The Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) demanded that the government leadership provide clear and transparent explanations regarding the presence in the country of the Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, whom it described as “a nefarious figure for the peoples of the world,” and whose visit — the Party denounced — has not been officially communicated to the Venezuelan people.“The presence of the highest representative of the CIA in Venezuela is evidence of the changes taking place to guarantee the interests of big capital and U.S. imperialism,” Figuera stated. He added that Ratcliffe is an official who, according to information reported in the media, “is closely linked to the military operation of 3 January, to the aggression against our country, and to the killing of a significant number of Venezuelan and Cuban military personnel.”
The communist leader stressed that this presence “has not been explained to the Venezuelan people,” nor have the “agreements that have been forged with Donald Trump and Marco Rubio” been made public. In this regard, he insisted that “the Venezuelan people have the right to know the truth,” and that the PCV “demands that those currently directing the Venezuelan state inform the public, with full transparency, of the agreements they are reaching with imperialism and big capital.”
So far, only photographs circulated by U.S. journalists have emerged, showing Delcy Rodríguez and a military official alongside Ratcliffe on 15 January, the day the annual address to the National Assembly was presented.
“We saw senior state officials, both civilian and military, smiling broadly as they reported to this individual,” Figuera remarked, adding that there is information indicating that “long-standing processes have been underway, both inside and outside the country, linked to the CIA.”
Ratcliffe’s visit, he said, “serves to demonstrate before the country and the world who it is that maintains close relations with this repressive and murderous apparatus of the U.S. government.”
The PCV General Secretary recalled that until recently, senior officials of the Maduro government “were busy accusing others left and right of being CIA agents,” and pointed out: “It is becoming increasingly clear who is truly committed to imperialist policies and, consequently, subordinate to its instruments of domination.”
During the press conference, Figuera recalled that the 19th Plenum analysed the new reality imposed following the U.S. military aggression of 3 January, which included “the illegal abduction of Nicolás Maduro Moros and Cilia Flores,” in blatant violation of international law and national sovereignty.
“This action placed our country in a new reality which, in practice, has meant that U.S. imperialism and the government of Donald Trump now exercise direct tutelage over the government headed by the citizen Delcy Rodríguez,” he stated.
The PCV reiterated its condemnation of this aggression, which claimed the lives of Venezuelan and Cuban military personnel, and conveyed its solidarity to their families. “We reaffirm our rejection and denunciation of the illegal nature of this action, which violates all international norms and is based on the extraterritorial application of U.S. laws that lack any legal foundation,” Figuera said.
The PCV General Secretary warned that the measures adopted at breakneck speed by the current administration reveal “the dependent and subordinate character of the present government,” citing as an example the reform of strategic legislation, particularly the Hydrocarbons Law.
“Constitutional principles that reserve to the Venezuelan state the exercise of sovereignty over national wealth are being dismantled,” he denounced, linking these reforms to the implementation of the so-called anti-blockade law, which he described as “a law of plunder, looting, and dispossession of the Venezuelan people.”
He also criticised the creation of foreign trusts to manage oil revenues under the control of the U.S. government. “We demand clear information on the mechanisms through which oil revenues will enter the country,” he stressed.
On the domestic front, the PCV demanded fulfilment of government promises, including the full release of political prisoners and the adoption of an amnesty law. “One cannot speak of releases when people remain subjected to judicial proceedings that prevent them from exercising their rights,” Figuera stated.
He also called for an immediate increase in the minimum wage, pensions, and retirement benefits in line with the Constitution, as well as the repeal of laws that — he denounced — “are used to repress the people,” including the anti-blockade law, the so-called anti-hate law, and the Law on Special Economic Zones.
Finally, the communist leader called for the construction of broad popular unity to confront both imperialist aggression and the “subordinate and tutelaged” government that currently directs state institutions.
“The 19th Plenum of the Central Committee reaffirms the need to build a popular, sovereign, democratic, and constitutional political alternative in the face of imperialist aggression and the subordination of the ruling elite,” he concluded.
