HOW A LAWBREAKING INTERNATIONAL COALITION FAILED TO OVERTHROW VENEZUELAS
GOVERNMENT
By Vijay Prashad and Carlos Ron/Globetrotter, Popular Resistance.
January 14, 2021 | EDUCATE!
Above photo: Rally in Ottawa, Canada.
The Lima Group Represents A Key Tool In The Hybrid War Arsenal: Diplomatic
War.
On January 5, 2021, the newly elected National Assembly took its seats in
Venezuelas capital. That day the Lima Group released a statement most of
its members signed saying that they did not recognize the legality of the
assembly. They called upon countries around the world to disregard the
assembly and to recognize instead the leadership of a former member of the
assembly, Juan Guaidó. The Lima Group felt that it was appropriate for its
signatories to call for a transition process inside Venezuela; in other
words, the Lima Group affirmed its mission, which is to overthrow the
government of Venezuelas President Nicolás Maduro and the Bolivarian
Revolution.
What Is The Lima Group?
On August 8, 2017, 12 countries in the Americas came together in Lima, Peru,
to create this group. Led by Canada, these countries had right-wing
governments with a close relationship with the United States of America
(from Brazil to Colombia, from Honduras to Paraguay). This group was formed
to contribute to the restoration of democracy in Venezuela, which meantin
factto contribute to the overthrow of the elected government of Venezuela.
The founding declaration made two related points. First, that Venezuela was
in the midst of a critical situation, which included the breakdown of the
democratic order in Venezuela. Second, that the remedy for this breakdown
is the restoration of democracy, to be conducted by a peaceful and
negotiated process.
The problem faced by the Venezuelan people in 2017 was not a deficit of
democracyin fact, the country has had 26 elections since Hugo Chávez came
into office in 1999but the suffocating U.S. illegal sanctions regime
against Venezuela. Sanctions are only part of the range of U.S.-imposed
hybrid war techniques, which include sabotage and armed insurrection. The
Lima Group says that it rejects violence and any option that involves the
use of force. Since 2017 there have been many conventional attempts to
overthrow the government in Venezuela, and in none of these instances has
the Lima Group made a statement against the use of force.
The Lima Group represents a key tool in the hybrid war arsenal: diplomatic
war. In the years before 2017, the United States did not have a sufficient
majority in the Organization of American States (OAS) to use that body to
isolate Venezuela; therefore, the U.S. worked with its oligarchic allies in
the Americas to form a fake regional bloc with Latin American countries
alongside Canada. The United States has hovered at the Lima Group meetings,
setting the agenda and driving the policy.
Is The Lima Group Legal?
Each of the members of the Lima Group is a member of the United Nations
(UN), which means that they have to abide by the UN Charter of 1945. That
charter says that regional arrangements are perfectly legal and that such
arrangements could assist in the maintenance of international peace and
security (UN Charter, Chapter VIII, Article 52, Paragraph 1). If the Lima
Group was set up to further the goals of the UN Charter, there would be no
illegality.
Where the Lima Group strays into illegality is when it decides collectively
to enforce decisions upon Venezuela, which is a member state of the UN. The
UN Charter says explicitly that no enforcement action is permitted by a
regional arrangement without the authorization of the Security Council.
The UN Security Council can use these regional bodies to take enforcement
action under its authority; to do so, however, would require a UN Security
Council resolution (UN Charter, Chapter VIII, Article 53, Paragraph 1).
There is no UN Security Council resolution that provides the Lima Group with
the authority to pressure Venezuelas government to resign and agree to a
transfer of power.
If there is no UN Security Council resolution, then it is illegal for a
regional arrangement of UN member states to attempt to take enforcement
actionincluding regime changeagainst another member state of the UN. The
Lima Groups declarations and statements do not cite any UN Security Council
justification for its actions. Since there is no such UN Security Council
resolution, based on the specific language in the UN Charter, the Lima
Groups existence is in violation of the UN Charter.
Non-Interference
The members of the Lima Group are also members of the UN and the
Organization of American States, formed in 1948 as a regional arrangement.
Both the UN and the OAS charters explicitly oppose interference in the
domestic matters of another UN and OAS member state.
The UN Charter says that it does not authorize its members to intervene in
matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any
state. The only exception to this is if there is a UN Security Council
resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows such
intervention. If there is no such resolution, then the UN member states are
obliged to respect the domestic jurisdiction of other members. This is the
concept of non-interference, violated by the Lima Group in each of its
meetings.
The OAS Charter twice takes a position against interference and
intervention. First, in the opening sections of the Charter, member states
pledge to follow the principle of non-intervention (OAS Charter, Chapter
I, Article 2, Section b). Second, later in the charter there is a long
explanation of non-intervention, which extends beyond military attacks to
include a range of interventions:
No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or
indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external affairs of
any other State. The foregoing principle prohibits not only armed force but
also any other form of interference or attempted threat against the
personality of the State or against its political, economic, and cultural
elements. (OAS Charter, Chapter IV, Article 19)
Both the UN Charter and the OAS Charter are clear that any conspiracy to
overthrow another member of the UN and the OAS is illegal. There is no other
way to understand the actions of the Lima Group than that its members are in
breach of its obligations to these two foundational charters.
Ottawa Or Bogotá Group?
By the start of this year, the original 12 countries in the Lima Group were
joined by five others to make 17. However, for the statement against
Venezuela on January 5, there were only 13 signatories (including two
non-member countries). Key Lima Group member countries such as Argentina,
Bolivia, and Mexico had not signed this statement. Part of the reason is
that most of these countries are now governed by left-wing governments who
do not believe in the regime change policy against Venezuela. They
understand the Lima Group for what it is, namely a conspiracy against the UN
Charter.
Since 2017, Peru has lurched through one political crisis after another from
corruption cases implicating politicians and overthrowing governments;
massive protests, including recently over an agrarian law, have gripped the
country in its own democratic convulsions. Perus presidents, often charged
with corruption, came in and out of office in quick succession, and yetin a
very forced and insincere waythey called for democratic processes in
Venezuela; Pablo Pedro Kuczynskicharged with corruptionwas out of office
seven months after the Lima Group was created, while his successor Martín
Vizcarra was impeached for permanent moral incapacity. Manuel Arturo
Merino who came next lasted for five days before handing over the reins to
Francisco Sagasti. Sagasti, whose hold on the presidency is fragile, took
time out of the crisis in Peru to attack Venezuela in late December 2020;
nonetheless, Peru seems to be losing its appetite for this operation against
Venezuela.
More fundamentally committed to regime change in Venezuela are Canada and
Colombia, which is why the Lima Group could be more accurately known as the
Ottawa Group or the Bogotá Group. Whatever the group is called, there is no
doubt that it isbased on the UN and OAS Chartersan illegal conspiracy
against Venezuela. The sooner the group is disbanded, the better. Venezuela,
with a new National Assembly, is exercising its political sovereignty
against the hybrid war attempt to destabilize the country.
