US push and power in Venezuela
Dear Editor,
The present fight for Venezuela is similar to the fight for the Suez Canal in 1956. It will determine the fate of US global hegemony similar to how Suez determined Britain’s fate. After being defeated, British prestige was permanently damaged.
On Saturday, March 23, 2019 Russian jets landed with about 100 soldiers and 35 tons of military equipment in Caracas, Venezuela. The message is clear from Russia to the US — to get to Venezuela you have to go through us.
The US have been trying to uproot the socialist Government of Venezuela for over 19 years. In 2002 Washington supported a failed coup to unseat Hugo Chavez — the democratically elected president. This is a general trend of the US; to remove leaders of countries that hinder US interests.
In 2003 US troops overthrew the Government of Saddam Hussein saying he had weapons of mass destruction as justification, but up to today none have been found. In 2011 Moammar Gadhafi was killed by militants supported by the US. Russia caught on and prevented the US from removing Bashar Assad from power in Syria. Last year US President Donald Trump announced he would remove US troops from Syria, but later backdepdalled after pressure in the US. From 2012 the US has imposed more than 60 rounds of sanctions on Russian individuals, companies and government agencies. Although it has affected Russia’s economy, Russia does as she pleases and dumped $101 billion in US holdings last year.
On July 6, 2018 the US officially imposed tariffs on 34 billion Chinese imports. China then imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods. On May 20, 2018 China and the US agreed to put the trade war on hold. They are still in negotiations but no one wants to back down and appear weak.
The world is no longer unipolar with the US in control. Russia, China and Cuba are backing Nicolas Maduro along with more than half of the world, while US, Canada and the UK, along with about 50 allies are backing Juan Guaido. Caricom is split with Dom Rep, Jamaica, St Lucia, Haiti and the Bahamas backing Guaido, and the rest Maduro, or at least recognise him as the president. Caricom’s official position is non-interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs and a solution must be reach through peaceful dialogue.
If the US did not impose sanctions on Venezuela there would not be so much mess. Why did the US not allow Venezuela to sell its oil? This affected many Caricom countries adversely, because Petrocaribe allowed them to use the money available, because of credit, to supplement their budgets.
History has shown that the will of the people cannot be suppressed forever. Time will tell who will win.