By Abbey Makoe
THE government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has denounced what it terms “the sustained policy of aggression by the government of the USA”. In a statement to the international media, released this week, the Venezuelan Embassy in Pretoria lambasted America’s “unilateral and illegal coercive measures, judicial decisions and other restrictive and punitive measures”.
Such measures, the embassy proclaimed, “are aimed at controlling and taking ownership of its assets abroad, with the intermediation of the opposition’s Unitary Platform which, under an [intentional] conduct, insist on causing irreversible damage to our people, constituting a plunder of the resources of all Venezuelans”.
The Venezuelan government further accused the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which falls under the Department of the Treasury, of “acting in bad faith, violating all legal principles, including those of a domestic nature”. It also accused OFAC of colluding with extremist groups in Venezuelan politics.
“It intends to dispossess the people of Venezuela, through illegal and immoral expropriation of the (state-owned) Citgo Petroleum Corporation,” read the strongly-worded embassy statement, which described the US actions as “rapacious and criminal, with the sole objective of causing the maximum possible damage” to the Venezuelan people.
The story of Venezuela’s troubles started in 2018, with the results of the disputed election, which the authorities ruled were won by President Nicolas Maduro. However, opposition leader Juan Guaido led protests against the declared outcome, claiming the elections were rigged. He subsequently declared himself the legitimate leader of the Bolivarian Republic, and the US immediately registered its unequivocal support for Guaido’s self-declared presidency.
Predictably, the European Union followed suit. Under pressure, several Latin American countries denounced President Maduro’s administration as illegitimate, and a systematic campaign to isolate Caracas commenced, and continues to this day.
Harsh economic sanctions imposed unilaterally by Washington stung, bringing the economy of Venezuela to its knees. More than $3 billion of Venezuela’s foreign assets were frozen, and trade was blockaded.
Since the advent of the historic hardships following the disputed 2018 election results, more than seven million Venezuelan citizens have fled the country in search of a better life. Truth be told, any hope that the US under the Biden administration would soften its bilateral dealings with Venezuela have all but faded. Behind-the-scenes efforts aimed at triggering meaningful dialogue between Washington and Caracas have failed repeatedly.
The condition to unfreeze Venezuela’s foreign assets, and lift the biting sanctions, is the official ascent to the throne of Guaido and a swift descent in the opposite direction by the incumbent, President Maduro. This stand-off has persisted to the detriment of the livelihoods of ordinary men, women and children of the oil-rich, leftist Bolivarian Republic.
As a way out, the government of President Maduro has offered to have the UN administer the unfrozen Venezuelan funds in order to service the basic needs of the suffering population, and also repair the country’s crumbling energy grid. The creation of a multibillion-dollar humanitarian fund was agreed in the previous round of talks.
However, the US would have none of it, insisting the only deal Washington is prepared to enter into with Caracas is the exit from office of President Maduro.
This week’s statement by the Venezuelan government reveals the extent of its exasperation with Washington’s hostile stance. It also puts before the international community some kind of an SOS, a desperate appeal for solidarity against the mighty US.
Citing its sovereignty, the Caracas statement said: “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reserves the right to take all legal measures within its reach to prevent this new aggression from taking place and to determine the corresponding criminal responsibilities, inside and outside its territory.”
It further said: “Venezuela reiterates its denunciation against the United States of America for actions that violate the right to free trade and international law and reiterates its commitment to assert the rights of all Venezuelan people.”
Last month, Colombian President Gustavo Petro convened a conference on Venezuela’s political crisis. The major aim was to relaunch stalled talks between the government and the opposition ahead of the presidential elections next year.
Diplomats from nineteen countries attended the conference. The US sent a high-level delegation. The EU also attended. Uninvited were the Venezuelan government and also the country’s opposition, in the hope of minimising wrangling in favour of progress.
A key resolution adopted by the majority of the participating countries was that the US should immediately lift its unilateral sanctions against Venezuela. But thus far the appeal, or demand, has fallen on deaf ears. In response, the Venezuelan Embassy in Pretoria retorted: “These actions constitute a blow against the international conference on the Venezuelan political process in which, almost unanimously, the attending countries demanded that the US government stops the aggression by immediately lifting the criminal sanctions and the blockade against Venezuela.”
Across Latin America, in recent times, there has been notable political shift towards the left. This trend has heaped pressure on the international community to support talks that were started in Mexico in 2021, aimed at resolving the Venezuelan crisis once and for all.
The once-united internal opposition inside Venezuela has also fragmented over time. The changing political situation was also demonstrated by countries such as Peru and Colombia restoring diplomatic relations with Caracas in the wake of new governments in their countries.
These developments have seriously impacted the regional appeal of the self-declared leader, Guaido, adversely. For example, after crossing into Colombia to protest against the lifting of sanctions against the Maduro administration, Guaido was swiftly detained and escorted by the Colombian security forces straight to the airport, where he boarded a plane – not back home, but instead to Florida in the US.
Ronal Rodriguez, a researcher at the Rosario University in Venezuela, was quoted by Al-Jazeera as saying: “Maduro has defeated the maximum pressure strategy led by the US, Colombia under former right-wing President Ivan Duque, and Brazil. Now he feels that he has favourable conditions to help him negotiate.”
The Latin American region needs a stable and functional Venezuela in order to flourish. Venezuela, a former Spanish colony, is among the most urbanised and vibrant in the region. The country has the world’s largest known oil reserves, and prior to the US imposition of sanctions and a trade embargo, Venezuela was among the world’s leading exporters of oil.
Also since the economic sanctions, Venezuela struggles with shortages of basic goods, the unemployment rate is sky-rocketing, poverty is widespread and disease is ubiquitous. The country also struggles with high infant mortality, malnutrition, corruption and severe crime. By 2017, Venezuela was declared to be in default regarding debt payments by credit rating agencies.
Truly speaking, unless sanctions are lifted the situation can only get worse. Such a dire state of affairs is also a recipe for social upheavals. Yet until a decade ago, Venezuela was Latin America’s shining example of a successful socialist model. Under the leadership of the hugely popular leader Hugo Chavez, who ruled the country from 1999 until his tragic death in 2013, the country was a breadbasket of Latin America. Today, thanks in a large measure to the US sanctions, Venezuela is a basket case.
Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is hardly comparable to its previous life.
Given the US hegemony not only across the Americas, but throughout the world, the only way to restore the requisite stability in Venezuela is to perhaps make a deal with the devil, so to speak.
The US is a law unto itself, whether the world likes it or not. It is one of the only five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and possesses a veto power that is powerful beyond measure. With a veto power, permanent members of the UNSC can nullify any resolution they deem undesirable.
The others permanent members of the UNSC are Russia, China, France and the UK. This archaic arrangement since the creation of the world body in the aftermath of World War II, from 1939-1945, has become a vexatious issue, particularly across the global south that continues to call for the UNSC to be reformed.
As for Washington, the White House should choose a humane approach to geopolitics and instead of coercing opponents, persuade them to their point of view. In that way, the US could win many friends around the globe. As things stand, the tag of “bully” sticks perfectly.
