US Dirty Work Before and After Venezuela Elections

Not surprisingly, whenever election time approaches in Venezuela or in any other “rogue” nation, the imperialist beasts and their lackeys show their claws in an attempt to intimidate the electorate and steer them away from leftist leaderships or progressive parties that raise the nationalist flag.

The United States has developed the unfortunate habit of taking advantage of the electoral process to “twist the arms”[1] of Latin American countries, Venezuela in particular, diverting the course of the Bolivarian Revolution and imposing its own political agents through the loopholes afforded by bourgeois electoral democracy. The United States disguises its aggression under a cloak of “legitimacy” as it struggles to reconquer the strategic oil producer that escaped from its sphere of influence as a result of President Hugo Chávez’s 1998 election triumph. Nonetheless, the United States cries fraud every time its pawns fail to win influence in the political arena and the “democratic game” that are the elections, at the same time inciting scenes of violence that will justify a direct intervention on the part of the “benevolent empire,” which acts only in the name of “human rights” and the defense of its “national security” and its “vital interests.”

A U.S.-backed coup attempt in April 2002 fell through; the 2002-2003 oil strike was a failure, and so was the recall referendum of 2004; that same year, a terrorist plot to assassinate Chávez was frustrated when close to 200 Colombian paramilitaries were captured on the Daktari estate; U.S.-backed candidates failed to win offices of state in the subsequent 19 elections; U.S.-backed Zionist candidate Henrique Capriles was defeated in the 2013 elections; and, finally, in 2014 a so-called “exit” plan — to create violence and civil unrest sufficient to justify the overthrow of the government and U.S. military intervention — came to nothing. The history of the Venezuelan right is littered with failures, but U.S. imperialism refuses to give up: It has patience as well as infinite resources to further its plans and actions.

United States imperialism and its lackeys have seen to it that economic war, scarcity and speculation have succeeded in both destabilizing President Maduro’s government and demoralizing Chavism at its foundations. Washington believes this strategy affords a new opportunity to “legitimately” defeat the Bolivarian Revolution. If it can gain control of the National Assembly, it will move to instigate a disaster similar to those of Honduras in 2009, Paraguay in 2012, and currently Brazil: a parliamentary coup resulting in the removal from office of President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. is aware that its political mercenaries cannot do the job alone, however, and certainly not “legitimately”; Washington will need to lend them a by no means legitimate hand to achieve their objectives.

The coming parliamentary elections scheduled for Dec. 6 will therefore be decisive for the future of the Bolivarian Revolution. The revolutionary forces that support the governing party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, have a clear advantage. The electoral machinery has always been key in all the elections. The plan and its protagonists are the same as they have been throughout the years of the Revolution.

In a recent interview with CNN — a channel well known for its animosity toward Venezuela — the commander-in-chief of U.S. Southern Command, Gen. John Kelly, declared that he prayed daily for Venezuela and was concerned for its situation, for its economy on the point of implosion, and the potential humanitarian crisis that could require emergency aid (intervention) by his country.[2] Such holy words!

For many, Kelly’s words signify the resurgence of the same old imperialist, interventionist plan against Venezuela in the immediate run-up to parliamentary elections on Dec. 6. Once again, Washington is using the pretext of the defense of “human rights,” “democracy” and “freedom” to prepare public opinion worldwide and elicit its approval of a direct intervention in Venezuela by the United States.

But first, it must prepare the ground and create the scenes of violence needed to make the show more believable. Kelly’s message gives the green light to Washington’s terrorist barbarians and “guarimberos”* to come out of hiding and carry out the dirty work they are being paid for.

On Nov. 6, Jorge Urosa Savino, the highest-ranking member of the Catholic Church in Venezuela and a historical adversary of the Venezuelan revolutionary process, announced that his office was “keeping a watchful eye” on developments in the Venezuelan electoral campaign. At the same time, he revealed the possibility of a violent scenario, saying, “We do not wish to see armed groups going around the city and the polling stations threatening people who might not agree with them politically.”[3]

For his part, renowned Venezuelan journalist José Vicente Rangel has warned that the opposition intends to not recognize the results of the Dec. 6 elections, at the same time preparing scenes of violence to take place before and after the announcement of the results by the National Electoral Council, which would be sufficient to justify a coup.

In his most recent article, published in several national media, Rangel recalls that the Venezuelan opposition has still not recovered from its military adventure of April 11, 2002 because it was described as “treasonous.” Rangel writes:

“Following that colossal error on the part of both civilians and military, it would be a show of infinite stupidity to once again take steps to overthrow a constitutional and democratic government, whatever the country’s problems may be. It is worth adding that those who imagine it relatively easy to pull off should think at least twice. It would be wise not to underestimate Maduro, nor the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, nor the power of the people, nor the parties of the Great Patriotic Pole coalition, nor the millions of independents, who may be critical of the government but oppose a coup as a quick solution, which falls outside the framework of the constitution.”[4]

Earlier this month, on Nov. 8, the Venezuelan government reported that the latest U.S. military threat consists of continually flying intelligence planes through Venezuelan airspace. This is not the first time. In April 2002, in 2008 and 2010, the Venezuelan government reported similar actions designed to intimidate the Venezuelan people. Moreover, they are all part of the cycle of international media attacks aimed at demonizing Venezuela, of blackmail, sanctions and threats, which came to a head with the executive order of March 9 defining Venezuela as an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”[5]

In response, President Nicolás Maduro dubbed the content of Barack Obama’s executive order “unusual and extraordinary threats,” which he would not hesitate to denounce before the appropriate regional and subregional bodies, including the United Nations. Maduro said, “The whole country must unite behind this denouncement of the U.S. military provocation against our country […] the complaint will be placed before the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the United Nations (U.N.).”[6] The president re-affirmed that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), Strategic Operational Command and the General Staff were on alert 24/7 to safeguard the airspace, our territory, and the integrity of Venezuela.

The imperialists figure that the defeat of the revolutionary forces in Venezuela on Dec. 6 will be a hammer blow impacting definitively on the process of the restoration of neoliberalism across the whole region. Now more than ever, then, the Bolivarian Revolution needs the world’s revolutionary and progressive forces to unite behind it against the manifest threats of the U.S. to Venezuela’s peace and stability. Venezuela is fighting to build its own Socialist political, economic and social model.

Notes:

[1] Barack Hussein Obama: “We occasionally have to twist the arms of countries that wouldn’t do what we need them to do if it weren’t for the various economic or diplomatic or […] military leverage that we had.”

[2] Gen. John Kelly says he prays for Venezuela.

[3] Urosa Savino calls on armed groups not to surround polling stations.

[4] José Vicente Rangel warns of a possible coup.

[5] Obama implements sanctions against Venezuela.

[6] Venezuela will denounce the United States before international bodies.

*Editor’s note: Guarimberos are members of the opposition in Venezuela who take to the streets in protest when they feel the elections have been unfair.