venezuela. When her message started circulating on cellphones — “I am here. With you.” — thousands of supporters of Machado and opponents of Chavismo began pouring into the streets to follow her slow march to the capital, Caracas, in an epic demonstration of Venezuelans shedding the fear of repression that had been holding them back for so long.
© Pedro Mattey (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
Venezuela and Cuba congratulated Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his election victory, reaffirming their commitment to regional cooperation after he defeated Liberal Party candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in the presidential runoff.
RELATED: Massive Celebrations Erupt Across Brazil After Lula’s Run-off Victory
Venezuela’s government praised Brazilian voters for their participation in Sunday’s election, calling it a strong demonstration of civic engagement and democracy.
“The people of Brazil have given a resounding demonstration of civic and democratic participation,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia González said in a statement posted on social media.
Text Reads: The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela congratulates the massive and civic participation of the pueblo of the Federative Republic of Brazil in the second electoral victory celebrated today that leads to the victory of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Caracas also reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining longstanding ties with Brazil, citing peace, respect for national sovereignty, self-determination and solidarity among Latin American and Caribbean nations.
Lula secured more than 64 million votes, representing 51.77% of valid ballots, defeating Bolsonaro, a senator and candidate for the Liberal Party (PL).
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel described the result as a historic victory that would help preserve the pursuit of social justice. He also pledged Cuba’s support for greater regional unity and integration.
“Brazil can count on Cuba as we build unity and integration across our great Latin American and Caribbean homeland,” Díaz-Canel said.
Estimado hermano @LulaOficial, te felicito en nombre del gobierno y pueblo cubanos por esta victoria histórica que garantiza la continuidad del camino de paz, soberanía y justicia social emprendido por el pueblo brasileño bajo tu liderazgo.
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) October 26, 2026
1/2 pic.twitter.com/5U9azS8Mvc
Text Reads: Dear brother @LulaOficial, on behalf of the Cuban government and people, I congratulate you for this historic victory that ensures the continuity of the path of peace, sovereignty, and social justice embarked upon by the Brazilian people under your leadership.
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner also congratulated Lula, first praising Brazilian voters for their mobilization and then highlighting the president’s ability to rally support.
“Congratulations first to the Brazilian people, who today took part in an authentic electoral October 17, and then to you, comrade President Lula, who, in your seventh presidential election, knew how to awaken among your fellow citizens the feelings and sense of purpose needed to win this battle,” she wrote.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales welcomed the outcome as a source of renewed hope for people across the continent fighting for social justice, dignity and sovereignty.
Addressing Lula as a close ally and fellow campaigner, Morales called the result a “beautiful and heroic victory.” The messages from Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina and Bolivia reflected the regional significance these leaders attached to Lula’s election win.
La leader dell’opposizione venezuelana María Corina Machado è rientrata a Caracas ieri sera, dopo quasi un anno di esilio. Il Venezuela sta dando “una lezione al mondo intero”, ha detto la premio Nobel per la pace appena rientrata nel Paese. Governo e opposizione sono impegnati in un negoziato dallo scorso agosto. Il leader del Partito Popolare (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijó, ha accolto con favore il ritorno in Venezuela della leader dell’opposizione e premio Nobel per la pace 2025, María Corina Machado. Feijó ha affermato che a questo evento dovrebbero seguire “elezioni libere” nel Paese, consentendo al popolo di esprimere la propria scelta alle urne.
Sul suo profilo X, Feijó ha descritto il rientro di Machado in Venezuela come un “momento emozionante”, che rappresenta, a suo avviso, “la forza di chi non si arrende e la conferma che la libertà trova sempre il modo di prevalere sulla tirannia”. “Ci auguriamo che la sua sicurezza sia pienamente garantita e che il popolo venezuelano possa esprimersi attraverso elezioni libere. La democrazia deve sempre trionfare”, ha detto il leader del PP.
Attivista carismatica, Maria Corina Machado è il perno dell’opposizione venezuelana, ma si trova ad affrontare una dura sfida al suo ritorno in un Paese ora governato da un leader che gode del favore del presidente statunitense Donald Trump. Machado, 59 anni, è in esilio da quando ha lasciato clandestinamente la sua patria sudamericana alla fine dello scorso anno per ricevere il Premio Nobel per la Pace.
Secondo il suo partito, Vente Venezuela, ha tentato più volte di tornare, ma è stata bloccata, prima di apparire domenica in una chiesa nella città di Barquisimeto, circondata da sostenitori festanti. Il mese successivo alla sua fuga dal Venezuela, le forze statunitensi hanno arrestato il leader autoritario del Paese, Nicolas Maduro, e lo hanno trasferito a New York per affrontare le accuse penali.
Machado ha elogiato Trump per aver lanciato la rischiosa operazione, arrivando persino a conferirgli la sua medaglia del Premio Nobel, nonostante Washington abbia permesso alla vice di Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez, di governare come presidente ad interim. A dimostrazione della sua posizione scomoda, Machado è stata esclusa dai colloqui promossi dagli Stati Uniti per una transizione democratica tra il governo ad interim e i rappresentanti dell’opposizione.
L'articolo Venezuela, così Machado è tornata a Caracas. La premio Nobel ora punta a guidare il Paese. “Prime elezioni libere” proviene da Affaritaliani.it.
© Nathalia Angarita for The New York Times
Venezuelan local history is central to Arístides Medina Rubio’s legacy, which reclaimed regional memory, oral testimony and archives beyond official narratives.
Related: Venezuela Launches Zero-Hunger Plan Targeting 2030 Goal
Venezuelan local history was the life’s work of historian Arístides Medina Rubio, who argued that no universal history is possible without the memory of towns, regions and ordinary people.
Medina Rubio believed that Venezuela’s past had been reduced for too long to the history of Caracas, independence heroes and official dates.
His central thesis was simple but powerful: without local history, universal history is impossible.
The historian was born in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo state, on April 27, 1937, and died in Caracas on October 1, 2019, at the age of 82.
He graduated as a professor of History and Geography from the Pedagogical Institute of Caracas in 1969 and earned a doctorate from El Colegio de México in 1974.
Medina Rubio founded the Chair of Venezuelan History at the Pedagogical Institute in 1976 and taught undergraduate, graduate and doctoral courses at the Central University of Venezuela.
He directed the university’s School of History from 1986 to 1989 and became one of the country’s leading theorists and promoters of regional history.
His influence extended beyond Venezuela through his work with historians across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Medina Rubio was also an editor, publisher and institution builder. He led Editorial Trópicos and co-founded the journal Tierra Firme in 1982, which has published more than 100 issues.
He served as director of Venezuela’s National Library from 2003 to 2009 and helped found and lead the National Center for History.
His books include Regional History: Seven Essays on Theory and Method (1984), A Minimal History of Venezuela (1994), Introduction to Regional History (1995) and Readings in Regional and Local History (2002).
In 2018, he presented The Venezuelan People: 15,000 Years of History, written with Mario Sanoja, Iraida Vargas, Carmen Bohórquez and Luis Britto García.
The book challenged the idea that Venezuelan history begins with Christopher Columbus or independence, placing Indigenous peoples at the center of the national narrative.
Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela | Centro Nacional de Estudios Históricos
Medina Rubio argued that Venezuelan local history had long been overshadowed by a Caracas-centered narrative.
He said official history focused on events such as April 19, 1810, and July 5, 1811, while ignoring the provinces that made up the Spanish Captaincy General of Venezuela.
“The great contribution of those of us who work on regional and local history is that we have reclaimed those spaces,” Medina Rubio said.
“Our history was filled with the history of Caracas, not even the Province of Caracas. The same happened with Maracaibo and Cumaná. Angostura appeared only when Bolívar was there, but beyond that, almost nothing.”
He argued that many Venezuelan towns had histories long before independence, but those stories were often reduced to the presence of famous figures.
He cited the McGregor Stone in El Socorro as an example of a place remembered mainly because a celebrated leader passed through it.
Medina Rubio insisted that local chroniclers preserved details that national histories often overlooked.
He also defended oral history as a legitimate historical source.
“The academic historian works with documents, statistics and maps,” he said. “But the people work with memory, and the only way to preserve that memory is through testimony.”
He said oral testimony passes from generation to generation and preserves events that may never leave a community but remain part of its historical memory.
Medina Rubio pointed to the Tere Tere, a traditional dish from Guatire, as an example of how local knowledge survives through community memory.
He said many people learned about the dish because residents created a magazine to document local flavors and knowledge.
For Medina Rubio, food, crafts, music and everyday practices were also historical sources because they revealed regional identities and social relations.
He noted that the hallaca, considered a national dish, has distinct regional expressions in the Andes, Margarita and central Venezuela.
The historian believed that recognizing those differences was essential to understanding Venezuela as a diverse and plural country.
Archivo General de la Nación | Academia Nacional de la Historia
Medina Rubio also challenged traditional accounts of Venezuela’s independence, arguing that the process was broader, more complex and less centralized than official history suggested.
He explained that the people present in Caracas’ Plaza Mayor on April 19, 1810, were mainly from the Province of Caracas.
They came from Charallave, what is now the Plaza municipality, Guarenas and the valleys of Aragua.
People from Barcelona, Margarita, Cumaná, Angostura, the Andes and other regions joined the independence movement later, but quickly.
Medina Rubio said communication was decisive in spreading the movement.
In 1810, news from Caracas could take weeks to reach other parts of the country. Yet the April 19 events spread within eight to 10 days.
Caracas was the most important city in the Captaincy General, which included seven provinces.
After the Caracas council declared the Junta of the Rights of Ferdinand VII, later transformed into the Supreme Junta of Caracas, emissaries were sent to other provinces.
Their mission was to secure support for the Caracas movement and build consensus across the Captaincy General.
Of the seven provinces, only Maracaibo, Coro and Guayana did not immediately join. They later incorporated into the independence process.
Medina Rubio said the role of those emissaries remained insufficiently studied.
He also argued that many historical documents had been hidden or removed from public access for decades.
He pointed to the case of independence leader Francisco de Miranda and Juan Germán Roscio, who served as prosecutor against Miranda in 1806.
Medina Rubio said Roscio’s role in condemning Miranda and others captured at Ocumare had long been obscured by official narratives.
He said archives later revealed another side of Roscio, not to erase his contribution to independence, but to show that his life had more than one phase.
Medina Rubio said three volumes of previously unknown Miranda documents were later published, while other archives remained insufficiently studied.
Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Education | Fundación Librerías del Sur
Medina Rubio believed that the democratization of Venezuelan local history required recovering archives, publishing forgotten documents and training new historians.
He said that before 1960, Venezuelan history was often presented as a nearly divine war led by elites.
He cited the 1808 Revolution of Caracas, organized by wealthy Caracas elites known as mantuanos against Spanish rule.
Although the movement was betrayed, Medina Rubio considered it more important than earlier pre-independence uprisings led by figures such as Pirela and Chirino, as well as Miranda’s invasions.
He noted that the first major study of the movement, Andrés de Ponte’s The Revolution of Caracas, was published in 1910 and not republished until after the 1960s.
Medina Rubio said that after 1960, the work of the General Archive of the Nation, the National Academy of History and university history schools began to recover Venezuela’s past.
Books written by witnesses, memoirists and military figures became available to researchers and the public.
After 1998, he said, the recovery of historical memory accelerated further.
More archives were created, and descendants of historical figures began donating documents to the National Library, the General Archive of the Nation and the National Academy of History.
Medina Rubio said those archives allowed a completely different understanding of Venezuela’s past.
He also criticized the fact that, until about 2002, Venezuelan school history textbooks were produced in Spain.
He said the government purchased millions of books from the Spanish publisher Santillana, with financing linked to international institutions.
Medina Rubio said that practice ended during the government of Hugo Chávez, when he was director of the National Library and Aristóbulo Istúriz was education minister.
He argued that replacing Santillana’s editorial capacity would take years because it involved producing and updating textbooks for millions of students.
For Medina Rubio, the transformation of historical knowledge was a long-term process tied to education, archives and public access to information.
UNESCO Memory of the World | Latin American Council of Social Sciences
Medina Rubio argued that Venezuelan local history helps people understand present-day problems and develop independent civic consciousness.
He gave the example of a town without drinking water or an aqueduct.
Residents may ask why there is no water system despite the existence of a large river nearby.
By investigating the issue, they may discover that a nearby aqueduct serves land owned by a powerful landowner.
That discovery can lead people to organize and fight for their rights.
For Medina Rubio, local history was therefore a tool for social awareness and political action.
He also emphasized the importance of recovering the everyday lives of ordinary people, including songs, dances, food and popular traditions.
He noted that colonial society was deeply marked by class and racial hierarchies.
The term “mantuano” referred to wealthy white elites because the Church allowed only white women to wear mantles, while Black, Indigenous and mixed-race people were excluded.
Medina Rubio said food also reflected those hierarchies. Elites ate refined dishes, while ordinary people ate sancocho, a mixture of ingredients cooked in a gourd.
He argued that history must recover those excluded voices and recognize collective actors as makers of their own history.
Medina Rubio believed that independence was not a completed event but an unfinished process.
He said Venezuela had not yet built a fully independent structure or developed independence as a collective way of life.
For him, history should not be reduced to memorizing dates, names and places.
It should reveal processes, recover local heroes and connect the past with present realities.
His legacy continues through the historians, archivists and communities working to recover Venezuela’s regional memory.
Machado regressou à Venezuela dez meses depois. Durante a sua ausência, os Estados Unidos detiveram o Presidente Nicolás Maduruo numa operação muito criticada pela comunidade internacional e assumiram o controlo da indústria petrolífera do país, enquanto mantiveram o apoio à líder da oposição venezuelana
La leader dell’opposizione venezuelana e premio Nobel per la Pace Maria Corina Machado ha annunciato di essere tornata in Venezuela dopo quasi un anno di esilio. “Sono qui. Con voi”, ha scritto in spagnolo su X. Il suo alleato, l’ex candidato presidenziale Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, ha rilanciato il messaggio confermando il rientro: “Venezuela! Sono entusiasta di annunciarvi che la nostra leader, la mia cara Maria Corina, è sul suolo venezuelano”. La ‘libertadora’ viveva in esilio dal dicembre dello scorso anno, dopo aver lasciato il Venezuela per recarsi a Oslo a ritirare il Premio Nobel per la Pace 2025 poi clamorosamente donato a Donald Trump, che oggi l’ha definita “una donna molto gentile” aggiungendo: “Spero che sia al sicuro”.
Nicolas Maduro, catturato il 3 gennaio dagli Stati Uniti e ora detenuto al Metropolitan Detention Center di Brooklyn, la definiva “una nazista criminale”. Machado aveva già tentato di tornare in Venezuela nei mesi scorsi, a giugno e a settembre via mare o via aerea, ma le era stato impedito. In Venezuela è accusata di tradimento, terrorismo, cospirazione e omicidio.
Prima degli ostacoli al suo rientro, dall’aprile del 2014 le era stato proibito lasciare il Paese e viveva in clandestinità dalla vittoria di Maduro alle presidenziali. Nel 2015, le era stato impedito di ricandidarsi alle elezioni legislative e nel 2024 a quelle presidenziali, anche se aveva vinto le primarie dell’opposizione con il 90 per cento dei tre milioni di voti totali. Ha poi sostenuto il candidato Urrutia, costretto all’esilio.
Coordinatrice nazionale di “Vente“, il partito della libertà che ha cofondato nel 2013, è stata deputata all’Assemblea nazionale, eletta con il maggior numero di voti alle elezioni per la legislatura del 2010-2015. Era stata espulsa dall’Assemblea nazionale dal presidente della Camera Diosdato Cabello dopo essere intervenuta nel marzo del 2014 al Consiglio permanente dell’Organizzazione degli Stati americani per denunciare le violazioni dei diritti umani del regime di Maduro. Nel 2017 ha fondato, insieme ad Antonio Ledezma e Diego Arria, sostenuti da un Consiglio nazionale, la piattaforma “SoyVenezuela“, alleanza a cui hanno aderito molti settori della società impegnati per riportare il Paese alla democrazia.
Il partito ha lanciato la piattaforma digitale Constructores per registrare i venezuelani residenti nel Paese e all’estero in vista di possibili elezioni. L’iniziativa punta a facilitare l’aggiornamento dei dati e l’iscrizione al registro elettorale, anche in vista di un eventuale rinnovo del Consiglio nazionale elettorale. Gli utenti potranno inserire i propri dati personali e registrarsi attraverso un’identificazione biometrica. Il partito assicura che le informazioni saranno protette e non accessibili alle sue strutture. La piattaforma consentirà inoltre agli iscritti di proporre idee e progetti da sottoporre alla valutazione dei gruppi di lavoro. Da anni l’opposizione denuncia le difficoltà incontrate da migliaia di venezuelani all’estero per iscriversi alle liste elettorali, spesso accessibili soltanto nel territorio nazionale. Il nuovo registro dovrebbe anche aiutare a individuare le aree in cui potrebbero servire punti di iscrizione, qualora si creassero le condizioni istituzionali per organizzare il voto.
L'articolo La leader dell’opposizione Maria Corina Machado torna in Venezuela. E il suo partito lancia una piattaforma per registrare gli elettori proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.
© JOÃO PORFÍRIO/OBSERVADOR
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