The calling of a National Constituent Assembly (ANC) has been issued in the middle of one of the worst offensives of the counter-revolution and imperialism in the last eighteen years. In this political situation, the convening of a Constituent Assembly has awoken important revolutionary aspirations among sections of the workers’ and people's vanguard, who are ready to fight to elect deputies to the Constituent Assembly who come from the rank and file and defend a programme of revolutionary demands.

The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela is facing its most challenging times. The right-wing opposition, backed by the United States, is engaged in a full-blown “regime change” campaign, with violent protests occurring daily for over 2 months and resulting in over 50 casualties. The chavista supporters of the government have also taken to the streets in defence of the Bolivarian Revolution, and President Maduro surprised everyone by calling for a Constituent Assembly. To better understand the situation and where it might lead to, Investig’Action have interviewed Jorge Martín, the secretary of the “Hands Off Venezuela” solidarity campaign.

On Monday 22nd May a sizeable group of Venezuelan opposition supporters attempted to disrupt a solidarity meeting in London. Who are they and what did they want?

The calling of Constituent Assembly and Regional elections has been responded with an escalation of the policy of “regime change” on the part of the opposition. This is a critical moment for the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.

On May Day, hundreds of thousands marched in Caracas in defence of workers' rights and the Bolivarian revolution. The mass media internationally, which has been paying a lot of attention to Venezuela and had correspondents in Caracas at the time, was unanimous in its silencing of this demonstration. Here's my account. 

During his speech at a massive Bolivarian May Day rally, Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, has announced the convening of a National Constituent Assembly, which he described as a workers’ and communal assembly. The Venezuelan opposition has immediately rejected this as part of the “regime’s coup” and has called for an escalation of protests.