Yoselina Guevara López

With the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have suddenly seen all the evils of the world come to light, as if an invisible hand had opened a Pandora’s box. Day after day, the magnitude and pervasiveness of the crisis is bridging the gap in the relationship between the concepts of State security and societal security, the latter being understood as the health and well-being of the collective. In this context, the emergence of the coronavirus opens up, at least in terms of power, a space for political action, sometimes erroneously understood to be unlimited, to protect the community. That is why we can observe at a global level all manner of abuses and violations of citizens’ rights, under the premise of protecting the community and the most vulnerable.

A worldwide glimpse



In Hungary, the Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, asked Parliament for unlimited powers, declaring a state of emergency that provides for up to five years’ imprisonment for those who spread “false information” or “obstruct the State’s response to the crisis”. This is clearly a dictatorship. Similarly, in Sri Lanka, ultra-nationalist President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is exploiting public health issues to increase his powers, having recently dissolved Parliament and, with the excuse of the pandemic, there is no certainty about the date of the next elections.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the police to shoot citizens who violate quarantine regulations imposed to contain the spread of the virus. This is openly martial law, condemning those who have no food in their homes to starvation.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, which borders two of the epicentres of the epidemic, Iran and China, political leaders Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah are more committed to fighting for the presidency than to the disastrous consequences of the spread of the coronavirus, in a country where health facilities are almost non-existent. Their opponents, the Taliban, clearly limit themselves to relying on God’s help, having found nothing better to do than attack a Sikh temple in Kabul, killing dozens of people guilty of professing a religion other than their own.

In Kosovo, the proclamation of the state of emergency coincided with a palace maneuver that overthrew the government, in accordance with the wishes of the White House.

Decrees adopted in Italy, France, Germany and Spain conferred on the military a role in public security, while citizens experienced moderate controls due to fines and sanctions by police forces guarding the streets.

People’s organizations in Venezuela distribute protective supplies to families from house to house.

Venezuela: a model for stopping the pandemic

The scenario before us cannot be reduced to the simple scheme of the immobile subject and individualized fear, between coercive social distancing and surveillance by military authorities. The action and protagonism of the people as the political subject that guarantees the health and well-being of the collective must be put into practice.

Venezuelan villagers make masks.

Although the health structure in Venezuela may have difficulties in confronting a pandemic of the dimensions generated by the Covid-19; given the organization and discipline of its population, this oil-producing country can, to date, be seen as a model for stopping the spread of the virus, according to the figures of infected people and deaths that have been verified in the Caribbean nation. At the time of writing, Venezuela has seen 146 infections and 5 deaths, compared to the United States where there are 245,442 infections and 6,098 deaths.

The Venezuelan government, headed by President Nicolas Maduro (who has been labeled a dictatorial by far-right factions and imperial governments) has designed a successful strategic plan to confront the pandemic, which combines the action of popular power and government authorities.

The masks are made of different materials.

From the beginning of the spread of the virus and its irremediable arrival in Venezuela, the popular power, represented by the Communes, Local Committees of Supply and Production (CLAP) and social movements, responded to the call to confront the virus, firstly, by obeying the governmental measures, and under their own initiative, by making masks to protect themselves from the contagion, as well as disseminating information and popular communication materials about the dangers and the methods of protection against the virus.

The people’s response

In developed countries, the collective response of the population has been delayed; after the crisis erupted, collective solidarity initiatives began to take place. The formation of brigades, the action of non-governmental organizations, solidarity among neighbours, these are important and valuable examples in a time of crisis, but they are like small islands, without precise coordination to obtain conclusive results.

In order to understand the phenomenon of the collective response of the Venezuelan people, we must go back to the beginning of the revolutionary process, under the leadership of President Chávez. As the sociologist Pedro Sassone points out in his book Theses on the Policies of Commander Hugo Chávez, among the fundamental pillars of the empowerment of the people as a collective subject developed by Chávez is the unity of the people, the organization and the value of solidarity. The unity of the people on which the main political and organizational force of the collective is based. The organization that passes through unity as the first stage, and solidarity as a fundamental ethical principle. These principles have been decisive and are the cornerstone for the Government’s strategies that will be effective in stopping Covid-19.

Subsequently, the Venezuelan authorities have implemented greater restrictions for the compliance with the quarantine, which has turned it into a firewall. In addition to receiving the help and support of nations such as Cuba, China and Russia. The Venezuelan population, for the most part, has responded in a disciplined manner to the call for quarantine and social distancing. This is the example given to the world by a blockaded people, unjustly sanctioned by the White House, but who continue in their eagerness to resist and are willing to meet every challenge in their determination to be free and sovereign.

Once this pandemic is over, we will be left with only hope, as with Pandora’s box, that we citizens will ultimately recognize each other and collectively build a better world.