The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 16th January 2026
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 16th January 2026
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Strange days. Donald Trump now seems to be in his second childhood rejoicing at having been given a second-hand Nobel peace prize medal from one of his Venezuelan lackeys. His call on the Big Oil corporations to return to plunder Venezuela under American protection stalls after Exxon Mobil’s chief executive says Venezuela is “uninvestable” without “significant changes” to its economic and legal structures. Kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, facing trumped-up charges in New York of drug-trafficking, has hired Barry Pollack who long-represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, to head his defence team. Trump talks to the new acting leader of Venezuela on the phone. And in Havana the people pay homage to the 32 Cubans killed defending Maduro during the American raid on Caracas.
Quisling Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during a meeting at the White House this week, saying it was a recognition of his commitment to her country’s freedom. “I think today is a historic day for us Venezuelans,” she told the media – a meaningless gesture as the prize itself is not transferable.
But in Venezuela workers marched through the streets of Caracas to demand the release of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Speaking by telephone during the rally, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez called on the people to remain united in the struggle to secure the couple’s return.
“We must stay mobilised to bring back the president and the first lady,” Rodriguez said, urging national unity and continued efforts toward economic growth and social development.
She also called for solidarity among workers and expressed confidence in the recently held National Constituent Congress of the Working Class, saying that she hoped it would lead to legislation promoting justice, inclusion and social equity.
Wills Rangel, the head of the Bolivarian Socialist Workers’ Federation, called on the USA to return Maduro and Flores, vowing that supporters would continue to mobilise both in the streets and in workplaces.
Meanwhile Delcy Rodriguez is planning to send an envoy to Washington as the Trump administration weighs-up the possibility of re-opening its embassy in Caracas. Felix Plasencia, the Venezuelan ambassador to Britain and a former foreign minister, is planning to meet American senior officials in Washington at Rodriguez’s behest.
Delcy Rodríguez confirmed that she had a “long, productive and courteous” phone conversation with Trump, within a “framework of mutual respect”, that addressed a “bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our people as well as pending issues” between the two governments.
And in her annual address to the National Assembly she said “there is a stain on relations between Venezuela and the United States, but we will resolve it face to face with our diplomacy”. Regardless of political trends, Venezuelans “must go together to defend our sovereignty and the peace of the Republic… if I have to go to Washington, I will go standing tall, not crawling”.
It may indeed happen. Trump hasn’t ruled out meeting her. He says he and his team get along “extremely well with the people running Venezuela” and that a second US strike against Venezuela “will not be needed”. But at the same time Trump consistently declares his control over the destiny of the oil-rich south American country, even going so far as to publish an image in which he proclaimed himself “interim president” of Venezuela.