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<h1 class="title">Canadian Parliament Passes Resolution against
Bolivarian Government</h1>
<div class="submitted">
<p class="byline"> By <span class="author"> Camilo Cahis - Fightback</span>,
<span class="date">March 27th 2014<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10541">http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10541</a><br>
</span> </p>
</div>
<p>The Canadian government has become the latest imperialist power to
jump to the defence of the far-right protests in Venezuela. Parliament
has just passed a unanimous motion that places the responsibility for
the current violence in the country on the shoulders of the Venezuelan
government rather than the opposition gangs that initiated the unrest.
We have become accustomed to both the Conservatives and Liberals
attacking the Venezuelan revolution, but what is concerning this time
around is the fact that the NDP has sided with the two right-wing
parties in condemning the Bolivarian government. As Canada’s labour
party, we think that the NDP should be standing against the right-wing
at home and in Venezuela, while championing the successes of the
revolution as an inspiration for our own struggles against capitalist
austerity.</p>
<p>Since 1998, when Hugo Chávez was elected president of Venezuela, the
Venezuelan revolution has become a beacon of inspiration for the poor
and the working class around the world. Whereas almost every other
government has cut and attacked workers’ rights and standards of
living, the Bolivarian government has stood up to the bosses’ agenda.
Before Chávez’s election, Venezuela was known as one of the poorest and
most unequal societies in Latin America. This has radically changed
since the beginning of the revolution. Moreover, through the social
programs initiated by the revolutionary government, illiteracy has been
eradicated and services such as health care, dental care, child care,
and post-secondary education have been made free and universal — some
of these achievements have not even been accomplished in a country like
Canada.</p>
<p>The government has become the mortal enemy of the Venezuelan
bourgeoisie, which was accustomed to pillaging the wealth of the
country. The government also earned the enmity of the major
imperialist powers, who are no longer able to exploit Venezuela’s
wealth and resources without limit. Moreover, the social achievements
accomplished in Venezuela serve as a valuable example to the workers
and oppressed of the world who are told that, “There is no
alternative,” to capitalist austerity.</p>
<p>Since the revolution began over 15 years ago, the Venezuelan
opposition has waged a relentless struggle to overthrow the gains of
the revolution. Unfortunately for them, they have never been able to
win over the majority of the Venezuelan masses and have repeatedly
failed at the ballot box — since 1998, the revolutionary forces have
won 18 of 19 elections. Because of this, the opposition has resorted
to illegal and terrorist means to accomplish their aims. The most
extreme measure they undertook was the military <em>coup d’état </em>in
April 2002, which briefly overthrew the government, killed nearly 100
people, and captured Hugo Chávez. However, the spontaneous uprising of
millions of ordinary Venezuelans forced the safe return of President
Chávez. However, this is not the only attempt the opposition has taken
to destroy the revolution. Throughout the years, they have sabotaged
the economy and even used links to Colombian paramilitaries to attack
and intimidate workers’ leaders and activists.</p>
<p>The recent round of protests in Venezuela is simply the latest
attempt by the oligarchy in Venezuela to undermine the revolutionary
government. There is nothing peaceful or democratic about the protests
currently being waged by the Venezuelan opposition. Contrary to the
myth that is being portrayed by the international bourgeois press, or
the Venezuelan opposition on social media, the protests have nothing to
do with democratic rights, the shortages in basic goods, or the
conditions of students in Venezuela. In fact, the protests were
sparked by calls made by two of the ultra-right-wing politicians in
Venezuela, Leopoldo López and Maria Corina Machado — both of whom were
intimately involved in the 2002 coup attempt and who are pursuing <em>La
Salida</em> (“The Exit”) of current president, Nicolás Maduro. López
and Machado are hoping to use middle and upper-class students as pawns
in their own game against the Bolivarian Revolution.</p>
<p>Although wealthier students have been involved in the protests,
particularly at the demonstrations on Feb. 12 that appear to have
marked the start of the violence, they are only a tiny minority and
hardly represent the general student population of Venezuela. The most
generous estimates of the Feb. 12 protests put the number of
participating at thirty or forty-thousand; this is a fraction of the
estimated 2.6-million students currently enrolled in post-secondary
education in Venezuela. Moreover, the largest of the student protests
pales in comparison to the majority of the counter-demonstrations
organized by the revolution’s supporters; a solidarity rally organized
by the oil workers at PDVSA (the state oil company) <a
href="http://www.marxist.com/venezuela-the-counterrevolutionary-offensive-and-how-to-deal-with-it.htm">drew
nearly 100,000 versus the 5,000 on the side of the opposition</a>.</p>
<p>Around the world, the media has focused on the deaths that have come
as a result of the wave of protests, especially focusing on the deaths
occurring on the opposition’s side. As of Mar. 13, there have been 30
deaths connected to the protests. The international media has assigned
blame for the majority of the deaths on the supposedly harsh measures
taken by the Venezuelan government, but the vast majority have occurred
at the hands of other people. <a
href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/blog/ewan/10477">According to the
website Venezuelanalysis.com</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>- 17 people died in barricade-related deaths, which include
people shot while trying to clear a barricade, “accidents” caused by
barricades and street traps, and patients dying after being prevented
from reaching hospital by a barricade. This number also includes a
pro-opposition student who was run over while trying to block a road.</em></p>
<p><em>- 5 of the deaths appear to be due to the actions of state
security forces. All these cases are under investigation, and arrests
have already been made in several.</em></p>
<p><em>- The other 8 cases are deaths in which either there exist
contradictory accounts, it is very unclear who the perpetrator was, the
killer was a third party, or where the death was an accident related to
the violence.</em></p>
<p><em>Based on information from press reports, 12 of those who died
were civilians without an open political affiliation, 9 were identified
as pro-opposition, 5 as pro-government, 3 were National Guard officers,
and 1 was a government lawyer.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>At least one of those five killed at the hands of the security
forces was a Bolivarian militant from the 23 de Enero <em>barrio</em> in
Caracas, assassinated by a member of the Venezuelan secret police. In
all five cases the perpetrators have been charged with murder — which
contrasts sharply with the opposition’s assertion that the government
is cracking down with impunity.</p>
<p>As the opposition’s protests have intensified, it increasingly
appears that the right-wing students are being used as a cover for more
nefarious forces who are attempting a “slow-motion” coup. In cities
such as San Cristóbal and Mérida, pictures on social media appear to
link some of the “student leaders” as members of Colombian neo-Nazi
organizations. Many of the so-called “students” are armed with sniper
rifles, automatic machine guns, grenades, and body armour — certainly
not traditional student garb! The protesters have set up burning
barricades and fired incendiary bombs at government institutions
recognized as symbols of the revolution, such as the Attorney-General’s
office and the public buses and metro in Caracas.</p>
<p>These fascistic elements appear to even be targeting other
opposition supporters in an effort to further discredit the
government. One of the most prominent opposition deaths so far was the
killing of Génesis Carmona, a 22-year-old former beauty queen.
However, <a
href="http://ojopelao.com/testigo-opositor-confirma-genesis-carmona-murio-por-bala-disparada-a-sus-espaldas-video/">ballistic
evidence and eyewitness accounts</a> seem to suggest that she was
actually shot from within the opposition’s ranks during a
demonstration. This would not be the first time that the opposition
killed its own supporters in order to justify the overthrow of the
Bolivarian government; in 2002, opposition snipers were largely
responsible for the scores of deaths that were used to justify the
military coup, as vividly shown in the famous Irish documentary, <em>The
Revolution Will Not Be Televised</em>.</p>
<p>The opposition has also stepped up its attacks on revolutionary
workers and students. At a pro-revolution demonstration in the state
of Bolívar, <a
href="http://www.marxist.com/venezuela-the-counterrevolutionary-offensive-and-how-to-deal-with-it.htm">nine
trade unionists were shot by a sniper</a>. Just last week, Gisella
Rubilar Figueroa, a Chilean mother of four who was pursuing graduate
studies in Mérida, <a
href="http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/giselle_killed_merida.htm">was
shot dead</a> when trying to clear up one of the opposition’s
barricades in the city. However, the international press was
completely silent about the killing. The media has not commented,
either, on the wire booby traps being set up by oppositionists that
have decapitated two innocent motorcyclists, nor the deaths of three
members of the National Guard and the death of a public employee. These
are not “peaceful” protesters by any definition!</p>
<p>The international press has even used outright lies and manipulation
to create a distorted account of the violence in Venezuela. In one of
the most egregious examples, CBC News presented an online gallery of
pictures that had been tweeted out by the Venezuelan opposition that
supposedly showed the brutal “repression” being committed by the
Venezuelan government. The CBC did not mention, however, that many of
the pictures in their gallery were not even from Venezuela! Two of the
pictures, for example, were of police crackdowns against student
protesters in Chile last year. One picture, which showed a young woman
who had been savagely beaten, was actually taken in Egypt at the height
of the Arab Spring three years ago!</p>
<p>Why the distortion?</p>
<p>These are not simply mistakes or examples of incompetence by the
international media (including journalists in Canada); the lies and
manipulation of the events in Venezuela are part of a general campaign
to discredit the Venezuelan government and the gains of the revolution
in the eyes of people around the world. As every government on the
planet continues to place the burden of the capitalist crisis on the
backs of working-class people, the Venezuelan revolution stands against
capitalist austerity. The fact that the Venezuelan government has
placed the interests of the masses ahead of the profit margins of
foreign multinationals is something that cannot be tolerated by
imperialism.</p>
<p>Canada has taken a lead role in <a
href="http://marxist.ca/canada/federal/183-workers-must-send-clear-message-to-canadian-state-hands-off-venezuela-and-bolivia.html">assisting
the opposition to the revolution in Venezuela</a>. The Canadian
embassy in Caracas has funnelled tens of thousands of dollars to
Venezuelan opposition groups. In February 2010, the former Secretary
of State for the Americas, Peter Kent,<a
href="http://marxist.ca/international/venezuela/530-canada-accuses-venezuela-of-stifling-democracy-while-parliament-remains-prorogued.html">travelled
to Venezuela to accuse the government of the “narrowing” of democratic
space in the country</a>; Kent forgot to mention that at the same time,
his Conservative government had shut down Parliament during the
prorogation scandal. As this article goes to print, <a
href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-suspends-flights-to-venezuela-as-protests-continue-1.2576829">Air
Canada has decided to indefinitely suspend all flights to Venezuela</a>,
claiming, “Due to ongoing civil unrest in Venezuela, Air Canada can no
longer ensure the safety of its operation… Air Canada will continue to
monitor the situation and will evaluate the reintroduction of flights
with the objective of resuming operations on the route once Air Canada
is satisfied that the situation in Venezuela has stabilized.” This is
despite the fact that Air Canada sees no jeopardy to its operations by
flying into well-known safe havens such as Iraq or Sierra Leone.</p>
<p>Venezuelan oppositionists living in Canada have been encouraged to
mobilize and push their agenda here. In January 2013, dozens of
right-wing Venezuelans across Canada met virtually with coup-apologist
Maria Corina Machado. <a
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/daniel-l-rodriguez/venezuelan-crisis-canada-assemblies_b_2518323.html?utm_hp_ref=tw">In
these meetings</a>, Machado exhorted the Venezuelan opposition in
Canada to paint Venezuela as a “neo-dictatorship… a regime deeply
totalitarian with a democratic façade.” Not surprisingly, they have
found an eager audience amongst the Conservative and Liberal parties.
Members of the opposition met with Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis who has, <a
href="http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/karygiannis_attacks_venezuela.htm">on
several occasions</a>, attempted to pass resolutions in the House of
Commons denouncing the Venezuelan government and its supposed crackdown
on democratic rights. And elements of the Venezuelan opposition have
even brought their terrorist tactics to Canada; as this article is
being written, oppositionists are believed to be behind <a
href="http://chha1610am.ca/560/">a series of death threats</a> aimed
at a left-wing Catholic priest, Father Hernán Astudillo, and the
left-wing Toronto Latino radio station his church sponsors.</p>
<p>The most recent motion that ended up being supported by the House of
Commons was supposed to be a “softening” of Karygiannis’ latest attempt
to defame the Bolivarian government and place responsibility for the
violence at the hands of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. After
back-room dealings between the three main parties (the Conservatives,
the Liberals, and the NDP), a compromise motion was put forward by the
NDP’s foreign affairs critic, Paul Dewar, which gained support from all
MPs in the House:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>“That the House express its deep concern at the escalation of
violence in Venezuela; convey its condolences to the families of those
killed or injured during the ongoing public protests; ask the
Government of Canada to urge<strong>Venezuelan authorities to
proactively de-escalate the conflict, protect the human rights and
democratic freedoms of Venezuelan citizens, release all those detained
during the protests, immediately cease all government interference with
peaceful protesters,</strong> and ensure that those people who
perpetrated the violence be brought to justice and bear the full weight
of the law; encourage the Government of Canada to play a leading role
in supporting a political dialogue in Venezuela that respects
legitimate grievances and differences of opinion; and <strong>call for
an end to divisive rhetoric and actions that only delay and jeopardize
the inclusive political solution that the Venezuelan people deserve.</strong>”
(My emphasis)</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The NDP’s parliamentary caucus may believe that in putting forward
this “compromise” resolution, they are doing their best to remain
“neutral” in the current provocations in Venezuela. However, the
resolution appears to place the onus on the Venezuelan government to
ending violence when it has been the opposition that has been waging
the campaign all along! The Venezuelan government has the duty to
defend and protect the majority of its citizens from lethal booby
traps, blockades, and armed individuals.</p>
<p>The hypocrisy of the Conservatives and the Liberals is particularly
galling to those who have fallen victim to the state violence and
clamping down on democratic rights that is occurring in Canada today.
The resolution calls for the Venezuelan government to cease all
interference with “peaceful protesters”, but where was the federal
government’s outrage at the historic mass arrests and crackdown at the
G20 summit in Toronto or during the Quebec student strike in 2012?
When Mi’kmaq protesters where trying to protest the danger posed to
their community by fracking, the government’s response was to send in
RCMP snipers. Although Parliament may call for civil dialogue in
Venezuela, the Conservative government is in the process of changing
Canada’s election laws so that poor and working-class Canadians are
denied the right to vote! Where is the Liberal and Conservative
grandstanding when these government attacks occur in Canada?</p>
<p>For these reasons, the NDP is greatly mistaken to have supported the
Conservatives and Liberals’ resolution. There is no middle ground in
the provocations occurring in Venezuela at the present time, and the
NDP’s statement on the issue is essentially supporting the line of the
Venezuelan opposition — the same opposition that is using fascist
tactics in order to attack and murder honest workers and
revolutionaries in Venezuela. The NDP has a tradition of international
solidarity with those fighting oppression around the world. In fact,
it was only a few years ago when <a
href="http://marxist.ca/about-us/hands-off-venezuela/544-launch-of-latin-american-peace-initiative-stop-war-and-defend-social-gains-in-latin-america.html">NDP
MP Peggy Nash was the featured speaker</a> at a Toronto meeting of the
Latin American Peace Initiative, a discussion organized to combat the
threat of imperialist intervention in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
In 2010, <a
href="http://marxist.ca/about-us/hands-off-venezuela/559-hovcblr-and-hovsbq-defend-venezuelan-human-rights-in-front-of-parliamentary-committee.html">NDP
MP Wayne Marston commented on his concerns</a> about potential coups
and foreign intervention in Venezuela at a parliamentary committee
investigating human rights in Venezuela.</p>
<p>The motives of the NDP’s parliamentary caucus are still unclear.
The best-case scenario is that the NDP MPs are not aware of the genuine
situation currently taking place in Venezuela and that their position
in the House of Commons was based on misinformation. On the other
hand, as the NDP gets closer to power, there may be a desire amongst
elements of the NDP leadership to cozy up to the Canadian ruling class
and demonstrate that they will be “responsible managers” of Canadian
capitalism and imperialism. If this is the case, then it must fall
upon the NDP rank-and-file to ensure that the party stays true to its
working-class roots and stop representing the interests of the bosses
both at home and abroad. Instead of tail-ending Canadian imperialism,
the NDP should be supporting the revolutionary movements of Latin
America and bringing those successes home in our own struggles against
capitalist austerity.</p>
<p>Instead of whitewashing the violence of the opposition, the NDP
should instead be calling for an investigation of the role being played
by the US, Canadian, and other governments which are funding and
backing this slow-motion coup. Unlike the cuts and attacks being
implemented by the Harper Conservatives, the Venezuelan government has
been able to expand social programs that have radically improved the
standard of living of the Venezuelan masses. In contrast to the
shutting down of factories that has devastated many parts of Canada and
put tens of thousands of workers out of a job, the Venezuelan
government has encouraged the nationalization of shut-down factories
under the democratic control of their workers. Instead of supporting
the Conservative demonization of the revolution, the NDP should be
working to informing its members and the rest of the labour movement of
the revolution’s successes, and using it a source of inspiration for
our own struggles here at home.</p>
<p><strong>No support for the fascist reaction!</strong></p>
<p><strong>Support the Venezuelan Revolution!</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hands off Venezuela!</strong></p>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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