Venezuela is not Ukraine, where opposition leaders could be seen publicly collaborating with US officials in their efforts to topple the government, and pay no obvious price for it. Of course, US support has helped Venezuelas opposition with funding: one can find about $90m in US funding to Venezuela since 2000, just looking through US government documents available on the web, including $5m in the current federal budget (pdf). Pressure for opposition unity and tactical and strategic advice also helps: Washington has decades of experience overthrowing governments, and this is a specialized knowledge that you cant learn in graduate school. Even more important is its enormous influence on international media and therefore public opinion. When John Kerry reversed his position in April and recognized the Venezuelan election results, that spelled the end of the oppositions campaign for non-recognition. But the opposition leaderships closeness to the US government is also a liability in a country that was the first to lead South Americas second independence that began with the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998. In a country like Ukraine, political leaders could always point to Russia (and more so now) as a threat to national independence; attempts by Venezuelan opposition leaders to portray Cuba as a threat to Venezuelan sovereignty are laughable. It is only the United States that threatens Venezuelas independence, as Washington fights to regain control over a region that it has lost. Eleven years since the oil strike, the dividing lines in 2002 have not changed all that much. There is the obvious class divide, and there is still noticeable difference in skin color between opposition (whiter) and pro-government crowds – not surprising in a country and region where income and race are often highly correlated. In the leadership, one side is part of a regional anti-imperialist alliance; the other has Washington as an ally. And yes, there is a big difference between the two leaderships in their respect for hard-won electoral democracy, as the current struggle illustrates. For Latin America, it is a classic divide between left and right. theguardian/commentisfree/2014/mar/04/venezuela-protests-not-ukraine-class-sturggle
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 08:09:49 +0000
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