Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > 13 Years After Foiled U.S.-Backed Coup, Right-Wing Opposition Wins
Venezuela Election
________________________________________
13 Years After Foiled U.S.-Backed Coup, Right-Wing Opposition Wins Venezuela
Election
By Ben Norton [1] / Salon [2]
December 7, 2015
Venezuelas opposition won control of the legislature in the election
Sunday, for the first time in almost two decades.
The president of the countrys National Electoral Council told the
Associated Press [3]that the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) a
right-leaning coalition of right-wing, centrist, and center-left opposition
parties led by conservative politician Henrique Capriles, head of the
right-wing Justice First party won at least 99 seats in the 167-seat
National Assembly, while the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won
46.
For 17 years, the PSUV has enjoyed enormous popularity in Venezuela. Its
economic and social programs drastically reduced poverty, created universal
healthcare, and promoted widespread literacy and education. Compared to its
Latin American neighbors, Venezuela has consistently led the region in
reducing poverty [4].
In recent years, the Venezuelan economy has faced turbulence and rising
inflation. Venezuela has the worlds largest oil reserves, and the rapid
drop in the price of oil has hit it particularly hard.
The opposition, which blames the governments left-wing policies for the
instability, has capitalized on the turmoil. Supporters of the government,
on the other hand, say powerful business oligarchs, corporations, and
foreign governments [5] especially the U.S. have pursued policies of
economic sabotage in Venezuela. This view is supported by the information
revealed in U.S. government documents released by WikiLeaks [6].
After the election, President Nicolás Maduro who was elected after the
death of Hugo Chávez in 2013 lamented in a televised address, I can say
today that the economic war has triumphed.
The electoral victory marks the first time a right-wing government will rule
Venezuela in this century.
Although Venezuelas democratically elected socialist government has been
widely characterized by the right wing as a dictatorship, in 2012, former
President Jimmy Carter who won a Nobel prize for his international
election-monitoring work through the Carter Center remarked [7], As a
matter of fact, of the 92 elections that weve monitored, I would say that
the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.
Under the PSUV, Venezuela has been known for its harsh criticism of U.S.
foreign policy. In 2006, President Chávez called George W. Bush a devil
[8] in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in comments met with
applause from the audience. Chávez also referred to President Bush as a
donkey.
In April 2002, the U.S. backed a coup that overthrew Venezuelas
democratically elected leftist government and installed right-wing
businessman Pedro Carmona as leader. The putsch, however, lasted just 48
hours. Venezuelans from poor and working-class neighborhoods immediately
filled the streets demanding that elected President Chávez return to power.
The military subsequently forced Carmonas unelected, U.S.-recognized
government to step down and reinstalled Chávez.
The State Department later admitted [9], it is clear that NED [National
Endowment for Democracy], Department of Defense (DOD), and other U.S.
assistance programs provided training, institution building, and other
support to individuals and organizations understood to be actively involved
in the brief ouster of the Chávez government.
A week after the 2002 coup, leading British newspaper the Guardian reported
[10] that the failed coup in Venezuela was closely tied to senior officials
in the U.S. government.
The U.S. has long histories in the dirty wars of the 1980s, and links to
death squads working in Central America at that time, the Guardian added.
Washingtons involvement in the turbulent events that briefly removed
left-wing leader Hugo Chávez from power last weekend resurrects fears about
U.S. ambitions in the hemisphere.
Since 2002, the Venezuelan government has accused the U.S. numerous times of
supporting further coup attempts. Washington denied that it was pursuing
regime change in Venezuela although the U.S. has, stretching over many
decades, overthrown numerous democratically elected left-wing governments in
Latin America [11].
In March 2014, the Obama administration declared a national emergency with
respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and
foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela, in
a move Center for Economic and Policy Research Director and Just Foreign
Policy President Mark Weisbrot characterized as a new step toward the
theater of the absurd. [12]
For a four-month period in Venezuela in 2014, right-wing opposition groups
resorted to violent protests. Even after nine Venezuelan national guardsmen
were killed [13], the U.S. government was firm in its support for the
opposition.
This is the second loss of the Latin American left in the past month.
Argentina elected right-wing, U.S.-educated banker and businessman Mauricio
Macri in late November in a very close race.
Ben Norton is a politics staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter
at @BenjaminNorton [14].
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [15]
[16]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/13-years-after-foiled-us-backed-co
up-right-wing-opposition-wins-venezuela-election
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ben-norton-0
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3]
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/12/07/world/americas/ap-lt-venezuela-el
ections.html
[4]
https://web.archive.org/web/20151017082709/http://www.cepr.net/blogs/the-ame
ricas-blog/venezuela-leads-region-in-poverty-reduction-in-2012-eclac-says
[5]
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/12/venezuela-elections-hugo-chavez-maduro/
[6]
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/09/latin-america-wikileaks-hugo-chavez-rafae
l-correa-obama-venezuela-intervention/
[7]
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/03/why-us-dcemonises-venez
uelas-democracy
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/world/americas/20cnd-chavez.html
[9] https://oig.state.gov/system/files/13682.pdf
[10] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/21/usa.venezuela
[11]
http://www.salon.com/2015/11/18/this_is_why_they_hate_us_the_real_american_h
istory_neither_ted_cruz_nor_the_new_york_times_will_tell_you/
[12]
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/3/obama-absurdly-declares-venezue
la-a-national-security-threat.html
[13]
http://www.bbc.com/mundo/ultimas_noticias/2014/04/140413_ultnot_venezuela_mi
litares_torturas_cch.shtml
[14] http://twitter.com/benjaminnorton
[15] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on 13 Years After Foiled
U.S.-Backed Coup, Right-Wing Opposition Wins Venezuela Election
[16] http://www.alternet.org/
[17] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > 13 Years After Foiled U.S.-Backed Coup, Right-Wing Opposition Wins
Venezuela Election
13 Years After Foiled U.S.-Backed Coup, Right-Wing Opposition Wins Venezuela
Election
By Ben Norton [1] / Salon [2]
December 7, 2015
Venezuelas opposition won control of the legislature in the election
Sunday, for the first time in almost two decades.
The president of the countrys National Electoral Council told the
Associated Press [3]that the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) a
right-leaning coalition of right-wing, centrist, and center-left opposition
parties led by conservative politician Henrique Capriles, head of the
right-wing Justice First party won at least 99 seats in the 167-seat
National Assembly, while the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won
46.
For 17 years, the PSUV has enjoyed enormous popularity in Venezuela. Its
economic and social programs drastically reduced poverty, created universal
healthcare, and promoted widespread literacy and education. Compared to its
Latin American neighbors, Venezuela has consistently led the region in
reducing poverty [4].
In recent years, the Venezuelan economy has faced turbulence and rising
inflation. Venezuela has the worlds largest oil reserves, and the rapid
drop in the price of oil has hit it particularly hard.
The opposition, which blames the governments left-wing policies for the
instability, has capitalized on the turmoil. Supporters of the government,
on the other hand, say powerful business oligarchs, corporations, and
foreign governments [5] especially the U.S. have pursued policies of
economic sabotage in Venezuela. This view is supported by the information
revealed in U.S. government documents released by WikiLeaks [6].
After the election, President Nicolás Maduro who was elected after the
death of Hugo Chávez in 2013 lamented in a televised address, I can say
today that the economic war has triumphed.
The electoral victory marks the first time a right-wing government will rule
Venezuela in this century.
Although Venezuelas democratically elected socialist government has been
widely characterized by the right wing as a dictatorship, in 2012, former
President Jimmy Carter who won a Nobel prize for his international
election-monitoring work through the Carter Center remarked [7], As a
matter of fact, of the 92 elections that weve monitored, I would say that
the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.
Under the PSUV, Venezuela has been known for its harsh criticism of U.S.
foreign policy. In 2006, President Chávez called George W. Bush a devil
[8] in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in comments met with
applause from the audience. Chávez also referred to President Bush as a
donkey.
In April 2002, the U.S. backed a coup that overthrew Venezuelas
democratically elected leftist government and installed right-wing
businessman Pedro Carmona as leader. The putsch, however, lasted just 48
hours. Venezuelans from poor and working-class neighborhoods immediately
filled the streets demanding that elected President Chávez return to power.
The military subsequently forced Carmonas unelected, U.S.-recognized
government to step down and reinstalled Chávez.
The State Department later admitted [9], it is clear that NED [National
Endowment for Democracy], Department of Defense (DOD), and other U.S.
assistance programs provided training, institution building, and other
support to individuals and organizations understood to be actively involved
in the brief ouster of the Chávez government.
A week after the 2002 coup, leading British newspaper the Guardian reported
[10] that the failed coup in Venezuela was closely tied to senior officials
in the U.S. government.
The U.S. has long histories in the dirty wars of the 1980s, and links to
death squads working in Central America at that time, the Guardian added.
Washingtons involvement in the turbulent events that briefly removed
left-wing leader Hugo Chávez from power last weekend resurrects fears about
U.S. ambitions in the hemisphere.
Since 2002, the Venezuelan government has accused the U.S. numerous times of
supporting further coup attempts. Washington denied that it was pursuing
regime change in Venezuela although the U.S. has, stretching over many
decades, overthrown numerous democratically elected left-wing governments in
Latin America [11].
In March 2014, the Obama administration declared a national emergency with
respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and
foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela, in
a move Center for Economic and Policy Research Director and Just Foreign
Policy President Mark Weisbrot characterized as a new step toward the
theater of the absurd. [12]
For a four-month period in Venezuela in 2014, right-wing opposition groups
resorted to violent protests. Even after nine Venezuelan national guardsmen
were killed [13], the U.S. government was firm in its support for the
opposition.
This is the second loss of the Latin American left in the past month.
Argentina elected right-wing, U.S.-educated banker and businessman Mauricio
Macri in late November in a very close race.
Ben Norton is a politics staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter
at @BenjaminNorton [14].
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [15]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[16]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/13-years-after-foiled-us-backed-co
up-right-wing-opposition-wins-venezuela-election
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ben-norton-0
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3]
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/12/07/world/americas/ap-lt-venezuela-el
ections.html
[4]
https://web.archive.org/web/20151017082709/http://www.cepr.net/blogs/the-ame
ricas-blog/venezuela-leads-region-in-poverty-reduction-in-2012-eclac-says
[5]
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/12/venezuela-elections-hugo-chavez-maduro/
[6]
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/09/latin-america-wikileaks-hugo-chavez-rafae
l-correa-obama-venezuela-intervention/
[7]
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/03/why-us-dcemonises-venez
uelas-democracy
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/world/americas/20cnd-chavez.html
[9] https://oig.state.gov/system/files/13682.pdf
[10] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/21/usa.venezuela
[11]
http://www.salon.com/2015/11/18/this_is_why_they_hate_us_the_real_american_h
istory_neither_ted_cruz_nor_the_new_york_times_will_tell_you/
[12]
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/3/obama-absurdly-declares-venezue
la-a-national-security-threat.html
[13]
http://www.bbc.com/mundo/ultimas_noticias/2014/04/140413_ultnot_venezuela_mi
litares_torturas_cch.shtml
[14] http://twitter.com/benjaminnorton
[15] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on 13 Years After Foiled
U.S.-Backed Coup, Right-Wing Opposition Wins Venezuela Election
[16] http://www.alternet.org/
[17] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
