February 20, 2019: Here are some some prominent lies attacking the elected government of the sovereign Republic of Venezuela in support of the latest U.S. regime change effort DEBUNKED. If you disagree with U.S. policy towards Venezuela, please call or write to your representatives today.
Fiction: President Maduro was not legitimately elected.
Fact: Maduro won the Presidential election last May with a greater majority (68%) of the vote backed by a greater majority of the population than any recent president in the U.S. The radical opposition that Juan Guaido represents boycotted the election but other members of the opposition participated (against U.S. advice) and lost.
Fiction: Nicolas Maduro’s incompetence is the reason for the financial problems that Venezuela is suffering.
Fact: Shortly after Maduro was first elected, oil prices crashed. This was due to a Saudi decision which, in retrospect, seems more helpful to U.S. political intentions than to the Saudi state which, like Russia, Iran and Venezuela, suffered serious economic losses due to this decision. Venezuela was isolated and there had not been time to succeed at diversifying the economy. Since then, the U.S. has mounted an all-out economic war on Venezuela, with international sanctions, theft of oil profits from Citgo and limitations on certain types of trade. Meanwhile, frustrated elites have done everything in their power to undermine the ability of the government to provide resources to the poor and working class Chavistas, including withholding basic products from the domestic market and undermining the currency by manipulating exchange rates. It is true Maduro is not an economist, but for anyone, these pressures created a perfect storm and would have been difficult to weather.
Fiction: The majority of the Venezuelan people want to see a coup oust the hated dictator Maduro and put a young, charismatic supporter of democracy in power.
Fact: Most Venezuelans do not want to see a coup oust their elected President and put a largely unknown junior parliamentarian who was chosen by foreigners in power.
Fiction: Maduro is a dictator who oppresses the Venezuelan people.
Fact: Members of the opposition (including Juan Guaido) remain on the streets. Venezuela has a free press with voices supporting all sides. Fair elections are routinely held in Venezuela as required by the constitution.
Fiction: Venezuela is in the midst of a horrific humanitarian crisis.
Fact: Venezuela is suffering economic problems that causing shortages and insecurity BUT people continue to receive significant amounts of aid from internal Venezuelan programs that move food and other necessities from field, manufacture and import to the people. Yemen is an example of a full blown humanitarian crisis with people dying of hunger and disease on a daily basis. Venezuela is not.
Fiction: Images of large crowds supporting Guaido indicate a majority of the people support him
Fact: Whenever Guaido supporters take to the streets, even larger numbers of Chavistas come out to support the government led by Maduro. Currently more than 2 million people have signed a petition, an open letter to the people of the U.S. expressing support for their government. More are waiting to sign.
Fiction: Starving children photographed picking through garbage at a dump show that Venezuela is in a humanitarian crisis.
Fact: There are homeless children in the U.S. picking through garbage, but they aren’t clustered at a dump site because garbage dumps are on corporate property which is not open to desperate people.
Fiction: The U.S. is sending significant aid to the people of Venezuela through the Colombian border.
Fact: The U.S. is sending a small amount of aid that likely camouflages shipments of arms (see Popular Resistance) and will be accompanied by a significant military force.
Fiction: Maduro has blocked a critical bridge necessary to the transport of the aid from Columbia.
Fact: The Bridge was never opened and has been blocked by the Colombians due to disagreements with the Venezuelan government. Maduro did send a contingent from the Venezuelan army to the border to remind U.S. forces that the Venezuelan military is loyal to the government and will not allow and invasion of foreign forces.
Fiction: The world is supporting this benevolent U.S. intervention on behalf of the Venezuelan people.
Fact: The U.N. and the International Red Cross have refused to provide cover for the U.S. intervention in Venezuela which they believe is not in the best interest of the Venezuelan people. Fifty countries met in solidarity with the Venezuelan Ambassador at the U.N. on Feb 15th.
Fact: The U.S. is seeking political and material gains from controlling Venezuela: They intend to throw out the Chinese who have a major investment in Venezuelan oil (as they did in Libya) and hand over control to U.S. corporations. (John Bolton) They want to end Venezuelan arms purchases from and military co-operation with Russia and China (as in Iraq). They want to replace a socialist state modeling socialism and regional cooperation with other South American countries with a capitalist state that they hope will deepen the U.S. nexus of control in South America.
Fiction: The Maduro government in Venezuela is about to fall.
Fact: The elected government of Venezuela retains the loyalty of the majority of the people and of the military despite punishment, blackmail and threats from the United States and the neoliberal global economic establishment.
Fiction: The people of Venezuela are not competent to govern themselves.
Fact: The people of Venezuela, who are mestizo and black in their majority, and who have been impoverished by foreign theft for more than a century, have embarked on a radical new experiment in democracy despite having suffered severe economic retaliation by the neoliberal lords of capitalism for more than a decade.
The Fact is: the Mainstream Media has concocted a simplified fantasy around Venezuela to support the U.S. government regime change policy there.
Hands off Venezuela! End the Lies to the American People!
Call or write your government representatives today and tell them you don’t want a war with Venezuela.