At inauguration, President Maduro promises to maximize people’s role

Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated for his third term as president of Venezuela on Jan. 10. Delegations from 125 countries and international organizations participated in the swearing-in ceremony.

In one of the first acts of his new term, Maduro implemented reforms to move Venezuelan politics away from the legacy of liberal capitalist democracy left by the country’s colonial history and maximize mass participation. The Venezuelan president signed a decree on Jan. 10 to “create a broad, national commission for drafting the constitutional reform project” and called on “all political, economic, ideological, cultural and social sectors to a great, inclusive and unified dialogue to advance together toward a constitutional reform that will further democratize Venezuela.” (telesurenglish.net, Jan. 10)

In a Jan. 8 address Maduro said that the reforms will “define with clarity the model of Venezuelan development for the next 30 years and to democratize … the political [and] social life of Venezuela, transform this state into a true democratic state of the people, for the people, with the people.” (youtube.com)

In a Jan. 1 interview with Ignacio Ramonet of Telesur, Maduro elaborated on these plans, anchoring them in the values and spirit of the Bolivarian Revolution of 1999, as well as the 2006 initiative of then-President Hugo Chavez to develop communal councils in Venezuela.

Maduro characterized the plans as building upon the 2024 projects of his own administration, which implemented “direct consultations with communities … allocating budgets for community projects which were decided, defined, planned, voted on and approved by the popular vote … [including] thousands of neighborhood projects to solve acute problems that the bureaucratism of the old state did not address.” (youtube.com, Jan. 1)

At the inauguration on Jan. 10, Maduro further emphasized the new initiative’s break with the political and economic policies of the past, asking, “What does the oligarchy offer? To [bring Venezuela] back to … the ‘new-old’ system of oligarchy, the old system. No, we cannot go back to that. … We will do the revolution of 2025-2031, which will be a democratized revolution.” (youtube.com, Jan. 10)

Ongoing machinations of U.S. Empire

While President Maduro set out this vision of a bright future for the workers of Venezuela, the United States’ imperialist project continues its decades-long series of political, economic, informational and physical attacks on Venezuela. The devastating economic sanctions continue.

The U.S. has declared opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia the winner of the Venezuelan election. President Biden met with him at the White House Jan. 6.

According to the Maduro administration, two senior U.S. government officials — one from the FBI and one from the military — were arrested on Jan. 8 along with seven mercenaries, alleged to have been engaged in an attempt to commit acts of terrorism within Venezuela. (Barrons.com, Jan. 8)

Most recently, on Jan. 10, the day that Maduro was sworn in, the U.S. announced it had increased to $25 million its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.