Venezuelanalysis Podcast

Nine months after the January 3 US bombing, Venezuela’s oil revenues are held at the US Treasury and its government has made a sharp political turn. In this anniversary episode, the Venezuelanalysis editorial team asks how to characterize Venezuela’s present reality, and who stands to gain or lose from it.

Recorded live to mark Venezuelanalysis’ 23rd anniversary, Episode 48 of the VA Podcast is our first conversation in Spanish, available here with English subtitles. Lead editor Ricardo Vaz is joined by Lucas Koerner, Jessica Dos Santos and Silvana Solano.

The discussion starts from what Vaz calls a deeply compromised sovereignty, with US control over the revenues from Venezuela’s main export. Silvana Solano describes a relationship of “transactional coexistence” and argues that 21st century neocolonialism is at its peak. Jessica Dos Santos describes an “era of opacity,” in which Washington and Caracas offer contradictory accounts of the same oil agreement, and criticizes coverage of acting president Delcy Rodríguez’s UN trip that focused on scarves and gestures rather than the content and consequences of her speech.

The team also examines the changes in Venezuelan foreign policy, including the government’s stance toward Cuba and Iran, and the clash between narratives that explain the government’s turn as the product of coercion or of pragmatism. Lucas Koerner argues that Venezuela is in a semicolonial situation comparable to Iraq after 2003, but that the weakness of the United States means this order will not be lasting. Finally, the panel assesses what the Venezuelan opposition, the Trump administration and the Rodríguez government are each betting on, and the role grassroots movements and communes may play in how Chavismo reconfigures.

About the participants:

• Ricardo Vaz is the lead editor of Venezuelanalysis.
• Lucas Koerner has been part of Venezuelanalysis since 2015 and is completing doctoral research on Venezuela in the 1980s and the rise of Chávez.
• Jessica Dos Santos is a Caracas-based journalist, writer, columnist and university professor with more than 20 years of experience in journalism.
• Silvana Solano is Venezuelanalysis’ correspondent in Mérida, a political scientist with experience in audiovisual and written journalism, and a member of the Tatuy TV media collective.

Venezuelanalysis is an independent outlet, funded entirely by its readers and viewers. If you value 23 years of independent journalism from the ground in Venezuela, support our work on Patreon: patreon.com/venanalysis

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What does the so-called “Donroe Doctrine” mean for Venezuela and the wider region?

In Episode 47 of the Venezuelanalysis Podcast, VA Editor Ricardo Vaz speaks with Jake Johnston, Director of International Research at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), and Jacqueline Luqman, Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace.

The conversation examines the increasingly overt character of US intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean, drawing particular attention to the parallels between Haiti’s experience after the 2010 earthquake and Venezuela’s current situation.

Among the topics discussed:

• The “Donroe Doctrine” and what has changed in US policy
• Disaster capitalism and the politics of reconstruction
• Foreign control over aid and national resources
• Venezuela’s revenues and sovereignty
• The relationship between US foreign and domestic policy
• US intervention and immigration policy
• Opposition to military intervention
• The prospects for resistance and political change across the region

Johnston and Luqman also discuss why Haiti’s experience offers a cautionary tale for Venezuela, and why the consequences of these policies may unfold over a much longer timeline than US electoral politics.

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How are Venezuela and Iran resisting US imperialism? What role does China play in the emerging multipolar world?

In this episode of the Venezuelanalysis Podcast, Ricardo Vaz is joined by VA co-editor Lucas Koerner and scholar Matteo Capasso to discuss imperialism, hybrid warfare, sanctions, sovereignty, deterrence, and international anti-imperialist solidarity.

Matteo Capasso is Professor at the School of Country and Region Studies, Northwest University (Xi’an, China), author of Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Syracuse University Press, 2023), co-editor of The Imperialist Question in the Middle East and North Africa (Routledge, 2025), Editor-in-Chief of Middle East Critique, and co-editor-in-chief of Global South Studies.

The conversation compares the experiences of Venezuela and Iran, examines different forms of US-led pressure and intervention, explores China’s role in an emerging multipolar order, and reflects on the recent International Anti-Imperialist Conference in Lahore, Pakistan.

Topics include:

• Hybrid warfare and sanctions

• Venezuela and Iran compared

• China and multipolarity

• Sovereignty, deterrence and development

• International solidarity and anti-imperialism

• The Lahore Declaration and global coordination

Relevant links:

The Lahore Declaration:

https://haqooqekhalq.com/international-antimperialist-conference/the-lahore-declaration

International Anti-Imperialist Conference (full video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHes_rf8nv0&t=8596s

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In Episode 45 of the Venezuelanalysis podcast, Ricardo Vaz speaks with Austin Cole and Michela Martinazzi about international solidarity with Venezuela and the challenges of organizing against imperialism from inside the United States.

The discussion covers solidarity efforts with Venezuela, escalating attacks abroad and repression at home, the need to connect struggles for justice domestically and internationally, and the difficulties social movements face in building meaningful solidarity and broad coalitions.

Guests:

• Michela Martinazzi: Organizer with Brooklyn Against War and member of the Steering Committee of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle.
• Austin Cole: National Co-Coordinator of the Black Alliance for Peace and co-coordinator of BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team.

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Venezuela’s January 2026 hydrocarbons law reform marks a major shift in the country’s oil sector. It establishes a more flexible fiscal regime in the name of “international competitiveness,” while expanding the private sector role in extraction, operations, and dispute resolution mechanisms.

The reform follows years of US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and coincides with new US licenses allowing Western conglomerates to move into Venezuela's energy sector.

Join Blas Regnault, energy policy analyst and consultant focused on oil geopolitics, alongside Venezuelanalysis editors Ricardo Vaz and Lucas Koerner, as they break down the reform, its economic and political context, and what it means for control over strategic resources and national sovereignty.

The VA Podcast is back. In our Season 3 premiere, we tackle the fallout of the January 3rd military escalation against Caracas, an event that marks a volatile new chapter in the long history of US intervention in the region.

Join Venezuelanalysis Chief Editor Ricardo Vaz, Associate Editor Lucas Koerner, and VA Founder Greg Wilpert as they break down the geopolitical shift from "maximum pressure" to direct confrontation. This episode goes beyond the headlines to analyze the underlying causes and the global consequences of Washington’s renewed focus on "its" hemisphere.

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In this episode of the Venezuela Analysis Podcast, José Luis Granados Ceja and Andreína Chávez dive into the contentious awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Machado. The show explores her divisive role in Venezuelan politics, alongside Trump's approval of lethal covert CIA activities and the cutting of diplomatic ties. The episode underscores the urgent need to defend Venezuelan sovereignty, highlighting the mobilization and resilience of the Venezuelan people.

Host José Luis Granados Ceja is joined by fellow VA staff writer Cira Pascual-Marquina as they delve into the escalating US aggressions against Venezuela. This episode explores the recent military actions, including strikes on Venezuelan vessels, and the broader implications for the Bolivarian process. José and Cira provide in-depth analysis on the international response, the role of media narratives, and the resilience of the Venezuelan people.

The US war drums are beating louder with a Caribbean military deployment, but Caracas has responded with defiance and mobilization.

In our latest podcast episode, host José Luis Granados Ceja is joined by fellow VA member Andreína Chávez Alava to take stock of recent US policies against Venezuela, including dubious "narco-terrorism" charges and a crackdown on migrants.

In this episode, we explore the pivotal role of communes in socialist construction and anti-imperialist struggles, featuring insights from writer Chris Gilbert and fellow VA staff member Cira Pascual Marquina. 

Gilbert and Pascual Marquina were guest editors of the latest issue of Monthly Review, "Communes in Socialist Construction." Our discussion delves into the definition and significance of Venezuelan communes, the reconstruction of Marx's theory of the commune, as well as the slogan "Commune or Nothing!" and its implications for anti-imperialist struggles in Latin America and beyond.