|
07/01/2026
“Free Palestine” : un délit ?
Dans l’histoire à dormir debout racontée par Netanyahou, seuls 70 jeunes hommes sont responsables de tous les pogroms en Cisjordanie
Gideon
Levy, Haaretz, 04/01/2026
Traduit
par Tlaxcala
L’État d’Israël est derrière les pogroms. Il en est responsable – ils servent les intérêts du gouvernement. Ses soldats sont toujours présents, mais pas un seul commandant de l’armée n’a accompli ce que le droit international exige : protéger les résidents palestiniens.
Un homme palestinien utilise un téléphone portable pour filmer un camion en flammes après une attaque de colons israéliens dans un village à l’est de Tulkarem, en Cisjordanie, en novembre. Photo Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP
Voici deux
contes populaires : au paradis, 72 vierges attendent les chahids, ou martyrs ;
en Cisjordanie, 70 jeunes hommes issus de foyers brisés sont à l’origine de
toutes les émeutes. Il est difficile de savoir lequel des deux contes est le
plus farfelu.
Le second
est un produit de l’imagination du premier ministre : Benjamin Netanyahou a
même déclaré à Fox News que ces jeunes « ne viennent pas de
Cisjordanie ».
Laissons de
côté les polémiques suscitées par son utilisation du terme interdit « Cisjordanie »,
et demandons-nous : existe-t-il réellement des colons de Cisjordanie ?
Ils y ont tous emménagé au cours des dernières décennies. Aucun n’y appartient,
des invités non invités sur une terre étrangère dont on espère que le temps y
sera court, et qu’ils finiront comme les
croisés, inchallah.
Néanmoins,
la préoccupation de Netanyahu pour la santé mentale de cette poignée de jeunes
est touchante – et convient à un homme dirigeant un gouvernement qui a toujours
priorisé la santé mentale. Les activistes colons se sont empressés de leur
proposer un traitement – les foyers et centres de réhabilitation sont déjà en
cours de création. Mais nous ne parlons pas de 70 personnes, ni de 700, ni de 7
000.
Le chiffre
le plus précis est de 70 000, voire en réalité de sept millions. La tentative
de Netanyahu de minimiser le phénomène et de l’attribuer à une poignée d’émeutiers
est un mensonge total, tout comme les 72 vierges qui n’attendent personne. Il
est douteux que même Fox News ait avalé ça.
L’État est
derrière les pogroms. Il en est responsable, il veut qu’ils se produisent – ils
servent les intérêts du gouvernement et satisfont les souhaits de ses
résidents. Il suffit de voir qu’ils continuent, sans opposition.
Le blâme est
partagé par l’armée, les colons et les forces de l’ordre. Tous les colons y
participent, activement ou passivement, et la méchanceté et le sadisme des
émeutes – des coups sans pitié portés aux personnes âgées à l’abattage des
moutons – déplaisent à de nombreux Israéliens, mais font partie d’une toile de
violence bien plus large que tout le monde accepte en silence.
Des colons égorgent des agneaux dans les collines du sud d’Hébron, des
soldats parachutistes d’élite perpètrent un pogrom à Deir Dibwan qui rendrait
fiers les jeunes émeutiers. Écraser un Palestinien qui avait posé un tapis de prière au bord de la route n’est pas
un acte plus grave que des soldats tirant sur des enfants qui jettent des
pierres. Le second est juste plus létal, mais personne n’est horrifié.
Derrière
chaque pogrom – j’en ai vu les
résultats dévastateurs pour beaucoup d’entre eux – se tient l’armée
israélienne.
Ses soldats
sont toujours présents. Parfois ils arrivent en retard, parfois à l’heure, mais
ils n’accomplissent jamais leur devoir de protéger les victimes sans défense.
Il n’est encore venu à l’esprit d’aucun commandant de l’armée d’accomplir ce
que le droit international exige : protéger les résidents.
Les pogroms
pourraient être contenus en quelques jours bien plus facilement que le
terrorisme palestinien, mais Israël ne veut pas contenir le terrorisme juif. Il
satisfait tous les colons et la plupart des Israéliens, même secrètement, car
il fait avancer l’objectif ultime : nettoyer la terre de ses habitants
palestiniens.
Des colons
armés sont-ils jamais sortis défendre leurs voisins contre le terrorisme ? Ne
les faites pas rire.
Ils voient
les flammes s’élever de leurs champs et entendent les bêlements des moutons
abattus dans leurs enclos. Ils voient les oliviers déracinés au bord de la
route et entendent les véhicules tout-terrain que la députée Orit Strock leur a
offerts, précisément pour qu’ils commettent ces pogroms.
Pourquoi
ont-ils besoin de ces véhicules, sinon pour piétiner les champs et écraser des
vieillards ? Depuis quand le gouvernement équipe-t-il les agriculteurs avec des
VTT gratuits ? Un agriculteur du moshav Avivim y aurait-il droit ? Non, car il
ne commet pas de pogroms contre les Arabes.
Un autre
pogrom perpétré par une cinquantaine d’émeutiers a été signalé samedi soir,
cette fois à Kafr Farkha. Selon Netanyahou, ils constituent la quasi-totalité des
émeutiers existants en Cisjordanie. La plupart des Israéliens l’ont
probablement cru. Comme c’est pratique et réconfortant.
En el cuento inverosímil contado por Netanyahu, solo 70 jóvenes son responsables de todos los pogromos en Cisjordania
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 04/01/2026
Traducido por Tlaxcala
El Estado de Israel está detrás de los pogromos. Es responsable de ellos: sirven a los intereses del gobierno. Sus soldados siempre están presentes, pero ni un solo comandante del ejército ha llevado a cabo lo que exige el derecho internacional: proteger a los residentes palestinos.
Un hombre palestino usa un teléfono móvil para grabar un camión en llamas después de un ataque de colonos israelíes en una aldea al este de Tulkarem, en Cisjordania, en noviembre. Foto Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP
Estas son dos leyendas populares: en el cielo, 72
vírgenes esperan a los shahids, o mártires; en Cisjordania, 70 jóvenes de
hogares desestructurados están detrás de todos los disturbios. Es difícil saber
cuál de las dos leyendas es más descabellada.
La segunda es un producto de la imaginación del primer
ministro: Benjamín Netanyahu incluso le dijo a Fox News que los jóvenes “no son
de Cisjordania”.
Dejemos a un lado las discusiones que surgieron por su
uso del término prohibido “Cisjordania”, y preguntemos: ¿realmente hay colonos
de Cisjordania? Todos se mudaron allí en las últimas décadas. Ninguno pertenece
allí, invitados no deseados en una tierra extranjera de la que se espera que su
tiempo sea corto, y su fin será como el de los cruzados, ojalá.
Sin embargo, la preocupación de Netanyahu por la salud
mental de ese puñado de jóvenes es conmovedora, y apropiada para un hombre que
lidera un gobierno que siempre ha priorizado la salud mental. Los activistas
colonos se apresuraron a ofrecerles tratamiento: ya se están estableciendo los
albergues y centros de rehabilitación. Pero no estamos hablando de 70 personas,
ni 700, ni 7.000.
La cifra más precisa es 70.000, o de hecho, siete
millones. El intento de Netanyahu de minimizar el fenómeno y atribuirlo a un
puñado de alborotadores es una mentira total, al igual que las 72 vírgenes que
no esperan a nadie. Es dudoso que incluso Fox News se lo haya creído.
El estado está detrás de los pogromos. Es responsable
de ellos, quiere que ocurran: sirven a los intereses del gobierno y satisfacen
los deseos de sus residentes. Basta con ver que continúan, sin oposición.
La culpa es compartida por el ejército, los colonos y
las fuerzas del orden. Todos los colonos participan, ya sea activa o
pasivamente, y la maldad y el sadismo de los disturbios, desde golpear sin
piedad a ancianos hasta masacrar ovejas, desagradan a muchos israelíes, pero
forman parte de una red de violencia mucho más amplia que todos aceptan en
silencio.
Los colonos degüellan
corderos en las colinas del sur de Hebrón,
soldados paracaidistas de élite llevan a cabo un pogromo en Deir Dibwan que
haría sentir orgullosos a los jóvenes alborotadores. Atropellar a un palestino
que había puesto
una alfombra de oración al lado de la
carretera no es un acto más grave que soldados disparando a niños que tiran
piedras. El segundo es solo más letal, pero a nadie le horroriza.
Detrás de cada pogromo, he visto los resultados devastadores de muchos de ellos, están las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel.
Sus soldados siempre están presentes. A veces llegan
tarde, a veces a tiempo, pero nunca cumplen con su deber de proteger a las
víctimas indefensas. Aún no se le ha ocurrido a ningún comandante del ejército
llevar a cabo lo que exige el derecho internacional: proteger a los residentes.
Los pogromos podrían contenerse en unos días mucho más
fácilmente que el terrorismo palestino, pero Israel no quiere contener el
terrorismo judío. Complace a todos los colonos y a la mayoría de los israelíes,
aunque sea en secreto, porque avanza el objetivo final: limpiar la tierra de
sus habitantes palestinos.
¿Alguna vez han salido colonos armados a defender a
sus vecinos contra el terrorismo? No los hagas reír.
Ven las llamas elevándose desde sus campos y oyen los
balidos de las ovejas masacradas en sus corrales. Ven los olivos arrancados al
lado de la carretera y oyen los vehículos todoterreno que la diputada Orit
Strock les regaló, precisamente para que cometieran estos pogromos.
¿Para qué necesitan los vehículos, si no es para
pisotear campos y atropellar ancianos? ¿Desde cuándo el gobierno equipa a los
agricultores con vehículos todoterreno gratis? ¿Tendría derecho un agricultor
del moshav Avivim a uno? No, porque él no comete pogromos contra árabes.
Se reportó otro pogromo por unos 50 alborotadores el
sábado por la noche, esta vez en Kafr Farkha. Según Netanyahu, son casi todos
los alborotadores existentes en Cisjordania. La mayoría de los israelíes
probablemente lo creyeron. Qué conveniente y reconfortante.
في حكاية نتينياهو الشعبية، 70 شابًا فقط هم المسؤولون عن كل المذابح في الضفة الغربية
جدعون ليفي، هاآرتس، 4 يناير 2026
ترجمه تلاكسكالا
الدولة تقف وراء المذابح. هي المسؤولة عنها – وهي تخدم
مصالح الحكومة. جنودها حاضرون دائمًا، لكن لم يقم قائد واحد في الجيش بتنفيذ ما
يتطلبه القانون الدولي – حماية السكان الفلسطينيين.
رجل فلسطيني يستخدم هاتفًا محمولًا لتسجيل شاحنة محترقة بعد هجوم شنّه مستوطنون إسرائيليون في قرية شرق طولكرم بالضفة الغربية في نوفمبر. الصورة: جعفر أشتييه / أ ف ب
هذه حكايتان شعبيتان شائعتان: في الجنة، تنتظر 72 حورية
الشهداء (الشهداء)؛ وفي الضفة الغربية، 70 شابًا من بيوت محطمة هم وراء كل أعمال
الشغب. من الصعب معرفة أي الحكايتين أبعد عن المنطق.
الثانية هي من نسج خيال رئيس الوزراء: بنيامين نتينياهو
حتى أنه أخبر قناة فوكس نيوز أن الشباب "ليسوا من الضفة الغربية".
دعونا نضع جانبًا الجدل الذي اندلع حول استخدامه للمصطلح
المحظور "الضفة الغربية"، ونسأل: هل هناك فعلاً مستوطنون من الضفة
الغربية؟ جميعهم انتقلوا إلى هناك في العقود الأخيرة. لا أحد منهم ينتمي إلى هناك،
ضيوف غير مدعوين في أرض غريبة نأمل أن يكون وقتهم فيها قصيرًا، ونهايتهم مثل نهاية
الصليبيين، إن شاء الله.
ومع ذلك، فإن اهتمام نتينياهو بالصحة العقلية لهذه
الحفنة من الشباب مؤثر – ومناسب لرجل يقود حكومة
دائمًا ما جعلت الصحة العقلية أولوية. تسارع ناشطو المستوطنين لتقديم العلاج لهم –
فالمهاجع ومراكز التأهيل قيد الإنشاء بالفعل. لكننا لا نتحدث عن 70 شخصًا، ولا
700، ولا 7000.
الرقم الأكثر دقة هو 70,000، أو في الواقع، سبعة ملايين.
محاولة نتينياهو لتقليص حجم الظاهرة وإرجاعها إلى حفنة من المشاغبين هي كذبة
كاملة، تمامًا مثل العذارى الـ 72 اللواتي لا ينتظرن أحدًا. من المشكوك فيه أن حتى
قناة فوكس نيوز صدقت ذلك.
الدولة تقف وراء المذابح. هي المسؤولة عنها، وهي تريد
حدوثها – فهي تخدم مصالح الحكومة وتلبي رغبات سكانها. يكفي النظر إلى حقيقة أنها
تستمر، دون معارضة.
اللوم مشترك بين الجيش والمستوطنين وجهاز إنفاذ القانون.
جميع المستوطنين يشاركون، سواء بنشاط أو سلبًا، وشر وسادية أعمال الشغب – من ضرب
كبار السن بلا رحمة إلى ذبح الأغنام – تكرهها العديد من الإسرائيليين، لكنها تشكل شبكة
عنف أوسع بكثير يقبلها الجميع بصمت.
المستوطنون يذبحون الحملان في تلال الخليل الجنوبية، وجنود المظليين النخبة ينفذون
مذبحة في دير دبوان تجعل الشباب المشاغبين يشعرون بالفخر. دهس فلسطيني كان قد وضع سجادة صلاة بجانب الطريق ليس فعلًا أكثر خطورة من إطلاق الجنود
النار على أطفال يلقون الحجارة. الثاني أكثر فتكًا فقط، لكن لا أحد يرتعب.
وراء كل مذبحة – لقد رأيت النتائج المدمرة للكثير منها –
تقف قوات الدفاع الإسرائيلية.
جنودها حاضرون دائمًا. أحيانًا يصلون متأخرين، وأحيانًا
في الوقت المحدد، لكنهم لا يؤدون واجبهم أبدًا في حماية الضحايا العزل. لم يخطر
بعد على بال قائد واحد في الجيش تنفيذ ما يقتضيه القانون الدولي – حماية السكان.
يمكن احتواء المذابح في غضون أيام بسهولة أكبر بكثير من
احتواء الإرهاب الفلسطيني، لكن إسرائيل لا تريد احتواء الإرهاب اليهودي. إنه يرضي
جميع المستوطنين ومعظم الإسرائيليين، حتى لو سرًا، لأنه يدفع نحو الهدف النهائي – تطهير الأرض من سكانها الفلسطينيين.
هل خرج مستوطنون مسلحون يومًا للدفاع عن جيرانهم ضد
الإرهاب؟ لا تجعلهم يضحكون.
يرون اللهب يرتفع من حقولهم ويسمعون نعاج الأغنام
المذبوحة في حظائرها. يرون أشجار الزيتون المقلوعة على جانب الطريق ويسمعون مركبات
الدفع الرباعي التي أهدتهم إياها النائبة أوريت ستروك، تحديدًا لكي يرتكبوا هذه
المذابح.
لماذا يحتاجون المركبات، إن لم تكن لدوس الحقول ودهس
المسنين؟ منذ متى جهّزت الحكومة المزارعين بمركبات دفع رباعي مجانية؟ هل يحق
لمزارع في موشاف أفيفيم الحصول على واحدة؟ لا، لأنه لا يرتكب مذابح ضد العرب.
أُبلغ عن مذبحة أخرى شنّها حوالي 50 مشاغبًا ليلة السبت،
هذه المرة في كفر فرخة. وفقًا لنتينياهو، هم
تقريبًا كل المشاغبين الموجودين في الضفة الغربية. معظم
الإسرائيليين صدقوا ذلك على الأرجح. كم هو مريح ومطمئن.
In Netanyahu’s Folktale, Only 70 Young Men Are Responsible for All the West Bank Pogroms
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 4/1/2026
The state is behind the pogroms. It is responsible for them – they serve the government’s interests. Its soldiers are always present, but not a single IDF commander has carried out what international law requires – protecting Palestinian residents
A Palestinian man uses a mobile phone to record a
burning truck after an Israeli settler attack in a village east of Tulkarm in
the West Bank in November. Photo Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP
These are two common folktales: In heaven, 72 virgins
await shahids, or martyrs; in the West Bank, 70 young men from broken homes are
behind all riots. It’s hard to know which of the two folktales is more
far-fetched.
The second is a figment of the prime minister’s
imagination: Benjamin Netanyahu even told Fox News that the youths "are
not from the West Bank."
Let’s put aside the arguments that broke out over his
use of the forbidden term "West Bank," and ask: Are there actually
any settlers from the West Bank? They all moved there in recent decades. None
of them belong there, uninvited guests in a foreign land whose time there, one
hopes, will be short, and their end will be like that of crusaders, inshallah.
Nonetheless, Netanyahu’s concern for the handful of
youths’ mental health is touching – and fitting for a man leading a government
that has always prioritized mental health. Settler activists were quick to
offer them treatment – the hostels and rehab centers are already being set up. But we’re not talking
about 70 people, 700 or 7,000.
The more accurate figure is 70,000, or in fact, seven
million. Netanyahu’s attempt to minimize the phenomenon and attribute it to a
handful of rioters is a total lie, just like the 72 virgins who are waiting for
no one. It’s doubtful that even Fox News bought it.
The state is behind the pogroms. It is responsible for
them, it wants them to happen – they serve the government’s interests and
satisfy its residents’ wishes. Just look at the fact that they continue,
unopposed.
The blame is shared by the army, the settlers and law
enforcement. All settlers take part, whether actively or passively, and the
riots’ evil and sadism – from mercilessly beating up the elderly to
slaughtering sheep – are unpleasant to many Israelis, but make up a much
broader web of violence which everyone quietly accepts.
Settlers slit the throats of lambs in the southern Hebron Hills, elite paratrooper soldiers carry out a
pogrom in Deir Dibwan that would make the rioting youths proud. Running over a
Palestinian who lay a prayer carpet by the side of the road is no more serious an act than soldiers
shooting children throwing stones. The second is just more lethal, but no one
is horrified.
Behind every pogrom – I have seen the devastating results of many of them – stand the Israel Defense Forces.
Its soldiers are always present. Sometimes they arrive
late, sometimes on time, but they never perform their duty to protect the
helpless victims. It has not yet occurred to a single commander in the IDF to
carry out what international law requires – protecting residents.
The pogroms could be contained within a few days far
more easily than Palestinian terrorism, but Israel doesn’t want to contain
Jewish terrorism. It pleases all settlers and most Israelis, even if secretly,
because it advances the ultimate goal – cleansing the land of its Palestinian
inhabitants.
Have armed settlers ever gone out to defend their
neighbors against the terrorism? Don’t make them laugh.
They see the flames rising from their fields and hear
the bleating sheep slaughtered in their pens. They see the uprooted olive trees
on the side of the road and hear the off-road vehicles that MK Orit Strock
gifted them, precisely so that they would commit these pogroms.
Why do they need the vehicles, if not to trample
fields and run over old men? Since when has the government equipped farmers
with free ORVs? Would a farmer in the moshav of Avivim be entitled to one? No,
because he does not commit pogroms against Arabs.
Venezuela: ‘I dreamed of planes that clouded the day’..., by Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein
Sergio Rodríguez
Gelfenstein, 6/1/2026
Original español: Yo
soñé con aviones, que nublaban el día…
Translated by John Catalinotto
It is quite difficult to
express something new and different from what I have said and written in the
last three days. It seems to me that the most important thing has been that
Venezuela has managed to ensure constitutional continuity in the management of
the state and the government after the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro.
This, much to the chagrin of the United States, has been verified.
The chain of events in
recent days reflects a solid rule of law and the existence of strong
institutions that guarantee the strength of a country that functions in strict
accordance with its National Constitution. Approved by popular referendum on
December 15, 1999, the Constitution sets out a political, legal, and social
contract that transcends individuals and leaders who are no longer physically
present.
We lost Commander Hugo
Chávez, but before that, on Dec. 8, 2012, he showed us the way. President
Maduro was kidnapped, but he, being foresighted, left us the Decree of External
Emergency so that, in the event of his absence, the country would continue to
function.
Since December 15, 1999,
this country, Venezuela, has been following the path of law and justice in
accordance with its Constitution. To interrupt this path, it is not enough to
assassinate Commander Chávez and kidnap President Maduro. Let's look at what
happened after January 3:
1. That same
day. Approval in the Constitutional Chamber of the temporary absence of
President Maduro. It should be clear that this is not a permanent absence. To
that extent, he remains the constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela. Delcy Rodríguez is the vice president and now in charge of the
presidency. Thus, the constitutional thread has been maintained.
This is very important
because European countries and the opposition attempted to argue that new
elections and a “peaceful and orderly transition” were necessary. There will be
no transition here because there has been no change in the regime or the government.
What has happened, I repeat, is legal and constitutional continuity. This is no
minor issue because it will influence the next steps and because, as President
Maduro himself pointed out in his first appearance before the judge in the
United States, he is—according to international law and even U.S. domestic
law—a sitting president who has been illegally kidnapped.
2. On January
3 itself. The Decree of External Emergency signed in advance by President
Maduro comes into force, anticipating a situation such as the one that occurred
in the early hours of that day. The decree restricts freedom of movement and
the right of assembly, provided that these measures are proportionate to the
seriousness of the situation. However, it does not limit the right to life, it
prohibits torture and incommunicado detention. The State continues to guarantee
the right to due process, to defense, and to access to timely information.
3. January 3. Meeting of the National Defense Council (State Public
Powers, Minister of Defense, Chief of the Strategic Operational Command of the
Armed Forces, Vice President of Citizen Security, Councils of Vice Presidents,
Foreign Minister, and some special guests). According to Article 323 of the
Constitution, this body is the highest authority on matters of defense.
4. January 5. The
new National Assembly for the 2026-2031 term was sworn in with the deputies
elected in the last legislative elections on May 25, 2025.
5. January 10. The Vice President, in her capacity as acting
president, will deliver the annual message to the National Assembly and the
country, reporting on the activities of the State during 2025. According to
what President Maduro had previously announced, the fundamental themes of the
message will be: Democracy and Participation; Community Strengthening; Economy
and Production; Security and Defense; and Training and Communication.
Of course, the return of
President Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores will be the top priority. I have
been able to gather some information about what happened. The attacks resulted
in around 80 deaths, including 32 Cuban allies of the president, and that was
just in Fuerte Tiuna. There are other casualties in different parts of the
country, but they have not been counted. Investigations are still ongoing to
detect security breaches. The loss of weapons was minimal because they
had previously been dispersed throughout the country.
President Trump is lying
when he says there were no casualties. There were casualties, but they took the
bodies away and hid them because, having carried out an illegal operation under
U.S. domestic law, he has no way of justifying the deaths of his country's
soldiers.
The U.S. elite have
no inhibitions against killing citizens of any other country in the world, but
they are highly sensitive to the casualties of their own people, in this case
it is in an unauthorized war. Their wounded were transferred in complete
secrecy first to Puerto Rico and then on a secret flight to a military hospital
in Houston, Texas.
At this moment, in
Venezuela, there is territorial control by the people together with the Armed
Forces throughout the country and a military deployment across the entire
national territory. Today, the country is battered and hurt by the kidnapping
of the president and his wife, but in strategic terms, the United States'
action cannot be considered a victory. Even if the operation had a tactical
purpose of achieving certain objectives, the United States did not achieve them
either.
1. It did not succeed in
changing the regime or the government. It was unable to install a friendly
puppet government in Venezuela’s national territory.
2. It did not succeed in
fracturing the Armed Forces, which remain united around the acting president.
3. It did not fracture the
government or the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which is the
backbone of the political process initiated by Commander Chávez.
4. Nor did it succeed in
seizing Venezuela's natural, energy, and mineral resources.
As [author of “The Art of
War”] Sun Tzu says, “if a strong contender fails to defeat the weak, then he
loses, regardless of the damage he has inflicted.”
The institutional
framework of the state remains strong. This was already evident on the
afternoon of Jan. 3, following the solid and forceful intervention of Delcy
Rodríguez, who has taken on her new responsibility with integrity.
On Monday the 5th,
in an event that received little coverage but was of the utmost emotional,
spiritual, and moral importance, the acting president, after taking the oath of
office before the National Assembly, went to the Cuartel de la Montaña, where
the remains of Commander Chávez rest, to pledge before him to continue his work
and his thinking.
She then went to the
General Cemetery of the South to perform the same ceremony at the tomb of her
father, Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, a brilliant revolutionary leader who was
assassinated in July 1976 after being captured and brutally tortured by the
repressive forces of the representative democracy that ruled Venezuela for 40
years.
It has become clear that
if the United States eventually dares to invade the country, defense plans will
be put into action to repel the aggressor. Not only is the Bolivarian
Revolution active in the streets, but the resistance will continue, even if it lasts
for many years and produces many losses, and the struggle will be fought with a
strategic geopolitical vision. Therefore, the fundamental elements to guarantee
resistance are:
1. Political
unity to defeat the enemy's attempts to divide the Bolivarian Revolution.
2. A people in arms, in a
popular-police-military fusion.
3. Strategic patience, as
reaffirmed by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez in her speech.
4. Nerves of steel, calm
and sanity, so as not to fall for the provocations of the United States, or its
lies and its threats.
5. Maximum awareness that
emerges from political training and organization.
Now, a new battle has
begun, a legal one in the United States. Initial reports from New York indicate
that President Maduro is well prepared and politically strengthened to wage
this new fight in which life has placed him. He has very good lawyers, but above
all, he has the conviction that—even in conditions of extreme adversity—his
cause is just and belongs to the people.
In the last three days,
encouraging events have taken place that could signal a different course from
that outlined by the imperial forces. Given the lack of consistency in the
charges, the U.S. government has been forced to withdraw the accusation that the
president led a non-existent drug trafficking organization called the “Cartel
of the Suns.” It is one thing to construct a farce that the media is eager to
reproduce and quite another to present evidence to prove it.
Likewise, the displays of
solidarity with Venezuela and with President Maduro and his wife, the mass
marches, the statements by political and social organizations, governments, and
leaders from all corners of the globe, could be signaling that, without our
having intended it, the cause of Venezuela and the freedom of President
Maduro—especially given the integrity and dignity he displayed in his first
appearance before the judge—could become an instrument of struggle and
organization for millions of citizens around the world who love justice,
freedom, and independence.
Similarly, we must be
alert to the threat of the United States taking over Greenland.
It is not that I
wish the same fate on the noble Inuit people as we have suffered, but given
that the largest island on the planet is Danish territory and therefore part of
the European Union and under NATO control, it remains to be seen what would
happen under all these circumstances if Trump carries out his threat. Will
European countries judge him in the same way they now judge Venezuela?
Even without
carrying out his intimidation and extortion, Trump is forcing European powers
to take a stand on what would be another clear outrage against what was once
called international law and even today, when this law no longer exists, states
cling to it like an umbilical cord that provides them with a hypocritical
attachment to life.
If this were not the case,
how can we explain how one of the two most obsequious allies of the United
States in the world, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, demanded that Trump
provide explanations for his operation in Venezuela? As the old saying goes,
“when you see your neighbor's beard on fire, put yours in water.
These are events that are
beginning to emerge in a world that was shaken on Jan. 3. Since Aug. 19, I have
stated countless times that an invasion of Venezuela by large units of the U.S.
armed forces did not seem possible.
However, I also said on
several occasions, such as in September during the Workers’ Party (PT) seminar
in Mexico, that: “Notwithstanding the above, we cannot rule out the possibility
that the United States will carry out some other type of terrorist action
against Venezuela. In this context, its big problem is how to get out of the
conflict it [the U.S.] got itself into with a ‘victory’ that allows it to
demonstrate to its public opinion that the action taken made the United States
safer. That is not so difficult in the face of public opinion that has been
dumbed down by the media.”
On Oct. 12, I said: “What
we are seeing is the parallel development of a psychological war that is
reaching all parts of Venezuela and the world. This psychological warfare aims
to create division and panic, to try to cause some kind of chaos that will provoke
internal confrontation and thus be able to take advantage of the disorder to
kidnap and/or assassinate leaders and officials with special tactical
operations.”
I have also always said
that this situation will be resolved in Venezuela and the United States. It
will not be China or Russia or anyone else who will resolve this confrontation.
These and other countries have been sincere allies and friends of Venezuela. We
appreciate that, but beyond statements of condemnation and rejection and
Security Council meetings whose resolutions are useless because the United
States vetoes them, they will do nothing more. They have their own problems and
their own issues. Venezuela does not seem to be one of them.
We will resolve it
ourselves if we are able to resist, but the real decision will be made in the
United States, where almost 70% of citizens reject Trump's declared war against
Venezuela, even repudiating his decision to override the authority of Congress,
as he himself has said, when he also proposed as a new mission to assassinate
the president in charge of Venezuela.
Just two weeks ago, I
wrote an article in which I characterized the U.S. government as Nazi. Some
considered it an exaggeration. In it, I gave the disputes, among them that
“...Nazi ideology is characterized by ultra-nationalism and supremacism, which
establish the existence of a superior race that must expand based on hatred
against so-called ‘inferior beings’; totalitarianism that imposes absolute
control of the state, as Trump seeks to do by minimizing and undermining
Congress, the courts, and other branches of power; militarism that involves the
exacerbation of military force and aggression as instruments of expansion and
war; and finally, anti-communist and anti-liberal ideology in opposition to
socialism and democracy…”
Today, not only the U.S.
people, but also a large part of the media that retains some semblance of
decency, and even the elite, repudiate Trump for the events of Jan. 3. They do
so not out of love for Venezuela or President Maduro. They do so because Trump
is on track to destroy the political system of the United States and, with it,
the hegemonic system of world domination that the U.S. rulers have built since
the end of World War II.
That does concern them,
and they will take extraordinary measures to save it. Citizens will have to
wait until November to express their opinion at the polls. If Trump is
defeated, his base of support will weaken and the Republicans will have to take
a position. These 11 months will be extremely dangerous. It is not only the
fate of Venezuela or Latin America that is at stake, but the future of
humanity.
During World War II,
humanity united against Nazi-fascism. Today, part of the planet, including some
major powers, seems comfortable coexisting with the Nazi government of the
United States. They seem preoccupied with their own problems while accepting that
Latin America and the Caribbean are the “backyard” of the United States.
Many things will happen in
the coming years. We must be prepared for them. Contrary to what one might
assume, I am optimistic because I learned from Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro
that a revolutionary, when he believes in the people, always is one. And I feel
confident because, as that extraordinary phrase from Cuban popular dialectical
thought says, “The good thing about this is how bad it is getting.”
In the early hours of Jan.
3, as I woke my son to move him to a safer room in the house, given the
proximity of the place where the democratic missiles of the United States were
striking, I don’t know why, but I remembered Silvio’s words:
“I dreamed of planes that
clouded the day, just when people were singing and laughing the most...” and
immediately I saw the end of his poem, which becomes a song of struggle for the
peoples of Our America: “...if I capture the perpetrator of so much disaster,
he will regret it...”
