Liberating Venezuela
One might imagine that there is no conceivable need for Venezuelans to protest against a style of government reflecting the socialist vision of its former Bolivarian liberator, Hugo Chavez. Whose strenuous ideological efforts to bring the country into the orbit of Cuban-type socialism also brought with it political repression of dissent against government policies. For the people have no right to assume that they know what is best for them, and not the duly elected government.
When one presents oneself as a candidate for high government office, persuading the majority of voters who happen to be poor that he is one of them and his first order of office will be to take them from poverty to genteel plenty, there are ample votes to be had. And, in the fashion of democracy those votes brought Hugo Chavez to the presidency where he was enabled to make a shambles of the economy of an energy-rich nation.
But the plight of the poor was somewhat relieved. And Venezuela's generosity to its neighbours less well endowed by natural resources was vastly appreciated. Much as Libya's oil resources aided Moammar Ghaddafi in aiding his North African neighbours whose resources were void of oil, and to whom those neighbours became gratefully indebted. Both, incidentally, found themselves in support of violent anti-government groups plying their trade in other countries.
An
anti-government demonstrator holds a poster with a map outline of
Venezuela that reads in Spanish: 'We are thirsty and hungry for freedom
and democracy. No to the dictatorship,' during a protest in Caracas,
Venezuela on March 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Now, Mr. Chavez's hand-picked successor, the redoubtable Nicolas Maduro, who swore to uphold the Bolivarian Revolution of the man he admired who left that legacy in his trust, has tasked his security forces to destroy the ambitions of Venezuelans wanting to see an end to corruption, to violence, to the chronic shortages of ordinary everyday food items. Venezuela's vast fossil fuel resources are failing the country; the infrastructure required to cope in extracting, refining and shipping has never been upgraded.
The five weeks of clashes between protesters and security forces have resulted in the deaths of 30 people, and hundreds more wounded and arrested. The fear of violence however aside, thousands of Venezuelans continue to protest peacefully but vigorously in Caracus and other cities. Demanding an end to the government's violence against dissenters by the Maduro "dictatorship", they demand also that leading opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez be freed from prison, conspiracy and arson charges dropped as the false accusations they represent.
The protests are hysterically dencounced as a U.S. backed fascist backlash against his socialist agenda by President Maduro. Foreign enemies of the country inciting dissent and violence. It is instructive to note how admiring this government is of the governing style of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and how it aspires to become as committed as the government of Cuba in its dedication to the welfare of the people, against all international odds.
Venezuelan intelligence agents have arrested the opposition mayor, Daniel Ceballos, of the city of San Cristobal, a crucible of anti-government resistance, where the current wave of protests originated. The Supreme Court announced that the opposition mayor of San Diego, Enzo Scarano, was to be removed from his post to serve ten months and 15 days in prison. He ignored a court order to ensure protesters did not barricade city streets.
Leopoldo Lopez has company. Agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service arrested Mayor Ceballos in a Caracas hotel, there to attend a meeting of opposition mayors. "This is an act of justice for a mayor who not only did not meet his obligations as required by law and the constitution, but also facilitated and supported all the irrational violence in San Cristobal", explained Interior and Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres.
Twenty-five kilometres from San Cristobal, National Guardsmen fired plastic shotgun pellets and tear gas in the town of Rubio, wounding sixteen people. Soldiers with rifles stood on street corners. "The situation is terrible here", said Francisco Rincon, vice-president of the Rubio municipal council.
"This Venezuelan right-wing is especially conspiratorial and is trying
to drive a hole through our democracy," complained President Maduro. While his administration continues to drive a chasm in the wobbling Venezuela economy where analysts forecast a recession, with ongoing widespread shortages and an inflation rate that hit 57% in February.
Meanwhile, blaming the fascists trying to overturn the social order of Venezuela serves nicely as a scapegoat for a government whose administration is ruinous to the country.
Labels: Democracy, Social Failures, Venezuela
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