That elite media didn’t find a single person to vouch for Maduro or Chavismo, and that almost all the opinions explicitly or implicitly expressed support for the ouster of Venezuela’s elected president, demonstrates a firm editorial line, eerily obedient to the US government’s regime change policy.

Read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2019/05/01/zero-percent-of-elite-commentators-o...

https://off-guardian.org/2019/04/30/discuss-the-coup-in-venezuela/

May be regime change should be happening in Washington. But who to replace the psychos with? More psychos?

And apparently Assange has been condemned to 50 weeks in prison... This is a ploy to make sure he does not have any ability to communicate with anyone about any issues of importance. The powers in charge are worried that he could activate his "insurance policy" too soon. 50 weeks is beyond the pale and beyond "reason". This is a political move. This sentence has nothing to do with "punishment" but removing Assange from circulation for a while, until the US case is ready. The Brits deserve Brexit. Fuck off...

FREEDOM FOR ASSANGE NOW!

Ron Paul Warns: "Hapless" Guaido Now "Worth More Dead Than Alive" To Washington's Venezuelan Coup-Creators

Paul blasted US officials rooting vigorously for Guaido and his efforts to seize power in Venezuela while denouncing with indignation things like the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“How many places have we been involved in in the last 20-30-40-50 years? I mean – that’s our business. It’s solidifying our empire,” he said. “I think it’s pure hypocrisy for us to think that we are doing [the interference in Venezuela] and we are against government interference. We love it, except’ when we don’t.”

The devoted constitutionalist added people like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or National Security Advisor John Bolton, who appealed to Venezuelan soldiers to protect their nation’s constitution by siding with Guaido, were “a bunch of clowns.”

They don’t have the vaguest notion about what the constitutional law in our country would be like. And they are going to restore the constitutional law in other countries? It’s just clichés and nonsense!

Read more:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-01/ron-paul-warns-hapless-guaido-...

Read from top.

by Eric Zuesse

A detailed plan from “UNITED STATES SOUTHERN COMMAND” dated “23 FEBRUARY 2018” was issued with the title “PLAN TO OVERTHROW THE VENEZUELAN DICTATORSHIP ‘MASTERSTROKE’” and is here presented complete.

This document was personally signed by Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, who was the Commander (the chief), at SOUTHCOM, and he was thus the top U.S. military official handling Venezuela. But this was far more than just a military plan. It was comprehensive — directing military, diplomatic, and propaganda, policies — regarding the Trump Administration’s planned “Overthrow” of Venezuela’s Government. His plan has since guided the Administration’s entire operation, including “the capacities of the psychological war,” regarding Venezuela.

It instructed SOUTHCOM:

Encouraging popular dissatisfaction by increasing scarcity and rise in price of the foodstuffs, medicines and other essential goods for the inhabitants. Making more harrowing and painful the scarcities of the main basic merchandises.” …

intensifying the undercapitalization of the country, the leaking out of foreign currency and the deterioration of its monetary base, bringing about the application of new inflationary measures.” …

Fully obstruct imports, and at the same time discouraging potential foreign investors in order to make the situation more critical for the population.” …

compelling him to fall into mistakes that generate greater distrust and rejection domestically” …

To besiege him, to ridicule him and to pose him as symbol of awkwardness and incompetence. To expose him as a puppet of Cuba.” …

Appealing to domestic allies as well as other people inserted from abroad in the national scenario in order to generate protests, riots and insecurity, plunders, thefts, assaults and highjacking of vessels as well as other means of transportation, with the intention of deserting this country in crisis through all borderlands and other possible ways, jeopardizing in such a way the National Security of neighboring frontier nations. Causing victims and holding the Government responsible for them. Magnifying, in front of the world, the humanitarian crisis in which the country has been submitted to.”

Structuring a plan to get the profuse desertion of the most qualified professionals from the country, in order ‘to leave it with no professionals at all’, which will aggravate even more the internal situation and along these lines putting the blame on of Government.”

the presence of combat units from the United States of America and the other named countries, under the command of a Joint General Staff led by the USA.”

It was posted online at the Voltairenet site, and was first copied to a web archive on 14 May 2018. So, it has been online since at least that date. However, because the photo in it of the document wasn’t made available via software which includes the individual symbols, but presented only the full visual image of the paper document, it still hasn’t yet gone viral on the Web.

Here, therefore, is the first appearance, on the Web, of the full document, that’s manually copied, character-by-character, so that each phrase in this document becomes, for the first time, web-searchable, and thereby conveniently available for journalists and historians to quote from.

This prophetic document — the source for what has happened afterward in and to Venezuela — might therefore finally receive the public attention that it so clearly merits.

The document starts with propaganda against Venezuela’s existing Government (and it totally ignores the extent to which the pre-existing U.S. economic sanctions against Venezuela had actually caused these problems), and it then proceeds to present the U.S. plan to overthrow the ‘dictatorship’. (Tidd refers to Maduro only as “the Dictator,” except at the very start and very end.

At the end, he commands “the denouncement toward Maduro’s regimen” and he also uses the phrase “the enemy” to refer to him — as if there had been the U.S. Constitutionally required authorization, by the U.S. Congress, of this “war.” The close urges “the dispatch of a UNO military force for the imposition of peace, once Nicolas Maduro’s corrupt dictatorship is defeated.” The U.N. is militarily to “impose” “peace,” after the U.S. and its allies have conquered Venezuela.)

Although Tidd placed 100% of the blame for Venezuela’s problems upon Maduro, and ignored the crucial extent to which U.S. economic sanctions had caused them, his plan emphasized that the U.S. must actively make things even worse for the Venezuelan public than America’s economic sanctions had yet done.

His coup-plan is loaded with such statements, and, in fact, opens with one: “Encouraging popular dissatisfaction by increasing scarcity and rise in price of the foodstuffs, medicines and other essential goods for the inhabitants. Making more harrowing and painful the scarcities of the main basic merchandises.”

So: he wasn’t naive. America’s induced suffering upon Venezuelans was part of his plan for Venezuelans, in order to get them to do what the U.S. regime wants them to do — overthrow Maduro. Furthermore, the United States Government has had extensive successes in previous such operations. One example is that this was how Chile’s Salvador Allende was brought down in 1973 (at a time when the U.S. Government’s claims to have done it for ‘national security’ reasons had much more credibility than its current excuse of helping the Venezuelan people does, because the supposedly ideological Cold War was still on).

The only excuse that the perpetrators can come up with, this time around, is “to put an end to the Venezuelan nightmare and the awakening of theirs beloved nation at a luminous dawn, in which the vision of fortune, true peace and tranquility predominate for their fellow citizens.” Impoverish the nation, in order to help Venezuelans attain “true peace and tranquility.” That’s the plan.

Here is the document’s entire text:

SOUTHCOM
TOP SECRET
23 FEB 2018

UNITED STATES SOUTHERN COMMAND 23 FEBRUARY 2018

TOP SECRET/20180223

CURRENT SITUATION

The Venezuelan Chavista dictatorship staggers as a result of its frequent internal problems; there is a great shortage of foodstuffs, an exhaustion of the sources of foreign currency and a rampant corruption. The international support, won with petrodollars, becomes scarcer each time and the purchasing power of its national currency is in a constant downfall.

Such scenario is not supposed to change, but the Venezuelan present-day leaders, as they usually do, in their despair to preserve their power, are capable to appeal to new populist measures that perpetuate their positions of privilege; the only mechanism that sustains them obstinate to the struggle to hold on their positions.

Maduro’s corrupt regimen will collapse but regrettably, the divided opposing forces, legitimate defenders of democracy and the well-being of their people, do not have power enough to put an end to the Venezuelan nightmare and the awakening of theirs beloved nation at a luminous dawn, in which the vision of fortune, true peace and tranquility predominate for their fellow citizens.

The internal disputes, the supreme particular likings, the corruption similar to the one of their rivals, as well as the scarcity of rooting, do not grant them the opportunity to make the most of this situation and to give the necessary step to overturn the state of penury and precariousness in which the pressure group, that exercises the leftist dictatorship, has submerged the country. We are at the presence of an unprecedented criminal action in Latin America.

This affects the entire region, there is no respect to international right and local political alternatives are unacceptable.

Democracy spreads out in America, continent in which radical populism was intended to take over. Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil are examples of it. The rebirth of democracy has the support of the most valuable determinations, and the conditions in the regions run in its favour.

It is the time for the United States to prove, with concrete actions, that they are implicated in that process, where overthrowing Venezuelan dictatorship will surely mean a continental turning point.

It is the first opportunity of the Trump Administration to bring forward the vision in reference to security and democracy. Showing its active commitment is crucial, not only for the administration, but also for the continent and for the world.

The time has come to

Step to speed up the definite overthrow of Chavismo and the expulsion of its representative:

• Encouraging popular dissatisfaction by increasing scarcity and rise in price of the foodstuffs, medicines and other essential goods for the inhabitants. Making more harrowing and painful the scarcities of the main basic merchandises.

• Developing actions to encourage the egocentrism and the verbal incontinence of the Dictator, compelling him to fall into mistakes that generate greater distrust and rejection domestically, while continuing to minimize the international significance of his public figure.
• To beseige him, to ridicule him and to pose him as symbol of awkwardness and incompetence. To expose him as a puppet of Cuba. Exacerbating the division among members of the governing group. Revealing the differences in his living conditions with respect to those of his followers, at the same time to incite them to keep on increasing those divergences. Highlighting examples as the ones of Rafael Ramirez from PDVSA and Nelson Mercengtes from gthe BCV.
• Making his government unsustainable, forcing him to claudication, to negotiate or to run away, as other close collaborators have done.
• Making provisions for a back or escaping door, in case he finally chooses to look for a safe port out of his country.

• Intensifying the undercapitalizatioin of the country, the leaking out of foreign currency and the deterioration of its monetary base, bringing about the application of new inflationary measures that increase its deterioration and that simultaneously provoke the citizens with less access — who support the present-day rulers — and those who are best positioned, to see their social status threatened or affected. Establishing that the use of bitcoin, Petro, is a key element in the deterioration of the economy, which is an unconstitutional and illegal manipulation of the national currency, useable for money laundering.
• Fully obstructing imports, and at the same time, discouraging potential foreign investors in order to contribute to make more critical the situation of the population — mainly in the sphere of oil, essential for any attempt of recuperation of the national economy.
• Appealing to domestic allies as well as other people inserted from abroad in the national scenario in order to generate protests, riots and insecurity, plunders, thefts, assaults and highjacking of vessels as well as other means of transportation, with the intention of deserting this country in crisis through all borderlands and other possible ways, jeopardizing in such a way the National Security of neighboring frontier nations. Causing victims and holding the Government responsible for them. Magnifying, in front of the world, the humanitarian crisis in which the country has been submitted to.
• Making use of the generalized corruption and the originating profits from their operations with prohibited drugs, to do away with their image in front of the world and their domestic followers.
• Promoting fatigue inside the members of the PSUV, inciting the annoyance and nonconformity among themselves, for them to break noisily away from the line of the Government; for them to refuse the measures and restrictions which also affect them, inciting the rising of internal politic factions, which divides it in its schism, making it as weak as the the opposition is. Creating frictions between the PSUV and “Somos Venezuela”.
• Structuring a plan to get the profuse desertion of the most qualified professionals from the country, in order “to leave it with no professionals at all”, which will aggravate even more the internal situation and along these lines putting the blame on of Government.

• Continuing hardening the conditions inside the Armed Forces to carry out a coup d’etat before concluding 2018, if the crisis does not make the dictatorship to collapse or the dictator does not decide to move aside.
• Continuing setting fire to the common frontier with Colombia. Multiplying the traffic of fuel and other goods. The movement of paramilitaries, armed raids and drug trafficking. Provoking armed incidents with the Venezuelan frontier security forces.
• Recruiting paramilitaries mainly in the campsites of refugees in Cucuta, La Guajira and the north of Santander, areas largely populated by Colombian citizens who emigrated to Venezuela and now return, run away from the regimen to intensify the destabilizing activities in the common frontier between both countries. Making use of the empty space left by the FARC, the belligerency of the ELN and the activities in the area of the Gulf Clan.
• Preparing the involvement of allied forces in support of the Venezuelan army officers or to control the internal crisis, in the event they delay too much in taking the initiative.
• Establishing a speedy time line that prevents the Dictator to continue winning control on the internal scenario. If it’s necessary, act before the elections stipulated for next April.
• Getting the support of the allied authorities of friendly countries (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Panama and Guyana).
• Organizing the provisioning, relief of troops, medical and logistic support from Panama. Making good use of the facilities of electronic surveillance and signals intelligence, the hospitals and its deployed endowments in Danen, the equipped airdromes for the Colombian Plan, as well as the landing fields of the old-time military bases of Howard and Albrook, as well as the one belonging to “Rio Halo”. In addition, the Humanitarian Regional Center of the United Nations, designed for situations of catastrophes and humanitarian emergency, which has an aerial landing field and its own warehouses.
• Moving on the basification of combat airplanes and choppers, armored conveyances, intelligence positions, and special military and logistics units (police and military district attorneys and prisons).
• Developing the military operation under international flag, patronized by the Conference of American Armies, under the protection of the OAS and the supervision, in the legal and media context, of the Secretary General Luis Almagro. Declaring the necessity that the continental commandment be strengthened to act, using the instrument of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, in order to avoid the democratic rupture.
• Binding Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Panama to the contribution of greater number of troops, to make use of their geographic proximity and experience in operations in forest regions. Strengthening their international condition with the presence of combat units from the United States of America and the other named countries, under the command of a Joint General Staff led by the USA.
• Using the facilities at Panamanian territory for the rear guard and the capacities of Argentina for the securing of the ports and the maritime positions.
• Leaning on Brazil and Guyana to make use of the migratory situation that we intend to encourage in the border with Guyana.
• Coordinating the support to Colombia, Brazil, Guyana, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tabago and other States in front of the flow of Venezuelan immigrants in the event of the crisis. Promoting international participation in this effort, as part of the multilateral operation with contribution of the States, Non-Profit Organizations and international bodies. Supplying the adequate logistic, intelligence, surveillance and control support.
• Anticipating, specially, the most vulnerable points in Arauca, Puerto Carreno and Ininda, Maicao, Barranquilla and Sincelejo, in Colombia, and Roramia, Manaos and Boa Vista, in Brazil.

• Silencing the symbolic presence of Chavez-representative of unit and popular support-, and in the other way around, keeping the harassment to the Dictator as the only responsible of the crisis in which he has submerged the nation.
• Holding the Dictator and his closer followers responsible, in the first place, for the prevailing crisis due to his inability to find the way out that the Venezuelans are in need of.
• Intensifying the media denouncement about the cubanization of Venezuela.
• Outstandingly intensifying the denouncement toward Maduro’s regimen, considering him:
  1. A criminal
  2. A illegitimate
  3. A thief of the wealth of the Venezuelan people
  4. Someone who plunders the national treasury to carry out his evasion
• Highlighting the incompetence of the mechanisms of integration created by the regimens of Cuba and Venezuela, specially the ALBA and PETROCARIBE, in order to tackle the situation of the country and their inability to find solutions to the problems that the citizens are facing.
• Increasing, inside the country and through the mass media established abroad, the dissemination of designed messages based on testimonies and publications originated in the country, making use of all the possible capacities, including the social networks.
• Claiming, through that mass media, the need to put an end to this situation because of its unsustainable essence.
• Justifying and assuring through violent means the international backup to the deposal of the dictatorship, displaying an extensive dissemination, inside the country and to the entire world, through all the open means and the capacities of the psychological war of the US ARMY.
• Assuring that the disclosed images and reports of the military actions are approved by the General Staff to prevent their manipulation and use by the enemy.
• The United States should entirely back up the OAS, strengthening the image of the OAS and other multilateral institutions for the inter-American system, as instruments for the solution to the regional problems.
• Promoting the request of the the dispatch of a UNO military force for the imposition of peace, once Nicolas Maduro’s corrupt dictatorship is defeated.

[signature]

K.W. TIDD

Admiral, USN

COMMANDER

Read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2019/05/02/leaked-usas-feb-2018-plan-for-coup-i...

Note: This YD site often refers to the voltaire network and made a link to the document when it appeared...

This time around, however, having realized Guaido is not as powerful as they expected, Europe has not been as gung-ho in its support for him. Having initially added to the chaos by encouraging the first uprising, suddenly the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was calling for the “utmost restraint” in order to “avoid the loss of lives.”

Venezuelan Ambassador to the EU Claudia Salerno Caldera believes the sudden European reticence shows thatEU leaders have “begun to realize that [Guaido] was losing influence, that he was no president at all.” With that realization, they “began to give up their positions” and “change their narrative” in order to make it “more realistic” and reflect the actual situation on the ground in Venezuela, she told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

It is likely that the EU knows that the US stance toward Venezuela is “wrong, dangerous and illegal,” but it has “not got the courage to stand up and say so,” Dr Michael Derham, senior lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies at Northumbria University told RT. The EU “has to be seen to not advocate coups or violence” and it is not convinced by the US ultimatum against Maduro — but at the same time, Europe will“never go against the US, even if it were to invade Venezuela,” Derham said.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/458207-european-union-venezuela-coup-reaction/

Read from top.

What will the US do next?... Read the document above... The US administration will go dark and murderous, deceptively and patiently. Nothing new. The same happened in the past. The USA took 40 years to eventually destroy Yougoslavia, only 10 years to "switch" Indonesia... 

Such project such as the "Venezuela Project" are long term and demand "patience" from the goons... This from The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 December 1958...:

meddlings

As well the "news" about China was not any better than today:

The Christians... What are they doing in China?...

One of the negotiators on the Venezuelan side was allegedly Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who is thought to have had a last-minute change of heart.

The Trump administration had an agreement in place with Venezuela's military that President Nicolas Maduro would be arrested during this week's attempted coup, the Spanish newspaper ABC reports, citing a source in the US National Security Council.

Washington apparently reached the deal with Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez via phone talks conducted over the past few months.

READ MORE: ‘A Complete Failure’: Venezuelan Coup Attempts Staged ‘More For The US Audience’

Padrino, alongside other ministers and generals, is said to have accepted the agreements drafted by the self-proclaimed acting president, Juan Guaido. This roadmap would include a call for fresh elections within a month — one of Guaido's main promises — and the recognition of the opposition lawmaker as the "legitimate and interim" head of state.

In turn, president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice Maikel Moreno, a Maduro ally, had reportedly planned to declare illegitimate the Constituent Assembly, a parallel legislature loyal to Maduro convened by a presidential decree in 2017 in defiance of the opposition-held National Assembly.

This move, as per the report, would legally allow the military to notify Maduro that he was either leaving the country for Cuba or would be detained by court order.

The agreements were supposed be signed at the military base La Carlota in Caracas, from where Guaido, on Tuesday, urged the armed forces and civilians in a video address to join what he called the final push to topple Maduro.

However, his coup attempt did not gain enough traction to oust the president, with the military leadership voicing their support for the government.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/latam/201905031074666708-us-venezuelan-miltary-d...

It looks as if the Maduro government minister OUTSMARTED THE DEAD SHITS  from Washington, by playing along and then dropping "the deal" at the last minute... Not the first one to play that game...

Read from top.

Senior US officials like National Security Advisor John Bolton and special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams expressed confidence in “regime change” in Caracas on Tuesday, named top Venezuelan officials ready to defect, and even spoke of signed documents to that effect.

Yet literally none of this happened, and by the early evening on Tuesday, the handful of Guaido’s armed supporters were seeking sanctuary in foreign embassies.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/458333-us-coup-venezuela-failure/

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The greatest defeat of CIA in two decades

by Valentin Vasilescu

With the acquisition by Venezuela of su-30 aircraft, S-300 anti-aircraft systems, T-72 tanks of coastal batteries of Russian bastions, the Pentagon headquarters (USSOUTHCOM) in charge of Central America and the South has set up means of Technological Espionage (TECHINT-technical intelligence) to evaluate, analyze and interpret information on the combat equipment of the Venezuelan army.

These are MASINT (Measurement and signature intelligence) means that receive at a distance, the vibrations, the pressure, the caloric energy produced by the combat systems. There are also other means (ELINT) for the electronic emissions from radar and radionavigation systems that equip the surface-to-air missile systems, aircraft and military vessels of Venezuela.

But most spying methods have been used to intercept communication networks (COMINT). The National Electronic Intelligence Agency (NSA) has a network called ECHELON, designed for the interception and recording of communications by telephone, fax, radio and data traffic through US spy satellites.

USSOUTHCOM was able to assess, through COMINT, the state of mind, loyalty or dissatisfaction of army commanders and heads of central and local political authorities. The official version of Russia and China, hardly credible, is that they did not send experts in espionage and counterintelligence in Venezuela. Unlike this version, since January, when the United States introduced the self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido, Venezuela’s counter-espionage leadership seems to have been taken over by a super James Bond. One of the Pentagon’s findings is the discontinuation of data collection by the NSA through the COMINT process. However, Venezuela does not have such advanced technology to block the reception of NSA satellites.

Faced with this situation, the initiative in Venezuela was taken over by the CIA, specializing in HUMINT (Human inteligence). That is, spying with infiltrated US agents, who in turn have networks of local informants. But soon after, the small Venezuelan counterintelligence service (SEBIN: Servicio Boliviariano de Intelligencia Nacional) managed to humiliate the CIA. It is only now that the Americans have learned that all the opposition groups of the Caracas regime have been infiltrated by agents of the SEBIN counterintelligence.

Thanks to undercover SEBIN officers, in the US-funded press, there was an operation with the selection and publication of the most miraculous but unreliable news related to political developments in Venezuela. There were thus several “leaks” that were delivered to the CIA, as, for example, the intention of some generals in the first Venezuelan task force to betray Maduro and release the arrested political opponents.

In order to gain the confidence of the CIA agents, SEBIN members even organized conspiracy meetings with Venezuelan generals, under full information control of SEBIN and military counterintelligence. The “desertion” of General Manuel Figuera, head of the SEBIN, the release of Leopoldo Lopez from his house arrest, and the provision, for Juan Guaido, of a platoon of soldiers belonging to the SEBIN, to take the garrison Carlota to Caracas, more than 1,000 soldiers, were part of the poisoning operation of the CIA agents. To convince Washington of the success of the coup.

The White House has finally given the green light to the action of April 30 which has become the biggest failure of the CIA in recent decades. Venezuela has proven that fighting with patriotism and professionalism, even for an embargoed South American country, can break the CIA’s plans.

Valentin Vasilescu

Read more:

https://www.voltairenet.org/article206482.html

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Washington has been supporting self-proclaimed Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido since January 2019 in a bid to force democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro to resign, but without success.

The US president's National Security Adviser John Bolton has taken to Twitter to accuse Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of allegedly misusing the country's money. Bolton claimed that Maduro paid $209 million to Russia under a defence contract to "buy" Moscow's support and once again called for the elected president to resign.

However, the national security adviser failed to present details on the alleged defence contract between Venezuela and Russia. Moscow hasn't commented on his claims yet. The two countries have signed contracts on the supply of military equipment to the Latin American state in the past, but these deals were fulfilled long before Venezuela was struck by economic and political instability.

Head of the Russian state corporation Rostec Sergei Chemezov said at the SPIEF 2019 that although Caracas is interested in buying new military equipment from Moscow, it can't afford to do so right now due to economic problems and US sanctions.

Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Anatoly Punchuk recently said that new military contracts between the two states are unlikely to be signed in the near future due to the harsh economic conditions in Venezuela, which have partially been caused by American sanctions.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/latam/201906161075902775-bolton-maduro-venezuela...

The amount of lies and deception from the US Trump administration, attached to its punitive actions is phenomenal... Not even Ghengis Khan and his hordes of barbaric ransackers were so evil — should the word evil exist, it would be now defined by the existence of Bolton, Pompeo and Trump. 

The Vice President of Venezuela [Delcy Rodriguez] spoke at the UN General Assembly. She denounced attempts at coups and assassinations by Washington and its Colombian ally. The American delegation left the room.

"I come in the name of the only Venezuela, worthy, worthy Venezuela, who does not kneel before the imperial power." This was the opening speech of Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on September 27 at the UN General Assembly. An introduction as a response to the challenge by a number of countries, led by the United States, the power of the Bolivarian government led by President-elect Nicolas Maduro.

The US delegation immediately and conspicuously left the room when Delcy Rodriguez spoke, even posting a video of this collective departure accompanied by this message tinged with contempt: "The lies and deception of the Maduro regime have corrupted the UN charter. . We are coming together to solve the world's problems, not to stay tuned while Maduro starves the people of Venezuela. That's why we joined other nations to come out of the General Assembly when Maduro's "girlfriend" went on stage."

"Venezuela is at peace," continued the Vice President, unabashedly, while vigorously denouncing coup attempts by extremist sectors of the opposition as well as assassination attempts against President Nicolas. Maduro and the senior political and military leaders of Venezuela.

In response to accusations against the Venezuelan power of mistreatment of the people, Delcy Rodriguez recalled that there is "a system of social protection in Venezuela that benefits almost 19 million people without distinction". It is, according to her, that "system of inclusion, justice and protection that the United States government has designated as an objective to be destroyed" because it is a "threat to its model of capitalist supremacy".

350 coercive measures costing $130 billion

The Vice President of Venezuela then explained the consequences of economic sanctions imposed by the US government on her country.

"Between 2015 and 2018, the United States government declared more than 350 unilateral coercive measures against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," she said, denouncing in particular "the appropriation of resources and assets abroad, the total financial and commercial blockade, damage to food, health and education ". These sanctions have resulted in losses for the Venezuelan economy worth "130 billion dollars," said the vice president, referring to "economic terrorism."

In this regard, she compared what Venezuela is currently experiencing with similar situations experienced by Cuba for 50 years, or by Nicaragua, which, according to her, is also the victim of "American imperialism" and the "Monroe doctrine".

The lies of the Colombian president

The Vice-President then accused Colombian President Ivan Duque of lying in the same gallery. She assured that Venezuela has "evidence" that Colombia "is hosting terrorist training camps to attack Venezuela."

Indeed, on September 25, Colombian President Ivan Duque said that Caracas was supporting armed groups and drug traffickers operating in his country. The following day, he handed over to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres a dossier presenting "evidence" of the presence of guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Venezuela, but containing false information on at least one photo.

This image, supposed, according to Ivan Duque, to show a scene in the state of Tachira in Venezuela, was actually handed over in 2015 to the daily El Colombiano de Medellin by military intelligence agents, claiming that they were guerrillas ELN recruiting children in El Tambo, Cauca Department, on the Colombian Pacific coast, about 1,200 kilometers from the Venezuelan border.

Photos of Juan Guaido with drug traffickers

Delcy Rodriguez then waved to world leaders the photo of Juan Guaido — self-proclaimed president of Venezuela on January 23 and recognized as such by the United States and many countries, including France — posing next to a member of Los Rastrojos, a gang of Colombian" drug traffickers and paramilitaries ".

"I show it to you so that you know what we are facing," said the vice president. "We are facing the instrumentalization of criminal gangs, paramilitary organizations and drug traffickers to destabilize Venezuela," she said.

Read more:

https://francais.rt.com/international/66304-je-viens-nom-unique-venezuel...

Translation by Jules Letambour

Read from top.

The US intelligence service finally ran out of patience with Max Blumenthal last Friday morning and stormed his home, seizing him and spiriting him away to prison for a weekend of illegal detention, mistreatment and threats.

If that had happened to a well-respected investigative journalist in Caracas, Venezuela, then the international media would have risen as one in outrage, condemning the heavy-handed tactics of President Nicolás Maduro and his security forces.

There would have been calls for the Venezuelans to explain their actions, demands to release the journalist immediately and to guarantee their future security. Sanctions already in place by the US would have been tightened and denunciations would have been forthcoming from all corners.

But with this happening in the US capital, it is a different story because the intelligence services do not like people like Max Blumenthal. He is the sort of troublemaker who asks awkward questions of the powers that be, who raises issues that are considered best left unexplored and generally makes them squirm when rocks are kicked over and their less honourable activities are revealed in daylight.

Ask Edward Snowden how that goes down. (Better still, read his autobiography Permanent Record which came out a few weeks ago.) Ask Chelsea Manning, ask Julian Assange.

If you cause a fuss that US intelligence does not like then your card is marked and it is only a matter of time before you will be whisked away for a weekend of fun and games while shackled in a cage. It might not be today, or tomorrow, but that knock on the door will come.

So Blumenthal’s reporting from outside the Venezuelan embassy, as he and other activists attempted to deliver food and sanitary supplies to those besieged inside was exactly the sort of thing to make the men in dark suits see red.

He told how, “the pro-coup mob outside turned violent, physically assaulting embassy protectors, and hurling racist, sexist and homophobic abuse at others” and he, along with his colleagues, tweeted details of pro-coup individuals vandalising the Venezuelan embassy and abusing the Embassy Protection Collective activists.

This sort of exposure did not fit in with the plans of the US Government to demonize Venezuela or its president, with Obama having kicked things off by declaring the nation a national security threat way back in 2015.

Current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated that belief earlier this year in case anyone thought there had been a thaw in the frozen relationship since the change in the White House residents.

Having made its mind up about Maduro, the US managed to sign up 50 nations to somehow back the notion that the Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido should actually be recognised as president of the oil-rich nation. There are some powerful dissenting voices, however, namely Russia and China who sit alongside the US as permanent members the United Nations Security Council.

America decided to try and orchestrate a coup back in June this year and along with Colombia and Chile, devised a plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and assassinate Maduro.

Around the same time, the embassy in DC became a focus for the plotters, who included supporters of Guaido but the local activists were too quick and managed to get people embedded inside the building to report on and record the siege as it unfolded.

That was not what the intelligence services wanted.

Blumenthal and Co needed to be shut down. Stooges willing to press fake charges were found and Blumenthal was wrongly accused of assault albeit five months after the incident apparently took place. Why the delay?

A puzzled Blumenthal wrote online: “If the government had at least told me I had a warrant I could have voluntarily surrendered and appeared at my own arraignment.”

But it is not justice that is being sought here. This is an exercise in intimidation and fear, hence the unheralded 9am arrival of the forces of law and order, the shackles, the cages and the denial of contact with legal representation.

Whatever happened to the press freedom guaranteed under the First Amendment which permits information, ideas and opinions without interference, constraint or prosecution by the government? Or doesn’t that count anymore?

Are threats, insults and attacks now simply occupational hazards for journalists in the USA?

Will Max Blumenthal and his colleagues at The Grayzone, and investigative journalists elsewhere, let an increasingly authoritarian regime intimidate them into early retirement? Unlikely.

Blumenthal has had an unpleasant experience, no doubt, and while the assault charge may not succeed in unnerving him he would certainly know now that the fight to maintain press freedom does not come easily. First amendment or not.

By Damian Wilson, UK journalist & political communications specialist

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https://www.rt.com/op-ed/472164-blumenthal-arrest-war-maduro/

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put forth a “democratic transition framework” on Tuesday, under which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would set up a power-sharing interim government with Guaido, that would arrange for elections in six months to a year. 

According to Pompeo, the proposal “protects the interests and equities of all Venezuelan people who desperately seek a resolution to their dire political, economic and humanitarian crisis,” and he urged all sides to “carefully and seriously” consider it.

The US and EU would lift their sanctions against Venezuela – including a ban on oil exports and on Maduro and his colleagues personally – if and when the initiative is “fully implemented,” the State Department said.

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https://www.rt.com/usa/484618-pompeo-venezuela-guaido-maduro/

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If Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) had his way, opposition leader Juan Guaido would be occupying the Presidential Palace in Caracas right now, after the successful ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Despite the weight the US threw behind Guaido last year, the young upstart’s planned coup was a failure, and Murphy blames Trump for that loss.

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https://www.rt.com/usa/497111-trump-ruined-venezuela-coup/

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Anthony Blinken, Biden's nominee for secretary of state, told members of the US Senate on Tuesday that there were no plans to rescind the US recognition of Guaido as the leader of the South American nation, even though the country is still firmly under the control of the elected government of President Nicolas Maduro. 

He also said that the Democratic administration would continue to use sanctions to “more effectively target” Venezuela, as part of a strategy aimed at pushing Maduro from power. He insisted, however, that the United States wanted to do more to provide humanitarian aid to the economically-crippled nation. 

“We need an effective policy that can restore Venezuela to democracy, starting with free and fair elections,” Blinken told lawmakers.

The United States and many of its allies crowned Guaido, the former head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, as the legitimate president of Venezuela in January 2019, after he led a short-lived movement claiming that Maduro’s 2018 re-election victory was fraudulent. The opposition figure spearheaded two unsuccessful attempts to foment a coup in the country, after failing to drum up support for his cause within the ranks of the Venezuelan military. 

Although Biden’s team appears intent on maintaining support for Guaido’s precarious claim to the presidency, Washington’s European allies seem to be losing enthusiasm for the regime change scheme.  

Earlier this month, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said Europe will continue its “engagement” with all Venezuelan “political and social actors.”But rather than refer to Guaido by his self-appointed title of interim president, Borrell merely lumped him in with other representatives of the outgoing National Assembly elected in 2015.

Facing dwindling support from within Venezuela, Guaido urged his remaining followers last month to “keep pushing” to overthrow Maduro, by force if necessary. However, the erstwhile opposition leader’s last two attempts to instigate a coup and bring the military to his side failed embarrassingly – to say nothing of the botched kidnap attempt against Maduro led by American mercenaries.

Some had hoped that Biden would recalibrate Washington’s uncompromising approach towards Maduro’s government. According to reports, the president-elect had earlier declined to take Guaido’s phone calls, and hinted that he would loosen the economic chokehold on Caracas if Maduro brings about “free and fair elections.” 

It remains to be seen how Biden will promote Washington’s vision of regime change in Venezuela. The Trump administration has been accused of taking a rather direct approach to the foreign policy issue, after Venezuelan security forces foiled a plot to kidnap Maduro. Several American mercenaries were captured during the botched operation, and a paper trail reportedly led back to Washington, specifically to a mercenary firm called Silvercorp. The US government fervently denied any involvement in the attack. Since then, the Trump administration has put a $15 million bounty on Maduro’s head, accusing him without evidence of narco-terrorism. 

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https://www.rt.com/news/513033-guaido-biden-venezuela-recognize/

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Guaido is no more the president of Venezuela than I am an astronaut... One day, I will curse the USA so that the administration politicians catch a rotten disease. Not only they can't piss straight in their own country, they go and piss in everyone else's... But they have no shame, Biden is Trump 2.0 and Blinken is Pompeo+... The USA have had righteous hypocrisy at their side since inception, so why should we hope that they will change?

See also: the glory of the american experiment... in why the empire hates julian assange...

"unsavoury" additions to the transition team... in customer of fake and covert "intelligence" to become the chief grocer of said...

threats through a red and blue lens... in no more secrets between friends and enemies...

Before announcing a ban on Russian energy imports, the US tried to plug this hole by meeting with representatives from a government they don’t even officially recognize, Venezuela.

Senior State Department and White House officials met with President Nicolás Maduro’s government in Caracas over the weekend to discuss resuming oil imports. It was the highest level communication between Venezuela and the US since they severed diplomatic ties in 2019, after the administration of former President Donald Trump recognized opposition figure Juan Guaidó as the country’s “interim president.” 

It is certainly a positive thing for both sides that there’s rapprochement. The sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the US and its allies had crippled the economy and spurred runaway inflation until recently. Venezuela had only in the past year managed to post decent economic growth, reined in inflation to the single digits and, in fact, is projected to out-compete peers in the region in the near future.

If economic activity resumes with the US this will likely help Venezuela's economy even more – and, hopefully, the unfair and illegal sanctions may be dropped too. 

But, at the same time, the reason for this rapprochement happening now obviously has to do with the US trying to insulate itself from an oil shortage after it decided to block shipments from Russia. The United States is also trying to isolate Moscow diplomatically, seeing Venezuela as one of Russia’s key partners in the Western Hemisphere. That’s an understandable assessment since Russia has been a lifeline for Venezuela as it grappled with devastating US sanctions. 

It’s for this reason that Venezuelan officials would do well to not see this overture as anything other than ‘strictly business’. In its attempt to isolate Russia, Washington is turning to countries around the world trying to “make a case for the West” while also weakening Russian influence, including now in Latin America. It hopes to do this by providing incentives to woo Venezuela (and other Latin American countries) away from Moscow and back into its orbit. 

This is not to say that Caracas shouldn’t try to restore diplomatic ties with Washington, increase communication and have fruitful economic relations. But joining in with Washington’s isolation of Russia now would be unwise since it’s clear that if the geopolitical circumstances were slightly different, the US would be continuing its siege of Venezuela and its economy.

To briefly put it, Washington is not a reliable partner for Caracas – or any other country in the region that might soon see an olive branch extended from the Biden administration. Washington imposed sanctions that have literally starved the Venezuelan people and set up a naval blockade off the country’s coast. In October 2021, the US arrested Colombian businessman and Venezuelan Special Envoy Alex Saab on alleged money laundering charges. But there’s little doubt that the real reason behind the persecution of a legally protected diplomat was Saab’s attempts to help Venezuela maintain normal trade relations and get around the US’ sanctions. 

We may only imagine the hypocrisy if, for example, the US seeks to thaw relations with Cuba in a bid to isolate Russia. Washington has maintained a generation-spanning trade embargo on the Caribbean nation, attempted to invade it and, controversially, holds land on the Cuban island that it uses for its torture camp at Guantanamo Bay. All the while (ironically) accusing the Cuban government of human rights abuses. 

Or, perhaps, we can point to Bolivia? The new Bolivian government is becoming more heavily aligned with countries like Russia and China, seeking an alternative to the US. That’s understandable since Washington supported an illegal coup in 2019 and the restoration of what some labeled as “fascism” for one horrifying year in the country, before Bolivians took back control of their democracy. If Washington tries “to make a case for the West” there, it is unlikely anyone would listen – and who could blame them? 

None of these actions by the US in Venezuela, or other parts of the region, should be forgotten and I doubt they will be. On the other hand, it exposes the obvious hypocrisy and cynicism at the heart of American diplomacy. 

Surely, Caracas is aware of the context of their meeting with Washington officials, e.g., US inflation at a historic high, a potential Europe-wide ground war and President Joe Biden’s dismal approval rating during a midterm election year that looks likely to be a complete massacre for the Democratic Party. 

So desperate is Washington to both contain Russia and pad Biden’s election bid that the White House is now reaching out to a government they don’t even recognize as legitimate for help. And this government is headed by Nicolás Maduro, who alleged the US targeted him in an assasination plot. 

This is clearly not a principled diplomatic corps and, while we may only hope that the two sides can agree on things that help both their countries, I also hope that Venezuelan and Latin American officials generally can see the obvious cynicism here. 

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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MEANWHILE

Against the background of the developments in Ukraine in recent days, the US, in the context of adjusting its policy in Central Asia (CA), urgently convened a C5+1 online meeting on February 28, with the participation of foreign ministers: Kazakhstan’s Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Kyrgyzstan’s Ruslan Kazakbaev, Tajikistan’s Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Turkmenistan’s Rasit Meredow, Uzbekistan’s Abdulaziz Kamilov, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

According to the foreign ministries of the CA states, “participants discussed pressing issues on the international and regional agenda, including the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the Central Asian region.”

The US initiative in convening this meeting and Secretary Blinken’s participation in it demonstrate the undeniable importance of Central Asia not only in their regional policy, but also in their actions towards Russia and its allies, primarily the CSTO and EAEU. Moreover, the White House’s interest in Central Asia and the C5+1 format itself has increased in recent days in terms of clarifying the region’s stance on the Ukrainian issue and bringing the Central Asian states over to unconditionally support Washington’s policy.

That is why the said online meeting was initiated by the White House on the eve of consideration of the openly anti-Russian US resolution on Ukraine at the UN, and Antony Blinken, under various pretexts, took steps to win the C5 foreign ministers’ support for the resolution. Secretary Blinken also confirmed on Twitter that the reason for this online meeting was to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

In the course of clarifying the position of the Central Asian states on Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the United States was probing, with a view to coaxing the C5 states, the options of returning not only the USAID programs with its investments and grants to the region, but also of reopening US transit and even full-fledged military air bases in Central Asia. At the same time, the issues of strengthening practical cooperation in the economic, security and climate change fields as well as the situation in Afghanistan were touched upon, but this was already very superficial, as this was not the purpose of Blinken’s convening of this C5+1 meeting.

Nevertheless, the Central Asian states have shown that they are no longer “natives who can be bought with American beads,” and Washington’s subversive aims in the region are already clear to all, as was showcased by the US involvement in the January events in Kazakhstan, its attempts to destabilize Kyrgyzstan in recent years and the situation on the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border. It is not surprising, therefore, that during the March 3 vote at the UN on the US-proposed resolution on Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan abstained, while Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan did not vote.

However, there was a statement by Sadyr Japarov, President of Kyrgyzstan, supporting Russia’s special operation in Ukraine and Russia’s decisive actions to protect civilians in Donbass, while also pointing to Kiev’s responsibility for the failure of the Minsk agreements. “Kyrgyzstan notes with great disappointment that today, instead of unification, the world is more divided into those right and wrong. In this regard, the minister noted that today the UN Security Council has a special responsibility to maintain peace and security,” the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan said in a statement on the Ukrainian issue.

Kazakhstan has offered its peacekeeping services and a platform for talks between Moscow and Kiev, if they agree. On March 1, at an extraordinary congress of the Nur Otan party, renamed Amanat the day before, Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev stressed: “As the country that hosted the OSCE Summit in 2010, we insist on the principle of the indivisibility of Eurasian security. I stated this during a visit to Moscow on February 10. The principle of indivisibility and common security implies mutual understanding based on mutual trust. Unfortunately, this has not happened. The Minsk agreements remained on paper, leading to military action on Ukrainian territory.”

Certainly, this reaction of the Central Asian states to Washington’s attempts to “rally them against Russia” has frankly “disappointed” the Anglo-Saxons. And a manifestation of this was a proposal on March 1 by a British MP, Margaret Hodge, to consider sanctions against Kazakhstan “for supporting Putin.”

However, this is not the first time the words “sanctions” and “Kazakhstan” have been heard in the British parliament. After the January events, the same Margaret Hodge proposed sanctions against Kazakhstan’s “kleptocratic elite,” clearly showing London’s “disappointment” that its preorganized unrest and anti-government protests in that country were thwarted by the CSTO and Moscow.

Against this background, British Ambassador Kathy Leach was summoned to the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan on March 2 to seek clarification from Britain following statements by MP Hodge to “punish Kazakhstan.”

Overall, however, it should be noted that the US has recently stepped up its efforts to combat Russian influence in Central Asia, in particular through the use of non-governmental organizations and the so-called independent media.

In Kazakhstan alone, for example, the total number of NGOs has grown significantly over the past 15 years: from around 2,000 in 2009 to 22,000 now! According to a report at a recent Civil Society Forum in Astana, Minister of Social Development Darkhan Kaletaev pointed out that approximately 200 Kazakhstani NGOs receive foreign funding, 70% of which comes from the United States.

In addition, the main objective of most US-supported information projects in Kazakhstan is to mentally and psychologically separate the population of the republic from Russia and to undermine Russia’s position in Central Asia. The emphasis is on young people in the hope that, in time, people brought up on Western “democratic” values and not inclined to cooperate with Russia will come to power in the country. An important role in such subversive work by the US is played by the Internet resource Karavansaray, sponsored by the US Central Command of the Armed Forces (CENTCOM), which regularly posts publications aimed at discrediting the Russian military presence in Central Asia, spreading misinformation about the alleged threat to the Central Asian countries of a Russian military invasion.

Washington’s subversive plans in Central Asia are actively “facilitated” by Britain and its representatives in the region. On February 15, the Kyrgyzstan’s government newspaper, Kyrgyz Tuusu, published an article by Melis Sovet uulu, which touched on the subject of NGOs in that republic and the role played by British Ambassador Charles Garrett, a career MI6 intelligence officer. According to StanRadar.com, Ambassador Charles Garrett is instructing a “fifth column” in the country; in 2020, he and US State Department officials met with local journalists and bloggers in Kyrgyzstan, who were asked to look for any irregularities in the vote count in favor of pro-government parties for a fee. In order to improve “outreach,” the ambassador offered to donate new equipment to loyal media, and USAID and the Soros Foundation, known for their close ties to US intelligence services, provided a grant of some $2.5 million, which included funds promised to media representatives as a “royalty for carrying out embassy assignments.”

Valery Kulikov, political expert, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

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https://journal-neo.org/2022/03/06/the-us-is-trying-to-lure-central-asian-countries-over-against-russia/

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BY BRANKO MARCETIC

It’s official: Juan Guaidó is no longer the president of Venezuela.

He never was, of course. Ever since 2019, when Guaidó used his position as head of Venezuela’s opposition-led legislature to declare himself president of an “interim” government that never did much actual governing, observers have had a lot of fun sharing memes of the man announcing that he was everything from the UK’s new monarch to the winner of 2020’s dysfunctional Iowa caucus. But as of this week, Guaidó can no longer even use the title of fictional president.

Venezuela’s National Assembly voted seventy-two to twenty-nine on Monday to strip Guaidó of his nonexistent presidency and dissolve his interim government after nearly four years, with the opposition finally concluding its strategy had failed. Guaidó’s “government” was meant to have stepped in and organized new elections after sitting president Nicolás Maduro was ousted in a US-backed coup, but none of that happened. Instead, with the opposition failing to get the military on its side and with regime change efforts marked by the kind of incompetence you’d normally see in a Police Academy movie, Guaidó was left treading water, struggling to organize new protests the size of those in 2019 and occasionally reminding the world he still existed — as when he endorsed the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in this year’s Brazilian elections.

Looking like he’d been grown in the same political petri dish as Barack Obama or Emmanuel Macron, Guaidó was meant to give a soft, liberal-ish face to Mike Pompeo and Elliott Abrams’s efforts to topple Maduro and replace him with a pliant, business-friendly government. But as his backing of Bolsonaro hinted at, Guaidó was far from the anodyne crusader for democracy and anti-corruption much of the press portrayed him as.

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https://jacobin.com/2023/01/juan-guaido-venezuela-opposition-coup-maduro

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Nicolas MADURO, Ignacio RAMONET

Escritor y periodista, Ignacio Ramonet Presidente, primero que todo muchas gracias por recibirme una vez más, muy agradecido que nos conceda esta entrevista y también bueno pues que sigamos esta tradición, ya es la séptima vez que nos encontramos a final de año para inaugurar el nuevo año con sus análisis sobre el balance del 2022, y por otra parte, sus perspectivas con respecto al 2023. Quería, esta entrevista se va a desarrollar en torno a tres temas como hemos hecho hasta ahora, tres temas principales, primero vamos hablar de política interior, de la situación interna en Venezuela. Segundo, vamos a hablar de economía, la economía venezolana y tercero vamos a hablar de política internacional. Tres preguntas para cada temática y vamos a empezar por la política o por las situación en Venezuela, el año 2022 ha sido marcado por una serie de digamos de inundaciones, de temporales causados un poco por la situación de lo que se llama el efecto de La Niña, y que ha provocado en particular en Venezuela una serie de, digamos, catástrofes, en particular la de Las Tejerías en octubre pasado, y quería preguntarle Presidente cómo está la situación en Las Tejerías, ¿qué ha hecho su gobierno para tratar de ayudar a las víctimas de Las Tejerías? ¿Qué reflexión le inspira a usted esa situación que ha vivido Venezuela?

Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Bueno en primer lugar siempre bienvenido Ramonet a Venezuela, esta es la séptima oportunidad que hacemos esta entrevista para arrancar el año, primero de enero. Feliz año para ti, para tus seres queridos y feliz año para todos los que nos ven y para todos los que nos escuchan.

Bueno efectivamente en 2022 sufrimos situaciones producto del cambio climático que golpearon de manera dolorosa a miles de familias en Venezuela, sobre todo el caso que se conoció de Las Tejerías, que fue un alud impresionante donde

el estado La Guaira en la costa venezolana, en Caracas, en el oriente del país, en los Andes, en Mérida, Táchira, Trujillo; estuvimos bueno, activados durante meses, ahora es que entramos en una temporada un poco más tranquila, pero nosotros siempre atendiendo de manera directa, presencial. Aquí no hay pueblo huérfano Ramonet, aquí hay un pueblo que tiene Gobierno, que tiene quien lo proteja, quien lo acompañe en todas las circunstancias, sobre todo cuando hay circunstancias duras, adversas, dolorosas, como el caso de estos alud y de esta destrucción que provocaron las lluvias torrenciales sobre Venezuela; garantizándole a la gente la atención directa, el refugio, el acompañamiento, y todo pues, y luego comenzamos un proceso de restablecimiento que ha avanzado extraordinariamente de todos los servicios comerciales, servicios públicos de la vida del pueblo en Las Tejerías, y la vida de todos los pueblos afectados por estas lluvias torrenciales.

Y la garantía más importante que es la garantía de la vivienda, de la vivienda, del techo propio. Yo les dije a las personas que perdieron todas las viviendas en Las Tejerías, ustedes van a recibir el año 2023 con vivienda propia, y gracias al esfuerzo de la Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela hemos cumplido ese ofrecimiento, ese compromiso, y hemos cumplido esa meta. Y las personas que fueron afectadas de manera horrorosa pues, perdiendo toda su vivienda y muchas veces perdiendo seres queridos, bueno ya tienen su techo propio, su techo seguro. Así que Venezuela está preparada para reaccionar, para accionar, y este año 2022 que pasó, nos puso a prueba y una vez más el poder popular, el poder de la Fuerza Armada

se vino bueno, de una quebrada pequeña un gigantesco

Construida según el proyecto del arquitecto crecimiento, donde se desbordaron las quebradas, donde se venezolano Carlos Raúl Villanueva, entre 1940 vino la montaña pues convertida en alud, algunos lo llaman y 1960 en los terrenos de la Hacienda Ibarra, deslave; y eso ocasionó más de 50 personas fallecidas, un propiedad donada por el Libertador Simón grupo desaparecido y cientos de personas sin vivienda. NBosloívtraors aalcatuanmtoisgudae RmeanleyraPoinnmteidfiicatia Ueniveestresidcasdo de Caracas, luego de su reorganización bajo los y en todos los demás casos, porque tuvimos afectación también ahí mismo en el centro del país, en una región, una estatutos republicanos.

----------------------

ROUGH TRANSLATION BELOW....

The most difficult years were those of criminal sanctions: more than 927 against the economy, against the productive apparatus, against the oil industry – the great industry of Venezuela.
But for 2022, the Central Bank of Venezuela says growth has been around 19%, and CEPAL (UN) speaks of 12%.

Ignacio Ramonet – Mr President, first of all I would like to thank you for having me again for this interview, it is good to continue this tradition – this is already the seventh occasion on which we meet at the end of a year to discuss the following on the basis of your analyzes and the balance sheet, also put perspectives on what will take place. This interview will revolve as usual around three main themes: first we will talk about domestic politics, the internal situation of Venezuela. Then we will talk about economics and finally, international politics. Three questions for each theme. Let's start with the situation in Venezuela. 2022 has been marked by a series of floods, storms caused in part by the phenomenon called “La Niña”, which has caused disasters in particular in Venezuela, such as in Tejerias last October, and I wanted to ask you President how is the situation there, what has your government done to try to help the victims of Tejerías? What reflection inspires you about the situation in Venezuela?

Nicolás Maduro – First of all, Ramonet, you are always welcome in Venezuela. This is indeed the seventh time that we have carried out this interview to start the year, on January 1st. Happy New Year to you, your loved ones and Happy New Year to all those who see us and to all those who listen to us.

Yes, in 2022 we experienced situations resulting from climate change that painfully affected thousands of families in Venezuela, in particular the case of Las Tejerías, which was an impressive avalanche where, from a small ravine, an overflow gigantic happened, a landslide that caused the death of more than 50 people, a group disappeared and hundreds of people were left homeless. We acted immediately in this case and in all the others, because we were also affected in the center of the country, in a region, in an area called El Castaño. We have also been affected in the state of La Guaira on the Venezuelan coast, in Caracas, in the east of the country, in the Andes, Mérida, Táchira, Trujillo; we have been active for months, we are now entering a somewhat calmer season, but we are still present directly, in person, on the pitch. Here there are no orphan people, Ramonet, here the people have a government to protect them, to accompany them in all circumstances, especially in the most difficult, adverse, painful ones, as in the case of the destruction caused by torrential rains; we have guaranteed the population direct assistance, a roof, constant support. Then we started a process of restoring all commercial services, public services for the life of the people of Las Tejerías, and the life of all the towns affected by these torrential rains, which has made extraordinary progress.

And the most important guarantee: the guarantee of housing, the right to have a roof over your head. I said to the people who lost their homes in Las Tejerías: you will enter the year 2023 with your own home, and thanks to the efforts of the Great Venezuela Housing Mission we have kept our promise. These people who have been so horribly affected, who have lost their homes and often their loved ones, have now found a home. Venezuela is therefore ready to react. This past year 2022 has tested us, but once again the power of the people, the power of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the political power of the national government have come together to meet the needs of the population.

Ignacio Ramonet – Mr President, this year you launched a new way of governing, which you call the 1×10 system of good governance, and you defined it as an innovative method, can you explain to us in particular, for the international public, what is it?

And on the other hand, how do you evaluate this system in the policies developed by your government in particular circumstances, those imposed by the international economic blockade?

Nicolás Maduro – Well, we are renewing forms of direct political action with the popular movement, with popular power. In Venezuela, there is a powerful power, if I can use the expression: a popular power, a people endowed with power and who exercise their leadership in the streets, in the communities, at the base. There are millions of men and women who are the leaders of the communities, there are more than 48,000 communal councils at the base, which operate in a very democratic way; and we also have a people permanently mobilized through social programs, educational missions, the health mission, with the Supply and Production Committees, the CLAPs, a people who are active in their communities. We have therefore been looking for some time now for a method by which people could communicate their alerts, their complaints, their needs directly to the national government, in coordination with the regional and municipal governments. Beyond a piece of paper, beyond other forms of expression that people may have, we have designed several mechanisms. First of all, an application, an App which is a social network, Ven-App, and in the Ven-App application we have placed a window: Line 58, so that people can make their complaints and that these complaints , these alerts reach a central presidential command post. We explained to the population that we were going to act through this application – which can be activated from the mobile phone, from a tablet, a computer, different technological modalities. And indeed, people started using it.

And we set ourselves three priorities to start with: complaints about the situations in the water utility, which according to all the surveys was one of the highest priority issues, the most worrying for people. Education and health. We started with these three. And it was fabulous.

Then after two, three months, we incorporated telecommunications, electricity and other sectors. This means that we have dealt with the equation of the problems that affect the population the most, so that they can formulate their complaints. And the result has been wonderful, because it directly connects us to the real problem of the community, and also forces the state, institutions, organizations to respond and solve them in real time. We have achieved an 85% response capacity in terms of complaints, alerts, resolution, for example, of a ruptured water main or sewer pipe.

After that I set up “the 1×10 of good governance”, we call it “1×10” because we ask people to organize themselves into work teams of ten people to collect complaints, the alerts, do this community work. And it worked, almost 7 million people signed up, including citizens who are already members of the 1×10 of good governance. This system finds its origin, Ramonet, you must know, in mechanisms that we have historically applied for our electoral mobilizations: an activist seeks ten people to encourage them to vote. So I said, well, if it works for electoral life, for political life, why couldn't this immense capacity that people have shown in the 1×10 work for governing, for solving the problems of people ? And it has been wonderful.

On this basis of the “1×10” of good governance, in the face of the problems of education and health very affected by the lack of investment due to the sanctions and the blockade, we have created something called the Bricomiles, the military community brigades for education and health, their mission is the total structural repair of schools, schools, high schools, health establishments, clinics, integral diagnostic centers, etc. And it has been wonderful.

We are doing miracles, we are doing things that would be impossible to plan due to the lack of resources, due to the blockade, the criminal persecution of imperialism; we do things with the resources of people's power, the armed forces, and with the resources provided by the national government, we have repaired thousands of schools, repaired and renovated 100%. We've fixed hundreds of clinics and are making progress on major issues. The 1×10 of good governance was therefore a happy creation of 2022. And this year 2023 we will deepen all the mechanisms that lead us to a direct connection with people, their needs, because that is where the one wonders, Ramonet, why does a government exist?

Ignacio Ramonet – Revolutionary in particular, because it is one of the dimensions, I imagine, of the Bolivarian revolution, precisely.

Nicolas Maduro – Correct.

Ignacio Ramonet – Achieve a kind of direct democracy as well, articulating society and government, as you say.

Nicolás Maduro – The 1×10 method is an expression of real democracy, new democracy, popular democracy, direct democracy. The 1×10 answers the question: What is a government for? A government must serve the people, the citizens. And how will he go about it? Well, we are creating technological means through new social networks, through new applications, and especially through organizing and empowering people, organizing and empowering people power.

Ignacio Ramonet – Mr. President, let's talk about politics in concrete terms. At the end of November last year, after a 15-month hiatus, talks resumed with part of the opposition, let's say the extra-parliamentary opposition.

What is your assessment of the dialogue process that has been relaunched? And on the other hand, what obstacles do you see to the continuation of this process of dialogue with the opposition?

Nicolás Maduro – Well, let's notice first that the world is making a mistake, a mistake induced by the news agencies and the big hegemonic media of world capitalism: to say that the Bolivarian government that I preside, and the Bolivarian forces, are starting a dialogue with "the opposition".

Ignacio Ramonet – “The Opposition”.

Nicolás Maduro – Yes, because the first thing to understand is that there is not "one" but several oppositions, and this process of fragmentation, creation and atomization of the opposition is the result of the extremist policies that have been applied for four years by the government of Donald Trump, to bring Venezuela to its knees, to submit Venezuela; Following the serious damage caused in the economic, financial, commercial, energy and social fields, the opposition imploded trying to apply a policy disconnected from reality, with parallel governments, parallel powers that were not rooted in reality. The US empire, some in Europe, several right-wing governments in Latin America believed, as we say here, that “the job was done”. It was enough to name “their president”, period.

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https://www.legrandsoir.info/2023-l-heure-d-un-monde-nouveau.html

SOURCES IN FRENCH BY JULES LETAMBOUR:

Les années les plus difficiles ont été celles des sanctions criminelles : plus de 927 contre l’économie, contre l’appareil productif, contre l’industrie pétrolière – la grande industrie du Venezuela.
Mais pour 2022, la Banque centrale du Venezuela dit que la croissance a été d’environ 19%, et la CEPAL (ONU) parle de 12%.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, avant toute chose je vous remercie de me recevoir à nouveau pour cette entrevue, il est bon de poursuivre cette tradition – c’est déjà la septième occasion où nous rencontrons à la fin d’une année pour aborder la suivante sur la base de vos analyses et du bilan, mis aussi des perspectives sur ce qui aura lieu. Cet entretien va tourner comme d’habitude autour de trois thèmes principaux : d’abord nous allons parler de politique intérieure, de la situation interne du Venezuela. Ensuite nous parlerons d’économie et enfin, de politique internationale. Trois questions pour chaque thème. Commençons par la situation au Venezuela. 2022 a été marqué par une série d’inondations, de tempêtes causées en partie par le phénomène appelé “La Niña”, et qui a provoqué en particulier au Venezuela des catastrophes, comme à Tejerias en octobre dernier, et je voulais vous demander Président comment est la situation sur place, qu’a fait votre gouvernement pour tenter d’aider les victimes de Tejerías ? Quelle réflexion vous inspire la situation qu’a vécue le Venezuela ?

Nicolás Maduro – Tout d’abord, Ramonet, tu es toujours le bienvenu au Venezuela. C’est en effet la septième fois que nous réalisons cette interview pour commencer l’année, le premier janvier. Bonne année à vous, à vos proches et bonne année à tous ceux qui nous voient et à tous ceux qui nous écoutent.

Oui, en 2022, nous avons connu des situations résultant du changement climatique qui ont douloureusement affecté des milliers de familles au Venezuela, en particulier le cas de Las Tejerías, qui était une avalanche impressionnante où, à partir d’un petit ravin, une débordement gigantesque s’est produit, un glissement de terrain qui a causé la mort de plus de 50 personnes, un groupe a disparu et des centaines de personnes se sont retrouvées sans abri. Nous avons agi immédiatement dans ce cas et dans tous les autres, car nous avons également été touchés dans le centre du pays, dans une région, dans un secteur appelé El Castaño. Nous avons également été touchés dans l’État de La Guaira sur la côte vénézuélienne, à Caracas, dans l’est du pays, dans les Andes, Mérida, Táchira, Trujillo ; nous avons été actifs pendant des mois, nous entrons maintenant dans une saison un peu plus calme, mais nous sommes toujours présents directement, en personne, sur le terrain. Ici il n’y a pas de peuple orphelin, Ramonet, ici le peuple a un gouvernement pour le protéger, pour l’accompagner en toutes circonstances, surtout dans les plus difficiles, adverses, douloureuses, comme dans le cas de ces destructions causées par les pluies torrentielles ; nous avons garanti à la population une assistance directe, un toit, un accompagnement constant. Puis nous avons commencé un processus de rétablissement de tous les services commerciaux, des services publics pour la vie des gens de Las Tejerías, et la vie de toutes les villes affectées par ces pluies torrentielles, qui a fait des progrès extraordinaires.

Et la garantie la plus importante : la garantie du logement, le droit d’avoir un toit au-dessus de sa tête. J’ai dit aux personnes qui ont perdu leurs maisons à Las Tejerías : vous entrerez dans l’année 2023 avec votre propre maison, et grâce aux efforts de la Grande Mission du Logement Venezuela nous avons tenu notre promesse. Ces personnes qui ont été si horriblement touchées, qui ont perdu leur maison et souvent leurs proches, ont maintenant retrouvé un logement. Le Venezuela est donc prêt à réagir. Cette année 2022 qui s’est écoulée nous a mis à l’épreuve, mais une fois de plus, le pouvoir du peuple, le pouvoir des Forces armées nationales bolivariennes et le pouvoir politique du gouvernement national se sont unis pour répondre aux besoins de la population.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, vous avez lancé cette année une nouvelle façon de gouverner, que vous appelez le système 1×10 de bonne gouvernance, et vous l’avez définie comme une méthode innovante, pouvez-vous nous expliquer en particulier, pour le public international, de quoi il s’agit ?

Et d’autre part, comment évaluez-vous ce système dans les politiques développées par votre gouvernement dans des circonstances particulières, celles imposées par le blocus économique international ?

Nicolás Maduro – Eh bien, nous renouvelons des formes d’action politique directe avec le mouvement populaire, avec le pouvoir populaire. Au Venezuela, il y a un pouvoir puissant, si je peux utiliser l’expression : un pouvoir populaire, un peuple doté de pouvoir et qui exerce son leadership dans les rues, dans les communautés, à la base. Il y a des millions d’hommes et de femmes qui sont les leaders des communautés, il y a plus de 48.000 conseils communaux à la base, qui fonctionnent de manière très démocratique ; et nous avons aussi un peuple mobilisé en permanence à travers des programmes sociaux, des missions éducatives, la mission de santé, avec les Comités d’Approvisionnement et de Production, les CLAP, un peuple qui s’active dans ses communautés. Nous avons donc cherché depuis quelque temps déjà, une méthode par laquelle les gens pourraient communiquer leurs alertes, leurs plaintes, leurs besoins directement au gouvernement national, en coordination avec les gouvernements régionaux et municipaux. Au-delà d’un morceau de papier, au-delà d’autres formes d’expression que les gens peuvent avoir, nous avons conçu plusieurs mécanismes. Tout d’abord, une application, une App qui est un réseau social, Ven-App, et dans l’application Ven-App nous avons placé une fenêtre : la Ligne 58, pour que les gens puissent faire leurs plaintes et que ces plaintes, ces alertes parviennent à un poste de commandement présidentiel central. Nous avons expliqué à la population que nous allions agir par le biais de cette application – qu’on peut activer depuis le téléphone portable, depuis une tablette, un ordinateur, différentes modalités technologiques. Et en effet, les gens ont commencé à l’utiliser.

Et nous nous sommes fixé trois priorités pour commencer : les plaintes concernant les situations dans le service public de l’eau, qui, selon toutes les enquêtes, était l’une des questions les plus prioritaires, les plus préoccupantes pour les gens. L’éducation et la santé. Nous avons commencé avec ces trois-là. Et ça a été fabuleux.

Puis après deux, trois mois, nous avons incorporé les télécommunications, l’électricité et d’autres secteurs. Cela signifie que nous avons traité l’équation des problèmes qui touchent le plus la population, afin que celle-ci puisse formuler ses plaintes. Et le résultat a été merveilleux, car cela nous connecte directement au véritable problème de la communauté, et oblige également l’État, les institutions, les organisations à y répondre et à les résoudre en temps réel. Nous avons atteint une capacité de réponse de 85 % en matière de plaintes, d’alertes, de résolution, par exemple, de la rupture d’une conduite d’eau ou d’un tuyau d’égout.

Après cela j’ai mis en place “le 1×10 de la bonne gouvernance”, nous l’appelons “1×10” parce que nous demandons aux gens de s’organiser en équipes de travail de dix personnes pour recueillir les plaintes, les alertes, faire ce travail communautaire. Et cela a fonctionné, près de 7 millions de personnes se sont inscrites, notamment des citoyens qui sont déjà membres des 1×10 de la bonne gouvernance. Ce système trouve son origine, Ramonet, tu dois le savoir, dans des mécanismes que nous avons historiquement appliqués pour nos mobilisations électorales : un(e) militant(e) cherche dix personnes pour les inciter à voter. Alors j’ai dit, eh bien, si ça marche pour la vie électorale, pour la vie politique, pourquoi cet immense capacité que les gens ont montré dans le 1×10 ne pourrait-il pas marcher pour gouverner, pour résoudre les problèmes des gens ? Et ça a été merveilleux.

Sur cette base du “1×10” de la bonne gouvernance, face aux problèmes de l’éducation et de la santé très affectées par le manque d’investissement en raison des sanctions et du blocus, nous avons créé quelque chose qui s’appelle les Bricomiles, les Brigades communautaires militaires pour l’éducation et la santé, leur mission est la réparation structurelle totale des établissements scolaires, écoles, lycées, des établissements de santé, des cliniques, des centres de diagnostic intégral, etc. Et ça a été merveilleux.

Nous faisons des miracles, nous faisons des choses qui seraient impossibles à planifier en raison du manque de ressources, en raison du blocus, de la persécution criminelle de l’impérialisme ; nous faisons des choses avec les ressources du pouvoir populaire, des forces armées, et avec les ressources fournies par le gouvernement national, nous avons réparé des milliers d’écoles, réparées et rénovées à 100%. Nous avons réparé des centaines de cliniques et nous progressons sur les grands problèmes. Le 1×10 de la bonne gouvernance a donc été une heureuse création de 2022. Et cette année 2023, nous allons approfondir tous les mécanismes qui nous conduisent à une connexion directe avec les gens, leurs besoins, car c’est là que l’on se demande, Ramonet, pourquoi un gouvernement existe ?

Ignacio Ramonet – Révolutionnaire en particulier, parce que c’est une des dimensions, j’imagine, de la révolution bolivarienne, justement.

Nicolás Maduro – Exact.

Ignacio Ramonet – Réaliser une sorte de démocratie directe également, en articulant la société et le gouvernement, comme vous dites.

Nicolás Maduro – La méthode du 1×10 est une expression de la démocratie réelle, de la nouvelle démocratie, de la démocratie populaire, de la démocratie directe. Le 1×10 répond à la question : A quoi sert un gouvernement ? Un gouvernement doit servir le peuple, les citoyens. Et comment va-t-il s’y prendre ? Eh bien, nous créons des moyens technologiques à travers de nouveaux réseaux sociaux, à travers de nouvelles applications, et surtout à travers l’organisation et la responsabilisation du peuple, l’organisation et la responsabilisation du pouvoir populaire.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, parlons de la politique en termes concrets. Fin novembre de l’année dernière, après 15 mois d’interruption, les pourparlers ont repris avec une partie de l’opposition, disons l’opposition extra-parlementaire.

Quelle est votre évaluation du processus de dialogue qui a été relancé ? Et d’autre part, quels obstacles voyez-vous à la poursuite de ce processus de dialogue avec l’opposition ?

Nicolás Maduro – Eh bien, remarquons d’abord que le monde fait une erreur, une erreur induite par les agences de presse et les grands médias hégémoniques du capitalisme mondial : dire que le gouvernement bolivarien que je préside, et les forces bolivariennes, entament un dialogue avec « l’opposition ».

Ignacio Ramonet – « L’opposition ».

Nicolás Maduro – Oui, car la première chose à comprendre est qu’il n’y a pas « une » mais plusieurs oppositions, et ce processus de fragmentation, de création et d’atomisation de l’opposition est le résultat des politiques extrémistes qui ont été appliquées pendant quatre ans par le gouvernement de Donald Trump, pour mettre le Venezuela à genoux, pour soumettre le Venezuela ; Suite aux graves dommages causés dans les domaines économique, financier, commercial, énergétique et social, l’opposition a implosé en tentant d’appliquer une politique déconnectée de la réalité, avec des gouvernements parallèles, des pouvoirs parallèles qui n’étaient pas enracinés dans la réalité. L’empire états-unien, certains en Europe, plusieurs gouvernements de droite en Amérique latine, ont cru comme nous disons ici, que « le travail était fait ». Qu’il suffisait de nommer “leur président”, point final.

Mais ils n’ont pas compris le Venezuela, ils n’ont pas compris la force institutionnelle républicaine du Venezuela, ils n’ont pas compris la force populaire de la révolution bolivarienne ; ils ont pensé » ça y est « , qu’il suffisait de mener une campagne de dénigrement contre Maduro et le destituer. Ils ne comprennent pas que Maduro est le produit d’un processus historique, d’une force, d’une puissante union civile-militaire, avec des racines idéologiques, culturelles et politiques profondes. En ne comprenant pas cela, ils se sont autodétruits, ont volé en éclats. Donc, la première chose que nous devons dire est que nous sommes en dialogue avec toutes les oppositions.

L’opposition la plus connue en Occident, appelée Plate-forme Unie du Venezuela, qui a été dirigée par Guaidó de manière erratique pendant un certain temps, et qui rassemble des gens comme Capriles Radonski, Ramos Allup et d’autres, Manuel Rosales gouverneur de Zulia, eh bien, oui, avec eux nous avons une conversation, un dialogue permanent, nous avons une négociation et nous avons trouvé certains accords. Nous avons signé deux accords, entre le gouvernement de la République bolivarienne du Venezuela et la plate-forme unitaire de l’opposition.

Le dernier accord que nous avons signé est un accord social élaboré dans le détail pour récupérer 3,15 milliards de dollars gelés, séquestrés dans des banques à l’étranger. Cet argent appartient à l’État vénézuélien, à la société vénézuélienne. Le plan est de récupérer cet argent pour l’investir dans les services publics – l’électricité, l’eau, l’éducation, la santé – et pour atténuer certains des dégâts causés par les pluies torrentielles de 2022. Cet accord a été signé, mais il a été difficile d’obtenir du gouvernement états-unien qu’il prenne les mesures nécessaires pour libérer ces ressources. J’ai vraiment confiance dans le pouvoir de la parole donnée par une personne honorable comme Gerardo Blyde, par exemple, qui est le chef de la commission de négociation de ce secteur de l’opposition, ils devront montrer au pays s’ils tiennent ou non leur parole. Espérons-le.

Maintenant, je peux aussi te dire, Ramonet, qu’en 2022, nous avons promu le dialogue avec toute les oppositions. J’ai eu des réunions au palais présidentiel avec l’Alliance démocratique, qui réunit les secrétaires généraux du parti Action démocratique, de Copei (parti social-chrétien), du parti Primero Venezuela, du parti Cambiemos et du parti Avanzada Progresista. Cette alliance est celle qui a obtenu le plus de voix lors des dernières élections de gouverneurs et de maires au Venezuela. J’ai également rencontré le parti Fuerza Vecinal, un mouvement jeune composé d’une quarantaine de maires du pays, j’ai écouté leurs critiques, leurs contributions, leurs propositions, nous nous sommes écoutés, nous avons eu un long dialogue. J’ai également rencontré un jeune dirigeant vénézuélien du parti Lápiz, qui regroupe un ensemble de mouvements éducatifs, culturels et sociaux, avec Antonio Ecarri, nous sommes donc dans un dialogue politique permanent avec tous les secteurs économiques, avec tous les secteurs sociaux et culturels du pays.
Si quelque chose nous caractérise, et me caractérise en tant que président de la République, c’est que j’ai toujours tendu la main, j’ai toujours été disposé à écouter, à dialoguer, à parler avec tous les secteurs, et je pense que c’est l’une des clés qui explique qu’en 2022 nous ayons consolidé ce climat d’harmonie, de paix, de coexistence que le Venezuela a aujourd’hui.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, nous allons passer au deuxième sujet, nous allons parler de l’économie. Et à cet égard, il y a une opinion majoritaire, peut-être en raison de l’atmosphère dont vous parliez, de l’harmonie qui a été créée. Et c’est que la plupart des observateurs considèrent que l’année 2022 a été spectaculairement positive pour l’économie du Venezuela. Votre gouvernement en particulier a remporté une victoire, que beaucoup de gens pensaient impossible, en vainquant l’hyperinflation, par exemple. Et maintenant, la Banque centrale du Venezuela dit que la croissance au Venezuela a été d’environ 19%, alors que la CEPAL (ONU) parle d’une perspective de croissance de 12%.

La question est donc la suivante : que pouvez-vous nous dire sur ce miracle économique vénézuélien, quelle en est la raison, comment l’expliquez-vous ?
Et d’autre part, quelles sont les perspectives économiques du Venezuela en 2023, quels sont les objectifs que vous vous fixez ?

Nicolás Maduro – Les années les plus difficiles ont été celles où tout ce groupe de sanctions criminelles a été activé, plus de 927 sanctions criminelles contre toute la société vénézuélienne, contre l’économie, contre l’appareil productif, contre l’industrie pétrolière – la grande industrie du Venezuela. Pendant plus de 100 ans, le Venezuela a vécu uniquement grâce au pétrodollar, d’une part le flux de dollars, et d’autre part il a dépensé avec un chéquier gigantesque pour importer tout ce qu’il consommait.
Pratiquement 80, 85% de tout ce qui est consommé au Venezuela provient des pétrodollars, et cela a permis au Venezuela d’avoir l’un des niveaux les plus élevés de dépenses publiques et de qualité de vie, surtout à l’époque du commandant Hugo Chávez.

Pendant ces années difficiles où l’industrie pétrolière a été attaquée, je peux te donner un chiffre : le Venezuela a perdu 232 milliards de dollars, et le produit intérieur brut a subi un préjudice économique de plus de 630 milliards de dollars. Ces chiffres sont gigantesques ; pour un pays, passer d’un niveau de revenus de 56 milliards de dollars à 700 millions de dollars en un an, c’est une catastrophe. Néanmoins, grâce à la politique sociale de la révolution, aux missions sociales de la révolution, nous avons réussi à résister à l’impact dévastateur des sanctions, des persécutions et de toute cette guerre de missiles économiques, de missiles lancés contre toute l’économie, contre toute la société.

Nous avons créé les bases d’un processus de redressement structurel : le premier fut l’activation des 18 moteurs de l’agenda économique bolivarien. Le second, l’établissement d’un nouveau système de taux de change. Et puis il y a tout un ensemble de décisions et de mesures qui ont été prises pour protéger le système industriel, le système de production agricole, le système bancaire. Il s’agit d’un ensemble de politiques publiques judicieuses qui ont été accordées avec tous les secteurs économiques, sociaux et politiques du pays et qui sont le fruit de débats, de conversations et de dialogues.

A la fin de 2020, l’année de la pandémie, nous avons commencé à voir les premiers signes de reprise. En 2021, le Venezuela a connu sa première année de croissance modérée, et cette année, en 2022, les forces productives du pays se sont libérées.

Je peux te donner un autre fait : le Venezuela, qui dépendait des importations pour 80, 85% de toute sa nourriture, produit aujourd’hui 94% de la nourriture qui arrive aux foyers vénézuéliens, un record, un miracle agricole. Grâce à quoi ? Au fait que des centaines de producteurs, d’entrepreneurs ruraux, ont commencé à travailler, à produire, et que leur production parvient aux principaux marchés du pays, directement aux foyers.

Il y a une croissance industrielle qui a un grand impact mais qui connaît encore une brèche, nous pouvons croître encore plus. Le Venezuela a une croissance à deux chiffres cette année, la Banque centrale du Venezuela a déjà donné quelques chiffres importants, la CEPAL en a donné d’autres en ce sens. Cette croissance, je peux te le dire, pour la première fois depuis plus de 100 ans, est une croissance de l’économie réelle non pétrolière, c’est une croissance de l’économie qui produit de la nourriture, des biens, des services, de la richesse, qui paie aussi des impôts. Parce que nous battons des records dans la collecte des impôts pour l’année 2022.

Ignacio Ramonet – En d’autres termes, il s’agit également d’une diversification de l’économie vénézuélienne, qui était auparavant trop étroitement liée au pétrole.

Nicolás Maduro – Exact. Et c’est ce que je suis déterminé à dire à tous les secteurs économiques, à tous les secteurs politiques, à tout le Venezuela, notre chemin ne peut pas être de revenir à la dépendance pétrolière, notre chemin doit être de nous libérer de la dépendance pétrolière de manière définitive, de nous libérer du vieux modèle capitaliste rentier dépendant du pétrole. Le Venezuela a ce qu’il faut, le Venezuela a un appareil industriel avec un bon niveau technologique, une bonne capacité productive, et il le prouve.

Dans les pires années : 2018, 2019, je disais cela, et certaines personnes me regardaient comme si j’étais fou, « Maduro est devenu fou ». Mais je savais que ce dont nous disposons, nous l’avons étudié. Je peux te le dire : nous avons une équipe du plus haut niveau, de la plus haute qualité technique, économique et académique, pour formuler les politiques publiques, nous avons une super équipe pour l’économie, qui s’est aussi diversifiée et qui écoute toutes les opinions. Ce qui pourrait faire le plus de dégâts à une économie qui sort du sous-développement, qui sort de la dépendance pétrolière, qui est soumise au harcèlement et à la persécution états-unienne et impérialiste, ce qui pourrait faire le plus de dégâts, c’est que nous tombions dans des dogmes. Non ! Nous sommes anti-dogmatiques, nous avons un projet national, le projet national Simón Bolívar, nous avons des objectifs très clairs dans la construction d’un modèle diversifié, productif, et nous nous adaptons, nous nous mettons d’accord sur des politiques publiques de récupération structurelle.

Le Venezuela, je peux le dire aujourd’hui, vit la première étape d’un long cycle de reprise et de croissance structurelle, d’une nouvelle structure, d’une nouvelle économie, et c’est le chemin que nous allons poursuivre.

Ignacio Ramonet – Président, il y a cependant quelques nuages dans ce panorama très positif, à savoir la question du dollar, la pression du dollar parallèle et aussi la hausse des prix qui a été observée ces derniers mois. Pensez-vous que ces deux questions, la pression du dollar parallèle et la hausse des prix, puissent constituer un danger pour la reprise économique du pays ? Quels outils comptez-vous utiliser pour limiter la pression de la hausse des prix et la pression du dollar parallèle ?

Nicolás Maduro – C’est une grande perturbation, ce sont les blessures qui restent des instruments de la guerre économique, une phase que nous sommes en train de surmonter pas à pas, progressivement. Il y a eu une guerre contre notre monnaie et il y a eu différents instruments pour cela : le Dollar Today, le Dollar Cúcuta, c’était un dollar fictif, pour la guerre économique. Maintenant les mécanismes sont plus sophistiqués, ils passent par les crypto-monnaies, qui régissent le taux de change de manière spéculative avec un objectif politique, ce sont effectivement des perturbations. Je peux te dire que si nous comparons avec les années 2020, 2021 et 2022, nous avons réussi à calmer une bonne partie de cette perturbation, mais au cours des trois derniers mois, elle a eu de nouveau un grand impact sur le nouveau système de taux de change qui existe dans le pays, qui est fondamentalement un système de taux de change lié au marché. Pendant 100 ans, Ramonet, le Venezuela a vécu avec des systèmes de change dépendant du pétrodollar ; aujourd’hui, il n’y a pas de pétrodollar, l’économie doit donc avoir un système de change où elle se nourrit du dollar, de devises dans son propre processus productif, suivant des cercles vertueux qui lui permettent d’avoir un approvisionnement suffisant en devises. Il existe des facteurs objectifs et non-objectifs. Parmi les facteurs objectifs à l’origine des turbulences que nous avons connues au cours des trois derniers mois, il y a la surchauffe du commerce. Les échanges commerciaux ont été multipliés par sept par rapport au reste de l’année ; par exemple, dans le Banco de Venezuela, notre plus grande banque, normalement au cours de l’année dans un bon jour d’activité commerciale on effectue jusqu’à 100 mille transactions par minute, puis en octobre cela a atteint 500 mille transactions, et maintenant en décembre il y a eu des jours où il a atteint 700 mille transactions par minute. Cette surchauffe a nécessité un montant plus important et plus élevé de devises étrangères pour faire bouger le marché. Il s’agit d’une raison économique, mais elle ne justifie en rien les raisons non objectives, à savoir la spéculation pour causer des dommages économiques, pour poignarder la reprise économique. Mais nous allons contrôler cette situation, tous les secteurs économiques et le gouvernement vont construire un système de taux de change stable, pour défendre la monnaie et pour que l’économie fonctionne avec des circuits vertueux à partir de maintenant ; nous allons aussi guérir cette perturbation, cette blessure.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, à la fin du mois de novembre, votre gouvernement a annoncé des accords avec la compagnie pétrolière américaine Chevron et, à cet égard, je voudrais vous demander si cet accord avec Chevron signifie que Washington lève certaines des sanctions contre le Venezuela et quel pourrait être l’impact des accords avec Chevron sur l’industrie pétrolière vénézuélienne.

Nicolás Maduro – Eh bien, cela ne signifie pas que les sanctions ont été levées, elles donnent simplement à Chevron, une entreprise états-unienne qui produit au Venezuela depuis 100 ans maintenant en 2023, une licence pour venir travailler, produire, investir. Les relations avec Chevron et les négociations avec eux ont eu lieu dans le cadre de la Constitution, des lois ; le dialogue et les conversations avec eux sont extraordinaires, et j’espère que tous les projets qui ont été signés, tous les contrats qui ont été signés, seront effectivement réalisés.

Et j’envoie un message à toutes les entreprises énergétiques du monde, aux États-Unis, en Europe, en Amérique latine, en Asie ; ici, au Venezuela, nous avons les plus grandes réserves de pétrole certifiées du monde, ici, au Venezuela, nous sommes en train de certifier les quatrièmes plus grandes réserves de gaz du monde. Le Venezuela est une puissance énergétique, personne ne pourra nous sortir de l’équation énergétique mondiale. Nous sommes fondateurs de l’OPEP, fondateurs et leaders de l’OPEP-Plus, et nous allons poursuivre ce processus. Le Venezuela a donc les portes ouvertes, avec des conditions spéciales pour l’investissement, pour la production, avec la stabilité politique, avec la stabilité sociale. Donc, c’est un bon pas, cette licence Chevron, lorsqu’elle sera mise en pratique va démontrer que nous pouvons travailler ensemble et qu’ils peuvent venir au Venezuela pendant encore 100 ans, s’ils le veulent.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, nous arrivons maintenant à la dernière étape de cette interview, la politique internationale, un sujet que vous connaissez déjà, nul n’oublie que vous avez été ministre des Affaires étrangères de la République pendant au moins huit ans.

En juin dernier, vous avez effectué une tournée internationale réussie, vous avez visité des pays comme la Turquie, l’Iran, l’Algérie, le Koweït, le Qatar, l’Azerbaïdjan, et vous avez montré que vous n’étiez pas isolé, pas plus que le Venezuela. D’autre part, d’importants changements géopolitiques et énergétiques se produisent actuellement dans le monde, notamment en raison du conflit en Ukraine, et de nombreuses capitales – comme vous l’aviez suggéré à l’époque – se rapprochent à nouveau ou pourraient se rapprocher du Venezuela, qui, comme vous l’avez souligné, est l’une des principales réserves d’hydrocarbures au monde.

Dans ce contexte, je voulais vous demander, quelles perspectives voyez-vous à une éventuelle normalisation des relations entre le Venezuela et les États-Unis, et également une normalisation des relations avec l’Union européenne, ou avec d’autres puissances qui, à un moment donné, se sont jointes aux sanctions contre votre gouvernement ?

Nicolás Maduro – Eh bien, avec l’Union européenne, je dirais que les choses avancent bien, il y a un dialogue permanent avec M. Borrell, un dialogue avec l’ambassadeur de l’Union Européenne au Venezuela. Récemment, l’Espagne a nommé un ambassadeur à Caracas, et a donné son approbation à la diplomate vénézuélienne Coromoto Godoy comme nouvelle ambassadrice à Madrid, elle sera à Madrid très bientôt. Je pense qu’en général, pas à pas, avec une patience stratégique, avec de la diplomatie, avec du respect, nous pouvons progresser avec l’Union Européenne.

Avec les États-Unis, ils restent malheureusement piégés par leur politique insensée sur le Venezuela, en soutenant des institutions inexistantes, une présidence intérimaire, une assemblée fictive qu’ils continuent à soutenir, d’une manière ou d’une autre le chantage éléctoral de la Floride, de Miami-Dade, influence fortement la politique étrangère de la Maison Blanche, du Département d’État, c’est regrettable. Le Venezuela est prêt, totalement prêt à aller vers un processus de normalisation et de régularisation des relations diplomatiques, consulaires, politiques, avec ce gouvernement des États-Unis et avec les gouvernements qui pourraient venir ; une chose sont les différences politiques stratégiques, la vision que l’on peut avoir du monde, une autre qu’il n’y ait pas de relations. C’est l’anti-politique qui a été imposée par le modèle Trump. Trump a imposé un modèle au Venezuela, l’anti-politique du coup d’Etat, la menace d’invasions, des sanctions extrémistes, la tentative de briser le pays de l’intérieur, d’imposer un président de l’extérieur. Et toutes ces politiques ont échoué, elles ont été vaincues, d’abord par la réalité et ensuite par notre force. Nous sommes une réalité au Venezuela : le chavisme, le bolivarianisme, sont une réalité puissante au Venezuela, au-delà de Nicolás Maduro. Ils ressassent leur petite musique, la même qu’ils ont appliquée au Comandante Chávez, “le régime Chávez”, “le régime Chávez”. Il n’y a jamais eu de régime Chávez, il y a eu un régime constitutionnel, un état de droit social et démocratique, de justice ; et donc maintenant ils répètent la même formule : Le “régime de Maduro”. Moi, Maduro, je voudrais construire un régime pour moi ? S’il vous plaît ! un peu de considération, un peu d’intelligence.

Nous sommes prêts pour un dialogue au plus haut niveau, pour des relations respectueuses, et j’espère, j’espère, qu’un halo de lumière éclairera les États-Unis d’Amérique, qu’ils tourneront la page et laisseront de côté cette politique extrémiste, et arriveront à des politiques plus pragmatiques par rapport au Venezuela, nous sommes prêts, j’espère que cela arrivera.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, en Amérique latine, il y a eu de nombreux changements relativement positifs du point de vue, je pense, de Caracas ; ce premier janvier 2023, votre ami Lula da Silva va reprendre la présidence du Brésil, c’est une immense victoire, et il y a eu aussi la récente victoire de Gustavo Petro en Colombie. Nous pourrions dire que malgré la situation actuelle au Pérou, nous sommes globalement face à une nouvelle Amérique latine avec une majorité de gauche. La question est la suivante : quelle est votre analyse de cette nouvelle Amérique latine, et quelles perspectives lui voyez-vous ? Et en particulier, comment voyez-vous l’évolution des relations entre le Venezuela et la Colombie, lorsque ce premier janvier, en principe, la continuité et la liaison routière entre la Colombie et le Venezuela seront rétablies ?

Nicolás Maduro – En 2022, il y a eu de bonnes nouvelles, dans le contexte d’une Amérique latine caribéenne en conflit – le projet impérial de domination, de recolonisation, d’assujettissement de nos pays est en conflit avec les différents projets d’indépendance, de démocratisation, d’amélioration de la vie de nos peuples ; Il s’agit d’une lutte historique, une lutte historique entre les projets latino-américains et caribéens, avec leur propre empreinte et leur propre signe national, et les projets oligarchiques liés, malheureusement, et soumis, aux intérêts impériaux ; dans cette lutte, on a dit qu’une deuxième vague se lève, on l’a beaucoup dit. Par rapport à la première vague, nous savions tout ce qui découlait du triomphe du Commandant Chávez et des triomphes de Lula da Silva, Néstor Kirchner, Tabaré Vázquez, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, le Front Sandiniste, Daniel Ortega, la force de Cuba…

Ignacio Ramonet – Fernando Lugo…

Nicolás Maduro – … Mel Zelaya, toute cette vague.

Ignacio Ramonet – Lugo au Paraguay.

Nicolás Maduro – Cette vague qui a surgi sur le continent avait beaucoup de cohésion, beaucoup de cohérence, beaucoup de force, beaucoup d’impact. Puis vint la contre-offensive de l’extrême droite et maintenant une nouvelle vague libératrice, démocratisante, avancée et progressiste semble se lever avec force. Le triomphe de Gustavo Petro en Colombie a signifié d’importants changements pour la vie et la recherche de la paix pour le peuple colombien ; le triomphe et l’accession à la présidence de la République par Lula da Silva signifie, enfin, une formidable avancée géopolitique pour les projets régionalistes, pour la Communauté des États d’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes, pour la reprise des projets du Sud, de l’UNASUR, de la Banque du Sud, pour la reprise des projets d’intégration dans nos pays. C’est donc une bonne nouvelle. Avec la Colombie, cette année nous avons fait beaucoup de progrès, comme l’ouverture libre et totale des passages frontaliers, maintenant l’ouverture du pont Antonio Ricaurte à Tienditas, sur la frontière entre notre état du Táchira et le nord de Santander en Colombie. Nous avons également pris des mesures importantes dans le domaine du commerce. On estime que la balance commerciale des premiers mois est passée à plus de 600 millions d’euros. La balance commerciale entre la Colombie et le Venezuela commence tout juste à atteindre 600 millions, ce qui représente un grand potentiel.

De même, au Venezuela, des pourparlers de paix ont été mis en place avec le projet de paix totale du président Petro, et nous soutenons pleinement toutes les initiatives de paix, y compris celle qui a été mise en place au Venezuela, dans les pourparlers de paix avec l’Armée de libération nationale. Je crois que dans ce sens, le Venezuela et la Colombie sont en train d’embrasser la réunion des frères, et c’est une bonne nouvelle pour les deux pays et pour toute l’Amérique latine.

Ignacio Ramonet – Monsieur le Président, une dernière question. Vous vous êtes récemment rendu en Égypte notamment pour participer au Sommet sur le Climat et vous avez pu y développer votre propre vision des solutions à apporter au changement climatique, ainsi que votre analyse de la situation géopolitique internationale, mais vous avez également profité de cette rencontre internationale pour établir des contacts directs avec des dirigeants internationaux. Pour conclure cette interview, j’aimerais vous demander quelle est votre vision du nouveau scénario international conflictuel, et quels sont, selon vous, les atouts et les espoirs d’un nouveau monde multipolaire ?

Nicolás Maduro – Au sommet sur le changement climatique, la COP-27 en Égypte, nous avons pu rencontrer pendant trois jours les délégations de plus de 190 pays. Je peux vous dire que j’ai serré la main de la grande majorité des chefs d’État, des chefs de gouvernement, des chefs de presque toutes les délégations ; nous avons eu de longues réunions, des conversations avec tous ces présidents et premiers ministres. Qu’ai-je ressenti, Ramonet ? Du respect. De l’admiration pour les actions du peuple vénézuélien. La reconnaissance des dirigeants du monde pour le Venezuela debout, pour le Venezuela victorieux, pour le Venezuela qui donne l’exemple et qui ne s’est pas laissé écraser, ni mettre à genoux par les empires du monde. Et c’est ainsi que les gens du monde entier m’ont dit en privé, dans des conversations, dans le couloir, dans la salle de réunion, dans des conversations bilatérales : admiration, respect, reconnaissance pour la révolution bolivarienne, pour le peuple du Venezuela, pour toute la trajectoire démocratique que nous avons accomplie pendant toutes ces années.

Nous avons porté la voix du Venezuela : véritablement les ravages causés par le modèle capitaliste en 200 ans nous ont conduit à une urgence climatique, nous vivons déjà une urgence climatique. Nous y avons rencontré le président Petro, le président du Suriname, et nous avons fait une proposition que le président Lula a acceptée, celle d’organiser très prochainement au Brésil un sommet de l’Organisation du traité de l’Amazonie, qui réunira tous les pays amazoniens d’Amérique du Sud ; Nous y porterons la voix du Venezuela pour réactiver l’Organisation du Traité de l’Amazone, et aussi pour parvenir à un plan d’urgence pour récupérer l’Amazonie, pour défendre l’Amazonie comme le grand poumon du monde ; c’est l’un des grands accords que nous avons conclus avec le président Petro, avec le président du Suriname et maintenant avec le président Lula da Silva du Brésil.

Le monde est sans aucun doute dans une situation très difficile, nous vivons les douleurs de l’accouchement d’un monde différent. Nous avons toujours prôné la construction d’un monde pluripolaire, multicentrique, de divers pôles de développement, de pouvoir, de centres qui accompagnent toutes les régions du monde. Le vieux monde des 15ème, 16ème, 17ème, 18ème, 19ème siècles, du colonialisme, puis du néo-colonialisme du 20ème siècle, doit être abandonné pour de bon. Personne ne peut croire qu’à partir de deux ou trois métropoles, on peut gouverner le monde, on peut soumettre les peuples. Il y a déjà des régions très fortes, comme l’Asie, le Pacifique, l’Afrique elle-même, l’Amérique latine et les Caraïbes, nous sommes des blocs de pays qui sont en train de devenir des pôles de la puissance mondiale. Devons-nous renoncer à nos droits à la paix, au développement, au progrès scientifique et technologique, à nos propres modèles culturels, à nos propres modèles politiques ? Devons-nous y renoncer ? Non. Devrions-nous assumer la domination unipolaire d’une métropole qui prétend dicter sa loi au monde ? Non. C’est l’heure d’un monde nouveau, d’une nouvelle géopolitique qui redistribue le pouvoir dans le monde. La guerre en Ukraine fait partie des douleurs de l’accouchement d’un monde qui va émerger.

Nous ne doutons pas que nous en serons, nous avons voulu être l’avant-garde, fermement, courageusement, depuis la diplomatie bolivarienne, depuis la diplomatie chaviste, de la construction de ce nouveau monde. Nous apportons notre contribution de manière humble mais significative, depuis les idées de Bolivar, depuis les idées de Hugo Chávez, dans la construction d’un autre monde où nous pouvons tous nous intégrer, où nous pouvons vivre ensemble en paix et où les peuples peuvent surmonter les séquelles de siècles de colonialisme et de néocolonialisme. Nous croyons en ce monde et ce monde va émerger, n’en doute pas, Ramonet.

Ignacio Ramonet – Merci beaucoup, Monsieur le Président, pour cette interview. Je profite de l’occasion pour vous souhaiter, ainsi qu’à votre famille, votre pays, votre peuple et la révolution bolivarienne, de bonnes fêtes de fin d’année et une nouvelle année prospère.

Nicolás Maduro – Bien, et mes salutations à tous ceux qui nous regardent et nous écoutent à la télévision, sur YouTube, sur Instagram, sur Facebook, sur Periscope, sur Twitter, de toutes les manières dont vous pouvez nous voir et nous entendre, mes salutations du Venezuela à tous nos amis du monde entier. Merci Ramonet.

Ignacio Ramonet – Merci, Monsieur le Président.

Entretien réalisé à Caracas et diffusé le 1er janvier 2023

Source (en espagnol) : https://t.co/JFsB2jU18Z

Traduction : Thierry Deronne pour Venezuelainfos

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By Vijay Prashad
Peoples Dispatch

On Jan. 3, Shaun Tandon of Agence France-Presse asked U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price about Venezuela.

This followed an event In late December, when the Venezuelan opposition after a fractious debate decided to dissolve the “interim government” led by Juan Guaidó.

Since 2019, the U.S. government has recognized Guaidó as the “interim president of Venezuela.” With the end of Guaidó’s administration, Tandon asked if “the United States still recognize[s] Juan Guaidó as legitimate interim president.”

Price’s answer was that the U.S. government recognizes the “only remaining democratically elected institution in Venezuela today, and that’s the 2015 National Assembly.”

It is true that when the U.S. government supported Guaidó as the “interim president” of Venezuela, it did so because of his role as the rotating president in that National Assembly in 2019.

Since the presidency of the National Assembly rotates annually, Guaidó should have left the position of “interim president” by the end of 2020. But he did not, going against Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution of 1999, which he cited as the basis for his ascension in 2019.

Price said, “The 2015 National Assembly has renewed its mandate.” However, that assembly was dissolved since its term expired and it was replaced—after an election in December 2020 — by another National Assembly.

The U.S. government called the 2020 election a “political farce.” But when I met the leaders of Venezuela’s two historic opposition parties in Venezuela in 2020 — Pedro José Rojas of Acción Democrática (AD) and Juan Carlos Alvarado of Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente (COPEI) —they told me that the 2020 election was legitimate and that they just did not know how to overrun the massive wave of Chavista voters.

Since the members of the 2020 assembly took their seats, the 2015 assembly has not set foot in the Palacio Federal Legislativo, which houses the National Assembly, near Plaza Bolívar in Caracas.

In essence, then, the U.S. government is saying that the real democratic institution in Venezuela is one that has not met in seven years, and one whose political forces decided — against the advice of AD and COPEI — to boycott the 2020 election.

Earlier this month, Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro spoke with veteran journalist Ignacio Ramonet.

Maduro told Ramonet that he is “prepared for dialogues at the highest level and with relations of respect.” He hoped that “a halo of light” would reach the office of U.S. President Joe Biden and allow the United States to put its “extremist policy aside.”

Not only did Ned Price refuse this olive branch, but he also said that the U.S. approach to “Nicolás Maduro is not changing.” This is an awkward statement since members of Price’s own government went to Caracas in March and June of 2022 to meet with the Maduro administration and talk about the normalization of oil sales and the release of detained U.S. citizens.

Meanwhile, Tandon’s question hangs over the White House.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is an editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest books are Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism and (with Noam Chomsky) The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.

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In late December, Venezuela’s leading opposition parties voted to oust Juan Guaidó as “interim president” and dissolve his parallel government.

This was clearly not the ending the UK government had in mind.

Four years ago, the British government made the bold decision to recognise Guaidó as Venezuelan president, and proceeded to facilitate his legal battle to seize roughly $2bn of gold held in the Bank of England.

Indeed, the UK government insisted at every turn that it recognised Guaidó – and not Nicolás Maduro – as Venezuelan president. In turn, Guaidó’s lawyers argued that he was authorised to represent and control the assets of the Central Bank of Venezuela held in London.

Throughout this time, Guaidó paid his UK legal costs by drawing on millions of dollars of his country’s assets originally seized by the US government. In other words, Guaidó triedto seize Venezuelan state assets with looted Venezuelan state assets.

Meanwhile, it seems certain that the Foreign Office also used a significant amount of public funds to sustain its backing of Guaidó.

Now that Guaidó has been ousted, the legal argument for transferring the gold to the Venezuelan opposition has effectively disintegrated. Despite this, the gold remains frozen in the Bank of England, with no clear resolution in sight.

Whatever happens next, this case sets a precedent which could have far-reaching consequences: the UK’s coup weapons now include asset stripping a foreign state, and transferring those assets to political actors engaged in regime change.

This will surely serve as a warning to any state which plans to store its gold in the Bank of England.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tin5uSLys-M

During a recent rally, Donald Trump bragged that if he’d won the 2020 election (or it hadn’t been stolen from him, to be precise), his administration would have successfully overthrown the Venezuelan government by now, and all that nation’s oil would be in the U.S.’s possession. This is of course delusional, and doesn’t acknowledge that 8 months before he left office a coup attempt failed miserably in Venezuela, but whatever. J

immy points out that Trump’s main offense is not that he’s a warmonger in many ways just like all other presidents, but that he tells the truth about U.S. imperialism.

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Based on four years of original investigative work and interviews with diplomats from across the globe, Corporate Coup uses the case of Venezuela to examine the West’s blueprint for modern regime change war: the hybrid diplomatic assaults, economic terrorism, covert destabilization tactics, and information warfare that the US and its allies unleash against all governments that continue to resist the Washington Consensus.

While exposing the human cost of the West’s criminal quest to maintain its hegemonic hold over the world, Parampil reveals the limits of Washington’s imperial policy in the 21st Century, illustrating how developing powers from Moscow to New Delhi to Tehran — and yes, Caracas — are working to establish a multipolar world that honors the territorial sovereignty, political independence, and self determination of all nations.

“Anya Parampil is one of the most insightful people I’ve ever met. I’m proud to say I’ve stolen much of my understanding of the world from her. I can’t recommend this enough.”

– Tucker Carlson

“I met Anya Parampil when she interviewed me on RT in 2016, I remember thinking, “wow they’ve got a live one here.” When the US attempted a coup in Venezuela in February 2019, I got stuck into that idiot Richard Branson with his ridiculous rock show for freedom on the Colombian border. Anya was of course way ahead of me, she was boots on the ground in Venezuela itself, and later protecting the Venezuelan embassy in DC. She knows all there is to know about ‘the coup that never was’ and its grubby aftermath. Her book Corporate Coup is eye witness, boots on ground, credible, essential reading for anyone who actually cares about democracy and freedom. Viva Venezuela.”

– Roger Waters, Musician and Activist

“Anya has a great ability to identify and interview key actors, as well as a capacity that not all researchers and foreign policy analysts possess: pure intuition characteristic of a woman who believes in liberation and respect for all peoples.”

– Jorge Arreaza, Foreign Minister of Venezuela (2017-2021)

“Anya Parampil’s progressive and great journalism on The Grayzone has been an eye opener for years. She truly understands the modern world and its stakes. Why don’t we have more young journalists like this?”

– Oliver Stone, filmmaker and director

“Corporate Coup is a careful and meticulous work of investigative reporting that exposes the dark side of the United States’ foreign policy towards Venezuela. With much of the mainstream media’s coverage of Latin America heavily slanted by corporate and political agendas, Corporate Coup offers a novel perspective on how US foreign policy decisions created space for unscrupulous political actors to conspire to plunder Venezuela’s wealth. Parampil’s work epitomizes the best in the American tradition of politically committed investigative reporting which hearkens back to the times of Upton Sinclair.”

– Francisco Rodríguez, Rice Family Professor of the Practice of International and Public Affairs, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

Upon walking through the front doors of Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry, or Cancillería, in Caracas, one is greeted by a peculiar art installation which, at first glance, appears to be a large, fractured, black-trimmed window with a tail stretching behind it. As you gaze past the structure to see what is labeled the Sala de Salvador Allende, or “Salvador Allende Room,” located in the Cancillería lobby, the towering sculpture’s full image becomes clear. It is an artistic rendering of former Chilean President Salvador Allende’s glasses, left shattered on the floor of his office on September 11, 1973, after US-backed military forces stormed the Presidential Palace in Santiago and overthrew his government. Allende died from gunshot wounds, later ruled to be the result of suicide, amidst the putsch.

I first encountered the sculpture in February 2019, during what became the first of three extended reporting trips I made to Venezuela over the next two years. Days before my arrival, a little-known opposition lawmaker named Juan Guaidó had stood in the center of Caracas’ John Paul II Square and declared himself president of Venezuela, announcing a direct challenge to the authority of President Nicolás Maduro—and sparking an international political crisis that lingers to this day.

Up until that point, the entirety of Guaidó’s burgeoning career had been defined by his ascent within foreign-funded civic organizations in Venezuela. As we will learn, after studying at George Washington University in Washington DC, he joined the ranks of Voluntad Popular, a US-backed opposition party borne from foreign-sponsored student protests that rocked Venezuela throughout 2007. By 2016, Guaidó was representing his native Estado La Guaira in the country’s national legislature at the tender age of 32.

When he announced his self-declared presidency less than three years later, however, Caracas-based pollster Hinterlaces found that a whopping 81 percent of Venezuelans had no idea who Guaidó was. Even so, the novice politician managed to woo officials Washington. According to The Wall Street Journal, his confidence was inspired by a conversation with none other than US Vice President Mike Pence, who placed a call to Caracas on the eve of Guaidó’s makeshift swearing-in ceremony to “set in motion a plan that had been developed in secret over the preceding several weeks, accompanied by talks between US officials, allies, lawmakers and key Venezuelan opposition figures.” The scheme marked an unprecedented twist in US foreign policy: Washington had declared its regime change mission in Caracas “accomplished” before a physical transition in government had actually taken place—and it never would. Today, Guaidó’s name is primarily evoked as a punchline; synonymous with the most infamous US-backed coup that wasn’t.

To myself and my colleagues, the Venezuela dilemma presented a fascinating reporting opportunity—a chance to cover one of the Trump Administration’s most consequential foreign policy blunders while getting a firsthand look at Chavismo, a political movement that permanently altered the course of history on our shared American continent. Each time I touched down at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Venezuela’s Estado La Guaira, it was evident the country was experiencing extraordinary times. The facility is cavernous and seemingly equipped to route a normal number of flights per day, but was usually empty aside from other passengers disembarking from my gate. I often imagined the ghosts of decades past cluttering the airport’s vacant halls: suit-clad men and women rushing to board flights destined for Miami, or Zurich, or Madrid at the height of Venezuela’s neoliberal era. Since 2016, however, major airlines such as Aeromexico, Lufthansa, and Delta have halted flights to Venezuela, citing its increasingly strained economic situation and hurdles to transferring foreign currency out of the country.

During the 40-minute ride from Venezuela’s seaside airport to its capital, the bright blue hue of nigh Caribbean waters blurs into tropical greenery as the highway twists through serene coastal mountains before giving way to the unmistakable combustion of city life. Descending into the explosive metropolis, Caracas first spills out from either side with rainbow speckled barrios that tumble down the edge of its surrounding hills. Suddenly, the colorful commotion of the neighborhoods is replaced by the frenetic industrial energy of downtown—a whistling mix of modern skyscrapers and brutalist government buildings sprouting amidst archaic compounds adorned with delicate arches and wrap-around balconies reminiscent of Imperial Spain. The intractable pulse of the city center is only reined in by the Cordillera de la Costa Central mountain chain, magnificent emerald slopes that encase Caracas’ roiling urban heart.

On my first ride into Caracas, I observed a bustling Latin American landscape pulsing with all the normal signs of daily life. According to Western media, however, the Venezuela I had entered was a hellish netherworld. Headlines such as “Pets on the Menu as Venezuelans Starve” and “How Venezuela Became a “Warzone” created the impression that travelers should expect to encounter a virtual zombie flick playing out in its streets. The Obama Administration’s March 2015 decision to issue an executive order classifying the country as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security of the United States underscored the message that Venezuela was a place to fear. Yet the more time I spent in the country, the more I came to understand the true nature of its struggle. Indeed, Venezuelans and their government have been thrust into a war—just not the one portrayed in the West’s global media apparatus.

“Today, we proudly proclaim for all to hear: the Monroe Doctrine is alive and well,” White House National Security Advisor, John Bolton, triumphantly declared before a group of Cuban Bay of Pigs veterans in April 2019, roughly three months after the US recognition of Guaidó. 10 Days later, Ambassador Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s representative before the United Nations in New York, expressed to me his conviction that Bolton’s Monroeist views were based in a 200-year-old ideology that “in the 21st century is clearly racist, illegal, and against” the UN Charter and founding principles, enshrined to guarantee the territorial sovereignty, political independence, and self-determination of all nations.

Unfortunately for the US and Venezuelan population alike, Bolton’s words represented not only the view of Trump’s Administration, but an unelected bureaucracy that has dominated Washington across decades of superficial changes in leadership. Indeed, one could draw a direct line between Washington’s contemporary Venezuela policy and the CIA-backed putsch that ousted Chile’s Allende, Latin America’s first democratically elected socialist president, in 1973—an act of terror that colored a continent-wide campaign of US-sponsored counterinsurgency and lethal political repression. The statue of Allende’s splintered spectacles on the floor of Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry today are a reminder of the threat that all independent governments in the region continue to face as Monroe’s ghost wanders the halls of Washington, haunting its permanent guard with deranged visions of colonial conquest conjured in the cradled infancy of US empire.

This reality weighs heavily on the shoulders of Venezuela’s current government officials, many of whom bear the legacy of underground movements that once resisted their own country’s US-backed junta. In the decades preceding its 1998 revolution, Venezuela was ravaged by the same dark forces that reigned across Chile and the rest of the South American continent throughout the 20th century: military dictatorship, a dirty war against leftist guerillas, and pro-market shock therapy prescribed to benefit a tiny domestic ruling class that placed the boundless wealth beneath its soil—including the largest oil and gold deposits in the world—under the command of foreign interests.

It’s no surprise then that when a charismatic Venezuelan paratrooper stormed the country’s political scene and declared war on its domestic oligarchy, the public was ripe for more than your average nationalist revival. Following decades of colonial and neoliberal subjugation, Venezuela’s sole path to sovereignty was political revolution.

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https://thegrayzone.com/2023/09/11/corporate-coup-venezuela-anya-parampil/

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