Venezuela’s Palestinian community backs Maduro amid calls for coup

President Nicolas Maduro’s victory prompted celebrations within the Palestinian community in Venezuela and other parts of Latin America amid skepticism over the election results and calls for a coup. Despite Maduro securing more than 51 per cent of the vote, Venezuela’s opposition and multiple Latin American leaders have refused to recognise his victory in the 28 July ballot, which was announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

Around 15,000 Palestinians live in Venezuela, with those in Valencia and Caracas rushing to congratulate the president-elect. Maduro’s popularity among Venezuela’s Palestinians increased as a result of his strict stance towards the Israeli aggression on Gaza and his declaration that Israel is committing “genocide” against the Palestinians. Maduro, Palestinians believe, is going to make a significant difference to the status of the Palestinian cause in Venezuela and in international forums.

🇻🇪 Venezuela: el #CNE emite resultados oficiales de la transmisión automática de los datos desde las máquinas de votación.

Nicolás Maduro
6.408.834
51,95%

Edmundo González
5.326.104
43,18%

Luis Eduardo Martínez
116.021
0,94%

Benjamin Rauseo
92.903
0,75%

José Brito… pic.twitter.com/Qxa1SBwNj5

— Manu Pineda🔻🇵🇸💔🏴 (@ManuPineda) August 2, 2024

“All Palestinians in Venezuela are with President Maduro, especially the Palestinian refugees who belong to the Palestinian occupied villages and hope to see Palestine one day,” Palestinian-Venezuelan author, Jehad Yousef, told me.

According to Yousef, who was born in the village of Iskaka in 1957 in the north of the occupied West Bank, the Venezuelan elections took place under economic, political and social conditions resulting from the American blockade for a decade. “But all these circumstances did not prevent the supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution from participating in order to preserve the achievements of the revolution and vote for President Maduro.”

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“There is genocide and ethnic cleansing carried out by the Zionist occupation state against our people in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem with the aim of obliterating the Palestinian cause and ending the Palestinian people. In the face of this fascist criminal scheme, President Maduro will continue to support the cause politically, diplomatically, culturally and academically,” he added.”The Palestinian community asks President Maduro and all Latin American communities and the diaspora in general to take more action in order to stop the massacres in Gaza. They must take concrete steps such as severing political, diplomatic and economic relations with the Zionist entity, join the calls of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, and declare the state of Israel a state of crime, ethnic cleansing and genocide,” Yousef urged.

“Venezuela’s rejection of diplomatic ties with the Israeli colonial regime stands as an example of the world’s principles toward the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, inside the Israeli prisoners and all forums,” Yousef concluded.

Gracias Presidente @NicolasMaduro por tu solidaridad internacionalista y por ser ejemplo de lucha anti-Imperialista. ¡Viva Venezuela soberana! ¡Hasta la victoria siempre! pic.twitter.com/Go1IMB3IUd

— Martita🔻 (@MartaMartnMorn) June 27, 2021

Under both Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) and Maduro, Venezuela has expressed strong solidarity with the Palestinian cause. It was the first country in Latin America to recognise the State of Palestine on the 1967 nominal borders. In 2009, Venezuela and the Palestinian Authority (PA) established diplomatic relations and announced the opening of a Palestinian Embassy in Caracas. Diplomatic ties remain close, and Venezuela has supported the Palestinian cause at the UN.

“Israel has become a murderous lackey at the service of imperialism…It’s a genocidal government. I condemn that Zionist government that persecutes the heroic Palestinian people,” the Leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chavez, once said.

While in his earlier years in office, Maduro implemented many measures to support Palestine, including oil deals, emergency aid and scholarships for Palestinian medical students. Venezuela was the first country to grant free travel and movement to Palestinians without visas, and grants residence rights to Palestinians. Caracas, he said, would “like to give more” for Palestine.

“The Axis of Resistance exists throughout the world; it exists in Africa, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Latin America and in the Caribbean. The Resistance also belongs to the people who are fighting against neoliberalism, racism and various forms of colonisation…The 21st century is our century. It is the century of the unity of the people. It is the century in which people will be liberated. It is the century of justice and truth. Empires are in decline, and people’s projects for well-being, development and greatness have just begun. This century is our century”, Maduro said after winning the election.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.