2014-05-01 from "Labor Fight Back!" [http://laborfightback.org], for additional commentary on the key issues facing the labor movement—and to share your own comments—please visit the Labor Fightback Blog [http://laborfightback.wordpress.com/].
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The U.S. government’s funding of right-wing, anti-labor forces in Venezuela is consistent with its long history of intervening in the affairs of Latin American and Caribbean countries. On the one hand, Washington’s aim is to bolster and fortify dependent regimes that support and protect multi-national corporations that inhumanly exploit workers in country after country. On the other hand, U.S. policy is to overtly and covertly spur the building of right-wing opposition groups to overthrow independent governments that seek to alleviate poverty conditions and legislate reforms and basic rights that promote the interest of the great majority of people.
Here is just a small number of examples of many interventions that have made for a very sordid record:
* U.S. imposed an embargo of Cuba in 1960, which it has enforced against the Cuban people ever since. In 1961 the U.S. government launched the Bay of Pigs military invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the Cuban government.
* U.S. financed and backed coup against elected Guatemala’s President Jacobo Arbenz on June 18–27, 1954, opening a period of bloody dictatorship.
* U.S. financed and backed coup against Brazil’s elected President João Goulart on April 1, 1964, opening a period of bloody dictatorship. (New documents on this 50th anniversary published in Brazil this past month reveal a more direct U.S. involvement than was previously thought.)
* U.S. financed and backed coup against Chile’s elected President Salvador Allende on Sept. 11, 1973, opening a period of bloody dictatorship under Pinochet, which included the arrest of 130,000, the torture of 29,000 and the killing of additional thousands.
* U.S. financed and backed coup against Argentina’s elected President Isabel Perón on March 24, 1976, opening a period of bloody dictatorship.
* U.S. financed and backed coup against Venezuela’s elected President Hugo Chávez on April 11, 2002—but this was a failed coup, as millions took to the streets to foil the coup-makers (who had already arrested Chávez) and reinstated Chávez.
* U.S. financed and backed coup against Haiti‘s elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 28, 2004, opening a period of chaos and occupation by MINUSTAH troops.
* U.S. financed and backed coup against Honduras’s elected President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009—under Obama’s watch, attacking and reversing gains on land reform and other issues that had been made under Zelaya.
It is no wonder that Venezuela is in the cross hairs at this time. Below is a sample resolution we urge unions and community groups to adopt as a demonstration of solidarity.
Revised Sample Resolution:
No U.S. Intervention in Venezuela!
Whereas, the U.S. government, via the federal budget, has been funding political parties in Venezuela opposed to the Bolivarian government of Hugo Chávez and now of Nicolás Maduro to the tune of $90 million since 2000—with $5 million alone in the 2014 budget. (Source: The Guardian of London, February 18); and
Whereas, this millions of dollars in funding is being paid for by U.S. taxpayers and should instead be redirected to pay for jobs, infrastructure, education, unemployment compensation, food stamps and other urgently needed social programs at home; and
Whereas, this funding is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg, as numerous credible sources report hundreds of millions of dollars of covert support to the opposition forces in Venezuela over the past 15 years, including funding for the U.S.-backed coup attempt against Chávez on April 11, 2002; and
Whereas, on March 27, 2014, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson made the most threatening declaration to date by a top Obama administration official, stating that as far as Washington is concerned “all options—including imposing economic sanctions on Venezuela—are on the table if the Venezuelan government fails to make democratic room for the opposition”; and
Whereas, on February 16, 2014 the Mercosur governments (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela) released a statement on “the recent violent acts” in Venezuela and derided the “attempts [by the opposition] to destabilize the democratic order.” The governments stated “their firm commitment to the full observance of democratic institutions and, in this context, reject[ed] the criminal actions of violent groups that want to spread intolerance and hatred in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as a political tool”; and
Whereas, workers in Venezuela have made important gains under the Bolivarian regime initiated by Hugo Chávez—gains that are unacceptable to international finance capital—including national health care and Social Security for all, decent guaranteed pensions for all, strict labor laws to protect workers, and State control/ownership over the nation’s resources such as petroleum, iron, aluminum, electricity, and more; and
Whereas, the recent spread of vandalism and chaos by the opposition forces is aimed at destabilizing the government in an attempt to force Venezuela to turn back the clock and undo all the gains made by the workers and people of Venezuela through their struggles; and
Whereas, the Obama administration has never formally recognized the government of Nicolás Maduro, who was elected to office in April 2013 in elections considered legitimate and clean by all foreign observers and all governments the world over, with the exception of the United States; and
Whereas, working people in the United States have no interest in backing Washington‘s intervention and threats against the democratically elected government of Venezuela.
Therefore, be it resolved that the [name of labor or community organization] calls on the Obama administration to end all forms of overt and covert operations in Venezuela aimed at subverting the sovereignty of Venezuela, and therefore to end all U.S. funding of opposition political parties in Venezuela. The Venezuelan people should be left alone to determine their own destiny without any outside intervention, especially from Washington; and
Therefore, be it resolved that the [name of labor or community organization] calls on the Obama administration to formally recognize the legitimately elected government of Nicolás Maduro; and
Therefore, be it finally resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to other labor and community organizations, as well as to President Barack Obama and designated members of Congress, as may be determined locally.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Petition: Say NO! to US Intervention in Venezuela
posted 2014-04-08 to [www.iacenter.org/venezuela/no-us-intervention-in-venezuela-04-04-14/]:
SOLIDARITY WITH THE VENEZUELAN BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION!
STAND WITH PRESIDENT NICOLÁS MADURO & THE PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA!
NO TO U.S. INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA!
Please tell Obama, Kerry, Congress and the Media:
HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!
Sign the Petition Online: [www.iacenter.org/no-intervention-in-venezuela]
TO: President Obama, Secretary Kerry, Members of Congress, and Members of the Media:
Given:
1. That since Feb. 12 a reactionary revolt led by pro-fascist elements in relatively few of the 335 municipalities of Venezuela has brought about the death of 37 people as of March 28 by the equivalent of terrorist acts, including the use of snipers and paramilitary forces infiltrated from Colombia, and of vandalism, destroying public facilities like health-care centers, government buildings, subway stations, universities.
2. That these fascist groups have received political and material support from the U.S. government, the CIA and other entities like NGOs used by Washington to subvert progressive governments.
3. That U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and both Republican and Democratic senators and representatives have not only attacked the legitimatly elected government of President Nicolas Maduro but have also distorted reality by repeatedly insisting that the Bolivarian government is responsible for the deaths, caused by alleged but non-existent “government repression.”
4. That the corporate media have repeated these lies from U.S. government figures and have in general followed the “Big Lie” formula made infamous by Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels who said: “Repeat it enough and people will believe it.”
I demand:
1. That the U.S. government and all its public, secret, official and unofficial agencies immediately cease all forms of intervention in Venezuela, including ceasing of all material and political aid to right-wing organizations within the country.
2. That the big corporate media immediately stop their blatant lies about the Bolivarian government of Venezuela, admit their role in spreading these lies, and instead publish and broadcast the explanations of the events given by the Venezuelan government.
SOLIDARITY WITH THE VENEZUELAN BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION!
STAND WITH PRESIDENT NICOLÁS MADURO & THE PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA!
NO TO U.S. INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA!
Please tell Obama, Kerry, Congress and the Media:
HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!
Sign the Petition Online: [www.iacenter.org/no-intervention-in-venezuela]
TO: President Obama, Secretary Kerry, Members of Congress, and Members of the Media:
Given:
1. That since Feb. 12 a reactionary revolt led by pro-fascist elements in relatively few of the 335 municipalities of Venezuela has brought about the death of 37 people as of March 28 by the equivalent of terrorist acts, including the use of snipers and paramilitary forces infiltrated from Colombia, and of vandalism, destroying public facilities like health-care centers, government buildings, subway stations, universities.
2. That these fascist groups have received political and material support from the U.S. government, the CIA and other entities like NGOs used by Washington to subvert progressive governments.
3. That U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and both Republican and Democratic senators and representatives have not only attacked the legitimatly elected government of President Nicolas Maduro but have also distorted reality by repeatedly insisting that the Bolivarian government is responsible for the deaths, caused by alleged but non-existent “government repression.”
4. That the corporate media have repeated these lies from U.S. government figures and have in general followed the “Big Lie” formula made infamous by Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels who said: “Repeat it enough and people will believe it.”
I demand:
1. That the U.S. government and all its public, secret, official and unofficial agencies immediately cease all forms of intervention in Venezuela, including ceasing of all material and political aid to right-wing organizations within the country.
2. That the big corporate media immediately stop their blatant lies about the Bolivarian government of Venezuela, admit their role in spreading these lies, and instead publish and broadcast the explanations of the events given by the Venezuelan government.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Pres. Maduro: Correcting USA faslehoods on the crisis in Venezuela
"Venezuela: A Call for Peace"
by Nicolas Maduro, posted 2014-04-01 at the "New York Times" [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/opinion/venezuela-a-call-for-peace.html]:
CARACAS, Venezuela — THE recent protests in Venezuela have made international headlines. Much of the foreign media coverage has distorted the reality of my country and the facts surrounding the events.
Venezuelans are proud of our democracy. We have built a participatory democratic movement from the grass roots that has ensured that both power and resources are equitably distributed among our people.
According to the United Nations, Venezuela has consistently reduced inequality [http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/06/business/venezuela-chavez-oil-economy/]: It now has the lowest income inequality in the region. We have reduced poverty enormously — to 25.4 percent in 2012, on the World Bank’s data, from 49 percent in 1998 [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-leads-region-in-poverty-reduction-in-2012-eclac-says]; in the same period, according to government statistics, extreme poverty diminished to 6 percent from 21 percent [http://www.ine.gov.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=104&Itemid=45].
We have created flagship universal health care and education programs, free to our citizens nationwide. We have achieved these feats in large part by using revenue from Venezuelan oil.
While our social policies have improved citizens’ lives over all, the government has also confronted serious economic challenges in the past 16 months, including inflation and shortages of basic goods. We continue to find solutions through measures like our new market-based foreign exchange system, which is designed to reduce the black market exchange rate [http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/24/venezuela-currency-idUSL1N0ML0QB20140324]. And we are monitoring businesses to ensure they are not gouging consumers or hoarding products. Venezuela has also struggled with a high crime rate. We are addressing this by building a new national police force, strengthening community-police cooperation and revamping our prison system [http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/could-it-be-that-the-venezuela-murder-rate-did-peak-in-2008].
Since 1998, the movement founded by Hugo Chávez has won more than a dozen presidential, parliamentary and local elections through an electoral process that former American President Jimmy Carter has called “the best in the world” [http://www.globalresearch.ca/former-us-president-carter-venezuelan-electoral-system-best-in-the-world/5305779]. Recently, the United Socialist Party received an overwhelming mandate in mayoral elections in December 2013, winning 255 out of 337 municipalities.
Popular participation in politics in Venezuela has increased dramatically over the past decade. As a former union organizer, I believe profoundly in the right to association and in the civic duty to ensure that justice prevails by voicing legitimate concerns through peaceful assembly and protest.
The claims that Venezuela has a deficient democracy and that current protests represent mainstream sentiment are belied by the facts. The antigovernment protests are being carried out by people in the wealthier segments of society who seek to reverse the gains of the democratic process that have benefited the vast majority of the people [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/world/americas/slum-dwellers-in-caracas-ask-what-protests.html?_r=0].
Antigovernment protesters have physically attacked and damaged health care clinics, burned down a university in Táchira State and thrown Molotov cocktails and rocks at buses. They have also targeted other public institutions by throwing rocks and torches at the offices of the Supreme Court, the public telephone company CANTV and the attorney general’s office. These violent actions have caused many millions of dollars’ worth of damage. This is why the protests have received no support in poor and working-class neighborhoods [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/americas/crude-weapons-help-fuel-unrest-in-bastion-of-venezuelan-opposition.html?_r=1].
The protesters have a single goal: the unconstitutional ouster of the democratically elected government. Antigovernment leaders made this clear when they started the campaign in January, vowing to create chaos in the streets. Those with legitimate criticisms of economic conditions or the crime rate are being exploited by protest leaders with a violent, antidemocratic agenda.
In two months, a reported 36 people have been killed. The protesters are, we believe, directly responsible for about half of the fatalities. Six members of the National Guard have been shot and killed; other citizens have been murdered while attempting to remove obstacles placed by protesters to block transit [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/should-the-media-report-on-who-is-killing-whom-in-venezuela-when-death-tolls-are-reported].
A very small number of security forces personnel have also been accused of engaging in violence, as a result of which several people have died. These are highly regrettable events, and the Venezuelan government has responded by arresting those suspected. We have created a Human Rights Council to investigate all incidents related to these protests. Each victim deserves justice, and every perpetrator — whether a supporter or an opponent of the government — will be held accountable for his or her actions.
In the United States, the protesters have been described as “peaceful,” while the Venezuelan government is said to be violently repressing them. According to this narrative, the American government is siding with the people of Venezuela; in reality, it is on the side of the 1 percent who wish to drag our country back to when the 99 percent were shut out of political life and only the few — including American companies — benefited from Venezuela’s oil.
Let’s not forget that some of those who supported ousting Venezuela’s democratically elected government in 2002 are leading the protests today [http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10365]. Those involved in the 2002 coup immediately disbanded the Supreme Court and the legislature, and scrapped the Constitution. Those who incite violence and attempt similar unconstitutional actions today must face the justice system.
The American government supported the 2002 coup [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/oliver-stone/obama-administration-face_b_5029161.html] and recognized the coup government despite its anti-democratic behavior [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzSnH4_p0PY]. Today, the Obama administration spends at least $5 million annually to support opposition movements in Venezuela [http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/208290.pdf]. A bill calling for an additional $15 million for these anti-government organizations is now in Congress [http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/03/14/sen-marco-rubio-robert-menendez-introduce-bill-to-support-anti-government/]. Congress is also deciding whether to impose sanctions on Venezuela. I hope that the American people, knowing the truth, will decide that Venezuela and its people do not deserve such punishment, and will call upon their representatives not to enact sanctions.
Now is a time for dialogue and diplomacy. Within Venezuela, we have extended a hand to the opposition. And we have accepted the Union of South American Nations’ recommendations to engage in mediated talks with the opposition. My government has also reached out to President Obama, expressing our desire to again exchange ambassadors. We hope his administration will respond in kind.
Venezuela needs peace and dialogue to move forward. We welcome anyone who sincerely wants to help us reach these goals.
Nicolás Maduro is the president of Venezuela.
by Nicolas Maduro, posted 2014-04-01 at the "New York Times" [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/opinion/venezuela-a-call-for-peace.html]:
CARACAS, Venezuela — THE recent protests in Venezuela have made international headlines. Much of the foreign media coverage has distorted the reality of my country and the facts surrounding the events.
Venezuelans are proud of our democracy. We have built a participatory democratic movement from the grass roots that has ensured that both power and resources are equitably distributed among our people.
According to the United Nations, Venezuela has consistently reduced inequality [http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/06/business/venezuela-chavez-oil-economy/]: It now has the lowest income inequality in the region. We have reduced poverty enormously — to 25.4 percent in 2012, on the World Bank’s data, from 49 percent in 1998 [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-leads-region-in-poverty-reduction-in-2012-eclac-says]; in the same period, according to government statistics, extreme poverty diminished to 6 percent from 21 percent [http://www.ine.gov.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=104&Itemid=45].
We have created flagship universal health care and education programs, free to our citizens nationwide. We have achieved these feats in large part by using revenue from Venezuelan oil.
While our social policies have improved citizens’ lives over all, the government has also confronted serious economic challenges in the past 16 months, including inflation and shortages of basic goods. We continue to find solutions through measures like our new market-based foreign exchange system, which is designed to reduce the black market exchange rate [http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/24/venezuela-currency-idUSL1N0ML0QB20140324]. And we are monitoring businesses to ensure they are not gouging consumers or hoarding products. Venezuela has also struggled with a high crime rate. We are addressing this by building a new national police force, strengthening community-police cooperation and revamping our prison system [http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/could-it-be-that-the-venezuela-murder-rate-did-peak-in-2008].
Since 1998, the movement founded by Hugo Chávez has won more than a dozen presidential, parliamentary and local elections through an electoral process that former American President Jimmy Carter has called “the best in the world” [http://www.globalresearch.ca/former-us-president-carter-venezuelan-electoral-system-best-in-the-world/5305779]. Recently, the United Socialist Party received an overwhelming mandate in mayoral elections in December 2013, winning 255 out of 337 municipalities.
Popular participation in politics in Venezuela has increased dramatically over the past decade. As a former union organizer, I believe profoundly in the right to association and in the civic duty to ensure that justice prevails by voicing legitimate concerns through peaceful assembly and protest.
The claims that Venezuela has a deficient democracy and that current protests represent mainstream sentiment are belied by the facts. The antigovernment protests are being carried out by people in the wealthier segments of society who seek to reverse the gains of the democratic process that have benefited the vast majority of the people [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/world/americas/slum-dwellers-in-caracas-ask-what-protests.html?_r=0].
Antigovernment protesters have physically attacked and damaged health care clinics, burned down a university in Táchira State and thrown Molotov cocktails and rocks at buses. They have also targeted other public institutions by throwing rocks and torches at the offices of the Supreme Court, the public telephone company CANTV and the attorney general’s office. These violent actions have caused many millions of dollars’ worth of damage. This is why the protests have received no support in poor and working-class neighborhoods [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/americas/crude-weapons-help-fuel-unrest-in-bastion-of-venezuelan-opposition.html?_r=1].
The protesters have a single goal: the unconstitutional ouster of the democratically elected government. Antigovernment leaders made this clear when they started the campaign in January, vowing to create chaos in the streets. Those with legitimate criticisms of economic conditions or the crime rate are being exploited by protest leaders with a violent, antidemocratic agenda.
In two months, a reported 36 people have been killed. The protesters are, we believe, directly responsible for about half of the fatalities. Six members of the National Guard have been shot and killed; other citizens have been murdered while attempting to remove obstacles placed by protesters to block transit [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/should-the-media-report-on-who-is-killing-whom-in-venezuela-when-death-tolls-are-reported].
A very small number of security forces personnel have also been accused of engaging in violence, as a result of which several people have died. These are highly regrettable events, and the Venezuelan government has responded by arresting those suspected. We have created a Human Rights Council to investigate all incidents related to these protests. Each victim deserves justice, and every perpetrator — whether a supporter or an opponent of the government — will be held accountable for his or her actions.
In the United States, the protesters have been described as “peaceful,” while the Venezuelan government is said to be violently repressing them. According to this narrative, the American government is siding with the people of Venezuela; in reality, it is on the side of the 1 percent who wish to drag our country back to when the 99 percent were shut out of political life and only the few — including American companies — benefited from Venezuela’s oil.
Let’s not forget that some of those who supported ousting Venezuela’s democratically elected government in 2002 are leading the protests today [http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10365]. Those involved in the 2002 coup immediately disbanded the Supreme Court and the legislature, and scrapped the Constitution. Those who incite violence and attempt similar unconstitutional actions today must face the justice system.
The American government supported the 2002 coup [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/oliver-stone/obama-administration-face_b_5029161.html] and recognized the coup government despite its anti-democratic behavior [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzSnH4_p0PY]. Today, the Obama administration spends at least $5 million annually to support opposition movements in Venezuela [http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/208290.pdf]. A bill calling for an additional $15 million for these anti-government organizations is now in Congress [http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/03/14/sen-marco-rubio-robert-menendez-introduce-bill-to-support-anti-government/]. Congress is also deciding whether to impose sanctions on Venezuela. I hope that the American people, knowing the truth, will decide that Venezuela and its people do not deserve such punishment, and will call upon their representatives not to enact sanctions.
Now is a time for dialogue and diplomacy. Within Venezuela, we have extended a hand to the opposition. And we have accepted the Union of South American Nations’ recommendations to engage in mediated talks with the opposition. My government has also reached out to President Obama, expressing our desire to again exchange ambassadors. We hope his administration will respond in kind.
Venezuela needs peace and dialogue to move forward. We welcome anyone who sincerely wants to help us reach these goals.
Nicolás Maduro is the president of Venezuela.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Washington Threatens Sanctions, Coup “Option” Looms Larger
U.S. HANDS OFF VENEZUELA! Statement from Socialist Organizer, 2014-03-30 [http://socialistorganizer.org/u-s-hands-off-venezuela-statement-from-socialist-organizer]:
Washington is up to its dirty tricks again in Venezuela.
It began February 18, 2014, in Toluca, Mexico, at a Trinational North American Leaders Summit focused on promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a “free trade” pact that would seriously hurt working people in all countries concerned. At that gathering, President Obama stated cynically that, “instead of trying to distract attention from their own failures by making false accusations against U.S. diplomats, the Venezuelan government should focus on addressing the legitimate grievances of its own people.”
Obama’s statement followed the expulsion of three U.S. embassy officials from Caracas and was immediately understood across the continent for what it was — support for “regime change” in Venezuela. Obama’s formulations were almost identical to ones used by the central leaders of the opposition in Venezuela who had decided — with U.S. funding and political backing — to take to the streets and commit acts of violence and vandalism aimed at destabilizing the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
U.S. government funding for the opposition in Venezuela is, in fact, public knowledge. According to Mark Weisbrot (The Guardian, February 18), “There’s been $90 million in the U.S. federal budget since 2000 for funding opposition activities inside Venezuela, with $5 million alone in the 2014 budget. And this is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg, adding to the hundreds of millions of dollars of covert support over the past 15 years.”
Washington’s railings against Venezuela became much harsher one month later. On March 27, speaking at a press conference for the Latin American media, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson made the most threatening declaration to date by a top administration official, stating that as far as Washington is concerned “all options are on the table if the Venezuelan government fails to make democratic room for the opposition.”
Jacobson stated that the Obama administration is strongly considering imposing sanctions against Venezuela “if there is no dialogue in Venezuela, if there is no democratic room for the opposition.” (El Universal, Mexico, March 28)
This argument is totally bogus; it is but a thinly veiled cover for stepped-up intervention in the internal affairs of the Venezuelan people, a further violation of their right to self-determination.
On February 16, the Mercosur governments (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela) released a statement on “the recent violent acts” in Venezuela and derided the “attempts [by the opposition] to destabilize the democratic order.” The governments stated “their firm commitment to the full observance of democratic institutions and, in this context, reject[ed] the criminal actions of violent groups that want to spread intolerance and hatred in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as a political tool.”
On February 28, President Maduro convened a National Peace Conference in an attempt to defuse the highly charged political situation, but the gathering was boycotted by the U.S.-funded Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). These forces have acknowledged publicly that they are incapable of winning elections in the framework of the Venezuelan Constitution, so they must resort to other, extra-legal means — that is, provoking chaos through street violence and blockades (in which 36 people have already been killed) — to achieve their objectives.
Even the Organization of American States (OAS), which is dominated by the United States and has traditionally backed all U.S.-funded coup d’etats and assassination attempts of foreign leaders, rejected a proposal on March 7 by the U.S. representative to assemble a “Commission of Inquiry” to investigate the “failure by the [Maduro] government to create a democratic space for the opposition in Venezuela.” The United States had only two supporters for its motion: Canada and Panama.
And on March 24 a Commission of UNASUR (Union of Nations of South America), in which the U.S. has no seat, arrived in Venezuela to facilitate a “dialogue” between the government and the opposition. The delegation met with the coalition of opposition parties.
Never mind that Washington is more and more isolated in the Americas over its policy in Venezuela. The Obama administration — which has never even officially recognized the April 2013 election of President Nicolás Maduro — is readying to charge ahead with sanctions, if not more.
On March 13, U.S. General John Kelly, the highest authority of the Southern Command of the U.S. Armed Forces testified before the War Affairs Committee of the Senate in Washington about the crisis in Venezuela.
Kelly gave a detailed account of how the Venezuelan army and police have reacted to the two-month violence provoked by the right-wing opposition. He then went on to suggest that “probably there are pressures, arguments and disagreements within the armed forces of Venezuela on the state of the country.”
Much of the Latin American press took note at the time of the fact that it was a general in the U.S. Marine Corps, not a civilian specialist or a diplomat, who was brought in to testify before the Senate committee. Many in the media went on to warn that this scenario was ominously reminiscent of the period leading up to the April 2002 (failed) coup — organized and financed by the U.S. government — against then-President Hugo Chávez.
And sure enough, on March 25 President Nicolás Maduro announced that three Venezuelan Air Force generals had been arrested on charges of plotting a military coup. Maduro stated that the generals had been the subjects of an investigation after junior Air Force officers who had been asked to join in the conspiracy alerted the government.
The Spanish daily El País, which openly supported the coup against Chávez on April 11, 2002, wrote the following in an editorial dated March 28: “The feeling of instability felt across the country is so great that no one can discard an action of this type [referring to a coup d'etat].”
Working people in the United States have no interest in backing Washington’s intervention and threats against the democratically elected government of Venezuela.
Workers in Venezuela have made important gains in the unfolding revolutionary process — gains that are unacceptable to the banksters in Wall Street and their hired hands in Washington. A recent Manifesto Against the Pro-Imperialist Coup Plot issued by two dozen unions in the Venezuelan region of Maracaibo summarizes these gains as follows: national health care and Social Security for all, decent guaranteed pensions for all, strict labor laws to protect workers, and, most important, State control/ownership over the nation’s resources such as petroleum, iron, aluminum, electricity, and more.
This is what’s involved: It’s an attempt by the corporate elite in this country and their lackeys in Venezuela to turn back the clock and undo all the gains made by the workers and people of Venezuela through bitter struggles, which includes their valiant defeat of a previous U.S.-funded attempted coup against Hugo Chávez.
The Manifesto of the trade unions in Maracaibo underscores the fact that a central reason for the economic crisis in Venezuela’s — aside from the disruption and sabotage by sectors of the Venezuelan ruling class — is the country’s continued subordination to international finance capital. Because Venezuela is still paying back the foreign debt to the international bankers, there are few remaining dollars in the state coffers to import needed goods or to repay national companies.
The unions signing the Manifesto “call upon compañero Nicolás Maduro to go beyond the expulsion of U.S. ambassadors and functionaries involved in these provocations [and] break with imperialism by not repaying the foreign debt in order to address a platform of demands that express the nation’s defense. The income from the nation’s oil production belongs to the people, not the capitalists.”
This task, of course, is the task of the Venezuelan workers and people themselves.
For our part, the best help that we who live in the belly of the beast can offer the embattled workers and people of Venezuela is to stay the hand of our own imperialist government. This is why we here in the United States must raise our voices loud and clear — in whatever manner is most appropriate, including mass protests in the streets — to demand:
- U.S. Hands Off Venezuela!
- Obama: Recognize the Democratically Elected Government of Nicolás Maduro!
Washington is up to its dirty tricks again in Venezuela.
It began February 18, 2014, in Toluca, Mexico, at a Trinational North American Leaders Summit focused on promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a “free trade” pact that would seriously hurt working people in all countries concerned. At that gathering, President Obama stated cynically that, “instead of trying to distract attention from their own failures by making false accusations against U.S. diplomats, the Venezuelan government should focus on addressing the legitimate grievances of its own people.”
Obama’s statement followed the expulsion of three U.S. embassy officials from Caracas and was immediately understood across the continent for what it was — support for “regime change” in Venezuela. Obama’s formulations were almost identical to ones used by the central leaders of the opposition in Venezuela who had decided — with U.S. funding and political backing — to take to the streets and commit acts of violence and vandalism aimed at destabilizing the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
U.S. government funding for the opposition in Venezuela is, in fact, public knowledge. According to Mark Weisbrot (The Guardian, February 18), “There’s been $90 million in the U.S. federal budget since 2000 for funding opposition activities inside Venezuela, with $5 million alone in the 2014 budget. And this is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg, adding to the hundreds of millions of dollars of covert support over the past 15 years.”
Washington’s railings against Venezuela became much harsher one month later. On March 27, speaking at a press conference for the Latin American media, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson made the most threatening declaration to date by a top administration official, stating that as far as Washington is concerned “all options are on the table if the Venezuelan government fails to make democratic room for the opposition.”
Jacobson stated that the Obama administration is strongly considering imposing sanctions against Venezuela “if there is no dialogue in Venezuela, if there is no democratic room for the opposition.” (El Universal, Mexico, March 28)
This argument is totally bogus; it is but a thinly veiled cover for stepped-up intervention in the internal affairs of the Venezuelan people, a further violation of their right to self-determination.
On February 16, the Mercosur governments (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela) released a statement on “the recent violent acts” in Venezuela and derided the “attempts [by the opposition] to destabilize the democratic order.” The governments stated “their firm commitment to the full observance of democratic institutions and, in this context, reject[ed] the criminal actions of violent groups that want to spread intolerance and hatred in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as a political tool.”
On February 28, President Maduro convened a National Peace Conference in an attempt to defuse the highly charged political situation, but the gathering was boycotted by the U.S.-funded Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). These forces have acknowledged publicly that they are incapable of winning elections in the framework of the Venezuelan Constitution, so they must resort to other, extra-legal means — that is, provoking chaos through street violence and blockades (in which 36 people have already been killed) — to achieve their objectives.
Even the Organization of American States (OAS), which is dominated by the United States and has traditionally backed all U.S.-funded coup d’etats and assassination attempts of foreign leaders, rejected a proposal on March 7 by the U.S. representative to assemble a “Commission of Inquiry” to investigate the “failure by the [Maduro] government to create a democratic space for the opposition in Venezuela.” The United States had only two supporters for its motion: Canada and Panama.
And on March 24 a Commission of UNASUR (Union of Nations of South America), in which the U.S. has no seat, arrived in Venezuela to facilitate a “dialogue” between the government and the opposition. The delegation met with the coalition of opposition parties.
Never mind that Washington is more and more isolated in the Americas over its policy in Venezuela. The Obama administration — which has never even officially recognized the April 2013 election of President Nicolás Maduro — is readying to charge ahead with sanctions, if not more.
On March 13, U.S. General John Kelly, the highest authority of the Southern Command of the U.S. Armed Forces testified before the War Affairs Committee of the Senate in Washington about the crisis in Venezuela.
Kelly gave a detailed account of how the Venezuelan army and police have reacted to the two-month violence provoked by the right-wing opposition. He then went on to suggest that “probably there are pressures, arguments and disagreements within the armed forces of Venezuela on the state of the country.”
Much of the Latin American press took note at the time of the fact that it was a general in the U.S. Marine Corps, not a civilian specialist or a diplomat, who was brought in to testify before the Senate committee. Many in the media went on to warn that this scenario was ominously reminiscent of the period leading up to the April 2002 (failed) coup — organized and financed by the U.S. government — against then-President Hugo Chávez.
And sure enough, on March 25 President Nicolás Maduro announced that three Venezuelan Air Force generals had been arrested on charges of plotting a military coup. Maduro stated that the generals had been the subjects of an investigation after junior Air Force officers who had been asked to join in the conspiracy alerted the government.
The Spanish daily El País, which openly supported the coup against Chávez on April 11, 2002, wrote the following in an editorial dated March 28: “The feeling of instability felt across the country is so great that no one can discard an action of this type [referring to a coup d'etat].”
Working people in the United States have no interest in backing Washington’s intervention and threats against the democratically elected government of Venezuela.
Workers in Venezuela have made important gains in the unfolding revolutionary process — gains that are unacceptable to the banksters in Wall Street and their hired hands in Washington. A recent Manifesto Against the Pro-Imperialist Coup Plot issued by two dozen unions in the Venezuelan region of Maracaibo summarizes these gains as follows: national health care and Social Security for all, decent guaranteed pensions for all, strict labor laws to protect workers, and, most important, State control/ownership over the nation’s resources such as petroleum, iron, aluminum, electricity, and more.
This is what’s involved: It’s an attempt by the corporate elite in this country and their lackeys in Venezuela to turn back the clock and undo all the gains made by the workers and people of Venezuela through bitter struggles, which includes their valiant defeat of a previous U.S.-funded attempted coup against Hugo Chávez.
The Manifesto of the trade unions in Maracaibo underscores the fact that a central reason for the economic crisis in Venezuela’s — aside from the disruption and sabotage by sectors of the Venezuelan ruling class — is the country’s continued subordination to international finance capital. Because Venezuela is still paying back the foreign debt to the international bankers, there are few remaining dollars in the state coffers to import needed goods or to repay national companies.
The unions signing the Manifesto “call upon compañero Nicolás Maduro to go beyond the expulsion of U.S. ambassadors and functionaries involved in these provocations [and] break with imperialism by not repaying the foreign debt in order to address a platform of demands that express the nation’s defense. The income from the nation’s oil production belongs to the people, not the capitalists.”
This task, of course, is the task of the Venezuelan workers and people themselves.
For our part, the best help that we who live in the belly of the beast can offer the embattled workers and people of Venezuela is to stay the hand of our own imperialist government. This is why we here in the United States must raise our voices loud and clear — in whatever manner is most appropriate, including mass protests in the streets — to demand:
- U.S. Hands Off Venezuela!
- Obama: Recognize the Democratically Elected Government of Nicolás Maduro!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
"Venezuela: When Some of the Most Important News Comes in the Form of Corrections"
2014-03-26 by Mark Weisbrot for the "Center for Economic and Policy Research" [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-when-some-of-the-most-important-news-comes-in-the-form-of-corrections]:
It says something about overall media coverage of a subject when some of the most important news appears in the form of corrections. On February 26, the New York Times corrected a false statement in a news report that had incorrectly referred to Globovision as “[t]he only television station that regularly broadcast voices critical of the government” [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/new-york-times-corrects-false-statement-on-venezuela]. This was false, and it was easy to show that other major television stations regularly broadcast opposition views [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/does-venezuelan-television-provide-coverage-that-opposes-the-government].
Today the Times corrected an even more important false statement that appeared in an op-ed by jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/opinion/venezuelas-failing-state.html?hp&rref=opinion]. López had written that “more than 30” protesters had been killed in Venezuela in the recent protests. In fact the “more than 30” number cited by López includes all protest-related deaths, a fraction of whom appear to be protesters [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new]. Although it has not been mentioned in major media coverage, a compilation of press reports indicates that the protesters themselves – not security forces – are responsible for about half of the deaths [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new]. These include six national guardsmen who were shot, five additional people apparently shot while trying to remove barriers erected by protesters, and seven people who were killed apparently from crashing into protesters’ barriers (including two motorcyclists beheaded by wire strung across the road).
This correction is extremely important because most people who see the daily death toll from protests in Venezuela understandably assume that these are people killed by state agents [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/should-the-media-report-on-who-is-killing-whom-in-venezuela-when-death-tolls-are-reported]. Although the reporters are not intending to mislead, we can see the effect of this reporting in that López himself, and whoever edited, placed, or provided other assistance with the op-ed for him also were very much mistaken. The net result of this widespread false impression is to greatly strengthen the opposition strategy, supported by many politicians and pundits in the U.S., to portray Venezuela as a violent, repressive, and illegitimate government.
Although it is impossible to give a completely accurate accounting of who has been killed by whom in the six weeks of protests, the fact that only a small fraction of the fatalities were caused by security forces, and about half by the protesters themselves, should make people think about whether this is really a story about a “violent” government trying to repress “peaceful” protesters. The Attorney General has also stated that there are 60 investigations of human rights abuses by security forces and that at least 15 have been jailed [http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/23/uk-venezuela-protests-idUKBREA2M0IZ20140323].
The prior error and correction about the news media in Venezuela was significant in the same way, as I have detailed elsewhere [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/new-york-times-corrects-false-statement-on-venezuela]. In general, op-eds are given more leeway with respect to facts than news reports, so it is good that the Times recognized this as a significant factual error and promptly corrected it.
The New York Times' Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, who has shown a great deal of independence and integrity in reviewing the content of the paper, yesterday looked at the question, “Does The Times Take Sides in Venezuela Reporting?” [http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/does-the-times-take-sides-in-venezuela-reporting/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0]. I don’t have the time or space here to review the Times’ reporting on Venezuela over the past 15 years, but there is one complaint that she seems to agree with: [begin excerpt] Another reader, Paul Karlin, complains that The Times’s news and opinion coverage is “remarkably biased” against the Maduro government. He has sent me a number of examples of perspectives – critical of the American approach to Venezuela – that he finds lacking on the Times Op-Ed pages; it’s a reasonable point. [end excerpt]
It sure is. In the 15 years since Hugo Chávez was elected president of Venezuela, the New York Times has offered many op-eds from an opposition viewpoint on Venezuela, including 3 in just the last month. But only after Chávez died last year did the Times’ print edition offer its first, and to date, only op-ed on Venezuela from another perspective, by Brazilian ex-president Lula Da Silva [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/opinion/latin-america-after-chavez.html]. This contrasts with almost every medium-sized to large newspaper in the United States – e.g. the LA Times, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, and Washington Post, and scores of other mainstream and even right-wing city newspapers, which all published at least one op-ed offering another side of the story during the Chávez years.
It says something about overall media coverage of a subject when some of the most important news appears in the form of corrections. On February 26, the New York Times corrected a false statement in a news report that had incorrectly referred to Globovision as “[t]he only television station that regularly broadcast voices critical of the government” [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/new-york-times-corrects-false-statement-on-venezuela]. This was false, and it was easy to show that other major television stations regularly broadcast opposition views [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/does-venezuelan-television-provide-coverage-that-opposes-the-government].
Today the Times corrected an even more important false statement that appeared in an op-ed by jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/opinion/venezuelas-failing-state.html?hp&rref=opinion]. López had written that “more than 30” protesters had been killed in Venezuela in the recent protests. In fact the “more than 30” number cited by López includes all protest-related deaths, a fraction of whom appear to be protesters [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new]. Although it has not been mentioned in major media coverage, a compilation of press reports indicates that the protesters themselves – not security forces – are responsible for about half of the deaths [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new]. These include six national guardsmen who were shot, five additional people apparently shot while trying to remove barriers erected by protesters, and seven people who were killed apparently from crashing into protesters’ barriers (including two motorcyclists beheaded by wire strung across the road).
This correction is extremely important because most people who see the daily death toll from protests in Venezuela understandably assume that these are people killed by state agents [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/should-the-media-report-on-who-is-killing-whom-in-venezuela-when-death-tolls-are-reported]. Although the reporters are not intending to mislead, we can see the effect of this reporting in that López himself, and whoever edited, placed, or provided other assistance with the op-ed for him also were very much mistaken. The net result of this widespread false impression is to greatly strengthen the opposition strategy, supported by many politicians and pundits in the U.S., to portray Venezuela as a violent, repressive, and illegitimate government.
Although it is impossible to give a completely accurate accounting of who has been killed by whom in the six weeks of protests, the fact that only a small fraction of the fatalities were caused by security forces, and about half by the protesters themselves, should make people think about whether this is really a story about a “violent” government trying to repress “peaceful” protesters. The Attorney General has also stated that there are 60 investigations of human rights abuses by security forces and that at least 15 have been jailed [http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/23/uk-venezuela-protests-idUKBREA2M0IZ20140323].
The prior error and correction about the news media in Venezuela was significant in the same way, as I have detailed elsewhere [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/new-york-times-corrects-false-statement-on-venezuela]. In general, op-eds are given more leeway with respect to facts than news reports, so it is good that the Times recognized this as a significant factual error and promptly corrected it.
The New York Times' Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, who has shown a great deal of independence and integrity in reviewing the content of the paper, yesterday looked at the question, “Does The Times Take Sides in Venezuela Reporting?” [http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/does-the-times-take-sides-in-venezuela-reporting/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0]. I don’t have the time or space here to review the Times’ reporting on Venezuela over the past 15 years, but there is one complaint that she seems to agree with: [begin excerpt] Another reader, Paul Karlin, complains that The Times’s news and opinion coverage is “remarkably biased” against the Maduro government. He has sent me a number of examples of perspectives – critical of the American approach to Venezuela – that he finds lacking on the Times Op-Ed pages; it’s a reasonable point. [end excerpt]
It sure is. In the 15 years since Hugo Chávez was elected president of Venezuela, the New York Times has offered many op-eds from an opposition viewpoint on Venezuela, including 3 in just the last month. But only after Chávez died last year did the Times’ print edition offer its first, and to date, only op-ed on Venezuela from another perspective, by Brazilian ex-president Lula Da Silva [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/opinion/latin-america-after-chavez.html]. This contrasts with almost every medium-sized to large newspaper in the United States – e.g. the LA Times, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, and Washington Post, and scores of other mainstream and even right-wing city newspapers, which all published at least one op-ed offering another side of the story during the Chávez years.
Monday, March 24, 2014
"VENEZUELA: The Obama Administration Foments Destabilization"
2014-03-24 by Sumara Ribeiro from "ILC":
Nicolas Maduro, legitimately elected president of Venezuela as per its Constitution, was elected in April 2013, we should recall, with a slight majority of votes. Until this day, the election's result have not been ecognized by the U.S. government, which has never shelved its coup-plotting strategy.
In an interview with the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, Venezuelan Congresswoman Corina Machado, a representative of the bourgeois elite (which, until the election of Hugo Chávez, concentrated in its hands the largest share of oil revenue, while the people lived in abject poverty), acknowledged that the Venezuelan Constitution makes available countless legal opportunities for the "opposition" forces to replace the current government.
But Machado goes on to admit that by such legal means, the "opposition" will never succeed. And given that Maduro will not go away spontaneously, the "opposition" has decided to overthrow the government through actions "in the streets," she explains. By what methods? Promoting disorder and violent provocations (all of which are praised to the skies by O Estado de São Paulo). In fact, at this writing, the violent actions have already killed 28 people -- be they supporters of the right wing, or Chavista activists, or government representatives.
Maduro called for dialogue and a peace conference, but these were boycotted by the "opposition."
With the solid backing of imperialism -- and of all imperialism's spokespersons on the continent -- the Venezuelan "opposition" is not pulling back; in fact, they are doing doing everything to exploit the difficult economic situation facing the country.
Defend the majority of the people and the nation -
The fact is that Venezuela has been struggling for months in a state of economic chaos due to the shortage of basic staple foods and supplies and high inflation (56% in 2013). Precarious work affects nearly 50 % of the economically active population, and youth are the most affected sector.
The economy is based 80% on the exploitation of oil, but Venezuela is witnessing a continuous decline in its oil production, which has caused a sharp decrease in the inflow of dollars. Faced with this situation, the Maduro government (Chávez's successor at the head of the Venezuelan State) felt obliged to devalue the bolivar -- the national currency.
Despite the fact that its financial resources have been weakened, the Venezuelan government has preferred to give priority to paying back the debt to the international bankers, rather than increase domestic spending, thus exacerbating the shortage.
The Wall Street Journal (February 14) reports that, "Venezuela has paid back the foreign bondholders religiously. At the same time, however, the government owes US$50 billion to private companies that provide services to the Venezuelan economy." This report was confirmed by the Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, who said: "The country has always kept and will always keep all of its commitments to paying back the foreign debt." (Financial Times, February 25)
On various occasions in the past, the Chávez government has had to take significant measures to defend the Venezuelan nation against imperialism -- all of which were supported by the masses.
The gravity of the situation today requires that the Venezuelan government take further steps in this direction; otherwise it will be faced with a serious risk of destabilization of the country.
Current events in Venezuela, but also in the whole region, show once again that the nations of Latin America cannot guarantee their sovereignty, freedom, and democracy -- all wrested through bitter struggles against dictatorships that the U.S. government imposed on the continent over many decades -- without standing up to imperialism and breaking the links which subordinate their economies to international financial capital. If the Venezuelan government were to take such a course, it would be sure to have massive popular support.
What is at stake in the unfolding situation today is the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people; it is their right to decide their own destiny.
Any organization defending the interests of workers and peoples, sovereignty, and democracy must provide unconditional support to the workers, peasants and youth of Venezuela and their legitimately elected government against any and all forms of foreign intervention/destabilization and against any new attempted coup.
Nicolas Maduro, legitimately elected president of Venezuela as per its Constitution, was elected in April 2013, we should recall, with a slight majority of votes. Until this day, the election's result have not been ecognized by the U.S. government, which has never shelved its coup-plotting strategy.
In an interview with the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, Venezuelan Congresswoman Corina Machado, a representative of the bourgeois elite (which, until the election of Hugo Chávez, concentrated in its hands the largest share of oil revenue, while the people lived in abject poverty), acknowledged that the Venezuelan Constitution makes available countless legal opportunities for the "opposition" forces to replace the current government.
But Machado goes on to admit that by such legal means, the "opposition" will never succeed. And given that Maduro will not go away spontaneously, the "opposition" has decided to overthrow the government through actions "in the streets," she explains. By what methods? Promoting disorder and violent provocations (all of which are praised to the skies by O Estado de São Paulo). In fact, at this writing, the violent actions have already killed 28 people -- be they supporters of the right wing, or Chavista activists, or government representatives.
Maduro called for dialogue and a peace conference, but these were boycotted by the "opposition."
With the solid backing of imperialism -- and of all imperialism's spokespersons on the continent -- the Venezuelan "opposition" is not pulling back; in fact, they are doing doing everything to exploit the difficult economic situation facing the country.
Defend the majority of the people and the nation -
The fact is that Venezuela has been struggling for months in a state of economic chaos due to the shortage of basic staple foods and supplies and high inflation (56% in 2013). Precarious work affects nearly 50 % of the economically active population, and youth are the most affected sector.
The economy is based 80% on the exploitation of oil, but Venezuela is witnessing a continuous decline in its oil production, which has caused a sharp decrease in the inflow of dollars. Faced with this situation, the Maduro government (Chávez's successor at the head of the Venezuelan State) felt obliged to devalue the bolivar -- the national currency.
Despite the fact that its financial resources have been weakened, the Venezuelan government has preferred to give priority to paying back the debt to the international bankers, rather than increase domestic spending, thus exacerbating the shortage.
The Wall Street Journal (February 14) reports that, "Venezuela has paid back the foreign bondholders religiously. At the same time, however, the government owes US$50 billion to private companies that provide services to the Venezuelan economy." This report was confirmed by the Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, who said: "The country has always kept and will always keep all of its commitments to paying back the foreign debt." (Financial Times, February 25)
On various occasions in the past, the Chávez government has had to take significant measures to defend the Venezuelan nation against imperialism -- all of which were supported by the masses.
The gravity of the situation today requires that the Venezuelan government take further steps in this direction; otherwise it will be faced with a serious risk of destabilization of the country.
Current events in Venezuela, but also in the whole region, show once again that the nations of Latin America cannot guarantee their sovereignty, freedom, and democracy -- all wrested through bitter struggles against dictatorships that the U.S. government imposed on the continent over many decades -- without standing up to imperialism and breaking the links which subordinate their economies to international financial capital. If the Venezuelan government were to take such a course, it would be sure to have massive popular support.
What is at stake in the unfolding situation today is the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people; it is their right to decide their own destiny.
Any organization defending the interests of workers and peoples, sovereignty, and democracy must provide unconditional support to the workers, peasants and youth of Venezuela and their legitimately elected government against any and all forms of foreign intervention/destabilization and against any new attempted coup.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Stand against unjust & unsound economic warfare against Bolivarian Venezuela
"2 New bills in Congress: Sanctions against Venezuela"
2014-03-13 message from Alliance for Global Justice:
As we feared, advocates of "regime change" in Venezuela, buoyed by the nearly unanimous passage of anti-Venezuela resolutions in both houses of Congress, are now pushing for bills that would require sanctions to be placed against the democratically elected government of President Nicolas Maduro. This is an extremely dangerous situation that could quickly escalate. Supporters of peaceful relations between our two countries are starting from a deficit position to confront the lies and disinformation that have created a false perception about the Venezuelan reality. The progressive press, by its inattention to the advances that the Bolivarian Process has gained for the poor majority in Venezuela, is equally responsible for the current dangerous situation. Below are links to two alerts issued by the Alliance for Global Justice in recent days and a link to a Huffington Post article by Dan Kovalik. Please use the information to contact your two Senators and Representative to let them know that you oppose sanctions and continuing efforts funded by US "democracy promotion" funds to break the constitutional order to overthrow the democratically elected government in Venezuela. Make clear that you expect an answer, and particularly with Democrats, make clear that your support for them in the next election will be strongly influenced by their position on this issue.
[http://all4globaljust.tumblr.com/post/79271818522/emergency-alert-action-for-venezuela-required-today]
[http://all4globaljust.tumblr.com/post/79185988937/us-on-brink-of-ordering-sanctions-against-venezuela]
[http://afgj.org/in-defense-of-venezuela]
---
By Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Kirk):*
S. 2142 <http://www.cq.com/bill/113/S2142>. A bill to impose targeted sanctions on persons responsible for violations of human rights of anti-government protesters in Venezuela, to strengthen civil society in Venezuela, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
---
By Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Sires, Mr. Salmon, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Garcia, Mr. Bilirakis, and Ms. Frankel of Florida):
H.R. 4229 <http://www.cq.com/bill/113/HR4229>. A bill to seek international sanctions against the Government of Venezuela with respect to foreign persons responsible for or complicit in ordering, controlling,
or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against citizens of Venezuela, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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