Is the U.S. backing another coup in Venezuela?

It looks like the U.S. is trying to do regime change again against the government of Venezuela.

Venezuela’s most recent election results have come in with Nicolas Maduro winning 51 percent of the vote. This marks another victory for Venezuela’s Chavista Party which came to power in 1998 under Hugo Chavez. The United States government and Western states have been trying to overthrow Venezuela’s government since 1998 for access to their natural resources. It now looks like the U.S. will use evidence-free claims of election fraud to back another attempt at regime change in Venezuela. In this article, I will look at the history of U.S. regime change attempts and sanctions on the country and explain why I think the U.S. is trying to back a new coup in Venezuela.

America’s history of intervention in Venezuela.

The 2002 coup against Chavez

America has been trying to overthrow the government in Venezuela dating back to the Bush administration. In 1998 Hugo Chavez was elected president of Venezuela on a pro-working class platform and vowed to use the money made from the country’s natural resources to help poor and working people, something that American oil companies did not take kindly to. In 2002 the Bush administration backed a coup against Chavez and recognized a puppet government put in place. The coup was soon reversed after Chavez’s many supporters took to the streets and demanded he be reinstated as president. Acclaimed filmmaker Oliver Stone documented this coup in his film “South of the Border”. He shows how the U.S. media manufactured content for this coup by airing deceptively edited footage of Chavez supporters firing gunshots back at opposition snipers on rooftops to make it look like it was a Chavez-ordered killing of opposition protesters. The film also featured an interview with Hugo Chavez who said America’s interest in taking Venezuela’s oil was the reason for backing the coup. In the documentary, Chavez says “The reason behind the coup in Venezuela and the invasion of Iraq is the same: oil”.

Coup attempts continue against Maduro

After Chavez's death in 2013, his vice President Nicolas Maduro was elected president of Venezuela. The U.S. government continued the same regime change policy they had towards Chavez under Maduro. Leaked documents show that the C.I.A. cutouts “National Endowment for Democracy”(NED) and “National Democratic Institute” (NDI), used social media to help swing Venezuela's national assembly to the opposition in 2015. The N.E.D. also funded violent far-right protests against the Maduro government in 2017. Journalist Abby Martin, who was at the protests documented that the majority of deaths (61 out of 84) were caused by the protestors. Martin also documented that these protestors lit civilians on fire for being pro-Maduro, shot and targeted journalists, and attacked civilian infrastructure (including hospitals and clinics). The Trump administration and other Western states also backed a coup attempt against Maduro in 2019 by recognizing Juan Guido, an unelected Western puppet as Venezuela’s legitimate president. Guido made several coup attempts against Maduro, with Western backing. The Trump administration has been fairly transparent about the fact that these coup attempts were over oil. On Fox Business, Trump's national security advisor, John Bolton admitted the coup was over oil saying:

If we could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela it would be good for the people of Venezuela and it would be good for the people of the United States, we both have a lot at stake here making this come out the right way.

Most recently Trump admitted his administration was planning on taking the oil from Venezuela saying: “we would have taken it (Venezuela) over, we would have gotten all that oil it would have been right next door”.

America’s Brutal Sanctions Regime on Venezuela

Along with multiple coup attempts. America has also placed brutal sanctions on Venezuela. A report from the think tank “Center for Economic and Policy Research” found these sanctions have killed 40,000 people in Venezuela since 2017. A separate report from former UN rapporteur on human rights, Alfred de Zayas found these sanctions killed over 100,000 people. A detailed report from Venezuelan pro-opposition economist Francisco Rodríguez proved that the sanctions were responsible for most of the economic turmoil that Venezuela has faced in recent years. UN special rapporteur on sanctions, Alena Douhan has reported the sanctions have affected the most vulnerable people in Venezuela saying:

The sanctions have exacerbated pre-existing economic situations and have dramatically affected the whole population of Venezuela, especially but not only those in extreme poverty, women, children, medical workers, people with disabilities or life-threatening or chronic diseases, and the indigenous populations.

Most recently a report from the Washington Post found that the Trump administration was warned that the sanctions on Venezuela would fuel a migrant crisis, but they went forward with them anyway.

The Next Chapter in Regime Change.

Evidence-free election fraud claims

The U.S. is already setting the stage for another coup in Venezuela by making baseless accusations of election fraud. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken questioned the results of the Venezuelan election saying “We have serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people”. This claim is evidence-free and goes against what was found by election observers on the ground. The election had 800 international observers including people from the Carter Centre, the organization headed by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, and a UN Panel of Experts. Journalist Rania Khaleck who was in Venezuela during the elections said everyone she spoke to thought the elections were fair including those in the opposition. Journalist Alan Macleod who was also observing the election in Venezuela documented the electoral process which included an electronic voting machine along with paper ballots. There have been many deceptive videos and claims circulating on social media to give the impression of election fraud in Venezuela. For example, Twitter owner Elon Musk shared a video of people stealing air conditioners in Venezuela and claimed it was pro-Maduro forces stealing ballot boxes. There have been other claims circulating that the election results do not match exit polling but exit polling is prohibited in Venezuela and therefore unreliable. Another claim has been circulating saying the election tally does not add up. But this claim is based on a TELEsur graphic that shows multiple third-party candidates winning 4.6 percent of the vote because all third-party candidates combined won 4.6 percent of the vote.

The next Guido

The U.S. even has a puppet they want to replace Maduro, Maria Corina Machado. Machado was not the candidate opposing Maduro in this most recent election but was a strong campaigner for Edmundo González, Maduro’s opponent. Machado has been a longtime U.S. asset who received funds from the N.E.D. and met with George W. Bush. She has also called for U.S. sanctions and military intervention in her own country. Machado has been the one leading the charge with claims of election fraud claiming without evidence that the opposition won 70 percent of the vote. She has even called for a military coup against Maduro saying “A message for the military. The people of Venezuela have spoken: they don't want Maduro”. Machado has also been heavily promoted by the mainstream media recently with puff pieces about her appearing in outlets like the New York Times. Given her American connections, calls for a military coup, and election fraud claims echoed by Blinken, it seems that the U.S. is looking to back another coup against Maduro and install Maria Corina Machado to finally gain access to Venezuela’s oil. Ever since Chavez was elected the U.S. has waged war on Venezuela for oil, these developments are the next step in this long-time regime change policy.