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<h1 itemprop="headline" class="story-heading">Venezuela: A Call for
Peace</h1>
<div class="story-meta-footer">
<p class="byline-dateline"><span class="byline"
itemprop="author creator" itemscope=""
itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">By <span class="byline-author"
data-byline-name="NICOLÁS MADURO" itemprop="name">NICOLÁS MADURO</span></span><time
class="dateline" datetime="2014-04-01">APRIL 1, 2014</time>
</p>
<div class="inside-story"> <b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/opinion/venezuela-a-call-for-peace.html?ref=opinion&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/opinion/venezuela-a-call-for-peace.html?ref=opinion&_r=0</a></small></small></b><br>
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<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="203"
data-total-count="203" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-1">CARACAS,
Venezuela — THE recent protests in <a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/venezuela/index.html?inline=nyt-geo"
title="More news and information about Venezuela." class="meta-loc">Venezuela</a>
have made international headlines. Much of the foreign media coverage
has distorted the reality of my country and the facts surrounding the
events.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="202"
data-total-count="405" itemprop="articleBody">Venezuelans are proud of
our democracy. We have built a participatory democratic movement from
the grass roots that has ensured that both power and resources are
equitably distributed among our people. </p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="365"
data-total-count="770" itemprop="articleBody">According to the <a
href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unhabitat.org%2Fpmss%2FgetElectronicVersion.aspx%3Fnr%3D3386%26alt%3D1&ei=1o43U-nvBoLisATlm4HwAg&usg=AFQjCNHIBsntfRPxIbWCoUQ5YvN-P7I4Fw&sig2=oV9YQtKwvkhcEFO10doaQw&bvm=bv.63808443,d.cWc">United
Nations</a>, Venezuela has consistently <a
href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/06/business/venezuela-chavez-oil-economy/">reduced
inequality</a>: It now has the lowest income inequality in the region.
We have <a
href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-leads-region-in-poverty-reduction-in-2012-eclac-says">reduced
poverty</a> enormously — to 25.4 percent in 2012, on the World Bank’s <a
href="http://datos.bancomundial.org/pais/venezuela">data</a>, from 49
percent in 1998; in the same period, according to government
statistics, extreme poverty <a
href="http://www.ine.gov.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=104&Itemid=45">diminished</a>
to 6 percent from 21 percent. </p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="184"
data-total-count="954" itemprop="articleBody">We have created flagship
universal health care and education programs, free to our citizens
nationwide. We have achieved these feats in large part by using revenue
from Venezuelan oil.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="650"
data-total-count="1604" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-4">While
our social policies have improved citizens’ lives over all, the
government has also confronted serious economic challenges in the past
16 months, including inflation and shortages of basic goods. We
continue to find solutions through measures like our new market-based <a
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/24/venezuela-currency-idUSL1N0ML0QB20140324">foreign
exchange system</a>, which is designed to reduce the black market
exchange rate. And we are monitoring businesses to ensure they are not
gouging consumers or hoarding products. Venezuela has also struggled
with a high crime rate. We are <a
href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/could-it-be-that-the-venezuela-murder-rate-did-peak-in-2008">addressing</a>
this by building a new national police force, strengthening
community-police cooperation and revamping our prison system.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="389"
data-total-count="1993" itemprop="articleBody">Since 1998, the
movement founded by <a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/hugo_chavez/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about Hugo Chavez." class="meta-per">Hugo Chávez</a>
has won more than a dozen presidential, parliamentary and local
elections through an electoral process that former American President
Jimmy Carter <a
href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/former-us-president-carter-venezuelan-electoral-system-best-in-the-world/5305779">has
called</a> “the best in the world.” Recently, the United Socialist
Party received an overwhelming mandate in mayoral elections in December
2013, winning 255 out of 337 municipalities.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="297"
data-total-count="2290" itemprop="articleBody">Popular participation
in politics in Venezuela has increased dramatically over the past
decade. As a former union organizer, I believe profoundly in the right
to association and in the civic duty to ensure that justice prevails by
voicing legitimate concerns through peaceful assembly and protest.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="339"
data-total-count="2629" itemprop="articleBody">The claims that
Venezuela has a deficient democracy and that current protests represent
mainstream sentiment are belied by the facts. The antigovernment
protests are being carried out by people in the <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/world/americas/slum-dwellers-in-caracas-ask-what-protests.html?_r=0">wealthier
segments</a> of society who seek to reverse the gains of the democratic
process that have benefited the vast majority of the people.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="540"
data-total-count="3169" itemprop="articleBody">Antigovernment
protesters have physically attacked and damaged health care clinics,
burned down a university in Táchira State and thrown Molotov cocktails
and rocks at buses. They have also targeted other public institutions
by throwing rocks and torches at the offices of the Supreme Court, the
public telephone company CANTV and the attorney general’s office. These
<a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/americas/crude-weapons-help-fuel-unrest-in-bastion-of-venezuelan-opposition.html?_r=1">violent
actions</a> have caused many millions of dollars’ worth of damage. This
is why the protests have received no support in poor and working-class
neighborhoods.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="377"
data-total-count="3546" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-5">The
protesters have a single goal: the unconstitutional ouster of the
democratically elected government. Antigovernment leaders made this
clear when they started the campaign in January, vowing to create chaos
in the streets. Those with legitimate criticisms of economic conditions
or the crime rate are being exploited by protest leaders with a
violent, antidemocratic agenda.</p>
In two months, a reported 36 people have been killed. The protesters
are, we believe, <a
href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/should-the-media-report-on-who-is-killing-whom-in-venezuela-when-death-tolls-are-reported">directly
responsible</a> for about half of the fatalities. Six members of the
National Guard have been shot and killed; other citizens have been
murdered while attempting to remove obstacles placed by protesters to
block transit. <article class="comment" data-permid="11478558"></article><article
class="comment" data-permid="11478286"><header></header></article><article
class="comment" data-permid="11478135"><header></header></article><footer></footer><aside
style="display: block;"
class="marginalia comments-marginalia selected-comment-marginalia"
data-marginalia-type="sprinkled"
data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-3"><a class="visually-hidden"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/opinion/venezuela-a-call-for-peace.html?ref=opinion&_r=0#story-continues-3"></a></aside>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="511"
data-total-count="4369" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-3">A
very small number of security forces personnel have also been accused
of engaging in violence, as a result of which several people have died.
These are highly regrettable events, and the Venezuelan government has
responded by arresting those suspected. We have created a Human Rights
Council to investigate all incidents related to these protests. Each
victim deserves justice, and every perpetrator — whether a supporter or
an opponent of the government — will be held accountable for his or her
actions.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="465"
data-total-count="4834" itemprop="articleBody">In the United States,
the protesters have been described as “peaceful,” while the Venezuelan
government is said to be violently repressing them. According to this
narrative, the American government is siding with the people of
Venezuela; in reality, it is on the side of the 1 percent who wish to
drag our country back to when the 99 percent were shut out of political
life and only the few — including American companies — benefited from
Venezuela’s oil.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="379"
data-total-count="5213" itemprop="articleBody">Let’s not forget that
some of those who supported ousting Venezuela’s democratically elected
government in 2002 <a href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10365">are
leading</a> the protests today. Those involved in the 2002 coup
immediately disbanded the Supreme Court and the legislature, and
scrapped the Constitution. Those who incite violence and attempt
similar unconstitutional actions today must face the justice system. </p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="598"
data-total-count="5811" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-6">The
American government <a
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/oliver-stone/obama-administration-face_b_5029161.html">supported</a>
the 2002 coup and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzSnH4_p0PY">recognized</a>
the coup government despite its anti-democratic behavior. Today, the
Obama administration spends at least <a
href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/208290.pdf">$5
million</a> annually to support opposition movements in Venezuela. A
bill calling for an additional $15 million for these anti-government
organizations <a
href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/03/14/sen-marco-rubio-robert-menendez-introduce-bill-to-support-anti-government/">is
now</a> in Congress. Congress is also deciding whether to impose
sanctions on Venezuela. I hope that the American people, knowing the
truth, will decide that Venezuela and its people do not deserve such
punishment, and will call upon their representatives not to enact
sanctions.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="384"
data-total-count="6195" itemprop="articleBody">Now is a time for
dialogue and diplomacy. Within Venezuela, we have extended a hand to
the opposition. And we have accepted the Union of South American
Nations’ recommendations to engage in mediated talks with the
opposition. My government has also reached out to President Obama,
expressing our desire to again exchange ambassadors. We hope his
administration will respond in kind.</p>
<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="119"
data-total-count="6314" itemprop="articleBody">Venezuela needs peace
and dialogue to move forward. We welcome anyone who sincerely wants to
help us reach these goals.</p>
<div class="story-notes">
<p>Nicolás Maduro is the president of Venezuela. </p>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
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San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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