(Assignment work towards Completion of 2nd Cumulative Assignment)

Submitted by: Submitted to:

National Law University, Jodhpur

India and Venezuela have always enjoyed cordial relations. There is a similarity of views on

major international, political and economic issues. Besides actively promoting bilateral relations,

the two countries cooperate in multilateral forums. The 50th Anniversary of the establishment of

diplomatic relations was celebrated in 2009. Resident Embassies have been in Caracas and New

Delhi for over four decades. Venezuela has emerged as India’s fourth largest oil supplier. There

is a great deal of interest and appreciation for Indian art and culture in Venezuela. There are

several centres in Venezuela established by Indian spiritual Gurus/groups like Sai Baba, Brahma

Kumaris, Radha Swami etc. There are about 50 Indian families in Venezuela, of which about 35

are in Caracas. The Indian Association of Venezuela, which was revived in 2003, organizes

Indian festivals like Diwali, Holi, etc in which members of Indian community and friends of

India participate. The President and the Prime Minister of India condoled the passing away of

President Hugo Chavez on 5 March 2013. Shri Sachin Pilot, former Minister of State for

Corporate Affairs represented India at the State funeral of President Chavez, died in Caracas at

the age of 58.

Facts:

1. Diplomatic relations between India and Venezuela were established on 1 October 1959.

India maintains an embassy in Caracas, while Venezuela maintains an embassy in New

Delhi.

2. There have been several visits by heads of state and government, and other high-level

officials between the countries

2009

4. On May 04, 2017, Augusto Montiel, Venezuela's ambassador to India, said that he

expected New Delhi to stand by Caracas against what he insisted were attempts by the

US State Department and American non-profits to orchestrate a coup against the

government of President Nicholas Maduro.

5. There have been several visits by heads of state and government, and other high-level

officials between the countries

6. The Election Commission of India (ECI) and the National Electoral Council (CNE) of

Venezuela signed an MoU during a visit by Indian Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath

to Caracas in 2012

7. India surpassed China as the largest Asian importer of crude oil from Venezuela in 2012.

Venezuela is India's third largest source of crude oil after Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Legitimacy:

Considering the other facts and circumstances,

Showing pictures and videos of a march by President Nicolas Maduro’s supporters, Augusto

Montiel claimed they were not being broadcast by the western media. He thanked the Indian

government for reposing faith in and supporting the Madura government, citing Minister of State

for External Affairs M J Akbar’s presence at a ceremony to mark Venezuelan national day last

month, around the time the protests erupted. United States–Venezuela relations are the bilateral
relations between the United States of America and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Relations have traditionally been characterized by an important trade and investment relationship

and cooperation in combating the production and transit of illegal drugs. Relations were strong

under conservativecitation governments in Venezuela like that of Rafael Caldera. However,

tensions increased after the socialist President Hugo Chávez assumed elected office in 1999.

Tensions between the countries increased after Venezuela accused the administration of George

W. Bush of supporting the Venezuelan failed coup attempt in 2002 against Chavez.

More than 30 people have been killed in a month of demonstrations against the socialist leader’s

government and his plan to rewrite the constitution.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Montiel refuted reports of the Venezuelan government trying to

suppress protesters. “The government in Venezuela does not repress peaceful demonstration.

What no country in the world, including India or the US, will not tolerate is violent protest

demonstrations.”

“It is a complete attack on democracy. It is a completely political attack, they want to overthrow

the Maduro government,” he said at the Venezuelan embassy here. “They don’t want dialogue,

just as the position of the US government. The US government is behind this. They call it

transition to democracy. Isn’t this intervention, a strategy to topple the government?

“They are trying to create a big lie, about failed state… Venezuela is a country with 100 per cent

literacy. No child dies of malnutrition in Venezuela. It is doing very well, according to the

Human Development Index. The U.S. government called Chávez a "negative force" in the

region, and sought support from among Venezuela's neighbors to isolate Chávez diplomatically

and economically. The U.S. also opposed and lobbied against numerous Venezuelan arms
purchases made under Chávez, including a purchase of some 100,000 rifles from Russia, which

Donald Rumsfeld implied would be passed on to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,

and the purchase of aircraft from Brazil. The U.S. has also warned Israel to not carry through on

a deal to upgrade Venezuela's aging fleet of F-16s, and has similarly pressured Spain. Successive

US governments have opposed the Left-wing Maduro and his mentor and predecessor as

Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, and sections of the US Congress have called for

Washington to support Opposition forces against the regime.

The relations between US and Venezuela have always been bitter and personal disputes’ also

there.

 A grave-faced National Assembly President called on Venezuelans to rebel, potentially

portending bigger protests.

 "This is a scam to deceive the Venezuelan people with a mechanism that is nothing more

than a coup urging Venezuelans to block streets early on Tuesday and hold another march

on Wednesday.

 Opposition supporters on night were also banging empty pots and pans from their

windows in a traditional Latin American form of protest.

 Since anti-Maduro unrest began in early April, more than 400 people have been injured

and hundreds more arrested.

 While Maduro alleges a U.S.-backed coup plot, foes say he has wrecked the economy

and become a tyrant.

 After hundreds of thousands took to the streets again to call for his removal, President

Nicolás Maduro announced that he was calling for a citizens assembly and a new

constitution. He said the move was needed to restore peace and stop his political
opponents from trying to carry out a coup.

It is clearly understandable that Venezuela is going under a violent planned attack. Using

youngsters who have been trained through the financing of NGOs to create violence on

the streets, the (west) is justifying the criminality on the streets and rooting for

elimination of Venezuela as a democracy. Even Augusto mentioned US as "an imperialist

nation" and those protesting in Venezuela as "paid by opposition and trained by

international agencies. Chávez's socialist ideology and the tensions between the

Venezuelan and the United States governments had little impact on economic relations

between the two countries. On 15 September 2005, President Bush designated Venezuela

as a country that has "failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to

their obligations under international counternarcotic agreements." In 2006, the United

States remained Venezuela's most important trading partner for both oil exports and

general imports – bilateral trade expanded 36% during that year.

Consideration:

Oil-rich Venezuela is witnessing yet fresh round of Opposition led violence which the

government alleges is funded from abroad. Venezuelan Ambassador to India Augusto

Montiel told that his government is working on a different economic model beyond oil

and focusing on dialogue to bring normalcy through dialogue. India, he said, is expanding

its presence in Venezuelan oil fields and assured that Indian investments are fully

safeguarded in the Latin American country.

members, authorised with generating a national discussion and dialogue, in a peaceful

and democratic ambience. This move by President Maduro, sanctioned under article 348

of the National Constitution “The initiative for calling a National Constituent Assembly

(NCA) may emanate from the President of the Republic sitting with the Cabinet of

Ministers ” and approved by the National Electoral Council (NEC) has unmasked the true

intentions of the violent opposition in Venezuela: to topple government by any means

necessary

Before 2001, U.S. intelligence did work covertly in several Latin American countries to

depose leaders who were considered hostile to the U.S. In 1954, for example, the CIA

crafted and executed "Operation PBSUCCESS" to overthrow Guatemala's leftist

President Jacobo Arbenz in favor of a pro-U.S. regime headed by Col. Carlos Castilo

Armas. The U.S. was involved in successful coups in Bolivia and Brazil in 1964, in

another Bolivian coup in 1971, and in the unsuccessful efforts of the anti-Communist

"contras" in Nicaragua against Marxist ruler Daniel Ortega in the 1980s.

The opposition leadership, in cooperation with external powers in the region and, have

recklessly called for increased violence and death, burning hospitals, schools and day

care centers, and lynching, burning, stabbing and shooting people in order to blame the

government. To this Opposition has been responsible for 95 deaths in the country.

To resolve this, the Venezuelan Government, apart from working out the political

solution through the NCA, is also solving the economic hardships working with

thousands of businessmen and entrepreneurs to consolidate a new productive model that

combines sustainability with social development. Together with the nationalist chambers

of commerce and industry, the conditions for a productive market were being set, under a
new industrial model oriented towards local production for regional and global exports.

This would reduce dependence on the old oil based economy and place the country in the

forefront of direct foreign investment in the region. The actions of the opposition, since

2002 when they staged a Coup D’etat, have always placed greed for power before the

well-being of the majority.

Venezuela and India have always enjoyed friendly bilateral relations and have supported

each other in various multilateral institutions over the years. Recently both countries have

expanded their economic ties, increasing the amount of Indian investment in the Hugo

Chavez Orinoco Heavy Oil belt and in the pharmaceutical industry. In Nov 2016 Oil and

Natural Gas Company Vides signed a very important agreement with Venezuela’s

PDVSA oil company to increase production.

We believe it is fundamental that all countries voice their strong support for the principles

of non-interference and call on the opposition to sit down at the dialogue table, President

Maduro has coordinated the efforts of several countries of the region, ex-presidents of the

world and even his holiness the Pope but the opposition leadership has always refused

peaceful resolution, instead they have been encouraged to protest allegedly by the highest

authorities beyond Latin America.

As more and more like minded countries denounce this violence provoked by the

opposition, it will be faster to regain political stability, benefitting economic prosperity

and growth.
Venezuela is witnessing a massive anti-government protest with thousands of people

demonstrating in the capital city of Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro with

opposition blaming him for severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials in the

oil-rich country.

It is important to state that the violent terrorist protests are happening in only seven

municipalities of the three hundred thirty-seven that exists in Venezuela. These posh

urban municipalities are governed by opposition mayors who aid the violent protesters.

In this regard, the majority of the foreign investments in Venezuela are secure in states

and municipalities governed by nationalist mayors and governors who have provided all

the state protection to public and private institutions, under a legal framework of legal

security and newly created dynamic mechanisms of repatriation of capital.

The government has launched successful social programs called “Missions”, which have

not only achieved great social accomplishments, but have also stimulated the construction

sector, the health sector (through public purchases of medicine and investment in

research and bilateral cooperation), the educational sector (through capacity building) and

other programs aimed at fortifying the productive chains.

The Venezuelan government has always defended Indian pharmaceutical companies

amid attack on their prices from elsewhere.

Since the opposition won parliamentary majority in 2015 they have tried to direct the

country on a crash course of governability. With the help of foreign agencies and

“Human Rights” NGOs, they lobbied against multilateral financing of development

projects in the country, spreading lies about Venezuela’s stability and progress. Using
parliament, opposition implemented a parallel diplomacy with foreign funds to

unlawfully threaten companies that work with Venezuela with sanctions. Using these

tactic, they have forced airlines to cut flights, telecommunications carriers to stop

providing services, freight and transport companies to stop shipping to Venezuela,

including imports of food and medicine.

During the last year, government was executing a massive public plan in order to

diversify the economy and overcome the economic crisis, until the opposition subjected

the country to violence.

Recommendations:

The External Affairs, Minister,

India.

Taking into account the situation and legitimacy of the Venezuela, We should give

our helping hand to the country a s the strife in Venezuela had not affected its oil supplies

to India. But he cautioned that Opposition success in taking over the country's oil

installations could impact supplies to India.

Across governments, India has viewed such efforts with concern because it sees in them

signals to all countries with independent foreign policies - though Opposition protesters

in each case have argued that focusing on external support undermines their own

struggles.

India was uncomfortable with the military coup in Thailand in 2014 against Prime

Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The same year, Ukraine's pro-Russia President Viktor
Yanukovich was ousted. Both leaders were elected, and had faced mid-term protests that

were supported by the West.

In my opinion we should support and help the country to keep our sovereignty without

any foreign intervention as is provided in the Charter of United Nations when we look

into the present happening and circumstance that leads to the conclusion that President

Nicolas Maduro was legitimate in his regime. That was reasonable while going into the

consequences of the US’s coup against Venezuela.

Representatives of other South American nations including Charge of Affairs of Bolivia

Juan Cortez, Ambassador of Equador Mentor Villagomez, Ambassador of Cuba Oscars

Martinez and Charge of Affairs of El Salvador Felix Ulloa also attended the event and

extended their support to the Venezuelan cause.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. This is posing a big threat to our still

developing and economically struggling nation too. India is the third largest importer

after Saudi Arabia and Iraq. We import about 11.4% of their crude oil. An unreasonable

rise in price of the imports or a complete cut-off of the import is what the Indian

government should be worried about. Reliance Industries Limited has about a 15 year

contract (which is still ongoing) to import 40,000 barrels in Venezuela. A country which

is not able to provide a decent level of living to the citizens can hardly be trusted with any

commitments what so ever.

Venezuela's embattled president has repeated claims of a US-backed coup attempt against

him and angrily warned their President that Venezuela would fight back against such a

move. Indian Government should help them in an armed intervention in his country that

would spark a crisis that would dwarf those caused by conflicts in West Asia and in

removing those poisoning our societies and it is absolutely essential for us all to stand up
against them everywhere and every time. Venezuela's oil-based economy is in the grip of

a brutal recession and a local currency crash, and Maduro has faced months of anti-

government unrest that has claimed the lives of about 100 people. Sanctions on dollar

transactions would make it even harder for Maduro's government to secure cash for debt

payments and finance imports of basic goods.

Although India is a close partner of the US, should try to strengthen its relation with the

Donald Trump administration in Washington, New Delhi has traditionally been

uncomfortable with western support to so-called "violet revolutions" in different parts of

the world.

US should be blamed and its allies for pushing Venezuela into present situation. “There is

no economic crisis in Venezuela but a political crisis created by US led countries which

are creating artificial shortages, scarcity and inflation in the country. All our supplies are

being stolen at borders to create a crisis in Venezuela. Our economic crisis is like in

Spain, Greece, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. This doesn’t give a reason to outside countries

to intervene in our internal matter.

Venezuela under President Nicolas Maduro blames US of destabilising the country and

plotting a coup against its leadership while the US has declared

Indian Envoy,

Payal.