Juan Guaido
Venezuela February 3, 2019
WSJ Confirms: Trump-Appointed Venezuela Coup Leader Plans Neoliberal
Capitalist Shock Therapy
Venezuelas US-appointed coup leader Juan Guaidó plans to privatize state
assets and give foreign corporations access to oil, the Wall Street Journal
admitted.
By Ben Norton
The Wall Street Journal reported that Venezuelas US-appointed coup leader
Juan Guaidó has already drafted plans for opening up Venezuelas vast oil
sector to private investment and privatizing assets held by state
enterprises.
The report confirms what The Grayzone previously reported.
Juan Guaidó, recognized by Washington as the rightful leader, said he would
sell state assets and invite private investment in the energy industry,
read the Wall Street Journals January 31 article.
The paper noted that Guaidó plans to reverse President Nicolás Maduros
economic polices, explaining:
Mr. Guaidó said his plan called for seeking financial aide from
multilateral organizations, tapping bilateral loans, restructuring debt and
opening up Venezuelas vast oil sector to private investment. It includes
privatizing assets held by state enterprises
He also said hed end
wasteful state subsidies and take steps to revive the private sector.
In other words, Guaidó plans to implement the neoliberal capitalist shock
therapy that Washington has imposed on the region for decades.
Using funding from US-dominated international financial institutions like
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Venezuelan coup leader seeks to
adopt an aggressive structural adjustment program, enacting the kinds of
economic policies that have led to the preventable deaths of millions of
people and an explosion of poverty and inequality in the years following
capitalist restoration in the former Soviet Union.
In a speech, Juan Guaidó even echoed rhetoric that is popular among US
conservatives: Here, no one wants to be given anything.
It is clear that the coup leaders priorities reflect those of Venezuelas
capitalist oligarchs and right-wing politicians in the United States.
Economic liberalization is the Venezuelan oppositions first and most
important goal; democracy is just a pretense.
Ben Norton
Ben Norton is a journalist and writer. He is a reporter for The Grayzone,
and the producer of the Moderate Rebels podcast, which he co-hosts with Max
Blumenthal. His website is BenNorton.com, and he tweets at @BenjaminNorton.
