Venezuela Social Movements Denounce Right-Wing Protests

Venezuelan social movements are keeping a watchful eye on the violent opposition-led protests that have hit Caracas over the past week, as organizations such as “Comunidades Al Mando” and “Colectivo Casa Cultural la Minka” vow to continue the hard work of uniting all Venezuelans through combating the nation’s food crisis.

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Late on Friday, the predominantly Black revolutionary workers collective Minka Bakery, previously named the Mansion Bakery, held a fiesta outside its premises.

The bakery shot to fame on March 15, when social groups, with the government's assistance, took control of the Mansion, which had been hoarding subsidized flour that was meant for the community.

A mime from "Colectivo Casa Cultural la Minka" dances with a customer on the pavement | Photo: Reagan Des Vignes / Telesur

“Our action was a response to the outrages, scams and mockery of the needs of the people that the administrator and co-owner Emilio Dos Santos had been committing, unpunished for years,” reads a communique from the Minka's organizers.

“ We are grateful to be able to distribute bread to the communities that need it,” said Distributor Laisa Mosquera | Photo: Reagan Des Vignes / Telesur

Since then, things have changed dramatically at the bakery and bread is now being produced at a rate of some 6,000 units per day. The temporary owners now hope the Minka project can provide an example of how collective action can overcome food shortages.

Sibusiso Nkundlane, who works at the collective, says the bakery and its workers are “rebelling for the community of popular power.” According to Nkundlane, a South African immigrant, those involved in Minka are actively working to realize the ideals of the socialist Bolivarian revolution as they aspire to free themselves from “imperialist chains."

On 6 April opposition leaders led a violent protest and clashed with police | Photo: Reagan Des Vignes/Telesur

“This fiesta is how we communicate our interests, direction and plan of action,” Nkundlane said. “We project socialist ideology, our own medium of communication. We are the people."

“As leaders of the revolution, Chavistas must continue to project dignity, sovereignty, and peace,” he added, in light of continued opposition violence.