Nicolás Maduro announces a world congress against fascism in Venezuela

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, announced on Monday the holding, on a date yet to be determined, of a world congress “against fascism, neo-fascism and similar expressions”, with the aim of exchanging strategies to combat this ideology with which the president links the majority opposition in his country.

“We are going to hold a great congress here in Venezuela, the world epicenter of the fight against fascism (…) to nourish ourselves with ideas, proposals and fine-tune the strategies of Venezuela, which is defending its right to live, to peace, to the future.”said the Chavista leader during a meeting with leaders of the ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV).

In this regard, he asked to invite personalities “from all continents”including thinkers, intellectuals, artists, social leaders and political leaders, without mentioning anyone in particular.

Regarding the date of this activity, he suggested setting it before the National Congress scheduled for October 18, in which Maduro hopes to receive proposals from all social movements to build a “concrete agenda of action” that will allow achieving “transformations towards 2031”, when the Government period that will start next January ends.

The announcement of the celebration of a “world congress” It comes two days after the president asked Parliament, controlled by Chavismo, to approve “very fast” a law against fascism, the content of which “undermines civic and democratic space,” sAccording to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

Maduro believes that the main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), is led by fascists, an accusation he has reiterated since the July 28 elections, in which he was declared the winner, a claim that has been questioned inside and outside the country.

The PUD assures that its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiawon the elections by a wide margin, which the Government sees as a plan “coup plotter and fascist” against him.

In April 2022, Caracas hosted a three-day international summit against fascism, in which, according to the authorities, “nearly 200 guests from 52 countries” who commemorated, with said conclave, the twentieth anniversary of the coup d’état against the late President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013).