Venezuela is not a threat - Links International Journal of Socialist

Australia Venezuela
Solidarity Network
April 2015
Produced with the support of the Venezuelan embassy in Australia
Letter to the people of the United States:
Venezuela is not a threat
2- President Obama abolish the
Executive Order that declares
Venezuela a threat to U.S. national
security, as has been requested by
the Union of South American
Nations (UNASUR).
3. The U.S. Government retract
its libelous and defamatory statements and actions against the honorable Venezuelan officials who have
just obeyed our laws and our constitution.
The following letter was
written by Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro
and was originally published
on March 17.
We are the people of Simon
Bolívar, our people believe in peace
and respect for all nations.
Freedom and
independence
More than two centuries ago, our
fathers founded a Republic on the
basis that all persons are free and
equal under the law.
Our nation made the greatest sacrifices to guarantee South American
people their right to choose their
rulers and to enforce their own laws
today. The historical legacy of our
father, Simón Bolívar, is always
remembered. Bolívar was a man
who gave his life so we would
inherit a nation of justice and equality.
We believe in peace,
National Sovereignty
and international law
We are a peaceful people. In two
centuries of independence, we have
never attacked another nation. Our
people live in a region of peace, free
of weapons of mass destruction, and
in freedom to practice all religions.
We uphold respect for international
law and the sovereignty of all people of the world.
We are an open society
We are a working people, we care
for our families, and we have freedom of religion. Immigrants from
around the world, live among us,
whose diversity is respected. We
have freedom of press and we are
enthusiastic users of social media.
We are friends of
the American people:
The histories of our people have
been connected since the beginning
of our struggles for freedom.
Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan
hero, fought with the American people during their independence fight.
We share the idea that freedom and
independence are fundamental elements for the development of our
nations.
The relations between our peoples have always been peaceful and
respectful. Historically, we have
shared business relations in strategic
areas. Venezuela has always been a
responsible and trustful energy
provider for the American people.
Since 2005, Venezuela has provided
“heating oil” through subsidies for
low-income communities in the
United States, thanks to our company CITGO. This contribution has
helped tens of thousands of
“This is how much I care about your sanctions, Mr Obama” Placard at anti-imperialist rally in Caracas held in the wake
of his March 9 declarations.
American citizens survive in harsh
conditions, giving them relief, and
necessary support in times of need,
evidencing how solidarity can create powerful alliances across borders.
Incredibly, the US
government has declared
our country a threat to its
national security and
foreign policy
In a disproportionate action, the
government of Obama has issued a
“National Emergency” declaring
Venezuela as a threat to its national
security (Executive Order, 03-092015).
This unilateral and aggressive
measure taken by the United States
Government against our country is
not only unfounded and in violation
of basic principles of sovereignty
and self-determination under international law, but also has been
unanimously rejected by all 33
nations of the Community of Latin
American and Caribbean States
(CELAC) and the twelve member
states of the Union of South
American Nations (UNASUR). In a
statement made on March 14, 2015,
UNASUR reiterated its firm rejection of these coercive measures that
do not contribute to the peace, stability and democracy in our region
and called on President Obama to
revoke his Executive Order against
Venezuela.
We reject unilateralism
and interventionism
President Obama, without any
authority to interfere in our internal
affairs, unilaterally issued a set of
sanctions against Venezuelan officials with potentially far-reaching
implications, interfering in our con-
stitutional order and our justice system.
We advocate for a
multipolar world
We believe that our world must
be based on the rules of international law, without interference in the
internal affairs of other countries.
We are convinced
that the defense
of our freedom is
a right we shall
never give up
because the
future of the
humanity lies also
in our country.
We are convinced that the relationship of respect between all the
nations is the only path for strengthening peace and coexistence, as
well as for ensuring a more just
world.
We honor our freedoms
and uphold our rights
Never before in the history of our
nations, has a president of the
United States attempted to govern
Venezuelans by decree. It is a tyrannical and imperial order and it pushes us back into the darkest days of
the relationship between the United
States and Latin America and the
Caribbean.
In the name of our long-term
friendship we alert our American
brothers and sisters, lovers of justice
and freedom, of the illegal aggression committed by your government
on your behalf. We will not allow
our friendship with the people of the
United States to be affected by this
senseless and groundless decision
by President Obama.
We demand:
1- The U.S. Government immediately cease hostile actions against
Venezuelan people and democracy.
Our sovereignty is sacred
The principles of the founding
fathers of the United States of
America are followed today with
the same dignity by the people of
Simón Bolívar.
In the name of our mutual love
for national independence we want
the government of President Obama
to think about and rectify this dangerous precedent.
We are convinced that the
defense of our freedom is a right we
shall never give up because the
future of the humanity lies also in
our country.
As Simón Bolívar said: “The
freedom of the New World is the
hope of the universe”.
“Venezuela is not a threat, but a
hope”
“Independence or nothing”
Simón Bolívar ■
Advertisement
Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network
April 2015
US academics, lawyers say:
‘Obama, revoke the decree’
The following open letter to
President Obama was initially signed by US academic
Noam Chomsky, USVenezuelan human rights
lawyer and author Eva
Golinger and Venezuelan
expert Miguel Tinker-Salas.
Since then a large number
of other academics, religious
leaders, representatives of
solidarity groups and other
prominent individuals have
signed on.
Dear Mr. President:
We, the undersigned individuals
and organizations, met your
December 17, 2014 joint announcement with President Raul Castro of
steps to normalize relations with
Cuba with cautious optimism.
For decades the US has been isolated in its policy on Cuba, both
from the rest of the hemisphere and
the rest of the world. For the 23rd
year in a row, the UN General
Assembly voted last October (1882) to condemn the US embargo of
Cuba.
The UN called on the US to
refrain from promulgating and
applying laws and regulations
which violate the sovereignty of
other States, the legitimate interests
of entities or persons under their
jurisdiction, and the freedom of
trade and navigation.
We were pleased that the US was
finally taking steps to come into
compliance with international law.
Yet our optimism turned to
renewed concern the following day,
December 18, when you signed a
sanctions bill against Venezuela
which appears to perpetuate the
same failed policy toward
Venezuela that you had just rejected
toward Cuba.
You hardened that policy on
March 9 when you issued an executive order declaring a national emergency with respect to the “unusual
and extraordinary threat to the
national security and foreign policy
of the United States posed by the
situation in Venezuela.”
This action also verified that the
US is stepping up its support for
regime change in Caracas.
What is US hemispheric policy
given this belligerent stance toward
Venezuelan democracy?
That is the question being asked
by the world media and particularly
by the sovereign States and multinational institutions of Latin America
and the Caribbean.
The Union of South American
Nations (UNASUR), which represents every country in South
America, said your executive order
constitutes a "threat of interference"
against Venezuela's sovereignty and
calls on you to revoke the order.
While politics in Venezuela is
polarized and economic disruption
caused primarily by the falling price
of oil have caused long lines and
falling poll numbers for President
Nicolas Maduro, we see nothing that
could conceivably be described as an
“extraordinary threat” to the US or
even to Venezuela’s closest neighbors.
We note that Colombia, the US’s
closest ally in South America and
even the Venezuelan opposition
have rejected US sanctions.
Compared to Mexico and
Honduras where state violence is
endemic and the rule of law tenuous
at best, Venezuela is not at all outside the norm among nations.
Venezuela is not at war with any
nation, does not have military bases
outside its borders, and is helping to
mediate an end to the war in
Colombia; it is a champion of peace
in the region. To call it a national
security threat to the US diminishes
the credibility of your administration in the eyes of the world.
To those who know the dynamics
in democratic Venezuela, this US
policy stance is dangerous and
provocative. To set the record
straight, the Venezuelan government
is
democratically
elected.
Presidents Chavez and Maduro
were both elected in what former
President Jimmy Carter declared to
be the best election process in the
world. (The Carter Center monitors
and reports on elections worldwide.) Your executive declaration,
however, is likely to be taken as a
green light to the most hard line and
anti-democratic forces in the country to continue to commit anti-government violence.
We call on you, President
Obama, to rescind your executive
order naming Venezuela a US
national security threat. We call on
you to stop interfering through
funding and reckless public statements in Venezuela’s own democratic processes. And most of all, we
encourage you to show to our Latin
American neighbors that the US can
relate to them in peace and with
respect for their sovereignty.
Sincerely,
Noam Chomsky, MIT
Eva Golinger, Human Rights
lawyer and author
Miguel Tinker-Salas, Ph.D.,
Pomona College.
[A similar letter has been initiated here in Australia by the
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign
group in Melbourne. If you would
like more information or want to
add your name please contact Denis
Rogatyuk on 0425 800 215.] ■
Over a million Venezuelans sign letter rejecting Obama´s Executive Order
Rachael Boothroyd
More than a million
Venezuelans have spoken out
against an Executive Order
released by the Obama administration on March 9, which
brands Venezuela a “national
security threat” and slaps several more Venezuelan state
officials with sanctions.
Venezuelans have rallied in support of their government since the
order was released and over a million have signed a letter demanding
that Obama revoke his designation.
The letter was initially circulated
amongst the public last week by
the Venezuelan government as part
of a “peaceful” campaign against
Washington’s actions.
“A country which has eradicated
illiteracy, and which has structured
all of its policies towards putting
an end to the frightening poverty
produced by the neoliberal policies
of the 1980s and 1990s can’t be a
threat,” stated Mayor of Caracas,
Jorge Rodriguez, who confirmed
that over a million signatures had
been collected in less than a week.
“We’re going for 10 million…
To insist that we are not a threat,”
he added.
Metro stations and public
squares have become more of a
hive of activity than usual over the
last few days, as volunteers have
set up makeshift tables with copies
of the petition for passersby to
sign.
Zulaica Campos, a biologist, has
been volunteering outside La
California metro station in Caracas
since the campaign was launched.
“We are here because we really
want Mr. Obama, the President of
the United States, to revoke the
decree in which he says that
Venezuela is a threat against his
country. Venezuela has never gone
outside of its own borders, with the
exception of liberating other countries (from colonialism).”
It’s not just Venezuela that could
be affected by Obama’s order
according to Campos, who sees her
work encouraging others to sign
the letter as a way of protecting
Latin American sovereignty.
“We are a peaceful people… We
will always fight for peace, and this
petition that we are supporting is a
tool for peace, for Venezuela, the
whole world, and especially for
Latin America, because we don’t
want to be crushed by any other
country. We want the U.S. to be a
country like us... We know that the
U.S. people are noble,” she
explained.
Maria Ruiz De Alcala, is one of
the many Venezuelans who was
moved to sign the letter while coming out of La California metro station.
“Obama’s measure is against the
people. The U.S. is accustomed to
invading, causing damage and
declaring war. We Venezuelans feel
that our problems are our problems, and they should be resolved
by us. We have a president who
was elected by us, and we demand
to be respected. We are prepared to
give our lives for this if necessary,”
stated Alcala.
The petition is perhaps the most
important part of a broader campaign to get Obama to backtrack on
his decision, entitled “Venezuela is
not a threat, we are hope”.
Over the weekend the campaign
saw the Maduro administration
release a video featuring the lyrics
of John Lennon’s "Imagine" in
order to convince Washington to
tone down what it describes as an
aggressive position.
Reactions to the order have also
gone beyond Venezuelan borders,
and social networking sites such as
Twitter have been awash with global messages of support for the
Venezuelan government. The hashtags #ObamaDerogaElDecretoYa or
#ObamaRepealTheExecutiveOrder
have been trending over the past
few days, and have been tweeted
over two million six hundred thousand times, according to Mayor
Rodriguez.
Venezuelan authorities are hoping to collect 10 million signatures
for the petition before the
Organization of American States
(OAS) Summit of the Americas,
which is due to be held in April in
Panama. It has stated that it will
use the event to present the signatures to OAS member states, as
well as to Barack Obama who is
expected to personally attend.
April’s summit is set to follow
on from an “extraordinary” meeting held by the organization last
week, specifically aimed at
addressing the impasse between
Caracas and Washington. Several
governments from across the continent used the latest OAS meeting
to add their voices to the chorus of
criticism which has emerged from
the region over the past week.
“We have been clear in both
UNASUR and CELAC (Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States). We reject unilateral sanctions, we think that sanctions from one country against
another achieve nothing,” stated
Colombian Foreign Minister, María
Ángela Holguín, according to
Colombian news site, Caracol.
Although Washington has yet to
officially respond to the campaign,
U.S. delegate to the OAS meeting,
Michael J. Fitzpatrick, stated that
the Executive Order had been
“taken out of context.”.
[First published on Venezuela
nalysis.com] ■
Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network
April 2015
Solidarity in action
Sydney rally
defends Venezuela
against US threat
Melbourne:
Venezuela Solidarity
Campaign launched
Denis Rogatyuk
A new solidarity group, the
Venezuela Solidarity
Campaign (VSC) has been
established in Melbourne following the “Bolivarian revolution continues” conference
held in November 2014.
The group brings together Latin
American Solidarity Network
(LASNET), Australia-Venezuela
Solidarity Network (AVSN),
Australia-Cuba Friendship Society,
the Maritime Union of Australia
(Victoria branch), the friends of the
Farabundo
Marti
National
Liberation Front (FMLN) in
Melbourne,
Chile
Solidarity
Coalition, Socialist Alliance and
others.
The solidarity campaign has so
far organised a number of events in
support of the Bolivarian government and in defence of Venezuela’s
sovereignty.
VSC organized a commemorative event in Trades Hall to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of
the February 4 military rebellion led
by Hugo Chavez, which included a
screening of the “Viva Venezuela”
documentary.
Nelson Davila, the Venezuelan
Ambassador to Australia, gave a
thorough outline of the February 4
military rebellion, an event that is
today seen as a defining moment in
the history of the Bolivarian
Revolution.
Davila also spoke about the current situation in Venezuela regarding renewed attempts at an unconstitutional regime change by the
country’s right-wing opposition.
To commemorate the passing of
Hugo Chavez, the group organised
a forum on March 5 to remember
the legacy of Chavez in Latin
America and throughout the world.
Danesh Chako, a member of the
2014 Venezuela Solidarity Brigade,
Kevin Bracken, Victorian Secretary
of the MUA, and Martin Zapata, a
Bolivian activist and researcher,
spoke as part of a plenary discussion on the night.
At the end of the forum, a toast
was given to remember the passing
of the Comandante
Following US President Barack
Obama’s declaration that Venezuela
was a “threat to national security”,
VSC decided to build a protest on
April 11, outside the State Library.
The protest will be mark the 13th
anniversary of the failed coup
against Chavez, as well as demand
the reversal of Obama’s executive
order. ■
120 UK politicians tell US to back
down From Venezuela order
TeleSUR
More than a hundred top
British lawmakers have
signed a statement opposing
“any U.S. sanctions on
Venezuela” and supporting
the stance of the Union of
South American Nations.
Politicians from across at least
six different parties, 120 of them,
and from bodies including the
Houses of Parliament and Lords,
European Parliament, Scottish
Parliament, supported the calls of
Venezuela's elected President
Nicolas Maduro for peace and dialogue.
The signatories agreed with the
Organization of American States'
resolution of “respect for the principle of non intervention in the internal affairs of states and its commitment to the defense of democratic
institutionalism of the state of law
in agreement with the OAS Charter
and international law,” and therefore disagree with all external inter-
ference, including any U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.
Former member of parliament
and Chair of the Venezuela
Solidarity Campaign (UK), which
instigated the petition, Colin
Burgon highlighted the national
and international condemnation of
Obama's declarations.
“This has widely been condemned in Venezuela itself, across
Latin America, the Caribbean and
increasingly around the world,
including here in Britain, where this
surge in parliamentary support for
Venezuela's national sovereignty
shows people's deep concerns about
the Executive Order against
Venezuela,” he said.
“The hypocrisy of the U.S.
administration with regards to
Venezuela in terms of declaring
unilateral sanctions due to alleged
human rights abuses — when they
have close relationships with the
governments of Honduras and
Mexico — is breathtaking and
another reason why Obama's interventionist Executive order must be
repealed,” he added. ■
More than 40 people attended a
rally in solidarity with the
Bolivarian revolution, under the title
"Hands off Venezuela", outside the
US consulate in Sydney's Martin
Place on March 21.
The rally was organised by the
Communist Party of Australia, and
endorsed by the Australia Cuba
Friendship Society (Sydney),
Australia Venezuela Solidarity
Network,
Bolivarian
Circle,
Committee in Defence of Human
Rights in Guatemala, Farabundo
Marti National Liberation Front
(FMLN) Committee in Sydney,
Grupo Ibiray-Fondo Raul Sendic,
Latin America Social Forum,
Salvador Allende Monument Inc
and Socialist Alliance.
Speakers from the various supporting organisations condemned
the US declaration of a "national
security emergency" by US
President Barack Obama, and
stressed that the peoples of
Venezuela and Latin America would
never again accept US military and
Chavez.
“In the 19th century, Simon
Bolivar fought against the Spanish
empire.
“Recently, President Chanvez
fought against the US empire, for
socialism of the 21st century. Now
Venezuela is the victim of an economic and political war by the US
and local elites, to attempt to bring
down the Bolivarian Revolution
“With the help of international
solidarity, Venezuela will win.
Chavez lives! The struggle continues! Venceremos!”
A public forum looking at the situation in Venezuela two years on
from the death of Chavez was held
the following night at the old Latin
American Hut in Sydney.
In Brisbane, a forum and photo
exhibition looking at the life of
Chavez was also held on Friday
March 6.
The newly formed Venezuela
Solidarity Campaign in Melbourne
organised a public forum on March
5 to mark the date. ■
prelude to an economic blockade or
even military attack.
“Venezuela is clearly no threat to
any nation. We call on the US to
respect Venezuela's democracy and
reverse its sanctions and absurd
decree.”
Susan Price, a co-convenor of
Australian political group Socialist
Alliance, said: “For the US government to use alleged human rights
violations to attack Venezuela is
gross hypocrisy. The US government is one of the world's worst
human rights abusers — from its
war crimes in the Middle East, to its
torture camp at Guantanamo Bay, to
its own streets where Black youths
are killed with impunity.
“We know their real concern is
Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution,
that has lifted millions out of poverty and seeks to create a ‘socialism
for the 21st century’. This revolution sets an example for the world.”
Victor-Hugo
Munoz,
a
spokesperson for Sydney's Latin
America Social Forum, which
unites a range of Latin American
groups and communities, said:
“Latin American nations are all
speaking out in support of
Venezuela and against this gross
threat to its sovereignty. We join
with them in denouncing this attack
not just against Venezuela, but
against the sovereignty and dignity
of all peoples of the Americas.” ■
Events mark second
anniversary of
Chavez's death
A number of events were held
across Australia to mark the second
anniversary of the death of hugo
Chavez.
About 30 people gathered in the
Latin American Plaza, near
Sydney’s Central Station on March
5. The vigil was organised by the
Bolivarian Circle and the AustraliaVenezuela Solidarity Network
(AVSN), and was supported by the
Embassy of Venezuela in Australia.
Venezuelan ambassador to
Australia Nelson Davila said:
“Today we meet to commemorate
the great heroes of the Venezuelan
struggle for independence and freedom, Simon Bolivar and Hugo
Australian groups
back Venezuela in
face of US attacks
Australian groups have condemned
the decision of US President Barack
Obama to issue an executive order
on March 9 declaring Venezuela “a
national security emergency” and
imposing sanctions on Venezuelan
officials.
Australia-Venezuela Solidarity
Network co-convenor Roberto
Jorquera said: “We are extremely
concerned at this latest escalation in
US attacks on the sovereign nation
of Venezuela. We share the concern
of the Venezuelan government and
many others that this could be a
political intervention in the region's
affairs.
They also called for increased
solidarity internationally with
Venezuela,
including
from
Australia. The chants of "Yankee go
home!" and "The people united will
never be defeated" rang out across
the square. ■
Venezuelan
ambassador
Australia, Nelson Davila
to
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Post to AVSN, PO Box 458, Broadway NSW 2007. Ph 0412 556 527
Email: info@venezuelasolidarity.org. Visit www.venezuelasolidarity.org
Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network
April 2015
Venezuela: New coup,
same old coup-plotters
V Chandra Muzaffar
The most absurd political pronouncement of 2015 was
made on March 9.
The US President issued an
Executive Order that declared “a
national emergency with respect to
the unusual and extraordinary threat
to the national security and foreign
policy of the United States posed by
the situation in Venezuela …”
A White House spokesman
explained that Venezuela was a
threat because of “Venezuelan officials past and present who violate
the human rights of Venezuelan citizens and engage in acts of public
corruption…”
He further asserted that these
officials will not be welcome in the
US, “and we now have the tools to
block their assets and their use of
US financial systems.”
Seven individuals have been targeted by the White House. There
have been other sanctions against
Venezuelan officials and citizens in
the past.
So far the US has not provided
any tangible evidence of how
Venezuelan officials have violated
human rights or indulged in public
corruption.
Its reckless allegations have been
effectively refuted by the Caracas
government. Even leaders from
other Latin American countries have
condemned the statements emanating from Washington DC.
They have also criticized
Washington for demanding that
Caracas release all “political prisoners” allegedly detained by the government including “dozens of students.”
The Venezuelan government
insists that those detained are facing
trial for criminal offences linked to
violent attempts to destabilize the
situation and oust the democratically elected government of the day.
The government has been able to
offer incontrovertible proof of this
to the public.
Hugo Chavez speaking at the 2012 anniversary rally to mark the defeat of the coup in front of a banner which reads:
“Remember April”
Former Caracas mayor, Antonio
Ledezma, for instance, was arrested
in February for his role in the
February 12 coup which also implicated Air Force personnel and terrorists such as Lorent Saleh.
Another opposition leader facing
trial is Leopoldo Lopez who was at
the head of a series of violent opposition protests in 2014 that sought to
overthrow the Nicolas Maduro government.
The protests that Lopez led
caused the death of 43 people, the
majority of whom were from the
security forces or followers of the
charismatic late President of
Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.
In fact, Ledezma and Lopez,
together with a third right-wing
leader, Maria Corina Machado,
were actively involved in the infamous April 11 2002 coup against
Chavez.
The coup failed, it is worth reiterating, mainly because tens of thou-
sands of ordinary Venezuelans came
out in full force to demand that
Chavez be restored to power.
The US, through the CIA, was,
needless to say, responsible for
engineering the coup.
This time all three coup manipulators from 2002, had allegedly
signed a document which openly
espoused the overthrow of the
Maduro government.
President Maduro has shared
with his people recordings of phone
conversations that some of these
individuals had in recent months
with other Venezuelan politicians
living in New York and Miami
which suggest a complex coup plot.
The execution of the plot envisaged the privatization of most public services and the intervention of
the IMF, the World Bank and the
Inter-American Development Bank
in the Venezuelan economy for the
benefit of the pro-US elite in the
country and their masters in
Washington and other Western capitals.
Maduro has promised to reveal
more details of the planned coup at
the Summit of the Americas scheduled for April in Panama.
Since this is what is happening —
a concerted drive by the US elite to
oust a democratically elected government which has been going on
for at least 13 years — how can
Obama talk of a Venezuelan threat
to the US?
If anything, it is the US that is a
present and continuous threat to the
people of Venezuela. It is the US
elite that is undermining Venezuelan
democracy.
Why is the US doing this to
Venezuela? The reason is simple.
Since Hugo Chavez Frias became
President through the ballot-box in
1998, he and his successor, Nicolas
Maduro, have been determined to
preserve and enhance the independence, sovereignty and integrity of
their nation.
The Venezuelan people as a
whole are not prepared to yield to
US dominance and control over
their land which was the reality for
long decades before 1998.
It is not just because of the resistance of the Venezuelan people to US
hegemony that they are being
threatened and punished in this way.
The US elite knows that their
resistance is part of an ever-widening, ever-expanding resistance that
encompasses a large number of
countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their collective desire to
protect and enhance their sovereignty and independence has now found
expression through regional initiatives such as ALBA and CELAC.
The Venezuelan leadership itself
continues to play a significant role
in these initiatives.
As more and more nations in a
region that was once contemptuously referred to as “the US’s backyard” assert their dignity and selfrespect, it is obvious that US power
and influence in Latin America and
the Caribbean is waning rapidly.
The very fact that that the overwhelming majority of states in the
region have rallied around
Venezuela as it faces threats from its
northern neighbor is proof that the
tide has changed.
A while ago, Latin American
states also stood by Argentina when
it was subjected to enormous pressures from Wall Street speculators
and financers.
If the US realizes that it cannot
throw its weight around anymore it
is also because of the increasingly
close ties that are developing
between nations in the region and
China, and to a lesser extent,
Russia. In other words, the new scenarios that are unfolding are not to
the US’s liking.
Perhaps, it is in that sense that
Venezuela — one of the movers of
change in Latin America and the
Caribbean — is a “threat” to a
declining hegemon. ■
Maduro unveils further evidence of ‘Blue Coup’ plot
TeleSUR
Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro revealed new evidence on
the coup plot against his administration on March 3 during his
weekly televised show, revealing
that much of it was planned in the
United States.
President Maduro played the
audio of a conversation held
between Carlos Manuel Osuna
Saraco, a former Venezuelan politician living in New York, and a soldier, in which Osuna dictates the
statement that the rebel soldiers
should read out during the coup.
The Venezuelan leader informed
viewers that he would soon call upon
the United States to extradite the suspect
Osuna for trial in his home country.
Maduro also noted that in addition to the call from Osuna’s base
in New York, there was a second
phone call from Miami.
Ledezma was in constant coordination with Osuna in New York
via telephone.
“There is a lot of hatred in certain minorities [in Venezuela],”
Maduro said. “Minorities with economic power that are being encouraged from the U.S.”
“This plot has a tag which reads
'made in the USA,'” he asserted,
adding that a member of the United
States Embassy in Venezuela also
met with opposition leaders, giving
them documents to help in the
preparation stage.
He urged U.S. President Barack
Obama to abandon his government's attempts to oust him.
“You, Mr. Obama, must decide
… if you want to go down in history as George W. Bush, who failed
in attempting to oust President
Chavez,” said Maduro.
“This plot has a
tag which reads
'made in the
USA',” Maduro
asserted.
According to information the
government had previously
released, the coup plotters had a
four-stage plan to oust the president, which would begin with economic warfare and finish with a
violent military uprising.
Furthermore, President Maduro
said preliminary information given
by detained officers – not yet confirmed – points at CNN and
Televen as two of the media outlets
through which the coup plotters’
message would be aired.
Maduro also showed a copy of a
new “100-day Plan for Transition”,
designed by the coup plotters and
the opposition, which stipulated a
series of measures which would be
implemented by the planned governing junta.
The plan would take effect
immediately after the coup, calling
for early elections and the privatization of all public services.
The transitional government
would request all of the current
Venezuelan officials to turn themselves into the police within a period
of 180 days. It also requested every
Cuban worker within the government to turn themselves in unarmed
to their local police station.
The plan also contemplated a
role for the IMF, the World Bank
and the Inter-American
Development Bank to intervene in
the Venezuelan economy.
President Maduro announced
further revelations will be made in
the following weeks, and said he
will bring that evidence to present
at the Summit of the Americas, to
be held in April in Panama.
“We have only revealed less than
one percent of all of the information which the detained generals
have given us,” said Maduro.
The Venezuelan president ended
the broadcast by urging opposition
leaders to stay away from an armed
struggle and to respect the
Constitution. ■