Venezuela: Bullet Over Ballot?
By S. Chatterjee
10 March, 2014
Countercurrents.org
The events that are playing out in Venezuela evoke a strange sense of déjà-vu. It brings back memories of the coup of 2002, spearheaded by the Venezuelan opposition parties with far right-wing leader Leopoldo Lopez playing a starring role with the blessings of the United States, which was a brazen attempt to undermine the Bolivarian revolution and to oust Venezuela’s democratically elected leader, the late Hugo Chavez. The current street protests in Venezuela, which began in the university town of San Cristobal as a reaction against the rising incidents of violent crime, have taken on a different hue altogether. The right wing opposition parties, with the encouragement of the US (which has US $5mn in its 2014 budget earmarked to support opposition activities in Venezuela), have blocked traffic on major thoroughfares, attacked government buildings including attempts at arson, engaged in violence ranging from shooting to throwing Molotov cocktails etc. The protesters have rallied around the slogan ‘salida’ which indicates a forceful regime change, not a constitutional removal of Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s successor and Venezuela’s democratically elected leader. In the propaganda of the opposition, Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly referred to as a dictator when the facts are that he won through fairly conducted elections, and his popularity was reinforced by his stunning victory by a ten point margin in the December municipal elections where the ruling party won 76% of the votes polled.
The roots of discontent in Venezuela can be traced to the massive economic redistribution attempts made by the Chavista government under Chavez which left the upper classes alienated. Though there has been a massive improvement in the living conditions of the poor in Venezuela, poverty has not been eradicated. Since the implementation of the Bolivarian Missions, Venezuela has made progress in social development particularly in areas such as health, education and poverty. In fact, Venezuela is one of the few nations which are expected to meet all the eight goals of the Millennium Development Goals, by the 2015 deadline unlike India. Notwithstanding all of this, there has been a scarcity of staple food items as well as a raging inflation which has disproportionately affected the poor. Venezuela’s dependence on imports for food security as well as speculation is largely responsible for such a condition. The government’s inability to rein in inflation has fanned the flames of discontentment and rebellion. The triggering factor has been a massive increase in violent crime in the country, which has one of the highest rates of homicide in the world, which stands at 39 out of every 1,00,000 persons. While these are very valid causes of concern for any country, it appears that the initial protests have been hijacked by the opposition which aims to create a situation which could lead to calls of external armed intervention in the country, with predictable results. A similar pattern of protests have emerged in Ukraine where a minority has come out on the streets in order to topple a government elected by the majority. Parallels may be drawn with Chile in 1973 where the popular and democratically elected Allende government was ousted by a CIA backed military coup which was preceded by a protracted period of orchestrated civil unrest by right wing and middle class groups supported and financed by the US.
The theatre for political coups has changed over the years. Coups no longer happen secretly behind the public gaze. Coups of the twenty-first century are orchestrated on streets in form of protests leading to disorder and attempts at destablisation. An important distinction needs to be drawn between protests such as those in Egypt which were an expression of majority angst against undemocratic regimes vis-a-vis attempts of minority elements to oust democratically elected officials. The corporate media, by and large, has played an unholy part in the attempt to portray Maduro government’s actions as barbaric and draconian whereas the truth is that of the hundreds initially arrested for creating disorder, less than twenty remain in detention and they have been charged with specific acts of violence. The government of Venezuela has shown extraordinary restraint in dealing with the acts of vandalism of the street mobs.
It is important to mention that the current protests are representative of the prosperous classes taking to the streets in order to defeat the results of the election. The poor have remained loyal to the Chavista government and have even organized rallies in support of it. The present protests are a clear attempt to topple the popular government and replace it with an oligarchy that would place the immense oil resources of the country at the disposal of a privileged minority instead of letting it get used for poverty eradication. It is significant to note that Venezuela has a mixed economy dominated by the petroleum sector, which accounts for roughly a third of GDP, around 80% of exports, and more than half of government revenues. It also has the least expensive petrol in the world because the consumer price of petrol is heavily state-subsidized. Naturally, the opposition has the support of the corporate media, the big corporate houses and the business elite who have a stake in pulling out the rug from beneath Maduro’s feet and reversing Chavez’s war against neo-liberalism which began some fifteen years ago, with massive support from Venezuela’s masses. It is no secret that the left-democratic governments of Latin America have been battling against Western interference and attempts at political subversion which would turn these countries into client states of the West, quite like Mexico and Colombia.
The battle in Venezuela is also being played out on the social media where Twitter and Facebook have emerged as key forums to spread both information and disinformation. The disingenuous nature of the images posted on social media were revealed recently when many of the images purportedly from Venezuela’s protests turned out to be those from Egypt, Greece, Spain and other places. The Venezuelan government has disrupted internet connectivity in various hotbeds of the protests and has even banned certain websites, in an attempt to muzzle dissent, a move which is difficult to condone because tolerance, and even encouragement, of ‘peaceful’ protest is a measure of democracy.
The issue underlying this utterly confusing spectacle of events is whether political decisions are to be taken through the ballot or through muscle-flexing on the streets. It seems patently undemocratic to allow the ballot to be cowed down by the bullet and now is a time for governments around the world to take a stand on whether democracy, by itself, is deserving of respect, or whether democracy is to be given lip-service only when it serves the interests of those demanding it.
S. Chatterjee is a New Delhi based lawyer
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