On Monday, President Nicolas Maduro attended the National Assembly (AN) to deliver his annual message to the nation. In his presentation, the Bolivarian leader emphasized the achievements of his administration in 2023 amid the “economic genocide” caused by U.S. sanctions against the Venezuelan people.

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“Venezuela is one of the 19 countries whose economic and human rights have been illegally violated by the United States every day for nine years,” he declared.

“For this reason, each of the results obtained, each goal achieved, must carry the label ‘made, in times of war and imperialist blockade’,” Maduro expressed, adding that Washington has taken steps in the lifting of some sanctions, but “our objective is the lifting of all sanctions” because Venezuela is not a colony that “is satisfied with permits.”

“Due to the sanctions, Venezuela stopped producing 3.9 billion barrels of oil and lost US$323 billion,” said the Bolivarian president.

Between 2015 and 2022, the economic war generated substantial losses to the Venezuelan economy, producing a reduction in gross domestic product (GDP) of US$642 billion. In that period, oil production fell from 2.5 million to 339,000 barrels per day, which implied a drop of 87 percent.

In 2023, the U.S. and its allies maintained sanctions that prevented the Venezuelan nation from purchasing medicines, supplies and equipment for the provision of public services.

“Due to the threat of sanctions, any international financial transaction carried out by the Venezuelan government remains at risk of being detained,” Maduro recalled.

Nevertheless, the Venezuelan working class “is aware of what we have suffered and has maintained its unrestricted support for the Bolivarian Revolution”, he stated and thanked the people for their loyalty.

“With a meticulous national anti-war plan, we developed a concrete agenda composed of eight lines of action and work that allowed us to achieve 12 strategic goals and a super objective with which we victoriously face this new year: I am referring to the great national consensus,” Maduro mentioned.

He stated that the efforts made were not in vain and that the measures taken were correct, “that is why for the month of December 2023 we managed to reduce inflation by 33 points when compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching the lowest figure since 2013, at 2.4 percent.”

“Inflation is the first enemy to defeat in any economy. In the Venezuelan case, with a blocked economy, such a task is difficult, since sanctions operate directly against the national income. Nevertheless, Venezuela will consolidate its definitive victory against inflation by returning to 2-digit annualized inflation in February 2024,” Maduro vowed. 

Through the 2023 Economic Recovery Plan, Venezuela achieved three fundamental objectives: deceleration of inflation, consolidation of the exchange balance, and growth of the economy and national oil and non-oil production.

Maduro noted that the private sector contributed a significant volume of foreign currency to the exchange market, with 2023 being the highest with US$14.5 billion, exceeding the 2022 volume of US$8.6 billion.

“With this we managed to reinvent a healthy and nationally beneficial relationship between the State and private companies after a century of corporate rentism,” he said.

“Year 2023 closed with ten quarters of continuous growth. Likewise, the agricultural GDP grew in seven consecutive semesters, with a closing of 5.20 percent of the production volume in October,” he mentioned.

“In order to move towards economic growth with equality, our second strategic goal was exchange control, which is directly related to the protection of the workers’ income. In 2023 we had the smallest increase in the value of the dollar… This behavior is encouraging and will allow us to consolidate stability to further lower inflation.”

“The third goal set was precisely the growth of national oil and non-oil production, where the country’s main industry leveraged each and every one of the 18 economic engines, fulfilling the virtuous circle of sowing Oil,” he stressed.

“If it had not been for these perverse attacks, Venezuela would have already fulfilled one of the objectives of the Homeland Plan and at this moment we would be a true economic power. That is why they launched those attacks. They wanted to stop our growth,” Maduro highlighted.

“They were not going to allow a Latin American, socialist, and anti-imperialist country to demonstrate that an alternative model to savage capitalism can be built.”

By 2023, Venezuela will reach 100 percent of sovereign production in the following items: coffee, bananas, cassava, ocumo, white cheese, complete liquid milk, carrot, paprika, pumpkin, banana, pineapple, milky, guava, orange, melon, potatoes, onion, fresh fish, tomato, beef, chicken, and pork.

President Maduro highlighted that Petrolium of Venezuela (PDVSA) “demonstrated the strength of its internal capabilities to overcome the adversities created by the illegitimate blockade and the mafias that had entrenched themselves in the industry at the service of destabilizing plans. PDVSA closed year 2023 with an income of US$6.2 billion”.

He noted that oil activity grew by 12.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023, with an increase of 14.6 percent in the extraction of crude oil and natural gas, generating an increase in oil exports of 60.4 percent.

On the other hand, tourism has become a fundamental element for the Venezuelan economic growth. “In 2023, 73 tourist routes were validated in 19 states of the country,” Maduro said, adding that his country received 1,2 million tourists, which represents a growth of 25 percent compared to 2022.

The Venezuelan president announced that, as of February 1, the population will have a minimum income equivalent to US$100, distributed in US$60 from the Economic War Bonus and US$40 from the food voucher.

Milei is a mistake in Argentine history

Maduro also referred to the Argentine President Javier Milei, whom he described as a ‘fatal error’ due to his economic policies, especially his obsession with reducing the capacities of the State.

“I don’t hope for you to rectify, but I hope this message reaches you: Milei, you are a mistake in the history of Latin America and Argentina,” the Venezuelan President said, criticizing the idea that economic growth will emerge spontaneously.

‘You are wrong, Milei. You were placed in Argentina to destroy the rule of law, to destroy the State, to destroy all social and labor rights, and to destroy the national economy. You were placed to colonize Argentina and deliver it on its knees to U.S. imperialism,” Maduro said.

President Noboa, don’t seek the SouthCom

The Venezuelan president sent a message to Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, urging him not to seek the U.S. Southern Command to address violence and confront armed groups.

“If you want to have a secure penitentiary system, look for us, do not look for the Southern Command, which will only engage in interventionism and colonialism.”

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