[Reader-list] Venezuela: With Bloodied Hands, Opposition Playing Dirty

[A. Mani]

Source:  People's Democracy

February 23, 2014

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VENEZUELA

With Bloodied Hands, Opposition Playing Dirty

R Arun Kumar



THE OPPOSITION in Venezuela is once again back to its old game -
organising violent clashes, creating chaos and thus preparing the
atmosphere to destabilise the government. They are desperately trying
to create a situation akin to 2002, where they could stage a coup
against the Chavez government, however short-lived it may have been.
Now that Chavez is no more, they dream that such a coup has more
chances to succeed.



Venezuela commemorates the Day of the Youth on February 12 each year
in memory of the role of young people in the decisive independence
battle in La Victoria in 1814. Rallies are organised to commemorate
this occasion and this year being the bi-centennial, both
pro-government and anti-government youth were mobilised. Using this
occasion, violent opposition groups attacked government buildings and
civilians, and clashed with police and government supporters. Offices
of the attorney general and other judicial officers were also not
spared and the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro stated that
around two hundred violent activists had attempted to attack
Miraflores Palace, the official residence of the president, after the
attorney general's office was attacked.



The current demonstrations are in response to the right-wing
opposition's call to its supporters to "take to the streets" and show
a "way out" for the Venezuelan government. The students from the
states of Merida and Tachira belonging to the University of the Andes
(ULA) and other educational institutions, were masked and hooded, and
did not display any banners explaining the reasons for their protest.
They blocked roads, burnt tires, threw stones at passers-by and
attacked government buildings, including the house of the governor. A
group of them even attacked the baseball team from Cuba, which had
come to play in Venezuela. The government reacted by arresting two
youth for 'violating peace during demonstrations' in the Western state
of Tachira. Taking these arrests as the peg, the opposition had
instigated anti-Chavista youth to demonstrate all over the country.
The opposition openly spread utter falsehoods through various social
media sites. Photos of protestors confronting with the police and
police atrocities in Syria, Egypt, Greece, Bulgaria, Chile, Argentina
and even Singapore were used to incite the people.



After the defeat of opposition candidate Capriles in the elections
held after the death of Chavez, cracks began to appear in the bloc of
opposition parties that got together under the coalition, MUD
(Democratic Unity Table) on the question of tactics that need to be
pursued to oust the government from power. According to analysts,
there is a three-way division: on one hand there's Henrique Capriles,
who within anti-Chavismo can't find an alternative to what exists; the
other current is led by Maria Corina Machado and Leopoldo Lopez, who
want to dispose the Venezuelan government through action, which
includes getting rid of Capriles, who is seen as a 'conciliator'; and
a third current, represented by the metropolitan mayor of Caracas,
which proposes 'unity in the street', where they try to place
themselves in the gaps of the conflict between the other two currents,
but lack organic grassroots support. Of course, all these are mere
divisions in the tactics that need to be pursued to ensure the 'exit'
of the government. More importantly, they are all united in the goal
for which they had come together in the first place - oust the Maduro
government and eliminate 'Chavismo' or the Bolivarian process of
socialist construction in Venezuela.



The current opposition protests in Venezuela were called by Leopoldo
Lopez, who is for 'action', as we are witnessing in the streets today.
He had openly called the demonstrators to overthrow the government in
his public speeches. Lopez and Machado are prominent figures on
Venezuela's far-right, who were actively involved in the failed coup
attempt against Chavez in 2002. Lopez is also notorious for being
disqualified from contesting elections till 2011, after it was found
he had diverted public resources when he was the mayor of Chacao from
2000 to 2008.



Lopez and all the other opposition groups were in fact preparing
grounds for street demonstrations through what Maduro had called as
unleashing an 'economic war' on Venezuela. They resorted to largescale
hoarding of goods, especially essential commodities, which led to
scarcity and artificial price rise. As a counter, the government had
enacted the Law for the Control of Fair Costs, Prices and Profits,
which aims to prevent price speculation, product hoarding and other
activities intended to destabilise the Venezuelan economy and
contributing to the on-going economic problems. This Law specifies a
maximum profit margin of 30 percentage across the economy to prevent
companies from over-charging. The government hopes that this Law will
help in the crack down on economic crimes and establish 'order' in the
national economy, guaranteeing a 'fair price' for consumers. The Law
prescribes punishments for thirty economic crimes, by imprisonment
ranging between two and fourteen years in prison depending on the
offence committed. The government also recently overhauled its control
currency mechanisms to check currency fraud and speculation.



As can be expected, given their class bias, Venezuela's largest
business federation, Fedecamaras, criticised this Law as
'unconstitutional' and 'inapplicable'. Fedecamaras, is an open
supporter of the right-wing opposition groups and was from the
beginning against Chavez and his model of socialism. Commenting on
their opposition and pointing out their role in the entire crisis,
Maduro had stated: "For how long will Fedecamaras cause damage to the
country...Your last embarrassment was the state coup against President
Hugo Chavez", in reference to their prominent role in the April 2002
short-lived coup attempt. By stalling the implementation of this Law,
the opposition groups want to create discontent among the people.
Today, it intends to harvest these seeds of discontent it had been
sowing for the past year through these violent demonstrations.



The government of Venezuela had issued many appeals to the youth, who
were initially involved in the marches to come and discuss their
issues, without success. Appeals to maintain peace and order were
ignored as the intention was clear - destabilise the country through
violence. It is an open secret now, with evidence emerging that the
opposition leaders were constantly prodded by the US embassy. Maduro
had expelled three officials involved in such undiplomatic activities
stating: "the said officials had organised meetings in private
Venezuelan universities with the story of offering visas. While there,
they (the officials) had some strange meetings, and as we have decided
that we must be respected...let them go to Washington and conspire
there, and leave Venezuela alone"! Such was the brazen involvement of
the US that it had warned against arresting Lopez who was openly
calling for overthrowing the government and inciting violence. The
Venezuelan government condemned the US interference in a statement
(Full text in the box).



The government had called for massive popular mobilisations to counter
the moves of opposition. Many people had positively responded to the
call and came out on to the streets, even braving the violence. The
rich experience gained by the Chavistas, when they had moved against
the coup in 2002 and for reinstatement of Chavez as the president,
taught them that all the nefarious designs of the opposition can be
thwarted only by relying on the power of the people.



According to latest reports, Lopez surrendered to the police, in an
act he termed as complying with the orders of the judiciary in an
"unjust system." As the day wore, it became clear that it is one more
of their games intended to stop the ebbing flow of opposition protests
and incite further violence. Following this, riots were reported
across the country.



Many governments of Latin American countries like Cuba, Bolivia,
Ecuador had come with statements in solidarity with the Venezuelan
government and also against the US interference in the internal
affairs of a sovereign country. The Venezuelan government has appealed
to all the peoples of the world to express their solidarity with them.
It is the responsibility of all the anti-imperialist forces in the
world to join ranks and stand by the government of Venezuela and its
brave people who are thick in the battle against right-wing oligarchs
and imperialism.

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Best

A. Mani



A. Mani
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