[News] Venezuela Condemns Washington Coup Plots As Bolton Doubles Down

[Anti-Imperialist News]

venezuelanalysis.com <https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15568>
Venezuela Condemns Washington Coup Plots As Bolton Doubles Down
By José Luis Granados Ceja - July 18, 2022
------------------------------

Mexico City, Mexico, July 18, 2022 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan
National Assembly unanimously condemned recent comments by former US
National Security Advisor John Bolton where he boasted about his
involvement in coup plots against the government of Nicolás Maduro.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Bolton claimed he “helped plan
coups d’etat” and when pressed for an example, pointed
<https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews/status/1546980791246282753?s=20&t=26ReU2DHiVW_P_y_sEjNdQ>
to his chapter on Venezuela in his book *The Room Where It Happened*.

Bolton, who served as the top national security official under Donald Trump
from April 2018 to September 2019, detailed
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14922> in the book his efforts to
oust Maduro in concert with the US-backed Venezuelan opposition.

"Coups d'état, plans, financing, support and advice to overthrow
governments, the assassinations of presidents and invasion of countries and
the waging of legal wars [all] have the seal of support and financing of
the Government of the United States," said
<https://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/noticias/an-repudia-declaraciones-belicistas-de-john-bolton-y-de-carrie-filipetti>
Venezuelan lawmaker Pedro Infante, who introduced the motion on Thursday.

The statement also condemned recent comments made by Carrie Filipetti, who
served as deputy assistant secretary for Cuba and Venezuela at the US
Department of State during the Trump administration. In an interview
<https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-62004004> with the BBC,
Filipetti confessed that the Trump administration had misread the situation
in Venezuela, underestimating support for Maduro, but nonetheless
reiterated her support for the White House’s “maximum pressure” policy.

In an interview
<https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews/status/1548712784191541249?s=20&t=EzmMtMk7mRi_n9vNMjcLbA>
Friday with Newsmax, Bolton doubled down on his comments about Venezuela,
saying that Washington’s support for coup plots were “necessary to protect
[US] interests.”

During Bolton’s tenure as Trump’s National Security Advisor, in addition to
the imposition of punishing <https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15339>
economic sanctions and an oil embargo
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15301>, the US government embraced
Juan Guaidó as the so-called “interim president” of Venezuela and mobilized
diplomatic support for the opposition’s coup effort, securing the support
of numerous countries for Guaidó’s claim.

US politicians on both sides of the aisle have maintained that their
bipartisan backing of the so-called “interim presidency” stems from their
support for democracy. However, Bolton’s comments classifying US support
for Venezuela’s hardline opposition as a “coup” belies that justification.

Although the Venezuelan opposition’s long standing cooperation with US
officials is well established, Bolton’s chapter on his efforts to trigger
regime change in Venezuela served to detail the thinking behind the coup
plots. The former Trump advisor writes of his enthusiasm for the so-called
“humanitarian aid” spectacle <https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14355>
organized on the Colombo-Venezuelan border on February 23, 2019. The
delivery of so-called aid was widely billed as an effort to bring relief to
the Venezuelan people. However, in his book, Bolton revealed that the
scheme was indeed an effort to try to embarrass Maduro, as Venezuelan
government officials had denounced.

Bolton furthermore appeared to confuse
<https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1278921371599474689> the events
of that day with a previous plot. Maduro accused
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14185> Bolton of being behind the
attempt on his life in August 2018 where two explosive-laden drones
exploded close to the presidential stage during a public speech. In an
interview
<https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1278922768361443339?s=20&t=26ReU2DHiVW_P_y_sEjNdQ>
with Max Blumenthal, the Venezuelan president said he had proof of the
hawkish official’s involvement.

Bolton’s boast that he helped plan coups appears to also be a reference to
the April 30, 2019 coup attempt
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14459> by Guaidó, wherein he and
other prominent hardline opposition figures called for the Venezuelan
military to rebel against the president. The coup attempt faltered in less
than a day after only a small handful of soldiers and officials broke with
the Constitution and the chain of command.

Bolton’s departure from the White House in late 2019 did not spell the end
of Washington’s efforts to overthrow the Venezuelan government. Former US
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper revealed
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15530> in his memoir that the Trump
administration openly considered a military invasion of Venezuela, going so
far as to discuss the plot with opposition figures.

Esper wrote that based on Guaidó’s responses in a February 5, 2020 visit to
the White House, he concluded that the opposition was willing to embrace US
support for an invasion of Venezuela from Colombia using US-trained
mercenaries, but that the opposition leader was more interested in having
US troops directly invade instead.

Months after the meeting at the White House with Guaidó, Venezuela foiled
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15363> “Operation Gideon,” an effort by
a 60-man paramilitary force organized by US special operations veteran
Jordan Goudreau and retired Venezuelan Major General Cliver Alcalá to
infiltrate the country with the aim of assassinating Maduro.

Despite two high-level delegations <https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15555>
to Caracas this year, US President Joe Biden has largely maintained Trump’s
strategy toward Venezuela, continuing to recognize Guaidó as “interim
president” and only offering piecemeal sanctions relief
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15543>.

*Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.*
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