by Roger D. Harris \/ November 27th, 2020<\/p>\n
The US finally appointed an ambassador to Venezuela after a decade hiatus and in the runup to the Venezuelan National Assembly elections. The new ambassador, James Story, was confirmed by US Senate voice vote on November 18 with Democrats supporting Trump\u2019s nominee.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Story took his post in Bogot\u00e1, Colombia. No, this is not another example of Trump\u2019s bungling by sending his man to the wrong capital. The US government does not recognize the democratically elected government in Caracas.<\/p>\n
Impasse of two Venezuelan presidents<\/strong><\/p>\n US hostility to Venezuela started when Hugo Ch\u00e1vez became president in 1999 and continues to this day, according to Ad\u00e1n Ch\u00e1vez, the late president\u2019s older brother and vice-president of the PSUV, the ruling socialist party in Venezuela. \u201cFor the last 21 years,\u201d he commented, \u201cthe empire has been perfecting its attacks\u201d on Venezuela.<\/p>\n The elder Ch\u00e1vez, spoke at an international online meeting with the US Chapter of the Network<\/a> of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity on November 19. Venezuela\u2019s Bolivarian Revolution, he explained, was not initially socialist, although it was against neoliberalism. The traditional parties in Venezuela in 1998 had lost their appeal to the voters. Hugo Ch\u00e1vez ran and won, looking for a \u201cthird way\u201d that was neither capitalist nor socialist. What the revolution discovered was that there was no third way: either socialism or barbarism.<\/p>\n When in 2013, Venezuela elected President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and not the US-backed candidate, the US declared that election fraudulent and refused to recognize the winner. In the 2018 when Maduro was reelected, the US \u2013 not taking any chances \u2013 proclaimed fraud four months in advance of the vote.<\/p>\n Then in January 2019, US Vice President Pence telephoned<\/a> the newly installed president of Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly, Juan Guaid\u00f3. The following morning Guaid\u00f3 declared himself president of Venezuela on a Caracas street corner. Almost immediately Donald Trump recognized him as Venezuela\u2019s de facto<\/em> president.<\/p>\n Guaid\u00f3\u2019s claim to the national presidency was based on being third in constitutional succession, overlooking<\/a> that neither the Venezuelan president nor vice-president had vacated their offices. At the time, the 35-year-old was unknown to 81% of the Venezuelan people, according to a poll<\/a> by a firm favorable to the opposition. Guaid\u00f3 was not even a leader in his own far-right party, Popular Will. He had never run for national office and his previous \u201cexposure\u201d was just that. A photograph of his bare behind made the press when he dropped his pants<\/a> at a demonstration against the government. The person, whose butt may have been better known than his face, only got to be president of the National Assembly by a scheme which rotated the office among the parties in the legislature.<\/p>\n But Juan Guaid\u00f3 had one outstanding qualification to be the US-anointed puppet president of Venezuela \u2013 he was a trained US security asset<\/a>.<\/p>\n Guaid\u00f3\u2019s parallel government has named ambassadors without power and has colluded with the US to loot<\/a> Venezuelan national assets, some $24 billion<\/a>. His former attorney is now on the legal team working to take over CITGO, the oil company in the US owned by Venezuela.<\/p>\n \u201cAs time went on,\u201d Mission Verdad reported<\/a> from Venezuela, \u201csupport for Guaid\u00f3 faded and his childish image became a laughable anecdote of Venezuelan politics.\u201d After several failed coup<\/a> attempts, corruption<\/a>, embezzlement<\/a>, resigning<\/a> from his own party, and losing the presidency<\/a> of the National Assembly, Guaid\u00f3\u2019s last shred of legitimacy \u2013 his National Assembly seat \u2013 will be contested on December 6 with elections to the unicameral legislature.<\/p>\n US interference and sanctions on Venezuela<\/strong><\/p>\n The extraordinary level of US interference in Venezuela\u2019s electoral process highlights their importance. The US government has preemptively declared the upcoming National Assembly elections fraudulent. Guaid\u00f3\u2019s political party and others on the far right have dutifully obeyed Trump\u2019s directive to boycott the contest.<\/p>\n However, other opposition elements<\/a> have broken with the US strategy of extra-parliamentary regime change and are participating in the elections. They have also distanced themselves from Guaid\u00f3\u2019s calls for ever harsher sanctions against his people and even for US military intervention.<\/p>\n To maintain discipline among the moderate opposition, the US has sanctioned some opposition<\/a> party leaders for registering to run in the parliamentary elections. Nevertheless, 98 opposition parties and nine Chavista parties (supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution) will be contesting for 277 seats in the National Assembly.<\/p>\n Following the US\u2019s lead, the European Union rejected the upcoming election and an invitation to send election observers. A long list of international figures including Noble Prize winners and former heads of state petitioned<\/a> the EU: \u201cThis election represents, above all a democratic, legal and peaceful way out of the political and institutional crisis that was triggered in January 2019 by the self-appointment of Juan Guaid\u00f3 as \u2018interim president\u2019 of Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n The Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America (CEELA) and other internationals will be observing the election on December 6. CEELA Chairman Nicanor Moscoso noted<\/a>: \u201cWe, as former magistrates and electoral authorities in Latin America, have organized elections and also participated in over 120 elections\u2026Our aim is to accompany the Venezuelan people.\u201d<\/p>\n The nine Chavista parties are not running on a unified slate<\/a>. The new Popular Revolutionary Alternative<\/a> coalition, which formed to run candidates independently, includes the Venezuelan Communist Party.<\/p>\n Communists normally would not get favorable ink in The New York Times.<\/em> But when there are splits on the left, the empire\u2019s newspaper of record<\/a> exploits them: \u201cThey championed Venezuela\u2019s revolution \u2013 they are now its latest victims.\u201d The paper reports: \u201cThe repression is partly an outcome of Mr. Maduro\u2019s decision to abandon the wealth redistribution policies of his late predecessor, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, in favor of what amounts to crony capitalism to survive American sanctions<\/em> [emphasis added].\u201d<\/p>\n The key to deconstructing the Times\u2019s<\/em> hit piece is the phrase, \u201cto survive American sanctions.\u201d As Alfred de Zayas, the United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur on Venezuela, had observed even before the pandemic hit, the US sanctions on Venezuela are causing \u201ceconomic asphyxiation<\/a>.\u201d Compromises have been necessitated.<\/p>\n President Maduro has survived a drone assassination<\/a> attempt, mercenary<\/a> invasions, and abortive coups<\/a>. In this context, the ruling party realistically feels under siege.<\/p>\n Although running independent candidates, Communist Party leader Oscar Figuera states<\/a> \u201cwe see imperialism as the main enemy of the Venezuelan people.\u201d And on that the Chavista forces are united.<\/p>\n National Assembly elections as a referendum on the Venezuelan project<\/strong><\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Ron<\/a> characterized the election as a referendum against the \u201cbrutal blockade\u201d imposed by the US and its allies and against their effort to undermine Venezuela\u2019s democracy by trying to prevent the election from being conducted. He spoke from Caracas in a webinar<\/a> produced by the US Peace Council<\/a> and others on November 18.<\/p>\n Carlos Ron lamented that the Venezuelan opposition does not play by the rules. In the 24 national elections held since the election of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, only the two that have been won by the opposition were deemed truly legitimate by them. Yet this is the electoral system that former US President Jimmy Carter proclaimed to be \u201cthe best in the world<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Margaret Flowers of Popular Resistance<\/a> spoke in the November 18 webinar calling for the US government to end the illegal coercive economic measures, including unfreezing Venezuela\u2019s assets. Flowers called for reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the legitimate government of Venezuela based on peace and mutual respect.<\/p>\n Ajamu Baraka of the Black Alliance for Peace<\/a> spoke at the webinar of the necessity to protect the Venezuelan project as the \u201cgateway to the transformation of the entire region,\u201d which is also why the US sees Venezuela as a threat. He cautioned that Joe Biden has the same regime-change policy<\/a> as Trump. Our responsibility, Baraka concluded, is to build a clear anti-imperialist movement.<\/p>\n