Venezuela: Democratic and Bolivarian

Opinions

 

Venezuela is facing the threat of a coup led by right-wing forces in Latin America and the US government.

[caption id="attachment_14308" align="alignnone" width="530"](AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) La violencia y los ataques a Venezuela son un ataque a todos los Gobiernos democráticos del continente (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) 

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This is nothing new, and there is no longer any room for doubt about that. All the countries of Latin America have, through CELAC, UNASUR, Mercosur or ALBA, issued joint statements recognising the attempt to destabilise the democratic order in Venezuela, expressing solidarity and calling for dialogue.

Solidarity with the Venezuelan people and its government is a crucial challenge for our continent as a whole. The intensity of the violence unleashed - the deaths, the injuries, the vandalism - is painful and alarming.

The late President Hugo Chávez won his last election by over 10 per cent. As he was sadly unable to take office in time, fresh elections were held, with independent observers, and no doubt was left as to the legitimacy of the new president.

Maduro won; the Bolivarian project initiated by Chávez triumphed once again, because the Venezuelan masses understand that their country has improved and is more egalitarian.

It is, indeed, thanks to this process that Venezuela, for the first time in its history, was able to become the owner of its own oil resources and to use them to serve the interests of the people, the continent, and even the United States following the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

Over the last decade, the government has increased social spending by over 60 per cent and is currently the country with the lowest level of inequality in the region, having reduced it by 54 per cent, and reduced poverty by 44 per cent.

In terms of education, Venezuela ranks second in Latin America and fifth in the world, with the highest proportion of university students.

It has built over 13,720 medical centres in neighbourhoods where the state never used to go and has 95,000 doctors working in its public health system. Other achievements include the building of 500,000 homes and investment in sport.

Yet some (not all) sections of the opposition, aspiring coupsters, are refusing to accept electoral defeat and are trying to take, through the use of violence, what they failed to achieve through free elections.

President Nicolás Maduro, over his 10 months as the head of government, has been confronted with relentless destabilisation efforts aimed at removing him from office.

The violence and the attacks on Venezuela are an attack on all the democratic governments on the continent. It is not an isolated incident; the attempts to overthrow governments in Latin America are not waning, and new methods are being deployed.

They have tried and failed in Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and Venezuela itself, in 2002, but they have triumphed in Paraguay and Honduras, where the United States has expanded its military presence.

Corporate and multinational media outlets like CNN, FOX and those in Europe manipulate information and broadcast war propaganda in the name of peace, and hate in the name of freedom.

Their business is to show that they are fundamental to the ousting of any president, which brings them greater financial rewards from the US Department of State.

In Latin America, we already know that they are just another political actor, that they serve private interests and the major powers, with lying games that suspend consciousness.

We should learn from history, because the same happened in the failed coup of 2002, which is why it is considered the first media coup in history.

This was clearly demonstrated in the documentary “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, which I recommend.

Peace in the relations between people or nations is not a given; it has to be earned, through truth, justice and respect for human rights in building democracy.

The deaths of the students killed at the hands of masked assailants must be investigated, to ensure justice for the victims. And support must be given to the National Plan for Peace and Coexistence that Venezuela has launched, with a mass rally, which aims to build civil peace and fight criminal activity, encouraging the disarming of the population and the disarming of armed consciences.

Maduro expressed himself with great clarity: “Anyone who puts on a red shirt with the face of Chávez and takes out a gun and wounds another Venezuelan is neither a Chavista nor a revolutionary, and will go to prison all the same.” The opposition cannot be seen doing the same.

The campaign to label Venezuela a dictatorship is truly shameful given that it is the first country in the history of nation states to introduce and apply the recall referendum system halfway through the president’s term in office, in order to strengthen democracy. When this was done in 2004, Chávez won again, as he did in the other 13 elections held since 1998.

If one day this government should lose an election, it will accept defeat, as it did on its second attempt to reform the constitution. But it will never lower a single flag, because Bolivarians will always work towards a better Venezuela and “Patria Grande” [Latin American integration].

The Bolivarian revolution, the revolution in the ballot box and in the streets, has always triumphed by legal and democratic means, and it will continue to do so. This is what makes it so dangerous for some and so vital for others.

That is why we are sending our solidarity and support to the people and the government of Venezuela, for the defence of its democratic institutions and the social, economic and cultural policies achieved through public participation.

 

This article was originally published in Spanish on Alainet.org 

 

This article has been translated from Spanish.