The World Antifascist Festival in Caracas, the capital city of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a recent initiative aimed at promoting global unity against fascism and extremism

Venezuelan President Maduro announces Great Antifascist Festival on January 8, 9 and 10, 2025 in Caracas.

By Ashraf Aboul-Yazid

The President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, announced that the Great World Antifascist Festival will be held from January 8 to 10, 2025 in Caracas. During his speech at the closing of the World Congress of Antifascist Youth and Students, he stated that during this Festival the new president-elect of Venezuela, the president of the people, will be sworn in.

The World Antifascist Festival in Caracas, the capital city of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a recent initiative aimed at promoting global unity against fascism and extremism. It builds on Venezuela’s role as a hub for antifascist efforts, which have included events like the World Congress of Anti-Fascist Youth and Students held in November 2024. These gatherings bring together delegates from around the world to develop action plans and strategies for combating fascism globally.

President Nicolás Maduro has been involved in various cultural events and festivals in Venezuela, both as a participant and as a supporter of national cultural initiatives.

When I visited Caracas in 2023 to participate in its World Poetry Festival, the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro received the icons of the World Poetry Movement (WPM), headed by the General Coordinator of the Movement, the Colombian poet Fernando Réndon. The Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro praised his country for hosting the 17th World Poetry Festival and the 1st World Congress of World Poetry Movement (WPM), with the participation of 70 international poets and 200 national poets. The festival, which concluded on July 23, 2023, was held between the capital, Caracas, and 12 other Venezuelan states, to which poets and poetesses toured for spectators to participate in concerts, poetry readings, discussion tables and literary workshops.

The cultural events associated with President Nicolás Maduro, particularly the Viva Venezuela World Festival, have showcased a vibrant array of traditions, music, and artistic expressions, affirming Venezuela’s cultural diversity and heritage. Key highlights from these events include:

Opening Ceremony at Simón Bolívar Monumental Stadium (May 10, 2024): The inauguration featured over 2,850 performers and a crowd of 40,000 attendees. It included drone-based light shows symbolizing traditional instruments like the harp and cuatro. President Maduro emphasized the event’s role in countering cultural influences of Western capitalism and celebrating Afro-Venezuelan traditions​

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​The other cultural events associated with President Nicolás Maduro, included cultural displays and workshops; spanning various states, including Caracas, Miranda, and La Guaira, the festival hosted over 7,500 artists, with participation from 600 Venezuelan and 24 international cultural groups. Events included crafting demonstrations of traditional instruments and performances from Afro-descendant communities​

Other Cultural Initiatives

Maduro frequently emphasizes using culture as a “vaccine” against the influence of Western capitalism. The government supports the preservation and promotion of traditions like the Corpus Christi Dancing Devils, Venezuelan folk music, and regional festivals​. These efforts underline his administration’s focus on cultural sovereignty and resistance to cultural globalization.

During the most recent youth congress, over 1,000 participants from 72 countries met to discuss issues such as sovereignty, peace, and the rise of far-right extremism. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro used the event to highlight the need for international solidarity in this struggle, proposing the Grand World Anti-Fascist Festival, scheduled for January 2025, as a follow-up event to foster global cooperation.

Poets Pedro Ruiz (Venezuela), Hanan Awwad (Palestine) and, Fernando Rendon (Columbia) welcomed by President Nicolás Maduro

The broader antifascist initiative includes the formation of international committees and coordinated efforts to address the resurgence of authoritarian ideologies, emphasizing peace, justice, and equality​. It is worth mentioning that delegates from 71 countries are present for the founding of the Great Antifascist Youth Movement. At the same time, he spoke about the genocide against the people of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Russia, as well as the barbarism that the United States intends to normalize.

The head of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, approved proposals generated at the World Congress of Antifascist Youth and Students, in which he called for the Great World Antifascist Festival, from January 8 to 10, 2025, on the occasion of his swearing-in and taking office at the Federal Legislative Palace, as president-elect for the period 2025-2031.

“I agree with the proposals that have been brought, I support the idea of ​​calling for the Great World Antifascist Festival in Venezuela on January 8, 9 and 10 and that thousands and thousands of leaders, women leaders, young people, workers, peasants, from all over the world come,” he said.

In addition to accompanying the people of Venezuela, before the Constitution on January 10, “then we will make an oath of the peoples of the world, with the homeland of Bolívar, an oath of the peoples of the world with the future, with peace; because on that day, January 10, the anti-fascist, Christian, anti-imperialist and socialist president, Nicolás Maduro Moros, will be sworn in, president, people, president, homeland, together with you,” the Head of State stressed.

President Maduro also highlighted the formation of brigades in all fields across the country to boost production at the La Vergareña hacienda, located in the state of Bolívar, supported by the “Gran Patria del Sur” project. Dec 10, 2024

Anti-Fascist Training School

Other proposals approved by the national leader were also to create an anti-fascist training school, based in the city of Caracas, in addition to:

-Promote the active and direct participation of young people to lead political processes, parties, movements and organizations that defend democratic and anti-fascist values.

-Defend the environment and fight for the salvation of the human species and integrate the environmental struggle into our anti-fascist agendas.

-Promote the protection and work of the land, through healthy production, diversifying our economies, thus forming part of strengthening the sovereignty of the peoples, in turn defending the rights of workers and young people of the world.

-Communicate the struggles of anti-fascist youth and students, with an anti-imperialist and humanist vision, in rejection of the cognitive war exercised by the monopoly of communication and information companies.

-Denounce the platforms that lend their network to the promotion of hate speech where they commit to the construction of narratives that challenge status.

-Spread messages of hope, excellence, unity, through streets, networks and walls in the world.

-Create a research center for fascist, neo-fascist and similar expressions dedicated to the study of critical and social issues, developing lines of research and projects on fascism.

-Deepen cultural roots, decolonization of thought, encourage the creation and dissemination of artistic expressions that reflect anti-fascist values ​​in film, music, literature and visual arts, promoting cultural diversity and inclusion

-Organize cultural events such as festivals and exhibitions that celebrate youth resistance and creativity.

“We will see each other there in the streets and avenues of all the cities and towns of Venezuela, the fight is fighting and we are going to achieve great victories (…) The summit will be a complete success, I see it in your faces, boys and girls,” he said.

During the event, he also held a symbolic swearing-in ceremony, creating what he called the “United People’s Liberation Army of the 21st Century,” with the objective of consolidating efforts to face any perceived threat from imperialism and oligarchy.