Venezuela:
Wage Strike in Caracas

May 4, 2026

This article is translated from the April 25 issue #1370 of Combat Ouvrier (Workers Fight), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in Guadeloupe and Martinique, two islands that are French overseas departments in the Caribbean.

Thousands of workers, union members, and retirees demonstrated in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, over mid to late April. Facing an economic crisis marked by hunger and disease, protesters demanded higher pay.

Marchers heading toward the Miraflores presidential palace were stopped by tear gas grenades fired by the security forces of interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

A few days earlier, Rodriguez gave a televised address calling on workers to be patient. She promised a moderate increase in the minimum wage on May 1, so as not to trigger inflation.…

She told them to wait! But wages have been frozen for four years in Venezuela. The monthly minimum wage is worth about 240 U.S. dollars. The government provides compensation bonuses which are slightly higher. But a family needs two and a half times that, just for food.

Four months after the U.S. military kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026, and then took over Venezuelan oil revenues by executive order, Rodríguez and her team appear to satisfy Washington. Tax breaks and royalties have been introduced to attract investors. The head legislator, Rodríguez’s brother, declared, “Venezuela is becoming quite attractive from the perspective of foreign investment opportunities.” Venezuela’s foreign minister affirmed his “willingness to move forward in a new phase of constructive dialogue” with Washington.

There is no reason why working people’s situation should remain catastrophic. Workers refuse to remain in poverty. Their demonstrations also target the U.S. embassy, which represents the new masters of capitalism in Venezuela. This could be the beginning of bigger struggles!