Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Trump-Appointed Venezuela Coup Leader Plans Neoliberal Capitalist Shock Therapy
Ben Norton
06 Feb 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Trump-Appointed Venezuela Coup Leader Plans Neoliberal Capitalist Shock Therapy
Trump-Appointed Venezuela Coup Leader Plans Neoliberal Capitalist Shock Therapy

Venezuela’s US-appointed coup leader Juan Guaidó plans to privatize state assets and give foreign corporations access to oil, the Wall Street Journal admitted.

“Guaidó plans to implement the neoliberal capitalist shock therapy that Washington has imposed on the region for decades.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Venezuela’s US-appointed coup leader Juan Guaidó has already drafted plans for “opening up Venezuela’s vast oil sector to private investment” and “privatizing assets held by state enterprises.”

The report confirms what The Grayzone previously reported.

“Juan Guaidó, recognized by Washington as the rightful leader, said he would sell state assets and invite private investment in the energy industry,” read the Wall Street Journal’s January 31 article.

The paper noted that Guaidó plans “to reverse President Nicolás Maduro’s economic polices,” explaining:

“Mr. Guaidó said his plan called for seeking financial aide from multilateral organizations, tapping bilateral loans, restructuring debtand opening up Venezuela’s vast oil sector to private investment. It includes privatizing assets held by state enterprises … He also said he’d end wasteful state subsidies and take steps to revive the private sector.”

In other words, Guaidó plans to implement the neoliberal capitalist shock therapy that Washington has imposed on the region for decades.

“Guaidó seeks to adopt an aggressive “structural adjustment” program.”

Using funding from US-dominated international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Venezuelan coup leader seeks to adopt an aggressive “structural adjustment” program, enacting the kinds of economic policies that have led to the preventable deaths of millions of people and an explosion of poverty and inequality in the years following capitalist restoration in the former Soviet Union.

In a speech, Juan Guaidó even echoed rhetoric that is popular among US conservatives: “Here, no one wants to be given anything.”

It is clear that the coup leader’s priorities reflect those of Venezuela’s capitalist oligarchs and right-wing politicians in the United States. Economic liberalization is the Venezuelan opposition’s first and most important goal; democracy is just a pretense.

This article previously appeared on The Grayzone Projectsite.

Regime Change Venezuela
Venezuela

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Gus Griffin
Nicaragua and The Miseducation of the People of the United States
17 June 2026
Nicaragua is a living example of anti-imperialist resistance and people-centered development. The job of those in the U.S.
Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies
Luis Britto García: I resist, therefore I am
17 June 2026
We all know what lies behind the deafening silence that oppresses us.
Carlos Martinez
Siege Socialism or Barbarism: Why We Must Stand with Cuba
10 June 2026
Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are astounding, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it loo
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Denial is Not a River in Egypt, or in Venezuela
03 June 2026
The U.S. regime change plot against Venezuela succeeded and created a puppet state.
Elías Jaua , Federico Fuentes
Former Chávez VP: Venezuela Needs a New ‘struggle for liberation’
27 May 2026
A former vice-president who served with Hugo Chávez provides analysis on what he calls neo-colonial control and coercion the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Betrayal in Venezuela
20 May 2026
Venezuela’s betrayal of Alex Saab in handing him over to the U.S. leaves little room for debate.
Tamanisha J. John
Annexationist Chauvinism: There is No Justification for the Venezuela-Guyana Essequibo Border Dispute
20 May 2026
The Essequibo dispute benefits Exxon Mobil and the Pentagon while crushing anti-imperialist solidarity.
Orinoco Tribune
Venezuela: Diosdado Cabello and Delcy Rodríguez Justify Controversial Alex Saab Deportation Amid Growing Backlash
20 May 2026
Delcy Rodríguez insists that every decision made since January 3 serves to benefit Venezuela. The deportation of Alex Saab to the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
A Weak Left Stands By as Russia Stands Up for Cuban Sovereignty
01 April 2026
Russia finally makes good on promises to help Cuba, but its level of commitment is unclear.
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor , Dan Kovalik
U.S. Takes Aim at President Gustavo Petro, but He's Akin to a Rock Star in Colombia
25 March 2026

More Stories


  • Aby L. Sène
    Patagonia Forest Fires Reveal Imperialist Theft of Protected Lands
    28 Jan 2026
    The arson attacks that engulfed the protected forests of he Andean-Patagonia region serve as a reminder that Western conservation models, which dispossess Indigenous peoples of their lands, are…
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Trump Derangement Syndrome Is Real, And It Obfuscates the Requisite Question of Self-Determination in the Heart of U.S. Empire
    28 Jan 2026
    When political energy is channeled into opposing an individual, that energy is diverted from the work of building the popular power needed to challenge the empire he represents.
  • Hanna Eid
    Iran and the Strategy of Tension
    28 Jan 2026
    The Cold War-era "strategy of tension" has evolved into a modern system of hybrid warfare targeting sovereign nations that challenge Western hegemony.
  • Julia Wright
    The Photos of a Five Year Old ICE Terror Doesn't Want Us to See
    28 Jan 2026
    The arrest of a five-year-old captured public attention and ignited a prisoner revolt inside a U.S. ICE detention center. Powerful imagery is a useful tool for the people, but dangerous in the hands…
  • Al Jazeera Staff
    ‘If you sleep, settlers will burn your house’: fear in the West Bank
    28 Jan 2026
    The Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja has held out against violent Israeli settlers – until now.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us