Venezuela stands once again at the crossroads of imperialist aggression and national resistance. Its oil-rich soil − potentially a foundation of social progress and independence − remains the object of fierce contest between foreign capital, domestic oligarchs, and bureaucratic interests.
Their rhetoric of “freedom” and “democracy” conceals a brutal reality: a plan to hand over Venezuela’s national wealth to imperialist monopolies, deepening inequality and exploiting the working class. In this renewed struggle over oil, capital, and sovereignty, the stakes could not be higher − not only for Venezuela but for all workers confronting imperialist domination worldwide.
Historical Context
Venezuela’s oil has long been the engine of both its economy and foreign interference. Since the early 20th century, U.S. corporations and Western powers have treated the country’s petroleum wealth as theirs for the taking − propping up compliant governments, destabilizing popular ones, and sabotaging any attempt to use oil revenues for social benefit. Throughout the 20th century, coups, sanctions, and financial pressures were repeatedly employed to subordinate Venezuela’s economy to foreign monopolies.
Under Hugo Chávez, the Bolivarian Revolution marked a historic attempt to reclaim national sovereignty and redirect oil wealth toward social transformation. Through the nationalization of key industries and the establishment of extensive social programs, Venezuela challenged both imperialist hegemony and the local bourgeoisie. This defiance provoked relentless hostility from Washington and its allies, leading to economic warfare, sanctions, and political destabilization. The struggle over Venezuela’s oil is therefore not merely economic − it is a class struggle between those who seek to harness national resources for the collective good and those who would exploit them for private enrichment.
Imperialist Ambitions Today
Today, Venezuela faces a renewed wave of imperialist pressure, led by U.S. political and corporate interests desperate to regain control over its energy reserves. Figures such as Donald Trump and Maria Corina Machado openly advocate the privatization of national industries and the subordination of Venezuela’s oil to Wall Street and transnational energy corporations. Machado’s open promise to “privatize all our industry” signals a direct return to the neoliberal order that once entrenched poverty and dependency.
These maneuvers are, as always, cloaked in the rhetoric of “democracy” and “human rights,” yet their content is unmistakably imperialist. They aim to dismantle what remains of public ownership, crush the organized power of the working class, and restore the dominance of foreign capital. Venezuela thus continues to serve as a battlefield between imperialist exploitation and the people’s struggle for genuine sovereignty and socialism.
The Contradictions of the PSUV Government
While imperialist intervention must be resisted without compromise, a consistent socialist analysis cannot ignore the contradictions within the PSUV government itself. The Maduro administration, invoking “economic realism” and “national recovery,” has permitted deals with imperialist corporations such as Chevron, granting them renewed access to Venezuelan oil through PDVSA partnerships. These arrangements, though presented as pragmatic responses to sanctions, in fact represent a dangerous concession to capitalist forces and a step away from revolutionary principles.
By reintroducing foreign capital under the guise of stabilization, the government risks undermining workers’ control and reestablishing dependency on imperialist markets. Such policies reveal the social-democratic, opportunistic tendencies within the ruling apparatus − where revolutionary slogans coexist with market concessions. This orientation blurs the line between anti-imperialism and class collaboration, threatening to erode the very foundations of the Bolivarian process. For genuine socialism to advance, Venezuela’s working class must assert its independent leadership, opposing both foreign plunder and bureaucratic compromise.
Impact on the Venezuelan Working Class
The brunt of these policies − both imperialist aggression and domestic opportunism − falls squarely upon the working class. Sanctions have devastated living standards, but so too have domestic austerity measures, devaluations, and creeping privatizations. The erosion of labor rights, inflation, and the shrinking of social programs have pushed millions into precarity. Yet, despite immense hardship, the Venezuelan working class continues to organize: from trade unions and workers’ councils to local communes and cooperatives, the struggle for control over production and distribution persists.
This resistance underscores a fundamental truth: sovereignty without workers’ power is an empty phrase. The fight against imperialism must be inseparable from the fight against internal class privilege, corruption, and capitalist restoration. The future of Venezuela depends on the conscious organization of its workers as the central force in both political and economic life.
A Socialist Perspective
Venezuela’s way forward lies not in compromise with imperialism or the illusion of “mixed economy” models but in deepening workers’ power and democratic control over production. The oil industry, banks, and major enterprises must be fully nationalized under workers’ management and integrated into a planned economy directed toward social need, not profit.
Socialism is not achieved through state ownership alone − it requires the active participation and control of the working class. Only through democratic planning, solidarity-based production, and grassroots organization can the country break free from dependency and build an economy based on human need and collective progress.
Venezuela’s struggle over oil and industry remains a decisive front in the global conflict between labor and capital. Trump, Machado, and their imperialist backers seek to recolonize the country through privatization and plunder, while the PSUV government risks diluting the revolutionary legacy through opportunist compromise. The Venezuelan working class stands at the center of this contradiction − its organized strength will determine the outcome. True solidarity with Venezuela means standing not with governments or corporate interests but with the workers, peasants, and popular organizations who continue to fight for socialism. Their struggle is the world’s struggle − for independence from imperialism, for equality, and for the liberation of labor from the chains of capital.
* Nathan Richardson is a writer: dawn1776.substack.com
