In 2018, at the height of the economic crisis in Venezuela through crippling sanctions, Kellogg’s announced the overnight closure of their Maracay factory with hundreds of redundancies – and massive knock-on effects in the local community.

The workers refused to accept the closure and, with government assistance, restarted the factory. It is still running eight years l...

It was not my intention to run for election to the Scottish parliament from a hospital bed in Caracas, but sometimes we have to take what life gives us.

I went to a clinic a week ago feeling dizzy and was immediately rushed to hospital. My heart rate was fluttering and below 20 bpm. I have since had an emergency procedure to fit a pacemaker.

Long-term fo...

In international law, Tehran has every right to close the strait of Hormuz to nations with which it is in armed conflict. Two vital points:

1) States who permit attacks on Iran to be launched from their territory can be blocked

2) Iran can block neutral ships from trading with states with which it is in conflict.

Plainly UK ships can be blocked under 1). ...

As I was leaving the University of the Communes in Tayacito, after a joyful and uplifting visit, an earnest young Professor came up to me and pulled me aside. Very quietly, he asked me what was going to happen. A number of the students were terrified there would be regime change and they, picked as young socialist leaders in the commune movement, would be imprisoned, tortured...

The extreme nature of sanctions against Venezuela made it very challenging to keep economic activity going. One example is Caracas’ impressive five line Metro system, where for almost twenty years they had to keep things running with no spares or maintenance support from the train manufacturers.

Yet resilience and ingenuity kicked in, and Venezuela actually reverse eng...