Weisbrot: US Support for Regime Change in Venezuela Is a Mistake

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/22223-us-support-for-regime-change-in-venezuela-is-a-mistake

But what makes these current US statements important, and angers governments in the region, is that they are telling the Venezuelan opposition that Washington is once again backing regime change. Kerry did the same thing in April of last year when Maduro was elected president and opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles claimed that the election was stolen. Kerry refused to recognize the election results. Kerry's aggressive, anti-democratic posture brought such a strong rebuke from South American governments that he was forced to reverse course and tacitly recognize the Maduro government. (For those who did not follow these events, there was no doubt about the election results.)

Kerry's recognition of the election results put an end to the opposition's attempt to de-legitimize the elected government. After Maduro's party won municipal elections by a wide margin in December, the opposition was pretty well defeated. Inflation was running at 56% and there were widespread shortages of consumer goods, yet a solid majority had still voted for the government. Their choice could not be attributed to the personal charisma of Hugo Chávez, who died nearly a year ago; nor was it irrational. Although the past year or so has been rough, the past 11 years – since the government got control over the oil industry – have brought large gains in living standards to the majority of Venezuelans who were previously marginalized and excluded.

<SNIP>

It took a long time for the opposition to accept the results of democratic elections in Venezuela. They tried a military coup, backed by the US in 2002; when that failed they tried to topple the government with an oil strike. They lost an attempt to recall the president in 2004 and cried foul; then they boycotted National Assembly elections for no reason the following year. The failed attempt to de-legitimize last April's presidential election was a return to this dark but not-so-distant past. It remains to be seen how far they will go this time to win by other means what they have not been able to win at the ballot box, and how long they will have Washington's support for regime change in Venezuela.

[Demeter]

1. The more I observe Kerry, the less I like him

He's got to be a corporate tool, because he sure isn't a patriot, an intellectual, or an honest broker.

[Judi Lynn]

2. His wife, Teresa Heinz, is the heiress of the Heinz company which has big business

in Venezuela.

Also, the head of Free Venezuela, based in Tampa, Florida, who posted anti-Chavez crap here, boasted that his organization was responsible for shaping Kerry's views of Venzuela.

Who would have EVER believed a man who finally saw through the VietNam war would EVER support this kind of evil?

Horrible.

I'm so disappointed, too, just like you.