Venezuelanalysis is a pro-Bolivarian Revolution website[1][2] that describes itself as "an independent website produced by individuals who are dedicated to disseminating news and analysis about the current political situation in Venezuela."[3] Its stated objective is "to counter the corporate media propaganda against the Bolivarian Revolution by giving a voice to leftist and grassroots movements in Venezuela".[3]

Venezuelanalysis
Available inEnglish
Created byGregory Wilpert
URLvenezuelanalysis.com
CommercialNo
LaunchedSeptember 2003
Current statusActive

History

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Greg Wilpert founded the website in 2003 with Martin Sanchez, one of the founders of the pro-Chávez website Aporrea. Sanchez set up the technical side of the site and Wilpert worked on editing.[1][4] The set up of Venezuelanalysis was also aided by the Venezuelan government.[5] Venezuelanalysis describes itself as "an independent website produced by individuals who are dedicated to disseminating news and analysis about the current political situation in Venezuela."[3] Its stated objective is "to provide a counter-narrative to mainstream media coverage of the Bolivarian Revolution, based on the perspective of leftist and grass-roots movements in Venezuela."[3] Wilpert described this perspective as "clearly pro-Bolivarian Revolution, but also critical of some aspects from a leftist perspective".[1]

In 2008, Wilpert moved to New York with his wife, who had been appointed as Venezuela's Consul General to the United States.[6] Wilpert continued to work as the main editor of the website until 2009, and is a member of its board of directors.[7] In 2009, Venezuela Analysis, Inc. was registered as a domestic not-for-profit corporation in New York State.[8]

Organization

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Gregory Wilpert, founder of Venezuelanalysis.com

Venezuelanalysis says it is a "project of Venezuela Analysis, Inc., which is registered as a non-profit organization in New York State and of the Fundación para la Justicia Económica Global, which is registered in Caracas, Venezuela."[9]

Personnel

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Gregory Wilpert and Martin Sánchez co-founded the Venezuelanalysis site in September 2003. Wilpert was the site's main editor for six years, until 2009, and is a member of the site's board of directors.[3] The Global Post described Wilpert as "perhaps the most prominent Chavista."[10] Wilpert's wife Carol Delgado was named Consul General of Venezuela in New York in 2008.[2][11]

Venezuelanalysis wrote that "as of early 2008 its writers are all working on the site from their homes in various places in Venezuela, with volunteers contributing from around the world."[9] The website has contributors from England, Australia, and the US with a mix of activist and academic credentials, including authors Nikolas Kozloff, who periodically contributes to the site,[12] and Eva Golinger.[13] As of 2019 the site's staff consists of Gregory Wilpert, Jan Kühn, Rachael Boothroyd, Lucas Koerner, Jeanette Charles, Katrina Kozarek, Paul Dobson, Cira Pascual Marquina and Ricardo Vaz.[3] According to Brian Nelson, author of The Silence and the Scorpion, Venezuelanalysis.com performs "damage control" for the Venezuelan government and "tried to discredit virtually every independent human rights study" while Hugo Chávez was in office as part of "an integral part of Venezuela’s propaganda complex".[14][self-published source]

Funding and support

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In 2007, Wilpert stated the site had received "some funding" from the Venezuelan government's Ministry of Culture, in addition to "grassroots donations."[15] At that time, Venezuelanalysis had "mutual support agreements" with Green Left Weekly, Alia2, TeleSUR and others.[1][15]

In February 2014, Venezuelanalysis ' stated that its Web server services and bandwidth was donated by Aporrea.[16] and in April 2014, the website said that it relied totally on reader donations and received no funding from any government.[9]

In 2019, the site received, as part of a journalism award, a cash prize from the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, a pro-Bashar al-Assad group. Wilpert stated that Venezuelanalysis were not familiar with the organization behind the prize.[17]

Political stance

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Venezuelanalysis is pro-Bolivarian Revolution.[18][19][20] In Al-Jazeera, Nikolas Kozloff described it as "a website sympathetic to the Chávez government."[21] Other sources say it is "left-leaning".[18][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Tackling Institutions One By One: An Interview With Gregory Wilpert". Gregory Wilpert said that Martin Sanchez worked on the 'technical side' of setting up Venezuelanalysis. ... the main success of Venezuelanalysis.com has been that it provides a left social movement perspective on the Bolivarian Revolution in the English language. It's a fairly rare perspective, in that it is clearly pro-Bolivarian Revolution, Also available at Znet.
  2. ^ a b Wilpert, Gregory (13 January 2012). "Obama's State Department Now Takes Cues from Right-Wing Cubans on Venezuela". Venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "About venezuelanalysis.com". Venezuelanalysis.com. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  4. ^ "About venezuelanalysis.com". venezuelanalysis.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  5. ^ Rohter, Larry (25 June 2010). "Oliver Stone's Latin America". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Ecuador Elections Appear Headed Towards Run-off". The Real News Network. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  7. ^ "About venezuelanalysis.com". Venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Entity Information: VENEZUELA ANALYSIS, INC". Corporation and Business Entity Database. NYS Department of State, Division of Corporations. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  9. ^ a b c "About venezuelanalysis.com". venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  10. ^ Devereux, Charlie (2 December 2009). "Gregory Wilpert: Chavez defender". Global Post. Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  11. ^ Wilpert, Gregory (1 July 2010). "New York Times to Oliver Stone". Zcommunications.org. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  12. ^ "NIKOLAS KOZLOFF". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  13. ^ "About Venezuelanalysis.com". Venezuelanalysis.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  14. ^ Nelson, Brian. "Response to the Venezuelan Government's Attacks on The Silence and the Scorpion". brianandrewnelson.com. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Hugo Chavez's Future (An Interview with Greg Wilpert)". Wilpert: We did receive some funding from the Ministry of Culture, but we also get some grassroots donations.
  16. ^ "About venezuelanalysis.com". 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  17. ^ Davis, Charles (30 September 2019). "Pro-Assad Lobby Group Rewards Bloggers On Both The Left And The Right". Bellingcat. Retrieved 26 October 2023. Venezuela Analysis, a website founded by the husband of a Venezuelan diplomat, also dabbles in Syria-related conspiracy and received an award for its troubles. Greg Wilpert, the site's founder, claimed he was not too familiar with the people and money behind the prize. "We were informed by the treasurer of [the] Serena Shim Award, Paul Larudee," he said. "That's all we know." Wilpert elected to not disclose how sizeable a contribution his website received.
  18. ^ a b Morley, Jefferson (17 March 2005). "Venezuela's 'Anti-Bush' Fears Assassination". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  19. ^ Maykuth, Andrew (30 May 2006). "How Chavez captures hearts of U.S. citizens: oil discounts are just part of the Venezuelan leader's marketing". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2012. The Venezuelan Information Office, staffed by Americans and attached to the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, hosts delegations of sympathetic lawyers, doctors and elected officials. Private organizations like Global Exchange regularly assemble 'reality tours' to see how the Venezuelan government is distributing its oil wealth to the poor. 'These people go back to the United States, hold meetings at their churches, or write articles for their local papers,' said Gregory Wilpert, an American sociologist living in Caracas, where he operates a pro-Chavez Web site, Venezuelanalysis.com.
  20. ^ Bachelet, Pablo (16 September 2005). "United Nations should move from U.S., says Venezuela's Chavez". Miami Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  21. ^ Kozloff, Nikolas (29 February 2012). "The authoritarian left goes awry: From the Arab Spring to Latin America - China". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  22. ^ Markovits, Martin; Sebastian Kennedy (7 December 2007). "Despite defeat at polls, Venezuela's Chavez holds all the cards". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
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