As Venezuela’s Dec. 3 presidential election approaches, the U.S. government is intensifying efforts to interfere with the re-election bid of president Hugo Chávez. Polls show that Chávez has the support of at least 60 percent of the population, while only 25 percent support the next closest candidate.
To undermine Chávez’s overwhelming popularity, the U.S. government has funneled more than $26 million to right-
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These organizations claim their purpose is to “support democracy,” but they funnel U.S. government funds to pro-imperialist groups that oppose revolutionary or progressive governments around the world.
According to former CIA agent Philip Agee, “when they say the promotion of democracy, or civic education, or fortifying civil society, what they really mean is using those euphemisms to cover funding to certain political forces and not to others. In other words … to support a government that is favorable to U.S. interests and avoid the coming to power of forces that are not seen as favorable to U.S. interests.” (Flashpoints Radio, March 24, 2005)
Agee defines “U.S. interests” as “unfettered access to the primary products and raw materials, to the labor and to the markets of foreign countries”—in other words, the interests of the capitalist class.
In Venezuela, the U.S. government has funded a number of right-wing groups that supported the failed coup against Chávez in 2002. One of the main beneficiaries of U.S. support is Súmate (“join in”), which poses as a “voter education group.” But its real aim is to overthrow the Chávez government and end the Bolivarian revolution. Súmate was the main organizer of the failed attempt to recall Chávez in 2004 and is the prime backer of his opponent in this election, Manuel Rosales.
Súmate founder María Corina Machado supported the 2002 coup attempt and was one of 352 signers of the Carmona Decree, a document that attempted to abolish the constitution, dissolve the Venezuelan Supreme Court and set up a comprador government. On May 31, 2005, Machado met privately with president Bush in the Oval Office.
Súmate leaders, including Machado, currently face up to 16 years in prison in Venezuela on charges of treason and “conspiracy to destroy the nation’s republican form of government.”
The Venezuelan National Assembly is currently considering a bill that would tighten regulations on international financing of nongovernmental organizations.
U.S. government propping up opposition
U.S. campaign finance law forbids contributions from foreign governments or individuals. But breaking inconvenient laws in the name of forwarding imperialism has never been a concern of the capitalist class.
Venezuela’s ambassador to the Organization of American States and vice foreign minister Jorge Valero described the situation: “The enemy is not the opposition but Mr. Bush. Millions of dollars have been channeled into the opposition parties and leaders, not only formally through the NED and AID but informally. What right does the U.S. have to fund parties in other countries when that is illegal if done in the U.S.?”
The U.S. government has funded more than 132 grants to different groups in Venezuela, but most of the recipients remain secret. One undisclosed group purports to study “Land Redistribution Dos and Don’ts.” Even the New York Times, an imperialist mouthpiece, has acknowledged that this grant openly aims to undermine the Chávez government’s land reform program. Chávez has transferred unused ranches owned by large landowners to landless peasants.
Eva Golinger, an author who has written extensively about U.S. imperialism’s attempts to destabilize the Chávez
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In reality, these false organizations are part of a massive money-laundering scheme to hide U.S. efforts to undermine governments targeted by imperialism. According to Golinger, “NED has created a worldwide network to obscure the source of grants. Groups in Norway, Sweden, and Canada get NED funding and then redistribute it.”
Due to Chavez’s popularity and the high probability of his reelection, the Bush administration and the U.S.-funded Venezuelan opposition groups could try to delegitimize the election.
One possible scenario is that all the opposition candidates may withdraw from the race close to the election in order to declare the elections fraudulent. Another potential plan is to decry the electoral process as flawed.
A recent delegation of U.S. citizens and residents found that conditions are in place for a free and fair election. These conditions include electronic voting machines that produce paper receipts and can be audited, as well as national and international monitors at every voting site. This system includes more safeguards against fraud and manipulation than those in U.S. elections.
Revolutionaries and progressives in the United States should be prepared to defend the Bolivarian revolution in the face of any attacks to come. All U.S. funding aimed at destabilizing governments in Venezuela and around the world must be stopped. U.S. hands off Venezuela!
