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The International Antifascist in Uruguay has expressed its most energetic rejection of the visit of the ultra-rightist and former opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who will meet with the president of that South American country Luis Lacalle Pou.

“That our current president and government join this destabilizing campaign is not surprising, considering that they already participated in the operation by not recognizing the elected president Nicolás Maduro (This resulted in the severing of diplomatic relations between Uruguay and Venezuela),” the Uruguayan Chapter of the Antifascist International stated.

“Edmundo González, former right-wing opposition candidate from Venezuela, has been posing as a democratic leader and since 2015 has been attacking Venezuelan democracy and institutions, encouraging coups d’état, sanctions, military invasion, violence, destabilization, migration and death,” says the organisation.

In addition, the Antifascist International in Uruguay highlighted that Urrutia have been denounced by his links with the murder and disappearance of priests during the Salvadoran dictatorship in 1980, and today “he serves as a political operator serving the interests of US imperialism.”

The organization also recalls that in the last elections of July 28 in Venezuela, Urrutia was part of the electoral coup against president Nicolás Maduro, unaware of the results of the Electoral Power, signed a letter as “president-elect”, urged the armed forces to carry out a coup d’état, validated and disseminated a fraudulent website with false results and records that it never presented to the Supreme Court of Justice hearings.

“The hegemonic media are complicit and join in the coup propaganda campaign, spreading false news, covering up the violent actions of the Venezuelan ultra-right and never showing who Edmundo González Urrutia really is, their intentions and their trajectory,” denounces the Antifascists.

About the Urrutia’s recent visits to Argentina and his plans to travel to Dominican Republic and Panama, the organisation stated that heads to seek international support, particularly targeting his ideological and strategic allies, such as Javier Milei in Argentina and Luis Lacalle Pou in Uruguay.

His visit coincides with the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro as the re-elected president of Venezuela on January 10 and aims to coordinate a campaign to destabilize and question the Venezuelan elections and its system of government, Provocations have been planned to undermine a legitimate government, which falls within the framework of the Monroe Doctrine that seeks intervention in Latin America, regarded as America’s backyard—a rhetoric that Donald Trump has revived.

The organisation made a call to the Yamandu Orsi’s incoming government to not engage in coup operations or meddle in the internal affairs of other nations and will advocate for respect for nations’ right to self-determination, as well on the popular movement across our continent to organize in unity to uphold Eduardo Galeano’s maxim: our north should be the south.

The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, said this Saturday that his government will not change the economic model based on social organizations, despite criticism from the opposition and analysts for the economic situation in the country, and also announced that it will defend and improve the economic stability of Bolivians.

“That is the basis of our economic model that we are not going to change (…) we will improve it for the benefit of the Bolivian people, with you we will do it,” said the president in his speech during the anniversary of the Women’s Federation “Bartolina Sisa” in the eastern region of Santa Cruz. Arce recalled that this social organization, like others, founded the Movement to Socialism (MAS), an official party based on “rebuilding the country and recovering natural resources” for the benefit of the population.

The Bolivian president stated in his speech that his government is committed to ensuring the economic stability necessary for the country, highlighting the achievements made in this area and reiterating that it will continue working to maintain such stability. According to official data, the Bolivian model achieved growth indicators despite opposition sectors claiming that the economic model is exhausted, but without proposing alternatives that would privilege the interests of the population.

The total aggregate budget amounts to 369,341 million bolivianos (official currency of Bolivia), while the consolidated budget totals 296,566 million bs, that is, they are increased by 8.5% and 11.7%, respectively, compared with EGP 2024. Of the consolidated expenditure budget, of Bs 296,566 million, 58.8% (Bs 174,235 million) is current expenditure, 17.2% (Bs 51,046 million) capital expenditure and 24.0% (Bs 71,285 million) use funds.

For the subsidy on fuels, inputs and additives, it allocates BRL 15,156 million, and for the subsidy on food a total of BRL 750 million (wheat, BRL 383 million; maize, BRL 268 million and rice, BRL 99 million).