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Newsletter of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign www.handsoffvenezuela.org May 2019 No coup, no sanctions US and UK: Hands off Venezuela hat we are witness- in Haiti. However, we do not ing in Venezuela is hear any US officials demanding Wan attempt at regime regime change, imposing sanc- change organised and directed tions nor threatening military from Washington by the Trump intervention in either of these administration. On January 24, countries. Why? Because they al- the president of the opposition ready have governments which dominated National Assembly, are compliant with the dictats at a street rally, proclaimed him- from Washington. self as the “legitimate president” The real reasons for the cur- of Venezuela. Within an hour, he rent US-led assault against Ven- had been recognised by the US. ezuela are three-fold. First of Guaidó made an appeal to the all, Washington wants to put an Armed Forces to side with him end to the Bolivarian revolution, and remove Maduro from power. which has been a thorn on its This call was repeated by a string side ever since president Chávez of US officials. This is an attempt- was elected in 1998. Second, US ed coup and one which has the multinationals want to get their full backing of US imperialism. hands of Venezuelan oil and nat- In fact, Juan Guaidó was an ural resources, as was openly ad- seized billions of dollars worth performance are completely op- almost completely unknown fig- mitted by National Security Ad- of Venezuelan assets in the US. posed to Washington’s meddling ure in Venezuelan politics when visor John Bolton. Venezuela has The Bank of England is illegally with their internal affairs. he was invited to Washington the largest proven oil reserves in withholding $1.2bn in Venezu- The fact that the coup plans for meetings in December 2018. the world and is only a short dis- elan gold. have stalled does not mean that That is where the plan was tance from the US. Finally, the US So far, the coup is not going the Trump administration has hatched. The United States has wants to send a clear message according to plan. Despite all given up. Sanctions are already been attempting to put an end to the peoples of the region that the boasting and claims Guaidó having a crippling impact on the to the Bolivarian revolution for the whole of the American conti- is not an inch closer to the Mi- economy. They will continue and over 20 years, particularly since nent is its backyard, a throwback raflores presidential palace. perhaps be toughened. Trump the short-lived coup against to the Monroe Doctrine. Putting No high ranking official of the has also tightened the screws of president Chávez in April 2002. an end to the Bolivarian revolu- Venezuelan Armed forces with the Cuban embargo as a way to tion would be just a first step This has nothing to do with command of troops has joined put pressure on a key ally of Ven- towards crushing the Cuban concerns about the “humani- the coup. Tens of thousands of ezuela. US officials have threat- revolution, as US officials have tarian crisis” in Venezuela, nor Venezuelans have participated ened India, which had increase openly explained. about the so-called “restoration in mass rallies against US impe- its purchases of Venezuelan of democracy”. You just have to It is now three months since rialist intervention, though you oil. There is now talk of a naval look to countries like Haiti and the attempted coup started. The would not have seen any reports blockade imposed by the US. Honduras to realise that these US has exercised enormous pres- of these in the BBC news. Latin It is the duty of socialists, the claims are hypocritical. In both sure on Venezuela. They have American countries with gov- labour movement, anti-imperi- Haiti and Honduras there is a real imposed crippling oil sanctions ernments which are supportive alists and consistent democrats humanitarian crisis, with thou- which affect hundreds of thou- of the US strategy (Chile, Brazil, must mobilise to oppose this at- sands going hungry and fleeing sands of barrels of oil per day Colombia, etc) have all rejected tempted coup. It is for the peo- poverty and violence, only to be in exports. They have cajoled moves towards military inter- ple of Venezuela to decide who met by barbed wire, detention over 50 countries to recognised vention. the Venezuelan president should camps and now the building of Guaidó. They have attempted to Clearly, the United States be, not for Trump nor May. Our a wall at the US border. Elections breach the Venezuelan border miscalculated. They underesti- stance should be clear: in Honduras in December 2017 with Colombia using the excuse mated the level of opposition were declared fraudulent by the of delivering humanitarian aid No coup, no sanctions, to a US-sponsored coup. Even Organisation of American States on February 23. They have issued US and UK many in Venezuela who are and there have been massive repeated threats to the Venezu- Hands off Venezuela critical of Maduro’s government protests against the government elan Armed forces. They have Gaddafi of Libya, Hussein of Iraq - and of course Corbyn! Imperialist intervention The BBC and Venezuela: Finally, in three areas, the pro- gramme mentioned issues that if they had been developed might have painted a more truthful bias and lies picture of what happened under he BBC programme Revolu- Chavez’s personality had come to many of the oil revenues were Chavez. He “bypassed traditional tion in Ruins: The Hugo the fore. siphoned off by the board of media” and spoke directly to the TChavez Story, broadcast on This was the narrative directors to benefit the oligarchy, people in his programme Alo 16 January, sought to prepare peddled by the so-called ‘objec- while the mass of the population Presidente. No mention from viewers to accept and support tive’ BBC. We are asked to believe lived in poverty suffering hunger the BBC that most of the media any moves against Maduro, as that all of Venezuela’s problems and malnutrition. Yet, claims was privately owned, and that the inheritor of Chavez’s legacy. have been caused by the dictator Gallegos, “it was well run” but it much of it had from the outset of And within a week, an attempted Chavez! It shows the depths to “surrendered to Chavez”. Chavez being elected president coup had begun! which the BBC has sunk. Chavez’s “grip on power called for his overthrow. What They tried to present the To support its view it had tightened” when he took control would happen to the mass media problems facing Venezuela as the eight interviewees, in addition to of PdVSA, which had been in the UK if it openly called for outcome of the dictatorial char- the narrator. The majority were dominated by the opposition the overthrow of an elected acters of Chavez and Maduro. No anti-Chavez. Even Eva Golinger, elite. But to opposition support- government? attempt was made to explain the who had been an adviser to and ers this looked like a “communist Secondly, in using oil rev- economic, social, and political supporter of Chavez for 11 years, takeover”. Chavez was apparently enues to fund social programmes context of the Bolivarian Revolu- made accusations of a sexual na- even to blame for the unsuccess- (misiones) Chavez decided that tion. And of course no mention ture against Chavez. Whether the ful coup in April 2002, as dem- “traditional methods of funding was made of the regime of sanc- incident she related happened or onstrators had supposedly been social projects were too slow and tions imposed by the USA. not we do not know, as only she killed by snipers “on both sides”! bureaucratic” so he bypassed the Right from the outset and Chavez were present, and This was a blatant lie, as the TV state structures. For socialists, the the programme claimed that Chavez died in 2012 so he cannot footage at the time showed. criticism is that you cannot use Chavez’s 14-year presidency was defend himself. The programme claimed that a capitalist state to move society a “precursor to many of today’s In the 1998 presidential as Chavez’s presidency unfolded in the direction of socialism. In populist leaders”. Under Chavez, elections, Chavez got 56% of the he became “intoxicated with Venezuela as in all other attempts the documentary claimed, it was vote, despite the favourite to win power” or that “power went to his in history to change society, you a story of “incredible short-term being a former beauty queen. head”. Yet what the programme cannot use the existing state. It achievements in health and edu- But, said one commentator, Raul could not hide was the fact that is, in Marx’s words, the executive cation” but also a “ruthless pursuit Gallegos, “What Chavez were you in his last presidential election in committee of the ruling class. of power”. This set the scene for getting? Would he be the military October 2012, “the whole country Lastly, in its conclusion, a the rest of the programme. authoritarian figure?” And a voted for a man they knew was commentator, Miguel Tinker Despite having the largest ‘learned’ university professor, dying and they still voted him Salas, said that “the poor will oil reserves in the world, the Margarita Lopez Maya, states that into office”. Isn’t it annoying when always be part of the political country has collapsed. There is Chavez had “no political experi- facts get in the way of a good dialogue in Venezuela”. A lasting chaos, poverty and violence. It ence”. story. legacy of Chavez and the Bolivar- is the most dangerous coun- It gets worse. But the BBC has What the BBC could and ian Revolution is that millions of try in the world. Chavez had to refrain from telling outright would never understand was ordinary Venezuelans have been been obsessed by the “pursuit lies. Half-truths will suffice. The that Chavez had a symbiotic link awoken to political life. They, of power”. The population had oil company PdVSA, although to the popular masses because along with the 1.6 million people been “seduced and controlled owned by the state, was in effect he expressed their desire to rid in armed militias, will be the by one person”. The worst side of a state within a state, where Venezuela of poverty, homeless- bulwark against any attempt at ness, hunger and illiteracy. military intervention by imperial- The programme was there- ist powers. fore in its entirety a character as- So the BBC remains exposed Join Hands Off Venezuela! sassination of Chavez. In passing, with half-truths and misleading The international broad-based Hands Off Venezuela campaignwas Jeremy Corbyn was also shown quotes (“critics claim” – which established in 2002 to generate awareness about Venezuela, espe- to be guilty by association, as critics?; “many blame him cially within the trade union and Labour movements. Our main task Chavez in turn was shown to be (Chavez)” – how many?). is to mobilise public opinion against imperialist aggression towards greeting Ahmadinejad of Iran, Darrall Cozens, HOV Venezuela. The basic aims of the campaign are to: • Give full support to the Venezuelan revolution, which has repeatedly Some achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution proved its democratic credentials. • Free university education expanded from 800,000 students • Defend the revolution against the attacks of imperialism and its in 1998 to 2.6 million in 2013 local agents the Venezuelan oligarchy. • Poverty reduced from 48% to 27%, extreme poverty down • To counteract the media distortions and lies about Venezuela. from 22% to 10% To get your trade union or other organisation affiliated, here are the rec- • Illiteracy eradicated in 2005, when 1.5 million learnt to read ommended annual affiliation fees: National trade unions: £500, regional and write bodies: £250, branches/trades councils: £50, others: £25. Membership • 19 democratic elections held, 18 of which were won by the fees for individuals are: waged: £7.50 and unwaged: £5 (suggested) Bolivarian revolution • Malnourishment reduced from 21% to 5% Contact us at: • Privatised utilities and state enterprises renationalised • Beneficiaries ofold age pensions increased from 380,000 to Unit 22233, PO Box 6945, London W1A 6US 2.1 million [email protected] • Number of doctors per 10,000 inhabitants increased from 18 to 58 @HOVCampaign hands.off.venezuela • Trade Union and Labour rights strengthened