Hoping to Force an Outcome, US Sanctions Opposition Parties in Venezuela
Ahead of Elections
Sanctions on Venezuela are nothing new. But Secretary of State Pompeo
recently took the unusual step of sanctioning leaders of local opposition
parties in an attempt to pressure them to pull out of upcoming elections.
by Alan Macleod
September 23rd, 2020
By Alan Macleod
Elections for Venezuelas National Assembly are fast approaching. But the
United States does not want them to go ahead at all. Sanctions on Venezuela
are nothing new. But yesterday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took the
unusual step of sanctioning leaders of local opposition parties in an
attempt to pressure them to pull out of the contest in December.
Remarkably, considering the well-documented flaws with the same problems in
the U.S., Pompeos statement dubiously claimed that Venezuelan voting
machines are unreliable, that millions of voters remain unregistered, and
that the countrys supreme electoral council is politicized and hand-picked
by the executive branch.
That many parties are contesting the upcoming December elections to the
National Assembly (that the opposition already controls) seems to undermine
Pompeos claim that Nicolas Maduro is a desperate and illegitimate
dictator. The 56-year-old former CIA Director, however, explained that they
are merely puppet parties participating in an electoral charade. The
National Assembly is roughly akin to the French Assemblée Nationale or the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Last week Pompeo toured Venezuelas neighbors to discuss regime change.
Maduro has to go, Pompeo said while in Guyana. We know that the Maduro
regime has decimated the people of Venezuela and that Maduro himself is an
indicted narcotics trafficker. That means he has to leave. The United
States and Guyana announced that they would subsequently be carrying out
joint military border patrols along the countrys sparsely populated bur
disputed frontier with Venezuela.
The Venezuela-Guyana border dispute is an extremely old one, going back to
unresolved disagreements between the Spanish and British empires, long
before eithers establishment as a state. The large, heavily forested region
claimed by both countries is largely untouched and thought to be home to
uncontacted tribes. Because of this, the dispute has never spilled over into
a serious conflict. Pompeo claimed that the operation is purely an
anti-drugs operation, but in the same speech described as a
narco-trafficker, muddying the waters further.
Earlier this month an American ex-C.I.A. agent was arrested outside the
countrys largest oil refinery complex in possession of C4 explosives, a
grenade launcher, and other weapons.
As Venezuela Foils CIA Terror Plot" Pompeo Tours Its Neighbors To Talk
Regime Change
Venezuela has announced it has foiled a potential terror attack, arresting a
former CIA operative Matthew John Heath.
MintPress News | Alan Macleod | Sep 18
The United States already tried the tactic of sanctioning Maduros opponents
during the 2018 presidential elections, when it demanded opposition leader
Henri Falcon drop out, threatening him with sanctions. Falcon remained in to
contest the election, but with many of his coalition heeding American advice
and boycotting it, he was resoundingly beaten. In the end, Maduro won with
68 percent of the vote. The process was watched over by 150 international
observers and foreign dignitaries, who attested to its veracity. Maduro has
asked teams from the United Nations and European Union to oversee the
December vote, something the U.S. does not want to happen.
Since coming to power in 2013, Maduro has presided over an increasingly
dysfunctional economy and falling standards of living. Inflation has racked
the country, there have been acute shortages of certain goods, oil
production has collapsed, and many have left the country as a result. Much
of the mayhem, however, is due to the impact of American sanctions, formally
condemned by the U.N., and estimated to have killed at least 100,000 people.
Earlier this week, the State Department announced sweeping new humanitarian
support for Venezuelans, although, given its history in the country, it is
highly likely to be politicized. Much of it is actually earmarked for the
neighboring countries Pompeo visited.
Maduros public approval rating is very low. Yet his party still stands a
decent chance in the National Assembly elections. This is partly due to the
equally unpopular opposition coalition, which is fractured and unsure what
to do. Some favor a boycott of the vote like in 2018, others to compete and
win.
Historically, when eschewing violence and pursuing purely electoral means,
the opposition has fared relatively well at the ballot box, winning the
National Assembly in 2015. Two years earlier, their candidate Henrique
Capriles received 49 percent of the vote for the presidency. However, they
are beset with infighting, with the United States propping up self-declared
president Juan Guaidó as the legitimate ruler of the country, even though he
wields no power. Earlier this month Capriles called on him to stop playing
at government on the internet.
Guaidó rose to prominence in January 2019 when, as it was his partys turn
to lead the institution, he was appointed head of the National Assembly for
one year. He immediately declared himself president, however, shocking the
world, and would go on to launch five unsuccessful coup attempts since, all
with U.S. backing.
While Guaidó enjoys virtually unanimous support among Democrats and
Republicans (he was a guest of honor at Trumps State of the Union, where he
was given a standing ovation by both parties), a number of embarrassing
financial and alcohol-related scandals have made him a deeply unpopular
figure inside the country. Recent polls put his public support at three
percent. In January he resigned from his party, meaning he has no formal
political office at all.
Despite this, the U.S. continues to bankroll his stunts, even supplying him
with money it stole from the Venezuelan government so he could give a large
stipend to the countrys 62,000 health workers throughout the COVID-19
pandemic.
How the Media Manufactures Consent for Regime Change in Venezuela
Alan MacLeod looks at the role of the media in fomenting popular support for
the regime change operation in Venezuela.
MintPress News | Alan Macleod | Feb 26, 2019
Trying to explain Latin America to an international audience, the great
Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano described his region as an upside down
world, where everything is turned on its head. Thus, Venezuela is an
autocracy with upcoming elections, presided over by a dictator who was
elected twice, with a larger share of the electorate than Trump in 2016 or
Obama in 2012, holding sham votes watched over by impressed international
observers. The land of the free, however, attacks anyone who participates in
elections or the 97 percent who do not support their own self-declared
president, a man who has never even run for the office he claims he holds.
The U.S. helps forces for democracy launch coup detats, assassination
attempts, or terror plots in order to bring about relief from the suffering
it is causing through its own actions. No wonder so many people are
confused.
