Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

this year's coup
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
14 Mar 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Venezuela's fantasy president, Juan Guiado with co-sponsors President Marquez of Colombia and US vice president Mike Pence
Venezuela's fantasy president Juan Guiado

Who knew him
five days ago?
Today, he’s Play Dough—
President—
in handlers oily hands…
Brazen 1% switcheroo,
another king nobody knew—
rosy World Bank worldview
Championing the well-to-do…

Who knew they’d install him?
Or, just what they’d call him?
Maybe he’d be called “the law?”
Maybe he’d be crowned “Shah?”
Or—just for a sense of déjà vu—
Maybe “Mobutu” might do…
for a name in this year’s coup?

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Venezuela
poetry

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Mark P. Fancher
    Is It Bad News That U.S. Drones Will Be Pulled Out of Africa?
    30 Sep 2026
    The U.S. relocation of MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to Latin America is not a drawdown of imperial aggression but a strategic reallocation, with the drones likely to be used against Cuba, Venezuela…
  • Denise Powell
    A Southern Reckoning with the Medical Myth of Race as a Diagnostic Tool
    30 Sep 2026
    Race is a sociopolitical construct, not a biological truth. The real determinants of health are structural factors such as zip code, environmental pollution, and access to resources.
  • Abel Prieto
    Venezuela: It Is What You See
    30 Sep 2026
    A photograph of Delcy Rodríguez smiling with Donald Trump after the U.S. kidnapped Nicolás Maduro is evidence of subordination to the United States. These images cannot be reconciled with the dignity…
  • Pambazuka News Editors
    Türkiye, UAE, and the Imperialist Chain: African Ports and War
    30 Sep 2026
    Imperialist competition and wars that facilitate extractivism have long shaped the use of seaports for access to resources, markets, and devalued labor. In the last decade, countries in the chain of…
  • The Cradle News Desk
    US military withdraws from Iraq after two decades: Report
    30 Sep 2026
    Iraqi Kurdish leaders say the US withdrawal will leave their region, long a CIA and Mossad hub, vulnerable to Iranian attacks.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us