US imperialism’s unwavering evil intention to control the natural resources, economy, and the people of Latin America is once again exposed with its blatant political meddling in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a democratic and oil-rich[1] country of 28 million people.
Venezuela successfully held presidential elections last July 28, wherein incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, one of Latin America’s staunchest anti-imperialist leaders, won. Maduro won 51.2% of the votes, against his opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who got 44.2%.
Anxious of another victory to challenge Maduro’s anti-imperialist government, the US and its agents in the region attempted to disrupt the Venezuelan elections by hacking and attacking the data transmission system which delayed the release of the electoral results. Without any solid proof of digital cheating, the US and its propaganda machinery together with the Venezuelan opposition declared the election “fraudulent” and recognized Urrutia as the “winner.” Urrutia was a substitute to opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running because of her support for the US in imposing economic sanctions that have crippled Venezuela, and for calling for foreign military intervention to oust Maduro.
To defend the democratic electoral process, Maduro turned to the Venezuelan Supreme Court to resolve the electoral dispute. After three weeks of examining the opposition complaints against the government and analyzing the electoral results, the Venezuelan Supreme Court on August 22 confirmed that Maduro was indeed re-elected with 52 percent of the popular vote. The opposition and the US media promptly rejected the court’s ruling.
While some Latin American governments believed the US and Western media narrative, officials from Cuba, Honduras and Bolivia congratulated Maduro on social media. “The people spoke and the Revolution won,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on X. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega offered to send “Sandinista fighters” in support of Maduro in case the latter wanted to fight armed “counterrevolutionary” forces. Maduro has also received congratulatory messages from China and Russia on his election victory.
In a statement on August 8, 2024, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) strongly condemned the US government’s blatant political meddling, and together with the Filipino people, stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people. The CPP also said the US is enabling puppet opposition groups in Venezuela and the Western media, to promote images of “widespread fraud” during the recent elections effectively undermining democracy in Venezuela.
“As in 2019, the US has brazenly claimed the power to declare the opposition candidate as the new president of Venezuela. It is funding pocket riots in an attempt to destabilize the situation and ignite an upheaval. It has mobilized its global psywar machine to prop up support for its intervention,” the CPP said.
“The US has long been undermining Venezuela with unilaterally imposed economic sanctions, causing economic hardships for the Venezuelan people. The US has repeatedly attempted, but failed, to assassinate Maduro and overthrow his government, to effect regime change as it did in other countries not willing to accept US hegemony. The US’ evil agenda is to replace Maduro with a regime that will bring back neoliberal economic policies, US monopoly capitalist control of Venezuela’s oil reserves, and other privileges for US corporations,” the CPP added.
Under the late Bolivarian president Hugo Chavez, Venezuela effectively reduced poverty and inequality by redistributing wealth, heavily invested in social services, eliminated illiteracy by providing tuition free education from daycare to university, subsidized food distribution thus reducing malnutrition, provided access to potable water to 96% of the population, radically improved the country’s healthcare system, and despite the sanctions meant to destroy Venezuela’s economy, continued to build up its national industries and agriculture. Venezuelan democracy has also meant the powerful participation of the people through 30,000 communal councils, which determine the people’s needs. Maduro also cracked down on corruption and pledged to recover the money to invest in public works and social services.
These same achievements are what Maduro’s government, and the Venezuelan people have vowed to safeguard and continue.
“Venezuela remains one of the cornerstones of resistance to US imperialism in Latin America. The Venezuelan people’s resistance inspires militance and fires the people’s determination across the world to fight US imperialist domination,” the CPP emphasized.
US imperialism has a long history of intervening in Latin America and undermining and subverting democratic governments resisting US hegemony in the region. The US’ policy to impose regime change in the region has its roots in the so-called Monroe Doctrine enunciated by 5th US president James Monroe who proclaimed, “America for Americans”. The essence of the Monroe Doctrine is for the US to dominate the Americas.
In pursuit of this doctrine, the US has since been blatantly launching coups, violent invasions and sanctions whenever necessary, from Cuba, the Caribbean and the rest of South America. US imperialism has undermined the people of Latin America, their sovereignty and national security, plundering the region’s rich natural resources for the benefit of US big businesses and corporations, hindering and denying the people’s economic and social development, and thus their fundamental right to self-determination.
American lawyer and former UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, Alfred de Zayas comments: Even after the Venezuelan Supreme Court confirmed Maduro as president, it is certain that the sanctions by the US and EU will not cease. Venezuela will not be allowed to have peace…..The fact remains that there are millions of Chavistas in Venezuela who will not accept retrogression and the destruction of the socialist model….What is at stake is the principle of State sovereignty – not just Venezuela’s sovereignty and the Venezuelan people’s right of self-determination, but the sovereignty of other States in Latin America, Africa and Asia. What is crucial is our recognition of the need to apply international law uniformly and not à la carte, in the spirit of US “exceptionalism”. The US and the EU do not have the right to meddle in the elections of other countries, nor the right to decide which elections are legitimate and which are not.
Undoubtedly, as the late CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison admonished in one of his messages to Venezuela, all peoples of the world are on a common ground with the Venezuelan people against imperialism and all reaction and for national liberation, democracy, social justice, economic development, cultural progress and peace. #
[1] Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves at an estimated 500 billion barrels (20% of global reserves).
