Coup plot foiled in Venezuela
By Gloria La Riva
Feb 15, 2015
Photo credit: Telesur
Jorge Rodriguez and Diosdado Cabello Photo credit: Telesur
A coup plot against President Nicolas Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution was
thwarted this week as a retired Venezuelan Air Force general and 10 military and
civilian opposition figures were arrested.
The bombing of the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly, Telesur TV network,
the Defense Ministry and other Caracas sites was to take place February 12, the oneyear anniversary of violent anti-government attacks known as guarimbas, which
caused 43 deaths. A Tucano EMB 312 bomber would have been flown by renegade Air
Force First Lieutenant Jos Antich Zapata to destroy the targeted sites.
Photo credit: Telesur
U.S. spokesperson Jen Psaki and the Venezuelan far-right are dismissing the plot
claim, but video evidence, a map of the bombing targets, and other key evidence have
been unveiled on national television, with more details promised. Washingtons role in
previous plots has been proven before.
According to President Maduro, detained coup leaders have confessed their role. He
spoke on national television Sunday morning, to reveal more facts and accuse the
United States government of conspiring with coup plotters.
Antich Zapata received U.S. visas for himself and other conspirators from the U.S.
embassy in Caracas, for escape from Venezuela in case the plot failed.
Maduro also said that the script of an eight-minute video by the coup group to air
once the government was overthrown was written with the help of a U.S. embassy
advisor.
Rightwing opposition involved
In obvious preparation for the failed coup, three of the most belligerent opposition
figures Maria Corina Machado, Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma issued a Call
for a National Transition Agreement, on February 11, the day before the overthrow
was to take place. Lopez is currently awaiting trial for his role in the violent attacks
last February.
The transition agreement is a plan for overthrow of the Bolivarian Revolution
socialist project, including a demand for felony trials of current government leaders
after the transition, the privatization of nationalized industries, and the takeover
of PDVSA, the state-owned oil industry that has been the source of great social
developments in Venezuela since 1999.
As if aware of a pending coup, German embassy representative Jorg Polster issued a
letter of warning on February 5 to German citizens residing in Venezuela, to take
unusual precautions such as in the event of political unrest like that which began in
the spring of 2014. The letter suggests the German nationals obtain a two-week
supply of food, water and emergency provisions of battery, radio and important
documents. The letter also indicates a loss of electricity and Internet access could
be a possibility.
National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello and Jorge Rodriguez, mayor of the
Libertador municipality of Caracas both leaders of Maduros political high command
also appeared on television, denouncing Julio Borges, leader of the right-wing group,
Primero Justicia (Justice First in English), as drafting the list of the 20-plus
targets to be bombed.
An unfolding plot since January
A series of actions was planned by the counterrevolutionaries to lead up to February
12.
First step was economic destabilization through major corporate hoarding of goods to
create empty stores and mass discontent. That has been taking place for weeks, with
the right-wing then accusing the socialist government of economic failure.
The government countered with Operation Dignity, confiscating the hoarded goods
for redistribution at fair prices to the population, and arresting the corporate
conspirators.
The second step was internationally-generated false accusations of a humanitarian
crisis in Venezuela by the U.S. and international allies of Washington.
It is thus no coincidence that on January 24, three right-wing former presidents of
Latin American countries, Andres Pastrana of Colombia, Felipe Calderon of Mexico
and Sebastian Pinera of Chile came to Venezuela and tried to visit jailed opposition
leader Leopoldo Lopez. Afterwards, they demanded his freedom and held a press
conference accusing Venezuela of human rights violations.
On February 3, President Maduro warned Washington to stop its interventionist
meddling, and accused U.S. officials of trying to bribe current and former
government leaders to betray the government.
Via Telesur, he denounced U.S. Vice President Joseph Bidens recent meetings with
various Latin American leaders, in which he told them Maduros government would
soon fall, and that the Petrocaribe program would be ended. Biden advised them to
keep Venezuela isolated. Petrocaribe is the Venezuelan program that provides oil to
Caribbean nations at a low price.
Telesur as target
Why was Telesur one of the targets to be bombed?
In 2002, when a fascist coup by a sector of the military and corporate opposition
overthrew President Hugo Chavez from April 11 to 13, Venezuelas revolution was new
and a peoples media had not yet developed.
In the critical hours of the massive and spontaneous popular mobilization to demand
Chavezs release and return as president, the monopoly corporate media completely
blocked out the news. It was clear that the Bolivarian process needed a revolutionary
media to transmit vital information to the population.
Since then, dozens of community and television stations have been established;
corporate violators of the new Communications Law have had their licenses revoked.
The Telesur network promoting the integration of Latin America was proposed 10
years ago by Chavez. It has become a vital conveyor of national and international
information with a solid anti-imperialist prospective.
It provided uncensored live coverage and exposed the terror bombing by NATO/U.S.
bombing of Libya.
Like the brutal bombing of Serbias national TV station, killing scores of journalists
who courageously covered the criminal NATO/U.S. bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the
planned bombing of Telesur was part of the plan to destroy the Revolution and install
a fascist coup.
The smashing of this latest plot against Venezuela is a major blow to U.S.
imperialisms attempts to reverse the gains of the Bolivarian revolutionary process in
Venezuela, the Cuban Revolution and all progress in Latin America.
Revolutionary mass organizations and the military high command are declaring their
unity and defense of Venezuelas Bolivarian Revolution.
Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the Minister of Defense and Strategic Operational
Commander of the FANB, stood with a large group of high-ranking military officers
to denounce the military plot. The Bolivarian Armed Forces reiterates its support
and loyalty to President Nicols Maduro Moros and reaffirms its commitment to the
will of the people, with the Plan of the Homeland, in the building of Socialism.
More than ever, it is vital that international solidarity be mobilized to demand an end
to U.S. machinations in Venezuela and all Latin America. Progressive groups and
leaders in Latin America are expressing their support for Maduros government. From
March 5-7, organizations in several cities in the United States plan actions in
solidarity with the Venezuelan Bolivarian government and its people in struggle.
The danger is not over. The lessons of Latin America in the 1960s, 1970s and the U.S.
war against revolutionary movements everywhere shows that the struggle must
continue to defend Venezuelas gains and oppose U.S. imperialisms counterrevolutionary schemes.
Venezuela
GLORIA LA RIVA
Gloria La Riva is a national leader of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She is a
long-time labor and community activist in San Francisco. La Riva is a frequent
contributor to Liberation News, writing on Cuba and Latin America, racism and
national oppression, and labor struggles.
World Feb 17, '15
Venezuela's struggle against the 'common enemy'
With a "slow motion coup" under way in Venezuela, John Pilger is interviewed for
Telesur, the Latin American TV network, by Mike Albert.
Mike Albert: Why would the US want Venezuela's government overthrown?
John Pilger: There are straightforward principles and dynamics at work here.
Washington wants to get rid of the Venezuelan government because it is independent
of US designs for the region and because Venezuela has the greatest proven oil
reserves in the world and uses its oil revenue to improve the quality of ordinary lives.
Venezuela remains a source of inspiration for social reform in a continent ravaged by
an historically rapacious US. An Oxfam report once famously described the
Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua as "the threat of a good example". That has been
true in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez won his first election.
The "threat" of Venezuela is greater, of course, because it is not tiny and weak; it is
rich and influential and regarded as such by China. The remarkable change in fortunes
for millions of people in Latin America is at the heart of US hostility.
The US has been the undeclared enemy of social progress in Latin America for two
centuries. It doesn't matter who has been in the White House: Barack Obama or
Teddy Roosevelt; the US will not tolerate countries with governments and cultures
that put the needs of their own people first and refuse to promote or succumb to US
demands and pressures.
A reformist social democracy with a capitalist base - such as Venezuela - is not
excused by the rulers of the world. What is inexcusable is Venezuela's political
independence; only complete deference is acceptable. The "survival" of Chavista
Venezuela is a testament to the support of ordinary Venezuelans for their elected
government - that was clear to me when I was last there.
Venezuela's weakness is that the political "opposition" - those I would call the "East
Caracas Mob" - represent powerful interests who have been allowed to retain critical
economic power. Only when that power is diminished will Venezuela shake off the
constant menace of foreign-backed, often criminal subversion. No society should have
to deal with that, year in, year out.
MA: What methods has the US already used and would you anticipate their using to
unseat the Bolivarians?
JP: There are the usual crop of quislings and spies; they come and go with their media
theatre of fake revelations, but the principal enemy is the media. You may recall the
Venezuelan admiral who was one of the coup-plotters against Chavez in 2002,
boasting during his brief tenure in power, "Our secret weapon was the media".
The Venezuelan media, especially television, were active participants in that coup,
lying that supporters of the government were firing into a crowd of protestors from
a bridge. False images and headlines went around the world. The New York Times
joined in, welcoming the overthrow of a democratic "anti-American" government; it
usually does. Something similar happened in Caracas last year when vicious right-wing
mobs were lauded as "peaceful protestors" who were being "repressed".
This was undoubtedly the start of a Washington-backed "colour revolution" openly
backed by the likes of the National Endowment for Democracy - a user-friendly CIA
clone. It was uncannily like the coup that Washington successfully staged in Ukraine
last year.
As in Kiev, in Venezuela the "peaceful protestors" set fire to government buildings
and deployed snipers and were lauded by Western politicians and the Western media.
The strategy is almost certainly to push the Maduro government to the right and so
alienate its popular base. Depicting the government as dictatorial and incompetent
has long been an article of bad faith among journalists and broadcasters in Venezuela
and in the US, the UK and Europe.
One recent US "story" was that of a "US scientist jailed for trying to help Venezuela
build bombs". The implication was that Venezuela was harbouring "nuclear terrorists".
In fact, the disgruntled nuclear physicist had no connection whatsoever with
Venezuela.
All this is reminiscent of the unrelenting attacks on Chvez, each with that peculiar
malice reserved for dissenters from the West's "one true way". In 2006, Britain's
Channel 4 News effectively accused the Venezuelan president of plotting to make
nuclear weapons with Iran, an absurd fantasy. The Washington correspondent,
Jonathan Rugman, sneered at policies to eradicate poverty and presented Chavez as a
sinister buffoon, while allowing Donald Rumsfeld, a war criminal, to liken Chavez to
Hitler, unchallenged.
The BBC is no different. Researchers at the University of the West of England in the
UK studied the BBC's systematic bias in reporting Venezuela over a 10-year period.
They looked at 304 BBC reports and found that only three of these referred to any
of the positive policies of the government.
For the BBC, Venezuela's democratic initiatives, human rights legislation, food
programmes, healthcare initiatives and poverty reduction programmes did not exist.
Mission Robinson, the greatest literacy programme in human history, received barely
a passing mention.
This virulent censorship by omission complements outright fabrications such as
accusations that the Venezuelan government are a bunch of drug-dealers. None of
this is new; look at the way Cuba has been misrepresented - and assaulted - over the
years.
Reporters Without Borders has just issued its worldwide ranking of nations based on
their claims to a free press. The US is ranked 49th, behind Malta, Niger, Burkino
Faso and El Salvador.
MA: Why might now be a prime time, internationally, for pushing toward a coup? If
the primary problem is Venezuela being an example that could spread, is the
emergence of a receptive audience for that example in Europe adding to the US
response?
JP: It's important to understand that Washington is ruled by true extremists, once
known inside the Beltway as "the crazies". This has been true since before 9/11. A
few are outright fascists. Asserting US dominance is their undisguised game and, as
the events in Ukraine demonstrate, they are prepared to risk a nuclear war with
Russia. These people should be the common enemy of all sane human beings.
In Venezuela, they want a coup so that they can roll-back of some of the world's
most important social reforms - such as in Bolivia and Ecuador. They've already
crushed the hopes of ordinary people in Honduras. The current conspiracy between
the US and Saudi Arabia to lower the price of oil is meant to achieve something more
spectacular in Venezuela, and Russia.
MA: What do you think the best approach might be to warding off US machinations,
and those of domestic Venezuelan elites as well, for the Bolivarians?
JP: The majority people of Venezuela, and their government, need to tell the world
the truth about the attacks on their country. There is a stirring across the world,
and many people are listening. They don't want perpetual instability, perpetual
poverty, perpetual war, perpetual rule by the few. And they identify the principal
enemy; look at the international polling surveys that ask which country presents the
greatest danger to humanity. The majority of people overwhelmingly point to the US,
and to its numerous campaigns of terror and subversion.
MA: What do you think is the immediate responsibility of leftists outside Venezuela,
and particularly in the US?
JP: That begs a question: who are these "leftists"? Are they the millions of liberal
North Americans seduced by the specious rise of Obama and silenced by his
criminalising of freedom of information and dissent? Are they those who believe what
they are told by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC?
It's an important question.
"Leftist" has never been a more disputed and misappropriated term. My sense is that
people who live on the edge and struggle against US-backed forces in Latin America
understood the true meaning of the word, just as they identify a common enemy. If
we share their principles, and a modicum of their courage, we should take direct
action in our own countries, starting, I would suggest, with the propagandists in the
media. Yes, it's our responsibility, and it has never been more urgent.
Posted with permission www.johnpilger.com .
(Copyright 2015 John Pilger)
Comment
Thomas Daniel Kuhn Top Commenter
Right on on every point Mr. Pilger. The Beltway crazies really do believe that in the
event the nuclear missiles start flying that they , as the chosen people, will be saved
by the second coming of Jesus. Americans have a lot to fear, but not from forces
outside their country, from the people that control their government. They are the
people hoping to engineer Armegeddon.
Reply Like 2 Follow Post Yesterday at 3:28pm
John Rintala Top Commenter Harvard University
The Venezuelan revolution is in serious danger. Moduro barely won the last election,
and it is highly probable that the right will win the next one.
The problem is that most of the leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution, including and
maybe especially Chavez, failed to understand the brutal nature of the class struggle.
When the right gets power, leftists end up tortured to death and their bodies
dumped alongside the road as a message to others. Look at Honduras today. When the
social democratic left gets power, the right is free to go home, keep their media, get
dollars from Washington, and plot their coups to take power and then torture and kill
people on the left and terrorize the people. This is the brutal history of the
continent, and beyond.
Attempting to play fair with the right in Latin America hoping the right will
reciprocate because you are fair is absurd. After the 2002 coup attempt, Chavez
forgave the coup plotters. Nobody went to the firing squad; they all went home to
their beds to plot another day. And we see they are back, and when they take power,
it will not be pretty.
Instead, Chavez should have arrested the coup plotters like Mara Corina Machado,
executed them for treason, and closed down the coup-supporting media. The complete
control of the National Assembly would have enabled the creation of any necessary
law.
To forget that Red Terror is sometimes necessary is a deadly mistake.
Reply Like 1 Follow Post 20 hours ago
o
Thomas Daniel Kuhn Top Commenter
You are right of course. you have stated the weakness of the left in a nutshell. they
do not have the stomach for brutality and murder that the right has.
Reply Like 45 minutes ago
colorwing52 (signed in using yahoo)
Mr. Pilger has it down pretty good it seems. I not wishing to give an inch of credibility
to the Imperialist US . Chavez and leaders, or so it is reported, have still enriched
themselves, and yes they have helped the lower classes. By allowing this corruption in
the Bolivarian political , they open the door to undermine the socialist progress they
have made. I do not think it is possible for democracy or a true democracy to exist in
the long run with capitalism. The structure of the elites, capitalist profits system
eventually will come to a head with democracy that is controlled by the masses
(labor). Plus as John has noted, they have continued to play ball with the extreme
right. Even when they nearly pulled off a coup under Chavez, he should have found a
way remove them from their status. However had he done that, the US propaganda
machine would use it to demonize him further as an authoritarian or dictator. I
believe Murdoch is the owner of the non private media, not sure. None the less, I
stand behind the theory that if there is a marriage of capitalism with socialism by
their very nature they will eventually but heads, progress and prosperity will be
experienced but short lived. As we are witnessing even in the US the dismantling of
Roosevelt's new deal and the gains of the labor movements of the 40's. Maduro will
have to come up with innovative solutions before the next elections.
Reply Like 1 Follow Post 18 hours ago
candel1212 (signed in using yahoo)
One cannot sincerely assume good will on the part of anyone let alone those who have
consistently, repeatedly shown themselves to be barely disguised fascist criminals.
How can anyone trust in the good will of Washington? It undermines real democracy
at home with mass surveillance and a private media spewing lies and damned lies while
subverting any sign of genuine democracy abroad which is not subverted to its
interests. In short, America's influence is malignant and those who sponsor it know it.
Reply Like 1 Follow Post 19 hours ago
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