March 29, 2006 By Maria Paez Victor
[A talk prepared for the “Walter Gordon/Massey Symposium”, Toronto March 15, 2006]
Throughout most of its history, there has been very little interest in North America about Venezuela except as a supplier of oil. With the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999, all this changed. He ushered in the Bolivarian Revolution, founded on ideas expounded in the 19th Century by Simón Bolívar, the great The Liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Períº. Its basic principles are: that natural resources are for the benefit of all citizens, the state is guardian and promoter of civic and social human rights, and the citizens are fundamental protagonists in political life. Its foreign policy is based on Latin American and Caribbean integration and solidarity. With the Bolivarian Revolution, Venezuela has become the most exciting, innovative, and progressive developing country in the world.
What is the context of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution? Why is Mr. Danger so opposed? What has been the role of the Venezuelan elites? What has the Chávez Government achieved? And, is there a cautionary tale for all democracies?
What is the context of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution?
On June 1, 2002 in a speech at West Point, US President George Bush made an unprecedented assertion that the US has the right to overthrow any government in the world that is seen as a threat to its security. (1)
This may have been startling news to the world including Canada, but not to Latin Americans. Since 1846 the United States has carried out no fewer than 50 military invasions and destabilizing operations involving 12 different Latin American countries.(2)Yet, none of these countries has ever had the capacity to threaten US security in any significant way. (3)The US intervened because of perceived threats to its economic control and expansion. For this reason it has also supported some of the region’s most vicious dictators such as Batista, Somoza, Trujillo, and Pinochet. (4)
To this scenario, President Bush’s administration has added unprecedented militarization (5)plus arrogant political interference that surpasses historical precedents. Never has US – Latin America relations been more abysmal. As one analyst has stated, “Only under Bush has Latin America found itself as estranged from the US as it is today, a result of Bush’s… shrill regional policy which has brought alienation to unprecedented heights.” (6)
The Bush administration does not accept the democratically expressed will of the Venezuelan people. They have clearly chosen President Hugo Chávez and his government in nine free, transparent and internationally observed elections and referenda, during the seven years since he was first elected. President Bush supported the 2002 bloody coup against the government of President Chávez, financed and supported a devastating oil lockout that cost the country $14 billion in export revenues and numerous opposition maneuvers, disturbances and a recall referendum. (7)And they continue to finance the opposition there. (8)
Recently, his administration has stepped up its aggressive stance against Venezuelan democracy. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has compared President Chávez with Hitler (9) and US Director for National Intelligence John Negroponte stated that Venezuela is the main security challenge in this Hemisphere (10).US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice told a Senate committee last February 16th that Venezuela is “a particular danger to the region” and that she is “working with others to try and make certain that there is a kind of united front ” against Venezuela. (11)To this President Chávez has responded by saying; “Mister Danger, you form your front and we will form ours.”
Why is Mr. Danger so opposed?
The main reason behind President Bush’s aggression towards this small country that has minimal armed capacity is quite obvious: oil. The United States has become increasingly dependent on oil imports and feels that its security is threatened. Venezuela is the 5th largest oil exporting country in the world and is sitting on the largest oil reserves in the hemisphere and perhaps, of the world. (12).It supplies the US with 1.2 million barrels daily; supply that has not been in any danger of stopping – until President Bush came along. Indeed, it has been a very convenient trading arrangement for both countries. The insecurity of the United States, real or imagined, has lead it into invasions and armed conflict in the Middle East to shore up its supply of oil. (13)Given the rhetoric and actions of its leaders, is it any wonder that President Chávez should question the intentions of the United States towards him and his government?
There is also another reason for the Bush administration’s aggressive stance towards Venezuela. President Chávez has made possible a new political and economic reality in his country that directly challenges globalization and neo-conservative policies (or neo-liberal as they are referred to in Latin America) pushed by the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, and the profit drive of multinational corporations. The so-called Washington Consensus consisting of privatization of public services, deregulation, lifting of tariffs, unrestricted investment flows and free access of large corporations to public contracts and domestic markets, were measures foisted onto Latin American government by making them conditions of international loans and even by threats. (14)
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