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dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13132">https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13132</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Venezuela: a Threat to US Energy Hegemony?</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">By Raul Burbano- Common
Frontiers, May 18th 2017</div>
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<p dir="ltr">Since the election of Hugo Chavez in 1999,
Venezuela has achieved impressive gains in health care,
education, and reduction in poverty, while at the same
time wrestled economic and political control from the
country’s elite. Today, soaring inflation, a shrinking
economy and a hyper-politicized environment are
contributing to unprecedented challenges economically
and politically - threatening to undo some of the
achievements of the past. These challenges can be
attributed to many factors, some structural, such as an
oil-dependent economy, and a complex monetary
arrangement which has given rise to “<a
href="https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2016/05/13/bachaquero-buy-flip-hustler/">bachaqueros</a>”
who resell price-controlled items at hugely inflated
prices on the black market. Other challenges are more
politically driven - they stem from the existence of a
hardline sector of the opposition aligned with U.S.
interests who oppose the Socialist government's policies
of resource nationalism and wealth redistribution.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The international media with its biased
coverage of the conflict in Venezuela has failed to
adequately report on violent actions against government
supporters by extremist sectors of the opposition. It
has however, diligently perpetuated the opposition
narrative that the crisis in Venezuela is the sole
responsibility of the Maduro government, a dictatorship
on the brink of collapse resorting to violence against
peaceful protesters in a desperate bid to hold on to
power. These allegations have little merit, and are
similar to accusations made against former president
Hugo Chávez. The hardline opposition has never accepted
the electoral legitimacy of the Bolivarian governments,
and its violent demonstrations have had the full support
and backing of the U.S. government. In 2014 alone, U.S
government documents show that Obama's administration
channelled $5M dollars to opposition groups to help <a
href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/208290.pdf">“strengthen”
and “protect”</a> democracy in Venezuela. The Trump
administration, in turn, has provided unprecedented
political support to jailed <a
href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/832016501657968640?lang=en">opposition
leader, Leopoldo López</a> , who has been found
guilty of public incitement to violence and association
to commit a crime. There has been close coordination
between opposition-led National Assembly leaders and
White House national security advisor H.R. McMaster on
how to address the political impasse in Venezuela.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The international media also puts the blame
for the economic crisis facing Venezuela firmly on the
government's shoulders. They fail to mention the role of
business producers of goods who regularly hoard basic
items to create shortages and public discontent. Some
believe the economic war contributed to the PSUV’s
defeat during the 2015 parliamentary elections - due to
the lack of black beans. Black beans are a staple of the
Venezuelan diet and for some time before election day
these had disappeared completely but the day after
voting they were back on supermarket shelves.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Similar to the crisis that precipitated the
short-lived 2002 coup against Chávez, leaders of the
hardline opposition have made it clear that their goal
is “regime change”. Henry Ramos Allup of the opposition
Democratic Action party and former National Assembly
president declared on the first day he assumed that
position that they would <a
href="http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-venezuela-congress-20160105-story.html">remove
Maduro from power within six months</a>. The
opposition referred to their march in October 2016 as
the “Taking of Venezuela” (La Toma de Venezuela), an
inflammatory title. During that march Jose Alejandro
Molina Ramirez, a policeman, was killed by opposition
gunfire and two others injured; which contradicts the
opposition message that their marches are “peaceful”.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Extremist Elements within the
Opposition</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">The opposition has failed to penetrate beyond
its narrow base which is predominately wealthy and
middle-class Venezuelans. Their political demands for
early elections do little to address the needs of the
working class poor who are being increasingly affected
by the economic crisis. A recent survey by independent
polling firm Hinterlaces indicates that <a
href="http://www.investigaction.net/en/venezuela-does-the-opposition-want-a-remake-of-the-coup-against-allende/">66%
of the population</a> does not agree with the
opposition focus on removing the president and feels it
lacks any vision on how to solve the economic challenges
facing the country.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Julio Borges, the president of the opposition
controlled National Assembly, has openly called on the
military to take action by becoming part of “the
solution” and backing the opposition. He led the 2016,
constitutionally illegal initiative to open a “<a
href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/venezuela-opposition-votes-put-maduro-trial-161025181844551.html">political
and criminal trial"</a> against the democratically
elected president, Maduro. He has consistently appealed
to the Organization of American States to <a
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-and-the-oas-the-logic-of-withdrawal_us_590389c8e4b084f59b49f8b5">intervene
in the internal affairs</a> of Venezuela, even though
this is expressly forbidden by that organization's
charter, Article 1. of which states that: “The
Organization of American States has no powers other than
those expressly conferred upon it by this Charter, none
of whose provisions authorizes it to intervene in
matters that are within the internal jurisdiction of the
Member States” . </p>
<p dir="ltr">In a bid to remove President Maduro, the
opposition triggered a recall referendum which under the
constitution allows for a recall of any elected
official, including the president. Due to divisions
within the opposition, they launched the signature drive
too late in 2016 to have the recall vote in the same
year which the opposition demanded. They also submitted
a large quantity of invalid signatures including
signatures from over 11,000 deceased persons and those
of more than 3000 minors according to The National
Electoral Council (CNE).</p>
<p dir="ltr">The hardline opposition inspired street
protests have intensified in violence over the past few
weeks, including <a
href="http://www.venezuelasolidarity.co.uk/from-2014-violent-barricades-to-venezuelan-assembly-right-wing/">deadly
street barricades</a> , setting of government
food-storage building <a
href="http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/04/27/venezuela-one-more-dies-in-demonstration-and-national-assembly-threatens-ombudsman/">on
fire with Molotov cocktails,</a> an attack on a
maternity hospital in the El Valle neighbourhood, <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13045">violent
clashes</a> with state security forces, and attacks <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Socialist-Venezuela-Student-Leader-Killed-After-Backing-Maduro-20170506-0022.html">against
government supporters</a>. More than 42 people have
been killed since April 4th many of them during violent
opposition clashes with state security forces: eight
people were electrocuted during a looting incident; five
killed by state security forces; fifteen have died
directly or indirectly as a result of the opposition
protesters and the rest are still unaccounted for. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Recently, public workers at the Vice
Presidency office and National Police Force along with
others were targeted and their safety compromised when a
group of far right hackers known as “Sons of Bitches”
stole their personal data and made it public. This comes
on the heels of the murder of two government workers
shot dead by sniper fire while participating in pro
government rallies, and the assassination of labour
leader, <a
href="https://www.el-carabobeno.com/asesinado-tres-tiros-dirigente-sindical/">Rexol
Alexander Acevedo Navas</a>, member of United
Socialist Party of Venezuela.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>A Strong Participatory Democracy</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">The opposition has sought to paint Maduro as
a “dictator” who fears general elections. Venezuela has
one of the strongest and most active democracies in the
region having carried <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11760">out
20 elections in 17 years</a> (presidential, regional,
municipal and referenda). It has a strong direct
democracy that empowers grassroots groups through
communes and communal councils. The councils can
undertake community development projects as chosen by
the community. Leaders must be elected by the community
and decisions are made through popular assemblies.
Currently, there are <a
href="https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/venezuela%E2%80%99s-communes-form-front-line-difficult-revolutionary-struggle">46,566
registered communal councils in the country</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It was expected the country would hold
regional elections in 2016 but the National Electoral
Council (CNE) postponed them because of opposition
demands to deal with the recall referendum. The
opposition used the postponement to highlight yet
another example of the lack of democracy in the country.
Although President Maduro <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13048">has
called for regional elections</a>, opposition leaders
have responded with continued street protests.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the 2015 National Assembly electoral
process, the opposition expressed fears of unfair and
rigged elections. They were joined by the Secretary
General of the Organization of American States, Luis
Almagro who condemned Venezuela's electoral process as
“unfair” and anti-democratic. Yet the opposition
alliance managed to win a stunning victory taking a
majority in the National Assembly. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The opposition is demanding that presidential
elections be moved up which some consider a violation of
the constitution. A recent poll suggests that <a
href="http://hinterlaces.com/65-esta-de-acuerdo-en-esperar-elecciones-presidenciales-de-2018/">65% </a>of
Venezuelans prefer to wait and have them in 2018 when
they are scheduled to occur.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>National Assembly in Violation of the
Constitution</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">In January 2016, the opposition controlled
National Assembly was held in contempt of the
constitution by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) over
fraud charges involving opposition deputies from the
state of Amazonas who were recorded illegally offering
payment for votes. When the TSJ ordered the National
Assembly to hold elections to replace the corrupt
deputies, the legislative ignored the order and refused
to remedy the situation. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The most recent political impasse between the
country's two major institutions took place when the
Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Venezuela’s state
oil firm PDVSA, which was seeking to establish a joint
venture with Russian oil company Rosneft to generate
investment in the struggling economy. The opposition
controlled <a
href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/31/reuters-america-update-1-venezuela-court-move-may-facilitate-russian-investment-spook-other-oil-majors.html">National
Assembly blocked</a> the investment opportunity, while
its president, Julio Borges, a leading opposition member
of the Justice First party sent letters to investors and
bankers, <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13076">lobbying
them</a> not to invest or extend credit to the
government. The TSJ ruling stated that while the
legislature continues to violate the constitution, it
would stand in where necessary to ensure the “rule of
law” or until the situation is resolved.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The decision generated intense debate among
many in Venezuela. Some, like c<a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/opinion/Hermann-Escarra-El-Poder-Judicial-es-el-custodio-del-Estado-constitucional-de-derecho-20170331-0003.html">onstitutional
lawyer Hermann Escarra</a> and Ombudsman Tarek William
Saab denied the courts acted unconstitutionally but
others like Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz strongly
criticized the ruling. Although the ruling was
immediately reversed, the opposition still called for
street protests, many of which turned violent.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Coincidentally, concerns over Venezuela’s’
joint venture with the Russian state owned oil company
aren’t unique to the Venezuelan opposition but also
shared by the US administration. US senators Marco Rubio
and Ben Cardin recently introduced legislation entitled
“the Venezuela Humanitarian Assistance and Defense of
Democratic Governance Act” to “help” the Venezuelan
people overcome the crisis and prevent the merger with
Rosneft. The administration sees the merger as a threat
to their national energy security and fear the joint
venture could allow <a
href="https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=257C91E2-807B-441B-B671-9CF5A8C72B1A">Rosneft
to gain “control of U.S. energy infrastructure</a>”.
Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA, owns U.S.
Oil Company Citgo based in Texas which has refineries,
gas stations and infrastructure in the US. The
legislation also earmarks $9.5 million for opposition
groups working to “defend human rights” in Venezuela. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Opposition members of the National Assembly
have begun to threaten Ombudsperson Saab unless he
agrees to give them the green light to remove TSJ
judges. The ombudsperson accused Freddy Guevara from the
opposition Popular Will party of making <a
href="http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/04/27/venezuela-one-more-dies-in-demonstration-and-national-assembly-threatens-ombudsman/">“criminal
threats”</a> against his office. Multiple offices of
the national human rights watchdog have been attacked
nationwide and the local Ombudsman’s office in Valencia
was firebombed by “<a
href="http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/politica/tarek-william-saab-denuncio-quema-defensoria-valencia_650833">masked
opposition militants</a>”. </p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Opposition Lacks Alternatives</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Despite the economic challenges facing many
Venezuelans, this opposition coalition, the Democratic
Roundtable, appears to be narrowly focused on removing
Maduro from office and “<a
href="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8i.htm">making
the economy scream</a>”. Since taking control of the
National Assembly, the coalition has put forward no real
proposals to address the economic challenges facing the
country. Instead, it appears they have used their
legislative control to block economic initiatives
intended to help the economy, preferring to create a
climate of regulatory uncertainty to scare off potential
investors. This could lead to the cutting off of access
to foreign currency - undermining the economy further
and forcing Venezuela to default on its international
payments.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>On-Going Dialogue</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Last year the intergovernmental regional
organization, the Union of South American Nations
(UNASUR) undertook to lead an initiative for national
dialogue. The opposition set preconditions for dialogue
with the government. As a demonstration of good faith
and in stark contrast to the media narrative that the
Maduro government is dead set against negotiations, he
agreed to some of the opposition demands. The government
released opposition leader Carlos Melo and two other
accused of planning terrorist acts. The government
agreed to the opposition’s demand for Vatican
participation in the dialogue, and that the talks be
held in Caracas rather than the island of Margarita.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After several meetings the Vatican sponsored
peace talks came to an abrupt end when the opposition
walked out - accusing the government of negotiating in
bad faith. In an open letter, the opposition made it
clear that the chapter for dialogue was <a
href="http://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2017/01/26/el-comunicado-de-la-oposicion-venezolana-comunico-que-se-baja-definitivamente-del-dialogo-con-el-regimen-de-nicolas-maduro/">closed
and would not be re-opened again</a>. They called on
their supporters to intensify street protests. </p>
<p>Most recently, the Pope called on all sides to engage
in dialogue and to reject violence. He also criticized
the opposition as “<a
href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-30/pope-calls-for-venezuelan-negotiated-solution-to-curb-violence">divided</a>”
citing their “resistance to dialogue”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The opposition coalition has been divided on
whether or not to engage in negotiations, more extreme
elements see negotiations with the government as
treason. María Corina Machado, a former National
Assembly legislator and founder of the US funded NGO <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/789">Súmate</a> criticized
the opposition coalition for its error in engaging in
dialogue stating “d<a
href="https://www.el-carabobeno.com/maria-corina-machado-dialogo-gobierno-suspenderse/">ictatorships
don’t hold dialogues</a>” and called for street
mobilizations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Maduro continues to call for the opposition
to resume negotiations and welcomes the Pope’s offer to
help mediate. The opposition has refused to engage, even
after the government fulfilled another one of their
demands for dialogue - calling for the CNE to set a date
for regional elections. </p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Constituent Assembly<br>
</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">In a bid to address the country’s political
standoff, Maduro has invoked article 347 of the
constitution calling for a <a
href="https://eliasjauavzla.wordpress.com/2017/05/06/constituyente/">National
Constituent Assembly</a> which will be responsible for
re-drafting the 1999 constitution. The assembly will be
composed of 500 directly elected delegates, half of
which will be elected from among the country’s social
movements. Part of the goal seeks to institutionalize
important aspects into the Magna Cara such as building a
“post-petroleum” economy to address climate change and
new expressions of local government.</p>
<p>Opposition leaders criticized the initiative, accusing
the president of trying to outmanoeuvre them in the
legislature. Despite the staunch criticism, the
opposition had in the past advocated for a Constituent
Assembly as a solution to resolve the country’s
problems. Opposition leaders like Henrique Capriles,
Leopoldo Lopez, Freddy Guevara and Maria Corina Machado,
all signed a joint statement demanding a Constituent
Assembly be called.</p>
<p>The majority of people in Venezuela want to move
forward in a peaceful manner to resolve their
differences while demanding respect for their
sovereignty. However, extremist elements in the
opposition have declared themselves in open rebellion
against the democratically elected president, rejecting
further negotiations and calling for street
mobilizations. The International media and their
unconditional support for the opposition is fueling the
fire, telling half-truths and inadvertently condoning
violence and exacerbating the conflict.</p>
<p> By making Venezuela ungovernable the opposition
coalition is betting on foreign interference to pressure
the government to resign, thus allowing them to regain
power - something they have failed to achieve
democratically at the ballot box for the past 17 years.
</p>
<p><em>Raul Burbano is the program director of <a
href="http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/aboutus.html">Common
Frontiers</a>, a multi-sectoral working group which
confronts, and proposes alternatives to, the social,
environmental and economic effects of economic
integration in the Americas.</em></p>
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