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<LI><FONT size=-1>Weekend Edition February 21-23, 2014
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<DIV class=subheadlinestyle>The Revolution is Here to Stay</DIV>
<H1 class=article-title>Venezuela Beyond the Protests</H1>
<DIV class=mainauthorstyle>by EVA GOLINGER</DIV>
<DIV class=main-text>
<P>For those of you unfamiliar with Venezuelan issues, don’t let the title of
this article fool you. The revolution referred to is not what most media outlets
are showing taking place today in Caracas, with protestors calling for the
ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The revolution that is here to
stay is the Bolivarian Revolution, which began in 1998 when Hugo Chavez was
first elected president and has subsequently transformed the mega oil producing
nation into a socially-focused, progressive country with a grassroots
government. Demonstrations taking place over the past few days in Venezuela are
attempts to undermine and destroy that transformation in order to return power
to the hands of the elite who ruled the nation previously for over 40 years.</P>
<P>Those protesting do not represent Venezuela’s vast working class majority
that struggled to overcome the oppressive exclusion they were subjected to
during administrations before Chavez. The youth taking to the streets today in
Caracas and other cities throughout the country, hiding their faces behind masks
and balaclavas, destroying public buildings, vehicles, burning garbage,
violently blocking transit and throwing rocks and molotov cocktails at security
forces are being driven by extremist right-wing interests from Venezuela’s
wealthiest sector. Led by hardline neoconservatives, Leopoldo Lopez, Henrique
Capriles and Maria Corina Machado – who come from three of the wealthiest
families in Venezuela, the 1% of the 1% – the protesters seek not to revindicate
their basic fundamental rights, or gain access to free healthcare or education,
all of which are guaranteed by the state, thanks to Chavez, but rather are
attempting to spiral the country into a state of ungovernability that would
justify an international intervention leading to regime change.</P>
<P>Before Chavez was elected in 1998, Venezuela was in a very dark, difficult
period with a dangerously eroded democracy. During the early 1990s, poverty
swelled at around 80%, the economy was in a sinkhole, the nation’s vast middle
class was disappearing with millions falling into economic dispair,
constitutional rights were suspended, a national curfew was imposed and
corruption was rampant. Those who protested the actions of the government were
brutally repressed and often killed. In fact, during the period of so-called
“representative democracy” in Venezuela from 1958-1998, before the nation’s
transformation into a participatory democracy under Chavez, thousands of
Venezuelans were disappeared, tortured, persecuted and assassinated by state
security forces. None of their rights were guaranteed and no one, except the
majority excluded poor, seemed to care. International Human Rights organizations
showed little interest in Venezuela during that time, despite clear and
systematic violations taking place against the people.</P>
<P>Those in power during that period, also referred to in Venezuela as the
“Fourth Republic”, represented an elite minority – families that held the
nation’s wealth and profited heavily from the lucrative oil reserves. Millions
of dollars from oil profits belonging to the state (oil was nationalized in
Venezuela in 1976) were embezzled out of<BR><A
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.amazon.com']);"
href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Chávez-Code-Intervention-ebook/dp/B00359FEMM/counterpunchmaga"><IMG
class=alignright alt=9781566566476_p0_v1_s260x420
src="http://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/dropzone/2013/07/9781566566476_p0_v1_s260x420.jpg"
width=208 height=313></A> the country into the bloated bank accounts of wealthy
Venezuelans and corrupt public officials who had homes in Miami, New York and
the Dominican Republic and lived the high life off the backs of an impoverished
majority.</P>
<P>Hugo Chavez’s electoral victory in 1998 shattered the opulent banquet the
Venezuelan elite had enjoyed for decades, while they ran the country into the
ground. He was elected precisely to break the hold on power those groups had
harnessed for so many years, and Chavez’s promise was revolution – complete
transformation of the economic, social and political system in the country. His
electoral victories were solid, year after year, each time rising in popularity
as more and more Venezuelans became motivated to participate in their governance
and the construction of a new, inclusive, nation with social justice as its
banner.</P>
<P>Chavez’s election was a huge blow to Washington and the powerful interests in
the United States that wanted control over Venezuela’s oil reserves – the
largest on the planet. In April 2002, the Bush administration backed a coup
d’etat to overthrow Chavez, led by the very same elite that had been in power
before. The coup involved mass marches in the streets of Caracas, composed of
the wealthy and middle classes, calling for Chavez’s ouster. Snipers were used
to shoot on those in the marches, creating violence and chaos that was
immediately blamed on Chavez. Television, radio and newspapers in Venezuela all
joined in the coup efforts, manipulating images and distorting facts to justify
Chavez’s overthrow. He became the villian, the evil dictator, the brutal
murderer in the eyes of international media, though in reality those
overthrowing him and their backers in Washington were responsible for the death
and destruction caused. After Chavez was kidnapped on April 11, 2002 and set to
be assassinated, the wealthy businessmen behind the coup took power and imposed
a dictatorship. All democratic institutions were dissolved, including the
legistature and the supreme court.</P>
<P>The majority who had voted for Chavez and had finally become protagonists in
their own governance were determined to defend their democracy and took to the
streets demanding return of their president. Forty-eight hours later, Chavez was
rescued by millions of supporters and loyal armed forces. The coup was defeated
and the revolution survived, but the threats continued.</P>
<P>A subsequent economic sabotage attemped to bring down the oil industry.
18,000 high level technical and managerial workers at the state-owned company,
PDVSA, walked off the job, sabotaging equipment and causing nearly $20 billion
in damages to the Venezuelan economy. After 64 days of strikes, barren
supermarket shelves due to intentional hoarding to create panic, and a brutal
media war in which every private station broadcast opposition propaganda 24/7,
Venezuelans were fed up with the opposition. Chavez’s popularity soared. A year
and a half later, when the opposition tried to oust him through a recall
referendum, he won a 60-40 landslide victory.</P>
<P>Leading efforts to overthrow Chavez were the very same three who today call
for their supporters to take to the streets to force current President Nicolas
Maduro from power. Leopoldo Lopez and Henrique Capriles were both mayors of two
of Caracas’ wealthiest municipalities during the 2002 coup – Chacao and Baruta,
while Maria Corina Machado was a close ally of Pedro Carmona, the wealthy
businessman who proclaimed himself dictator during Chavez’s brief ouster. Lopez
and Machado signed the infamous “Carmona Decree” dissolving Venezuela’s
democratic institutions, trashing the constitution. Both Capriles and Lopez were
also responsible for persecuting and violently detaining members of Chavez’s
government during the coup, including allowing some of them to be publicly
beaten, such as Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, former Minister of Interior in 2002.</P>
<P>All three have been major recipients of US funding and political support for
their endeavors to overthrow Chavez, and now Maduro. The US National Endowment
for Democracy (NED) and its offshoots, the International Republican Institute
(IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) provided start-up funds for
Machado’s NGO Sumate, and Capriles’ and Lopez’s right-wing party Primero
Justicia. When Lopez split from Primero Justicia in 2010 to form his own party,
Voluntad Popular, it was bankrolled by US dollars.</P>
<P>Over the ten year period, from 2000-2010, US agencies, including the US
Agency for International Development (USAID) and its Office for Transition
Initiatives (OTI), set up in Caracas in 2002, channeled more than $100 million
dollars to opposition groups in Venezuela. The overall objective was regime
change.</P>
<P>When Chavez was reelected in 2006 with an even larger margen of victory,
nearly 64% of the vote, the US shifted its support from the traditional
opposition political parties and NGOs in order to create new ones with youthful,
fresh faces. Over one third of US funding, nearly $15 million annually by 2007,
was directed towards youth and student groups, including training in the use of
social networks to mobilize political activism. Student leaders were sent to the
US for workshops and conferences on Internet activism and media networking. They
were formed in tactics to promote regime change via street riots and strategic
use of media to portray the government as repressive.</P>
<P>In 2007, these student groups, funded and trained by US agencies, took to the
streets of Caracas to demand Chavez’s ouster after the government chose not to
renew the public concession of RCTV, a popular private television station known
for its seedy soap operas. The protests were composed of mainly middle and upper
class youth and opposition politicians, defending corporate media and a station
also known for its direct involvement in the April 2002 coup. Though their
protests failed to achieve their objective, the “students” had earn their
credentials as a solid fixture in the opposition. Later that year, their
organizing helped to narrowly defeat a constitutional reform package Chavez had
proposed in a national referendum.</P>
<P>After President Chavez passed away in March 2013 following a brutal battle
with cancer, the opposition saw an opportunity to snatch power back from his
supporters. Elections were held on April 14, 2013 in an extremely tense and
volatile environment. Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s chosen successor, ran against
Henrique Capriles, who months earlier in October 2012 had lost the presidential
election to Chavez by 11 points. This time, however, the results were much
narrower with Maduro winning by a slim margen of just under 2 points. Capriles
refused to accept the results and called his supporters to take to the streets
in protest, to “get all their rage out”. During the two days after the
elections, 11 government supporters were killed by Capriles’ followers. It was a
bloodbath that received no attention in international media, the victims just
weren’t glamorous enough, and were on the wrong side.</P>
<P>As 2013 wore on, the economic crisis in the country intensified and the old
strategy of hoarding products to provoke shortages and panic amongst the
population was back again. Basic consumer products disappeared from the shelves
– toilet paper, cooking oil, powdered milk, corn flour – staples needed for
everyday life in Venezuela. Inflation began to rise and speculation, price
hikes, were rampant. While some of this was related to government controls on
foreign currency exchange to prevent capital flight, a lot had to do with
sabotage. A full economic war was underway against Maduro’s government.</P>
<P>Problems persisted throughout the year and discontent grew. But as the
electoral period came around again in December, for mayors, the United Socialist
Party of Venezuela (PSUV) had sweeping victories. 242 out of 317 mayoralties
were won by the PSUV, showing a solid majority of the country still supported
the government’s party.</P>
<P>Maduro called opposition governors and newly-elected mayors to a meeting at
the presidential palace in late December in an attempt to dialogue and create a
space to work together to improve the situation in country. The meeting was
generously received by a majority of Venezuelans. Nevertheless, extremists, such
as Machado and Lopez, saw the meeting as a threat to their goal of ousting
Maduro well before his term ended in 2019. Once again they began to call for
street protests and other actions against his government.</P>
<P>In January 2014, as Venezuelans arrived back from their Christmas vacations,
economic difficulties continued. Maduro began cracking down on businesses
violating newly-enacted laws on price controls and speculation. Towards the end
of January, new measures were announced regarding access to foreign exchange
that many perceived as a devaluing of the national currency, the bolivar.
Sentiment built amongst opposition groups rejecting the new measures and calls
for Maduro’s resignation increased. By February, small pockets of protests
popped up around the country, mainly confined to middle and upper class
neighborhoods.</P>
<P>During the celebration of National Youth Day on February 12, while thousands
marched peacefully to commemorate the historic achievements of youth in the
nation’s independence, another group sought a different agenda. Opposition
youth, “students”, led an agressive march calling for Maduro’s resignation that
ended in a violent confrontation with authorities after the protestors destroyed
building façades, including the Attorney General’s office, threw objects at
police and national guard and used molotov cocktails to burn property and block
transit. The clashes caused three deaths and multiple injuries.</P>
<P>The leader of the violent protest, Leopoldo Lopez, went into hiding following
the confrontation and a warrant was issued for his arrest due to his role in the
deadly events and his public calls to oust the president. Days later, after a
lengthy show including videos from a “clandestine” location, Lopez convened
another march and used the event to publicly turn himself over to authorities.
He was taken into custody and held for questioning, all his rights guaranteed by
the state.</P>
<P>Lopez became the rallying point for the violent protests, which have
continued to date, causing several additional deaths, dozens of injuries and the
destruction of public property. Relatively small, violent groups of protestors
have blocked transit in wealthier zones of Caracas, causing traffic delays and
terrorizing residents. Several deaths have resulted because protestors refused
to let ambulences through to take patients to the emergency room.</P>
<P>Ironically, international media has been portraying these protestors as
peaceful victims of state repression. Even celebrities, such as Cher and Paris
Hilton have been drawn into a false hysteria, calling for freedom for
Venezuelans from a “brutal dictatorship”. The reality is quite different. While
there is no doubt that a significant number of protestors in the larger marches
that have taken place have demonstrated peacefully their legitimate concerns,
the driving force behind those protests is a violent plan to overthrow a
democratic government. Lopez, who has publicly stated his pride for his role in
the April 2002 coup against Hugo Chavez, continues to call on his supporters to
rally against the Venezuelan “dictatorship”.</P>
<P>While dozens of governments and international organizations, including UNASUR
and Mercosur have expressed their clear support and solidarity for the
Venezuelan government and President Maduro, Washington was quick to back the
opposition protestors and demand the government release all those detained
during the demonstrations. The Obama administration went so far as to threaten
President Maduro with international consequences if Leopoldo Lopez were to be
detained. In the aftermath of the first wave of violent protests, Maduro
expelled three US diplomats from the US Embassy in Caracas, accusing them of
conspiring to recruit students in Venezuela to engage in destabilization.</P>
<P>As the violence continues in some areas around the country, Maduro has made
widespread calls for peace. A movement for peace was launched last week, led by
artists, athletes and cultural figures, together with organized communities
seeking to end not just the current chaotic situation, but also the high crime
levels that have plagued the country over the past few years.</P>
<P>Most Venezuelans want peace in their country and a majority continue to
support the current government. The opposition has failed to present an
alternative platform or agenda beyond regime change, and their continued
dependence on US funding and support – even this year Obama included $5 million
in the 2014 Foreign Operations Budget for opposition groups in Venezuela – is a
ongoing sign of their weakness. As a State Department cable from the US Embassy
in Caracas, published by Wikileaks, explained in March 2009, “Without our
continued assistance, it is possible that the organizations we helped
create…could be forced to close…Our funding will provide those organizations a
much-needed lifeline”.</P>
<P>During the past decade in Venezuela, poverty has been reduced by over 50%,
healthcare has become free and accessible to all, as has quality education from
primary through graduate school. State subsidies provide affordable food and
housing for those who need it, as well as job training programs and worker
placement. Media outlets, especially community media, have expanded nationwide,
giving more space for the expression of diverse voices. Internet access has
increased significantly and the state also built hundreds of public infocenters
with free computer and Internet access throughout the country. Students are
given free laptops and tablets to use for their studies. The government has
raised minimum wage by 10-20% each year leading Venezuela to have one of the
highest minimum wages in Latin America. Pensions are guaranteed after only 25
years of work and those who work in the informal economy are still guaranteed a
pension from the state.</P>
<P>While problems persist in the country, as they do every where, most
Venezuelans are wary of giving up the immense social and political gains they
have made in the past fourteen years. An opposition with nothing to
offer except foreign intervention and uncertainty does not appeal to the
majority. Unfortunately, media fail to see this reality, or chose not to portray
it in order to advance a political agenda. In Venezuela, the revolution is here
to stay and the interests of the 1% are not going to overcome those of the 99%
already in power.</P>
<P><EM><STRONG>Eva Golinger</STRONG> is the author of <A
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.amazon.com']);"
href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Chávez-Code-Intervention-ebook/dp/B00359FEMM/counterpunchmaga">The
Chavez Code</A>. She can be reached through her <A
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.chavezcode.com']);"
href="http://www.chavezcode.com/">blog</A>.</EM></P></DIV></DIV></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>