With the current situation of protests and vandalism taking place in a few municipalities in Venezuela there is a certain feeling of déjà vu – that is, the feeling that you have already experienced something that is actually happening for the first time. Not for the first time the Venezuelan opposition is seeking non-democratic ways of taking political power by refusing to recognize the presidential elections results and is trying to force President Madura to resign by implementing violence and terror on the unfortunate population of a few middle class districts. Since 1998 the same actions have been taken after many of the 19 electoral processes held, of which the opposition has lost 18. “Out Maduro, out”, yell those causing the violence and they have been doing the same for more than a decade. “Chávez is going, Chávez is going”, they used to scream. Why should the people who win elections leave or quit their posts or the country? On the morning of April 11th 2002 US Ambassador to Venezuela, Charles Shapiro, legitimized the coup d’état taking place by declaring that, “Venezuela is outside the Democratic Charter of the OAS”, and the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights (ICHR) simply sat back as President Chávez was kidnapped and then sent a letter to the de facto government of the Carmona dictatorship addressing him “Your Excellency”. Will this interference of the ICHR repeat itself today by demanding that the delinquents arrested for burning and killing be released? And what about John McCain, upon asking Obama to “send US troops to Venezuela in order to secure the flow of oil”? On February 12th this year, just before the attack on the Attorney General’s Building, now jailed opposition leader Leopoldo López, harangued the protesting students, worked them into a frenzy, and then grabbed his wife’s hand and departed leaving the protesters to fend for themselves and carry out the planned attack and destroy the front of the AG Building. The same thing happened on April 11th 2002 when the opposition march was directed to Miraflores Palace to oust Chávez. Opposition leaders Enrique Mendoza, Guaicaipuro Lameda, Carmona Estanga and many others who had instigated this dangerous maneuver suddenly vanished and left the innocent marchers at the mercy of the snipers lying in wait for them on top of buildings in downtown Caracas. 19 people were killed and more than 100 wounded – some permanently crippled. On February 12th this year paid assassins on high powered motorcycles with closed helmets killed three people and wounded 66 – half of whom were security personnel. Is this a repeat of the 2002 massacre of just another dreamy case of déjà vu? Pictures have been going round the world showing scenes of repression - from Argentina, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Catalonia, Greece, Bulgaria and Russia with false caption saying that these repressive scenes happened in Venezuela. Is this not like the deception exemplified by the mendacious video made by Venevision in which chavistas apparently opened fire to peaceful opposition demonstrators when, in reality, they were defending themselves and others from snipers and shots from the now disbanded Metropolitan Police? For more than a week violent attacks have taken place against the state TV channel VTV in the opposition municipality of Sucre. The façade has been stoned, gasoline bombs thrown and one person shot in the stomach. Is this a repeat of April 11th 2002 when Miranda governor Enrique Mendoza ordered his state police to close VTV, causing an information black-out during the coup, followed by a “coup telethon” that lasted all the way to early February 2003? Setting fire to garbage in the streets in their own urbanizations of the upper and middle classes; trapping the inhabitants of these places in their own homes; and the “peaceful protesters” doing all this with the connivance and protection of the local police controlled by opposition mayors is exactly the same as the 2004 street protests. In the end their attempt to overthrow the government failed miserably just as they are destined to fail now. The parting of ways in the opposition happened on February 18th when a small opposition march did not disintegrate the government but rather, ironically enough, the opposition itself. López has caused mayhem at the cost of of innocent life and wounded people in order the steal the leadership of the opposition from Capriles Radonski. The latter opposed this strategy saying that, “López was generating false expectations of a change of government using violent actions”. Will these two follow the express oblivion that hit former opposition figures seeking an immediate path to power? Examples are Salas Romer, Carmona Estanga, Manuel Rosales, Carlos Ortega, the rapist Nixon Moreno and former Zulia governor Pablo Pérez. – all of whom are now long forgotten. This scenario is more than just a dreamy feeling of déjà vu as it is already happening. In recent days in Carabobo state an opposition student and Mis Tourism Carabobo, Genesis Carmona, was shot in the back of the head while in an opposition march. A violent group attacked the local PSUV headquarters in Valencia – also in Carabobo state – leaving one dead and eight wounded. This attacker was captured and he was using a pistol with a laser sight. Upon raiding his house the authorities found nails, pipe bombs, gasoline and 2000 meal rations. In Ciudad Guyana assassins fired on a march by workers from the steel and aluminum industries wounding nine people. Such arms and attacks are not usual student behavior. This is more like Colombian paramilitary tactics and it has come as no surprise that a paramilitary leader was captured yesterday in the border state of Táchira. In 2004 there was a similar sequence of events: February 27th - Violent street protests or “guarimbas” that lasted three weeks and did massive damage to urbanizations and infrastructure. May 17th -130 Colombian paramilitaries discovered and arrested on the outskirts of Caracas. Their mission was to attack Miraflores Palace dressed in Venezuelan army uniforms and assassinate President Chavez November 17th - Assassination of national prosecutor Danilo Anderson, who was investigating the coupsters of 2002 and getting ready to take them to court. If there is an element of déjà vu and history repeating itself, will the next phase of the destabilization in Venezuela be the introduction of paramilitary assassins from Colombia sent by the man who founded that movement, Alvaro Uribe? Or will there be a repeat of bombings that took place in the Colombian and Spanish embassies and the Caracas Teleport Building, which would be upping the ante to a be level of terrorism against the Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian Revolution. Now that the violent street protests are gradually fading, the Venezuelan government must be on alert for any possible escalation by this US funded destabilization campaign. The Bolivarian Revolution is facing yet another challenge to overthrow it by international fascist forces using the same script as has been used in Syria and Ukraine. The sense of déjà vu cannot be dismissed and as we envisage history repeating itself this will prove to be yet another fruitless adventure for the US imperialists and their hired fascist killers. These paid assassins are still on the ground in the 18 opposition controlled municipalities out of the 335 that make up the country. |
