{"id":1495825,"date":"2024-02-12T15:10:40","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T15:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=148036"},"modified":"2024-02-12T15:10:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T15:10:40","slug":"washington-promotes-opposition-candidate-setting-the-stage-for-delegitimizing-the-venezuelan-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/02\/12\/washington-promotes-opposition-candidate-setting-the-stage-for-delegitimizing-the-venezuelan-presidential-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Promotes Opposition Candidate Setting the Stage for Delegitimizing the Venezuelan Presidential Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite continuous US-led hybrid warfare to overthrow the socialist project, this month marks the 25th anniversary<\/a> of the Bolivarian Revolution. The Venezuelan government of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro has successfully forced the US to de facto<\/em> engage with it, although Washington still maintains the fiction<\/a> that the defunct 2015 National Assembly is the \u201clast remaining democratic institution\u201d there.<\/p>\n

While still egregiously interventionist, the imperial power has been relegated to vetting candidates for the upcoming Venezuelan presidential election, having failed to achieve outright regime change. The appearance of Venezuelan politician Maria Corina Machado before a US congressional committee is the latest in the empire\u2019s quest for a trustworthy confederate. Hopes are high among Republicans that she is the right collaborator. The Democrats may have another endgame.<\/p>\n

The opposition to the ruling Venezuelan socialist government is composed<\/a> of many small and fractious sects, usually associated with a dominant personality, such as Machado\u2019s Vente Venezuela party. The US spends<\/a> millions each year meddling<\/a> in the internal affairs of Venezuela in what it euphemistically calls \u201cdemocracy promotion.\u201d USAID alone pledged<\/a> $50M to \u201cpush\u201d the presidential elections, scheduled for later this year.<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s efforts to force a unified opposition have been so far unsuccessful in Venezuela. But that has not deterred the Yankees from imperiously selecting the candidate they think ought be Venezuela\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n

Farewell to Venezuelan \u201cinterim president\u201d Juan Guaid\u00f3<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The last contender for the role of the empire\u2019s factotum was the now disgraced Juan Guaid\u00f3. Despite his popularity abroad as the \u201cinterim president\u201d of Venezuela, the hapless security asset<\/a> was not as well received at home and was dismissed<\/a> by his own opposition bloc in 2022.<\/p>\n

The US and its allies gave Guaid\u00f3 and his cronies illegally seized Venezuelan assets such the Mon\u00f3meros<\/a> agrochemical complex in Colombia and the Citgo<\/a> oil franchise in the US. They used the enterprises to grossly enrich themselves while running them into the ground. According to the Venezuelan attorney general, an estimated $19B was embezzled<\/a> by Guaid\u00f3\u2019s \u201cfictious government.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his deer-in-the-headlights visage and stilted oratory, Guaid\u00f3 appeared every bit like a puppet. In the case of Mr. Guaid\u00f3, appearances did not deceive. In contrast, the new contestant is photogenic and with a quick wit. Besides, Machado speaks fluent English.<\/p>\n

Machado auditions before the \u201cbipartisan roundtable\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The February 7th House Foreign Affairs Committee \u201cbipartisan roundtable\u201d was entitled \u201cThe Fight for Freedom in Venezuela.\u201d Streamed<\/a> live, committee chair Maria Salazar (R-FL)<\/p>\n

gushed in support of featured guest Mar\u00eda Corina Machado as the sole<\/em> opposition presidential candidate. Salazar asserted that no other<\/em> opposition candidate will be tolerated: \u201cThere is no plan B!\u201d<\/p>\n

In what amounted to an audition, Machado painted a dire picture of today\u2019s Venezuela as the \u201clargest torture center in Latin America.\u201d She accused the Maduro government of \u201cintentionally destroying the quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked how she would solve Venezuela\u2019s problems, Machado said she would \u201copen markets.\u201d Not mentioned was that the very US economic sanctions, which she had championed, had closed the markets and imposed an asphyxiating blockade immiserating Venezuela\u2019s less fortunate citizens. Machado comes from one the richest families.<\/p>\n

Alluding to current president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and National Assembly leader Diosdado Cabello, Machado said she would not be for \u201ca system of impunity\u201d when she\u2019s president.<\/p>\n

Although no one else had brought Nicaragua up, she pledged to work for a \u201ctransition\u201d there too. Statements like this prompted the Per\u00fa Libre party, reflecting leftist sentiment throughout Latin America, to warn<\/a> that Machado \u201cconstitutes a threat to continental peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Machado\u2019s political baggage<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Machado comes with considerable political baggage. In 2002, she signed the infamous Carmona Decree, establishing the short-lived coup government that temporarily deposed Hugo Ch\u00e1vez. Machado received amnesty for supporting that coup, but has continued to be associated<\/a> in coup attempts. She was active in promoting the violent guarimbas<\/em> in 2014 and 2017 to overthrow the elected government and has called for a US military invasion.<\/p>\n

In 2014, she was barred<\/a> from running for public office, in accordance with the Venezuelan constitution, when she served as a diplomat for Panama in order to testify against Venezuela before the Organization of American States. She had initially refused to contest her barring before the supreme court (TSJ), which she regarded as illegitimate. But when Washington wanted to use her electoral disqualification as an excuse<\/a> for reimposing some sanctions, she obediently<\/a> complied, though she still remained barred.<\/p>\n

Other congressional initiatives<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last December, Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) introduced<\/a> House Resolution 911 designating Machado as the \u201cofficial presidential opposition candidate.\u201d Besides being a blatant interference in the internal affairs of another country, the resolution is tone deaf to the opposition in Venezuela, which does not recognize Machado as the sole legitimate candidate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>On January 30, after Machado lost her appeal<\/a> to have her electoral eligibility reinstated, Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, and Bill Cassidy sent Biden a letter<\/a> urging him to immediately reimpose sanctions on Venezuela in order to maintain US \u201ccredibility.\u201d That same day, the Biden State Department issued a statement<\/a> revoking sanctions relief on Venezuelan gold sales and threatened to do the same on gas and oil.<\/p>\n

Four days before, the Congressional Research Service reported<\/a> that US sanctions on Venezuela have \u201cfailed\u201d to achieve regime change but have caused profound human suffering. This is the same \u201chumanitarian crisis\u201d that Machado claims was deliberately precipitated by the Venezuelan government.<\/p>\n

How popular is Machado off of Capitol Hill?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Most knowledgeable analysts identify Machado as the opposition politician in Venezuela with the greatest name recognition and the single most popular<\/a> one. But she does not command the unanimity of support in Venezuela that she is receiving inside the beltway.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan sociologist Maria Paez Victor, now residing in Canada, reports that Machado is deeply resented by most in the opposition. \u201cShe is a hated figure among the people because of her enthusiastic support and plea for more sanctions that have caused such suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

To begin with, Machado\u2019s much vaunted opposition primary<\/a> was problematic. Machado swept a crowded field of contestants with a suspicious 92%. The October contest excluded some opposition parties, while others chose<\/a> not to contend and still others participated but subsequently claimed<\/a> fraud.<\/p>\n

The primary was not conducted by the national election authority (CNE) as they usually are, but was a private affair<\/a> run by Machado\u2019s own non-governmental organization S\u00famate, which has received NED funding<\/a>. Some of the polling places were in private homes<\/a> rather than public venues such as schools. And after the ballots were counted manually, they were quickly destroyed so that there was no way to verify<\/a> the validity of the count.<\/p>\n

Reflecting the primary\u2019s questionable nature, the US press<\/a> usually refers to it as \u201can<\/em>\u201d opposition primary rather than \u201cthe<\/em>\u201d opposition primary, although a close and critical reading is needed to detect the weasel-word usage. Due to the irregularities, the Venezuelan supreme court subsequently suspended<\/a> the primary results.<\/p>\n

Machado\u2019s prospects<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Although Maduro has yet to announce his candidacy, it is widely believed that the incumbent president will be his party\u2019s choice. For her part, Machado says<\/a>, \u201cthere can be no elections without me.\u201d The European Union agrees<\/a>, saying they will not recognize the election unless Machado runs.<\/p>\n

The Orinoco Tribune<\/em> reports<\/a> that the White House does not especially care who the opposition candidate is in Venezuela. According to Biden official Juan Gonz\u00e1lez, \u201cthe process and not the candidate\u201d is most important.<\/p>\n

This translates to the White House anticipating a Maduro victory and, accordingly, planning to pronounce the election fraudulent. In the last Venezuelan presidential election, the US took no chances<\/a> when it declared the contest fraudulent a half a year in advance and even threatened opposition candidate Henri Falc\u00f3n with sanctions for running.<\/p>\n

The manufactured drama around Machado\u2019s electoral eligibility has a purpose that has little to do with the far-right opposition politician. Washington knew<\/a> with near certainty that she would not be allowed<\/a> to run for political office due to manifest past transgressions. That is precisely why she was not<\/em> named in the Barbados Agreement\u2019s electoral roadmap<\/a> negotiated between the US and Venezuela. Rather, the charade is being played out to cast doubt and calumny on the upcoming election. If Maduro wins, the US will surely pronounce the contest illegitimate.<\/p>The post Washington Promotes Opposition Candidate Setting the Stage for Delegitimizing the Venezuelan Presidential Election<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite continuous US-led hybrid warfare to overthrow the socialist project, this month marks the 25th anniversary of the Bolivarian Revolution. The Venezuelan government of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro has successfully forced the US to de facto engage with it, although Washington still maintains the fiction that the defunct 2015 National Assembly is the \u201clast remaining democratic [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post Washington Promotes Opposition Candidate Setting the Stage for Delegitimizing the Venezuelan Presidential Election<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[731,52,74234,59152,8076,36,59],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1495825"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1496465,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495825\/revisions\/1496465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1495825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1495825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1495825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}