By Sarah Raymundo
CARACAS, Venezuela – Standing right in the center of Plaza Venezuela in Caracas, you are immediately struck by how history and living politics merge in this space. This is the Plaza de la Victoria de la Gran Guerra Patria, also known around Caracas as the Monumento al Ejército Rojo. Unveiled in May 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, the entire complex feels deeply alive rather than just a static piece of stone.
At the focal point stands a stunning bronze sculpture by Venezuelan artist Jesús Manuel Suescun, bringing Yevgeny Khaldei’s legendary 1945 Reichstag photo to three-dimensional life. You see the soldier standing tall on a stone ledge as he raises the vibrant red Soviet flag, flanked by two infantrymen holding their rifles in vigilant support. Right at the base sits a large golden five-pointed star cradling an eternal flame, resting above a raw stone dedication signed by President Nicolás Maduro Moros that honors the 27 million Soviet lives lost to defeat fascism.
Just behind the bronze figures, structural panels line the square, painted with the bold orange-and-black military stripes of the Ribbon of Saint George. Set into this backdrop are 12 commemorative columns, each capturing a pivotal Red Army battle that broke the Nazi war machine, including Kursk, Leningrad, Berlin, and Stalingrad.
What makes seeing this complex so compelling is how it builds on grassroots work already happening in Caracas. Back in February 2023, two years before this plaza opened, Venezuelan artist César Mata partnered with local activists and solidarity groups to paint the ¡La Madre Patria! street mural in La Candelaria honoring the 80th anniversary of Stalingrad.
Where Mata’s neighborhood mural gave local street art a raw, singular focal point, this 2025 monument expands that single story into a complete architectural history, embedding Soviet antifascist memory permanently into the city’s urban landscape.
Ultimately, being here hits deeper than just admiring the craftsmanship because of what it represents right now. The Bolivarian Republic and its people stand remarkably resolute in defending historical truths, refusing to fall in line with the lucrative Western propaganda campaign that has spent decades scrubbing Soviet sacrifice from the history books to sanctimoniously dogma-peddle the anti-Stalin creed.
It was a deep honor to stand alongside internationalists here in September 2024 for the historic founding of the Anti-fascist International—a watershed moment in uniting anti-imperialist forces across the globe. But that solidarity carries very real stakes. Many of the brave comrades I met during that founding and continue to build with on the ground have since been directly targeted by US bombs and classified as threats under Washington’s counterterrorism doctrine.
Through formal strategic mandates—such as the National Security Strategy (NSS) and directives like National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7)—the empire has institutionalized a global smear campaign and lawfare targeting internationalist solidarity under the framework of “Far-Left Terrorism” (FLT). These documents serve as the ideological blueprint for information war, framing genuine anti-fascist resistance as criminality to justify military aggression. President Maduro’s call to organize the global anti-fascist flank was viewed by Washington as one of Venezuela’s ultimate “sins” against empire.
It is no wonder that the primary agent of state terror in the world today launched a direct strike on Caracas on January 3, 2026, killing over 150 people and illegally kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores. Empire cannot tolerate a brave, genuine anti-fascist head of state who marches locked in step with his people, choosing instead to lock him away in a cell like a criminal while broadcasting information warfare across the globe.
Standing at this monument today, the message is clear. The vast majority of the Venezuelan masses are actively demanding immediate freedom for President Maduro and Cilia Flores. For this courageous people, that demand is a living pledge to march onward with the anti-imperialist and anti-fascist struggle, standing firm beneath the same red banner of resistance that this plaza honors. #
