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The struggle of Venezuela against 'a common enemy'
Pilger, John
http://johnpilger.com/articles/the-struggle-of-venezuela-against-a-common-enemyDate Written: 2015-02-17 Publisher: John Pilger Year Published: 2015 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX17399 John Pilger discusses the reasons that the United States continues to work continuously to overthrow Venezuela's left-learning government. The U.S. government makes absurd claims that Venezuela poses a grave 'threat' to the United States, but the truth is the opposite: the U.S. government poses a grave threat to Venezuela and its people. Abstract: - Excerpt: There are straightforward principles and dynamics at work here. Washington wants to get rid of the Venezuelan government because it is independent of US designs for the region and because Venezuela has the greatest proven oil reserves in the world and uses its oil revenue to improve the quality of ordinary lives. Venezuela remains a source of inspiration for social reform in a continent ravaged by an historically rapacious US. An Oxfam report once famously described the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua as 'the threat of a good example'. That has been true in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez won his first election. The 'threat' of Venezuela is greater, of course, because it is not tiny and weak; it is rich and influential and regarded as such by China. The remarkable change in fortunes for millions of people in Latin America is at the heart of US hostility. The US has been the undeclared enemy of social progress in Latin America for two centuries. It doesn't matter who has been in the White House: Barack Obama or Teddy Roosevelt; the US will not tolerate countries with governments and cultures that put the needs of their own people first and refuse to promote or succumb to US demands and pressures. A reformist social democracy with a capitalist base - such as Venezuela - is not excused by the rulers of the world. What is inexcusable is Venezuela's political independence; only complete deference is acceptable. The 'survival' of Chavista Venezuela is a testament to the support of ordinary Venezuelans for their elected government - that was clear to me when I was last there. Venezuela's weakness is that the political 'opposition' - those I would call the 'East Caracas Mob' - represent powerful interests who have been allowed to retain critical economic power. Only when that power is diminished will Venezuela shake off the constant menace of foreign-backed, often criminal subversion. No society should have to deal with that, year in, year out. ... There are the usual crop of quislings and spies; they come and go with their media theatre of fake revelations, but the principal enemy is the media. You may recall the Venezuelan admiral who was one of the coup-plotters against Chavez in 2002, boasting during his brief tenure in power, 'Our secret weapon was the media'. The Venezuelan media, especially television, were active participants in that coup, lying that supporters of the government were firing into a crowd of protestors from a bridge. False images and headlines went around the world. The New York Times joined in, welcoming the overthrow of a democratic 'anti-American' government; it usually does. Something similar happened in Caracas last year when vicious right-wing mobs were lauded as 'peaceful protestors' who were being 'repressed'. This was undoubtedly the start of a Washington-backed 'colour revolution' openly backed by the likes of the National Endowment for Democracy - a user-friendly CIA clone. It was uncannily like the coup that Washington successfully staged in Ukraine last year. As in Kiev, in Venezuela the 'peaceful protestors' set fire to government buildings and deployed snipers and were lauded by western politicians and the western media. Subject Headings |