Venezuela in Crisis

In this essential intervention, Venezuelan socialists analyze the origins and causes of their country’s crisis and offer a critique of the Maduro regime.

Venezuela in Crisisbrings together a diverse array of Venezuelan thinkers and activists to grapple with the question of how and why the aspirations for what Hugo Chavez deemed “socialism in the twenty-first century” gave way to the deepest economic collapse in all of South America. While recognizing the devastating impact of sanctions, this collection’s authors reject the simplistic view that all would be well if not for US meddling. Rather, they argue that from governmental mismanagement to rising repression, the regime of Nicols Maduro deserves a significant share of the blame for Venezuela’s ongoing crisis.

With chapters focused on the Maduro government’s economic policies, its continuities and breaks from the Chvez era, its erosion of democratic processes in the country, and its doubling down on extractivism,Venezuela in Crisisis an indispensable guide for international solidarity activists and for anyone looking for a nuanced understanding of Venezuela’s crisis.

Writing from an anticapitalist, anti-imperialist, and anti-authoritarian perspective, this volume never loses sight of the need to stand with the Venezuelan people rather than their government-even when it claims to be struggling to build socialism.

Author Biography

Anderson M. Beanis an assistant teaching professor of sociology at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is the author ofCommunes and the Venezuelan State: The Struggle for Participatory Democracy in a Time of Crisis.