Venezuela at an impasse

Western powers, led by American imperialists, are clearly on a mission to impose a regime-change in Venezuela by removing its elected president Nicolas Maduro and installing Juan Guaido, a handpicked right-wing neoliberal, in his place. The Trump administration is prepared to go to any lengths to bring this change.

Venezuelan assets have been seized in the US and the UK and economic sanctions have been imposed on the country. Repeated calls have been made for Maduro to step down and the Venezuelan Army has been urged to oust him if he refuses to do so. This is a coup attempt that serves to safeguard imperialist interests.

The Trump administration is also working on a well-planned strategy to oust Maduro in which a long list of neocons, such as Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, Senator Marco Rubio (the spokesperson for the Cuban exile mafia) and Elliott Abrams, are involved. Elliot Abrams has in the past organised extreme right-wing coups against left-wing governments in Latin America – especially in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua during the 1970s and 1980s. He also played a key role in organising the invasion of Iraq and was involved in the failed coup attempt against Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez in 2002.

The track record of all those who are involved in imposing regime-change in Venezuela suggests that they have no interest in preserving democracy and human rights, and are just using these noble ideals to mask their plans to oust an elected government. These elements are mobilising the right-wing opposition forces to take to the streets, demoralising Maduro’s supporters through vicious media campaigns and preparing the ground for a military intervention from Brazil and Columbia to restore order.

Western powers want to install a pro-West, neo-liberal, right-wing capitalist regime to implement a vicious austerity programme and economic policies that favour the free market. They want a government that can crush whatever is left of the Bolivarian Revolution and get their hands on Venezuela’s oil reserves, which are considered the largest proven oil reserves in the world. This has been their goal for over 20 years, well before a short-lived coup was orchestrated against Chavez.

Western powers are confident that they will succeed, given the severe economic recession in Venezuela and widespread support from right-wing governments in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile that are seemingly hostile towards the country. The victory of imperialism and the reactionary capitalist class in Venezuela would have catastrophic consequences for the people of Venezuela as well as workers and peasants across the continent.

Maduro is relying heavily on the support of the military top brass to remain in power and thwart these imperialist attempts to oust him. So far, the military generals have supported the Maduro government. While many army generals have a direct interest in sustaining the regime insofar as it guarantees power and privileges for them, circumstances could change if they feel that the imperialist offensive is gaining ground. Venezuela’s elected president will be in serious trouble if the military high-ups decided to change their loyalties.

Appeasement will only embolden the right-wing reactionary forces. At this stage, Maduro can only survive through the mass mobilisation of the working classes that have always tried to salvage the gains of the Bolivarian Revolution. This can only be done by addressing their most pressing needs in terms of wages, food supply, living standards.

But the Maduro government is neither fostering socialism nor following the radical social and economic policies of the Chavez era. The economic meltdown and chronic shortage of basic food items and other utilities have made life increasingly difficult for the people. And yet, the fall of the Maduro government will bring further hardships for the working classes.

A right-wing capitalist government will privatise state-owned companies and roll back all the social programmes and gains of Bolivarian Revolution. Free education and healthcare, a housing programme, and social security will be a thing of the past. The working classes won’t surrender their social and economic gains so easily and will put up a strong resistance.

The economic crisis that has plagued the country for the last four years was triggered by the steep fall in oil prices and mismanagement by the state bureaucracy, and has been aggravated by corruption. It has been compounded by aggressive US sanctions over the past few years.

Chavez introduced state capitalist reformist policies when oil prices were at their peak, which allowed the government to introduce social programmes and policies. The decline in oil prices forced the government to reduce public spending. The highly bureaucratic structure of the state and the economy was another problem.

Venezuela’s economic conditions do not represent the failure of socialism. Instead, they point to the impossibility of regulating capitalism and the disaster of applying policies of state intervention within capitalism. Reformism seems to have showed its limitations once again as it requires specific conditions that are non-existent in Venezuela at this stage. The Maduro government has the choice to either complete the transition towards genuine democratic socialism or return to the neoliberal free-market model as the present impasse cannot last long.

The writer is a freelance journalist.