US Ambassador’s article reflects meddling in Venezuela’s domestic affairs

Dear Editor,

The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Guyana emphatically rejects the distorted and biased allegations made by the Ambassador of the United States of America to Guyana, Mr Perry L Holloway, published in Stabroek News on June 10.

Mr Holloway’s article reflects clear intervention and meddling in Venezuela’s domestic affairs, under the guise of concern for the people’s democracy. The Government of the United States has intervened in other countries by sponsoring coups d’état and overthrowing legitimate and democratically elected governments. In this regard, we ask ourselves what the US Government’s real interests are in Venezuela, whether it is the wellbeing of the Venezuelan people or the seizing of its vast oil reserves, as has already been done in other regions of the world where governments were overthrown for disagreeing with its imperial pretensions and the expropriation of their countries’ natural resources.

When Mr Holloway’s article refers to a “family of nations in the Americas”, we wonder, which family? Historically, the United States Government has treated Latin America and the Caribbean as its backyard, and has taken their wealth away. Just recently, as part of the US Government’s attack against the Venezuelan people, some public officials warned Latin American and Caribbean countries that were unwilling to support them that the US Government may restrict, suspend or terminate cooperation agreements and foreign aid.

In regard to his allegations against the Venezuelan Government, I must state that they are completely out of touch with reality:

• The Organization of American States discusses the challenges of the Region’s countries only when US interests are affected.

• The “death spiral” in Venezuela that he refers to has been funded and driven by opposition leaders, who have recruited terrorist gangs and used minors to execute violent acts.

• The National Assembly’s sole purpose has been to overthrow Venezuela’s Head of State, as was declared by its Speaker, Mr Henry Ramos Allup in 2015, promising that he would remove President Nicolás Maduro from office within six months.

• The opposition parties did not call for the recall referendum at the appropriate time.

• The National Assembly was declared to be in contempt by the Supreme Court of Justice, in view of electoral fraud committed by three of its members.

• Members of the Supreme Court of Justice were appointed by the National Assembly in December 2015, after a period of 6 years, in accordance with constitutional provisions.

• Between 2014 and 2016, opposition parties requested convening a Constituent Assembly, but they did not submit a formal application. However, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has convened a Constituent National Assembly, in accordance with constitutional provisions and they declined to participate.

• In Venezuela there are no political prisoners, there are politicians who have been imprisoned for their involvement in terrorist and criminal acts.

• Since 2013, President Maduro has repeatedly invited opposition parties to dialogue, but they have refused to participate, even despite Pope Francis’ calls.

It is worth mentioning that Ambassador Holloway’s article calls for multilateral dialogue when, ironically, the US Government has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from international agencies, in the event that other member countries refuse to align themselves with the US agenda, contradicting the spirit of pluralism and openness which should exist in such organizations.

The article implies that Venezuela may pose a risk for the region´s countries when it makes reference to the alleged “spill-over effects” from Venezuela’s crisis, which reflects a profound lack of knowledge and a deliberate disregard of historical fraternal links between Venezuela and the other nations of the region, which date back to our struggles for independence. Likewise, such affirmations do not take into account the

experiences of cooperation and mutual solidarity between Venezuela and the region’s nations.

It is a matter of public knowledge that Mr Holloway’s government attends to the interests of large corporations like ExxonMobil, whose former Chief Executive Officer is the current Secretary of State, who has undertaken an aggressive campaign against Venezuela. We ask ourselves if this might be a consequence of the decision by Commander Hugo Chávez Frías and the Venezuelan people to end years of the hijacking of our natural resources, and to implement fair and reasonable taxes and royalties for their exploitation.

We ask ourselves, if the United States Government is so interested in defending democracy, why is it charging against a legitimately elected government such as President Maduro’s and the Bolivarian Revolution, which has been endorsed for 18 years through 20 democratic elections, all of which have been acknowledged by international bodies?

Why is the United States Government not condemning the violent acts committed by opposition leaders, parliamentarians, governors and mayors, who have organized and led terrorist acts such as setting persons alight, the damaging and burning down of public and private infrastructure, attacks against hospitals and nursery schools, the destruction of food transportation vehicles, obstructing the free flow of traffic, and attacks against military bases? Why does the US Ambassador’s country keep financing the Venezuelan opposition?

The United States Government should concern itself with its lamentable human rights record, particularly with respect to the overthrowing of governments in Latin America and the Caribbean and its support of dictatorial regimes.

Do Ambassador Holloway and his government want to help Venezuela? Why not repeal the Executive Order declaring Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security and the foreign policy of the United States? Why don’t they lift the US financial blockade against Venezuela? Do they really think that Venezuela, with its longstanding history of peace and liberty, could pose a threat to a nuclear superpower like the United States?

The Ambassador should tell Guyanese and the people of the Region how many countries Venezuela has ever invaded. How many countries has the US invaded? How many millions of dollars have been earned by American military corporations for the sale of arms? Where are Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction? Why, with all the technology at US disposal to prevent the inflow of drugs to American soil, does Mr Holloway’s country remain the world’s largest drug consumer?

This relentless onslaught against Venezuela reveals the US Government’s imperialist ambitions to prevent the peoples from choosing an independent path, free from coercion and tutelage. This is evident from the recent attacks against the heroic Cuban Revolution, by reinforcing the blockade and re-imposing sanctions to a small but greatly supportive Caribbean nation, which has cooperation agreements with several countries, generously providing healthcare and education services.

The peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean are not as they used to be. Today, Venezuela, as well as many other countries, rejects Mr Holloway’s misguided and disrespectful claims. His contemptible letter reveals his government’s despair and arrogance, imposing its hegemony and way of life on the Region. Rest assured that Venezuela will continue steadfastly on its humanist, nationalist, independent and profoundly anti-imperialist path of the Socialist Revolution.

Yours faithfully, H E Reina Arratia Diaz Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela