From the first time Hugo Chavez was elected President
of Venezuela in 1998, Washington and its allies have been trying to undermine
his government. When Chavez was just a presidential candidate, the US State
Department denied his visa to participate in television interviews in Miami.
Later, when he won the presidential elections, Ambassador John Maisto called
him personally to congratulate him and offer him a visa. The following months
were filled with attempts to “buy” the newly elected President of Venezuela.
Businessmen, politicians and heads of state from Washington and Spain pressured
him to submit to their agendas. “Come with us”, urged Spanish Prime Minister
Jose Maria Aznar, trying to seduce him with offers of wealth and luxury in turn
for obeying orders.
When Chavez refused to be bought, he was ousted in a
coup d’etat April 11, 2002, funded and planned by Washington. When the coup
failed and Chavez’s supporters rescued their democracy and president in less
than 48 hours, attempts to destabilize his government continued. “We must make
it difficult for him to govern”, said former US State Department chief Lawrence
Eagleberger.
Soon, Venezuela was overrun with economic sabotage,
oil industry strikes, chaos in the streets and a brutal media war that
distorted the reality of the country on a national and international level. A
plan to assassinate Chavez with Colombian paramilitaries in May 2004 was
impeded by state security forces. Months later, the US-backed opposition tried
to revoke his mandate in a recall referendum, but again, the people saved him
in a 60-40 landslide victory.
The more popular Chavez became, the more millions of
dollars flowed from US agencies to anti-Chavez groups to destabilize,
descredit, delegitimize, overthrow, assassinate or remove him from power by any
means possible. In December 2006, Chavez was reelected president with 64% of
the vote. His approval rating grew in Venezuela and throughout Latin America.
New governments in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Uruguay and several Caribbean nations joined regional initiatives of
integration, cooperation, sovereignty and unity, encouraged by Caracas.
Washington began to lose its influence and control over its former “backyard”.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our
Americas (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), PetroCaribe,
PetroSur, TeleSUR, Bank of ALBA, Bank of the South and the Community of Latin
American and Caribbean States (CELAC) were created. Washington isn’t included
in any of these organizations, nor is the elite that previously dominated the
region.
In January 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
said Chavez was a “negative force” in the region. In March, the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) placed Venezuela on their list of “Top 5 Hot Spots”.
A few months later, Reverend Pat Robertson publicly called for the
assassination of Chavez, claiming it would cost less than “a $2 billion war”.
That same year, when Venezuela suspended cooperation with the US Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) because it was found committing acts of
espionage and sabotage, Washington classified Venezuela as a nation “not
cooperating with counter-narcotics” efforts. No evidence was presented to show
alleged Venezuelan government ties to drug trafficking.
In February 2006, Director of National Intelligence
John Negroponte referred to Venezuela as a “dangerous threat” to the US.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfled compared Chavez to Hitler. That same year,
Washington created a special intelligence mission dedicated to Venezuela and
Cuba, increasing resources for operations against them. In June 2006, the White
House placed Venezuela on a list of countries “not cooperating sufficiently
with the war on terror”. The classification included a sanction prohibiting the
sale of military and defense equipment from the US and US companies or those
using US technology to Venezuela. No evidence was ever shown to back such
serious claims.
In 2008, the Pentagon reactivated its Fourth Fleet,
the regional command in charge of Latin America and the Caribbean. It had been
deactivated in 1950 and hadn’t functioned since then, until Washington decided
it was necessary to increase its presence and “force” in the region. In 2010,
the US established an agreement with Colombia to set up 7 military bases in its
territory. An official US Air Force document justified the budget increase for
these bases in order to counter the “threat from anti-American governments in
the region”.
International media call Chavez a dictator, tyrant,
authoritarian, narco, anti-American, terrorist, but they never present proof
for such dangerous titles. They have converted the image of Venezuela into
violence, insecurity, crime, corruption and chaos, failing to mention the
incredible achievements and social advances during the last decade, or the
causes of the social inequalities left behind from previous governments.
For years, a group of US congress members - democrats
and republicans - have tried to place Venezuela on their list of “state sponors
of terrorism”. They claim the relationships between Venezuela and Iran,
Venezuela and Cuba, and even Venezuela and China evidence the “grave threat”
represented by the South American nation to Washington.
They say again and again that Venezuela and Chavez
are threats to the US. “He must be stopped”, they say, before he “launches
Iranian bombs against us”.
In an interview a few days ago, President Barack
Obama said Chavez was not a threat to US security. Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney said he was. The ire of the Miami Cuban-Venezuelan
community came down upon Obama. But they shouldn’t worry, because Obama
increased funding to anti-Chavez groups this year. More than $20 million in US
taxpayer dollars have been channelled from US agencies to help fund the
opposition’s campaign in Venezuela.
Is Venezuela a threat to Washington? In Venezuela,
the only “terrorists” are the groups trying to destabilize the country, the
majority with political and financial support from the US. The drug traffickers
are in Colombia, where the production and transit of drugs has increased during
the US invasion disguised as Plan Colombia. Relations with Iran, Cuba, China,
Russia and the rest of the world are normal bilateral - and multilateral - ties
between countries. There are no bombs, no attack plans, no sinister
secrets.
No, Venezuela is not that kind of threat to
Washington.
Poverty has been reduced by more than 50% since
Chavez came to power in 1998. The inclusionary policies of his government have
created a society with mass participation in economic, political and social
decisions. His social programs - called missions - have guaranteed free medical
care and education, from basic to advanced levels, and provided basic food
items at affordable costs, along with tools to create and maintain
cooperatives, small and medium businesses, community organizations and
communes. Venezuelan culture has been rescued and treasured, recovering
national pride and identity, and creating a sentiment of dignity instead of
inferiority. Communication media have proliferated during the last decade,
assuring spaces for the expression of all.
The oil industry, nationalized in 1976 but operating
as a private company, has been recuperated for the benefit of the country, and not
for multinationals and the elite. Over 60% of the annual budget is dedicated to
social programs in the country, with the principal focus on eradicating
poverty.
Caracas, the capital, has been beautified. Parks and
plazas have turned into spaces for gatherings, enjoyment and safety for
visitors. There’s music in the streets, art on the walls and a rich debate of
ideas amongst inhabitants. The new communal police works with neighborhoods to
battle crime and violence, addressing problems from the root cause.
The awakening in Venezuela has expanded throughout
the continent and northward into the Caribbean. The sensation of sovereignty,
independence and union in the region has buried the shadow of subdevelopment
and subordination imposed by colonial powers during centuries past.
No, Venezuela is not a threat to US security.
Venezuela is an example of how a rising people, facing the most difficult
obstacles and the brutal force of empire, can build a model where social
justice reigns, and human prosperity is cherished above economic wealth. Venezuela
is a country where millions once invisible are today, visible. Today they have
a voice and the power to decide the future of their country, without being
strangled by foreign hands. Today, thanks to the revolution led by President
Chavez, Venezuela is one of the happiest countries in the world.
That is the threat Chavez and Venezuela represent to
Washington: The threat of a good example.
- Eva Golinger
