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VENEZUELA CONTRA MUNDUM  
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Maria Paez Victor
July 22, 2024
Counterpunch
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_ The USA is imposing collective punishment on Venezuelans with
illegal sanctions for daring to assert their sovereignty in deciding
that only they, the Venezuelan people, in fair elections, can
determine their governance. _

, Beatrice Murch – CC BY 2.0

 

Joseph Conrad insightfully wrote in his book Lord Jim_: _“_You
shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends_“. The
same can be said about a nation. So, it should be a clue to any
observant person, that the forces of the extreme right, and those who
are hoodwinked by them, lead the charge against Venezuela, with a
relentless hybrid war and smear campaign.

The USA and its allies are at the head of this campaign. Their motives
lie undoubtedly in the desire to take control of the nation’s
immense oil reserves, plus its gas, gold and lithium.  As well, the
USA is imposing collective punishment on Venezuelans with illegal
sanctions for daring to assert their sovereignty in deciding that only
they, the Venezuelan people, in fair elections, can determine their
governance.

Can anyone doubt that the forces of the extreme right are ascendant in
geopolitics?

In the USA, the extreme right grows bolder and stronger each day.
Under the leadership of Trump, a narcissistic man whose speeches are
tinged with rage and absurdities, they violently mobbed Capitol Hill
in Washington while denying the results of the election won by
Biden.   The world looks on in astonishment and dismay as Trump is
poised to win the presidential elections on Nov. 5, especially now
that he can drape himself with the cloak of martyrdom. His core
supporters are very forgiving, or have highly selective memories, or
are simply infatuated by the self-proclaimed savior from the
continuing decline of their country. During Trump’s last presidency,
illegal sanctions against Venezuela became extreme and he threatened
military invasion. The Venezuelan vice-president Delcy Rodríguez, in
defining fascism stated that: “_…it not only manifests itself in
expression of hatred, violence and death but also forms of economic
fascism, such as the US criminal blockade imposed against
Venezuela_.”[1]

The hopeful exceptions in Europe are those of the UK and France whose
recent elections amazingly sidelined the far right. But it seems
everywhere else we see extreme right parties – some could be
considered as openly fascist – rise in Spain, Germany, Estonia,
Serbia, Finland, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland. Some of these parties
form the government or part of it, some have legislative
representatives where before they had few or none, and some are in
opposition nipping at the heels of governments. But their presence is
palpable, and menacing. The far right in the European Union always
vote to malign and attack Venezuela.

In Canada, the main opposition party, the Conservative Party, is
moving further right under a mediocre leader, Poilievre, who leads the
polls against the Liberal Justin Trudeau. The strategy of Poilievre is
typical of the far right that hide their real aims under an _ad
hominem_ campaign:  that is, very scarce in providing solutions and
virulently blaming and insulting the person of Trudeau. It is proving
so effective that if the Liberal Party was smart, it would replace
Trudeau and deflate the campaign of the Conservatives.

Both the Liberal and the Conservative parties of Canada, in their rush
to kowtow to their powerful southern neighbour, have unjustly and
mean-spiritedly lashed out against Venezuela, a nation that has not
harmed Canada nor any Canadians.  They have imposed illegal
sanctions, organized and led the now defunct Lima Group, a cabal of
far-right governments that pushed for “regime change” in
Venezuela, broke diplomatic relations with Venezuela so that not even
consulates are allowed, and denied the right of Canadian/Venezuelans
to vote in the last Venezuelan presidential elections and upcoming
one.

In Latin America, Brazil’s would-be dictator, the erratic Bolsonaro,
led an attack on the Brazilian Congress a lá Trump. While in power,
he managed to sideline both Dilma Rousseff and Lula with legal
injustices of lawfare. He is not in power now but is still not a
political pariah and not behind bars, as he should be. His disdain for
the Venezuelan government was such that only the Brazilian army was
able to persuade him against invading Venezuela.

In Argentina, Javier Milei is a prime example of an extremist leader
with a disordered mind, saying publicly: _“I’m the king of a lost
world! I’m the king and I will destroy you!”[2]_.  Melei is bent
on dismantling social rights and attacking anyone who opposes him. He
has taken it upon himself to insult the Venezuelan government and
president whenever he can. The Argentinian embassy in Caracas has
become a haven of the far right.

So, in this sea of rising far right extremism, there is a country in
open defiance that fights the violence and deceptions of fascism, the
racist elites and the predatory corporations. A government that is on
the side of the working classes, that zealously protects their social
benefits and welfare and their Human Rights and champions the
environment. That country is Venezuela, whose Constitution, on its
first page, proclaims itself a democratic society, participatory,
multiethnic, and pluricultural, with the values of liberty, solidarity
and the common good.

The far-right forces, backed by Washington and the fascist, racist
Venezuelan elites, have never ceased to try to destabilize the nation
and overthrow the government. In 2014 they were responsible for a
series of virulent street violence that led to 43 deaths, 878 injured
and millions in damages. In 2017 they continued with 121 deaths and
1,958 injured, including the horrendous death of a young man, Orlando
Figuera, who because of his dark skin, “looked Chavista” and was
burned alive on the street.

These violent events were portrayed by the world media as
“protests” carried out by “people who wanted democracy”, and
even “students”, when in fact they were carried out by thugs and
criminal gangs, paid in dollars. I myself actually witnessed on the
street a man dolling out dollars to a bunch of “protesters”. The
supposed, rules-based, “international community” totally ignored
these violations of the peace and Human Rights of the Venezuelan
people, and some even had the gall to blame the government for the
opposition’s violence. They just keep gushing out the lies.

Currently, in this presidential year, the violence is simmering. The
Attorney General has denounced at least five attempts to murder the
president,[3] and a series of sabotages of the nation’s electrical
system. A Colombian guerrilla group, which is in the midst of peace
negotiations, revealed that far-right leaders of Venezuela had asked
them to carry out violent acts on the border to disturb the coming
elections. [4] These events have been linked to the darling fascist
“candidate” of Washington, Maria Corina Machado, and is being
investigated.

The presential elections are on the 28th of July. There are 9
candidates from opposition parties. The candidate of Washington, Maria
Corina Machado, cannot run because in 2014 she was barred for
malfeasance (refusing to disclose the origin of donated funds) and
representing a foreign government – Panama – while being a deputy
of the National Assembly. Later in 2023 this barring from office was
reimposed by the Comptroller General and ratified by the Supreme Court
of Venezuela because Machado called on the USA to invade
Venezuela.[5] Her stand-in is unknown to the public – an elderly
political hack, Edmundo Gonzalez.

Machado is a scion of two very wealthy elitist families. They are
elites that have traditionally obtained their wealth by being the
willing vassals of the USA, which allowed them to join in the looting
their own country, and in recent years, have been partners in crime
with Colombian narco-gangs and other criminals. Machado
enthusiastically believes in using violence to gain power, including
repeatedly asking the USA to invade Venezuela. [6] Gonzalez for his
part, is implicated in the financing and logistics of the death squads
in El Salvador.[7]

What is there for the world media to object to about Venezuela? A
nation beleaguered by far-right groups and governments, struggling to
keep its sovereignty, its resources and to protect its people. Why
does so much of the world media back far-right forces linked to
violence and plunder? Are news outlets, journalists and newspapers
being paid to do so?

Since its inception the Bolivarian governments of Chávez and Maduro,
have nurtured social rights and benefits, championed indigenous rights
and women’s rights, poured state funds effectively and efficiently,
into food security, education, health services, infrastructure, and an
astounding public housing program that in 7 years has built 5 million
units.

The canard invariably levelled at Venezuela, is that Nicolas Maduro is
authoritarian. This is without foundation, but it is the imperial
script and is repeated _ad nauseum_.  These accusers have obviously
never been to Venezuela, never visited the 40,035 Communal Councils
spread all over the country that hold in their hands the development
of their communities. They have never attended a meeting of any of the
1,401 Communes and have never attended any meeting of the Presidential
Counsel of the Communes (_Consejo Presidencial de las Comunas_)
whereby the President is advised directly by the communes, as part of
his cabinet.

As well, those who say there is an authoritarian regime in Venezuela
are completly ignorant of the 28,791 registered social movements in
the country that carry out a whole host of varied social and political
activities. The country is a hot bed of free, creative, democratic
participation. This stimulates its artistic communities in a clear and
wonderful fashion. Nobody “reins in” the free-spirited actors,
artists, dancers, or musicians. The Bolivarian Revolution has been
enhanced and advanced by the unleashing of creative talents that
previously had been blocked by elites.

Once I was passing by Caracas’ largest theatre which had been “in
possession” of the upper-class elites. Previously, “ordinary”
people were not welcomed nor could afford the entry tickets;
therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to see a very long line-up of
“ordinary” people waiting to be let in. It turned out that they
were lining up to hear a classical music concert featuring the music
of Mahler. The theatre now is a favorite venue for all sorts of
popular events where the people are welcome and they know it.

The people of Venezuela are very music- literate. The musical
education program “El Sistema” has a lot to do with this. “El
Sistema” is now world famous, more than 25 countries have
established musical education programs directly based on
it.  Venezuela’s National System of Orchestras and Chorus boasts
443 centres, 120 juvenile orchestras and 60 children’s orchestras,
with the participation of approximately 350,000 youths.

Heart-warming Venezuelan achievements such as this are rarely covered
in the mainstream media while this week, for example, they rush to
publicize the arrest of Machado’s ‘head of security’ for
violence against women, and blame the authorities. You have to wonder
about their motives.

Venezuela is definitely “contra mundum”, that is, against a world
where fascism, with its violence, rapaciousness, lies, disregard for
peace, nature, human rights and welfare is on the rise.

That is a world worth opposing.

Venezuela is at the vanguard of the defence of democracy, socialism
and humanity itself. Its struggle is not just to defend a government,
a president or a party, but a political and social system based on the
Human Rights of the people, and their peaceful coexistence with others
in the region and the world.

That is a world worth defending.

Notes.

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[3]
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[6] “Presidente Maduro denunció que EEUU diseñó planes para
atentar en su contra”, aporrea, 20 April
2024; [link removed]

[7] [link removed]

_MARÍA PÁEZ VICTOR, Ph.D. is a Venezuelan born sociologist living in
Canada. _

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* Venezuela's Elections; Sanctions Against Venezuela; Nicolas
Maduro;
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