JAN 4, 2026, Palestinian Media Watch | PA sees Maduro as a great leader:
- Maduro is among "great leaders who are restoring the memory of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara."
PA in 2018 after US threats against Maduro, following his first fraudulent election:
- "The new cowboy [US President Trump] blatantly threatened a sovereign state – Venezuela – and its president. He announced that his administration will attack President Nicolás Maduro and unequivocally incited the army to carry out a coup against a president who was legally elected. He also attacked socialism as if his capitalist system is in better shape..."
The Palestinian Authority has had a special and warm relationship with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, and before him with Hugo Chavez, as one of soulmates. The PA has actively and openly placed itself firmly in the camp of the notorious human rights-abusing Venezuelan dictators. Following the US raid and arrest of President Maduro and his wife, the PA has remained silent for now, fearing a US reaction to its support for Maduro.
However, the PA camaraderie with Maduro is fundamental to PA policy. A few months ago, when President Trump started to threaten Venezuela, the PA held an anti-American demonstration at the Venezuelan embassy in Ramallah in support of Maduro. Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam participated and posted her anti-American messages and pictures on her Facebook page:
Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam: "As a sign of rejecting the American threats against friendly Venezuela, I participated in the solidarity vigil that was organized by the national forces in front of the Venezuelan Embassy building of Caracas in the State of Palestine in order to affirm our people's support for the people and government of Venezuela."
[Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam, Facebook page, Sept. 18, 2025]
Mahmoud Abbas' appointee, Ahmad Assaf, who is the director of official PA TV, has a small statue of the late Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, prominently displayed in his office to show all visitors where the PA's ideology and values stand.
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 10, 2025]
The PA has prominently supported Latin American dictators for years. In 2024, Venezuela held an election, and according to opposition sources, 70% voted against Maduro. Many Western democracies declined to recognize Maduro's election. Consistent with its historic support for communist dictators, the PA welcomed Maduro's rule, and Abbas sent his special envoy to the inauguration.
"President Abbas' Advisor on International Affairs and Special Envoy MinisterRiyadAl-Malki participated in the inauguration ceremony of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, as the representative of President Mahmoud Abbas…
Al-Malki conveyed President Mahmoud Abbas' congratulations to President-elect Maduro and wishes for success in serving his country and his people… He also emphasized that the State of Palestine is showing interest in strengthening the relations with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in all areas of common interest."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 12, 2025]
In 2024, the PA sent Fatah leader Abbas Zaki to an event in Venezuela under the auspices of President Maduro. The PA leader praised the human rights-abusing communist dictators of Latin America and compared Maduro to Fidel Castro and Che Guevara:
"Thank Allah who created in Latin America – which is geographically far but closest to the Palestinians' hearts – great leaders who are restoring the memory of [former Cuban President] Fidel Castro and [former Communist leader Che] Guevara like President Maduro."
Maduro, in turn, expressed his support for the PA: "Maduro described what is happening in Palestine as the Israeli occupation committing a genocide against the Palestinian people for 75 years," i.e., since Israel's creation [Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, June 18, 2024].
In 2023, Mahmoud Abbas sent the Chairman of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, to Venezuela to deliver a personal message from Abbas to Maduro:
"Fattouh also laid a wreath of flowers on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas on the monument of historic leader Hugo Chavez."
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July 27, 2023]
The picture shows Fattouh and the wreath with the words: "President of the State of Palestine Mr. Mahmoud Abbas" written in Spanish.
[Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh, Facebook page, July 28, 2023]
The PA has long been in the political camp of communist dictators and has acted against US interests. In 2018, Western democracies also rejected Maduro's election victory and announced that they would recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader. Russia, China, Mexico, Syria, Iran, and Turkey supported Maduro while the US, EU, Canada, Israel, and some countries in Latin America backed Guaidó. Aligning with the anti-democratic regimes, the PA rallied behind Maduro.
PA Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki participated in Maduro's inauguration ceremony and brought Maduro personal congratulations from Mahmoud Abbas:
"Al-Malki congratulated President Maduro on receiving the presidency, wished him success in his service of the Venezuelan people, and conveyed to him the congratulations and wishes of [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership that always stands by Venezuela and its people, as Palestine does not forget its friends."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 12, 2019]
The PA Foreign Ministry "condemned several states" for their "interference" against him:
"The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its concern given the events taking place in Venezuela and condemned several states' interference in the state's internal affairs and direct [interference] through support for the coup attempt against legally elected President Maduro."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 25, 2019]
PLO Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani attacked the US and also accused it of "interference" in Venezuela's affairs while condemning the "coup attempt" against Maduro:
"The blatant American interference in states' affairs, as is happening in Venezuela, is a direct continuation of the policy of [US President Donald] Trump's administration, whose goal is to usurp the will of the peoples... and [condemned] the coup attempt against the legitimacy of elected President Maduro."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 25, 2018]
The PA official daily reported on demonstrations supporting Maduro:
"The Palestinian and Venezuelan peoples face the same enemy - which is the US."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 25, 2019]
An op-ed in the official PA daily ripped into US President Trump's speech at the UN about Venezuela:
"The new cowboy (i.e., US President Donald Trump) blatantly threatened a sovereign state – Venezuela – and its president. He announced that his administration will attack [Venezuelan] President Nicolás Maduro and unequivocally incited the army to carry out a coup against a president who was legally elected. He also attacked socialism as if his capitalist system is in better shape..."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 27, 2018]
Subsequently, protesters held posters with Venezuelan and Palestinian flags at a solidarity rally in Ramallah, where PA leaders also participated. One poster showed pictures of Donald Trump with an "X" across his face and the words: "American Imperialism, Enemy of the Nations..
The rally participants chanted: "America is the head of the snake, blessings from Ramallah to proud Caracas."
[Official Fatah Facebook page,May 21, 2019]
As a sign of the friendship, the Palestinian embassy in Venezuela erected a statue of "President Martyr Yasser Arafat in Liberator Simon Bolivar Monument Square." PA Ambassador Linda Sobeh "again emphasized Palestine's support for Venezuela in light of the situation that it is going through (i.e., violent clashes between regime and opposition forces following Maduro's fraudulent election)" [official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 17, 2019].
As a further sign of camaraderie, the PA named a hospital after the dictator, which was called "the Palestinian-Venezuelan Hugo Chavez Eye Disease Hospital… according to the instructions of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, and [which] constitutes a source of Palestinian national pride [official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 1, 2018].
Support for Maduro is shared across the spectrum of Palestinian factions. For example, Laila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who hijacked a plane in 1969 and again in 1970, personally addressed Maduro at the International Conference on Solidarity with Palestine in Venezuela in 2024 and exclaimed:
"We would not have been here if there were no freedom and dignity on this Venezuelan soil, where there is a heroic people who deserve a great leader. Therefore, I say to President Maduro: my comrade, my president, our president, we are very proud of you."
With the Palestinian Authority desperate for US aid and support as it seeks to have a position of power in some future Gaza entity, the PA can be expected to hide these opinions and its support for anti-American and communist regimes around the world. Therefore, it would be wise policy for the US to understand the true ideology and partnerships the PA has developed, and to draw conclusions about what they reveal regarding the PA's values, before accepting it as a legitimate entity or considering it for any role in Gaza.