In a summary of the judgment posted on the website, the court on July 10 accepted an appeal in which a citizens’ group said the leadership of the PCV was illegal and deviated from the organization’s principles.
The court “appointed the provisional board of directors of the organization, therefore, in accordance with its laws and the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to organize internal democratic processes that guarantee the rights of political participation of its members.”
The court also appointed Sixto Rodríguez, Griseldys Herrera, Carlos Figueroa, Joahan Corasce and Robinson Garcia as secretaries.
Upon learning of the decision, the party’s general secretary, Oscar Figueroa, held a press conference in which he accused the court of “violating the constitutional framework and PCV laws.”
On the other hand, he declared that PCV fighters will continue to fight to build their role as the revolutionary vanguard of the working class, regardless of the circumstances (…) imposed by the capitalist regime led by Nicolás Maduro. “.
Oscar Figueroa also accused it of “trying to silence the voices” opposed to the “neoliberal policy” of a regime that opens its doors to “capital and the right sectors”.
“They can use the initials arbitrarily. They can use the name and the card, but they cannot take over the Venezuelan Communist Party,” he stressed.
However, many Venezuelan opposition politicians condemned the decision, many of whom insisted they had nothing to do with communist ideology.
“I am not and will never be a communist, but I will always defend the right of communists to promote their ideas and form themselves as a political party. The PCV is one of the oldest parties in our country, almost 100 years old (. . . ) and one of the parties that united the patriotic pole that supported it. [Hugo] Chavez,” wrote Juan Pablo Guaniba, a well-known politician and former opposition vice-president, on his social networking account X (formerly Twitter).
In the same social network, Juan Pablo Guaniba says that the PCV acronym today “was given to the group of slaves of ‘Maturism’ that gives loyalty to the dictator”.
On the other hand, he reminds Venezuelans that in recent years, the court has taken interventionist measures. .
“They are removing the initials, but the parties belong to the people. Beyond my solidarity with the PCV and deep ideological differences, the hope is that we must unite to return Bolivar’s homeland to democracy and freedom and to improve the history of this continent. Long live Venezuela!” He concluded.
Founded on March 5, 1931, the Communist Party of Venezuela has a Marxist-Leninist ideology. It is the country’s oldest party and supported the late Socialist President Hugo Chávez between 1999 and 2013 and the head of state between the Bolivarian Revolution.
However, in recent years, he has been critical of the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
In 2021, the PCV issued a statement condemning irregularities in regional and municipal elections held on November 21 and accusing the country’s institutions of being in the service of “the government’s will”.
The PCV also condemned Venezuela’s National Electoral Council for “illegally and immorally” disqualifying 14 candidates of the party and the Revolutionary Popular Alternative from participating in the election.
In February 2023, 45 communist parties, apart from the Portuguese PCP, condemned in a joint statement the Nicolás Maduro government’s “plans” of “attack and intervention” in the PCV.
According to local press, in late July more than 300 political parties, intellectuals, trade unionists and activists from various countries signed a petition calling on the Maduro government to avoid prosecution of the PCV.
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