1.Has Croatia’s government country taken an official position regarding the situation in Venezuela? If yes, what is the position?
The government of Croatia has already moved to recognize Guaido as “interim president” about a week ago, when a handful of regional right-wing governments and a handful of imperialist Western countries did so, proving yet again Croatia’s spotless record in neo-colonial bootlickery.
2. What does this (fail to) reveal about the foreign policy/international standing of your country?
Like i said, it proves first and foremost that Croatia has no “foreign policy” as is usually understood, rather, it has politicians tasked with following and publicizing positions given to us most often by Washington and/or Bruxelles – when those two are in conflict, then lobbying and pressures occur.
3. Have left groups/parties/movements come forward with a position on Venezuela? If yes, what has their position been? What does this (fail) to reveal?
Unfortunately, none of the parties of the “new Left” save my own, the Workers’ front, came out with a definitive stance on the Venezuelan situation. As for us, we first published an article defending Maduro’s government and chavismo, then followed it up with a press conference in front of the Ministry of Foreign affairs with our party’s presidential candidate, Katarina Peović, giving a speech denouncing the meddling.
4. Do you see any parallels/differences in what is happening with Venezuela now to any moment in the development of state socialism in Croatia?
Due to the significant differences in the global politics of the time of Yugoslavia and today’s situation and Venezuela, it’s hard to draw any bigger parallels. The media-propaganda machine, for example, is worse on Venezuela, lies and fabricates more to support the coup, than literally anything I have witnessed since becoming politically active a decade ago. Also, it must be said, Venezula is a capitalist economy, whereas the “market socialism” of Yugoslavia was, for all it’s defects, based on a wholly different form of ownership of property. In fact, I would argue that some of the biggest problems of Venezuela come from their not going enough towards a socialist economy. So I can’t find many parallels between our experiences and Venezuela today, but I am certain that the actions of the US and its allies in Venezuela show us just what to expect in any country that tries to seriously move towards a different economy and tries to use its resources to help the working people, instead of maximizing profit for corporations. With that in mind, what goes on in Venezuela is something that could happen to any one of us.
Marko Milošević, is a member of the Workers Front political party. He is editor of the blog “Prokleta Komunjara”.