The
Trump administration has described Sunday’s constituent assembly
election in Venezuela as “another step toward dictatorship,”
despite high voter turnout and little evidence that the assembly will
dissolve the country’s legislature. Will Venezuela be the CIA’s
next regime change target?
by
Whitney Webb
Part
1
According to
the U.S., its allies, and an ever-obedient mainstream media,
Venezuela’s election this past Sunday was a “sham.” The vote
itself had been particularly controversial in Venezuela and abroad,
as it sought to elect candidates to a new national constituent
assembly, a body which will have the power to rewrite the Venezuelan
constitution.
The Trump
administration called Sunday’s election “another step toward
dictatorship,” warning that it “won’t accept an illegitimate
government” in Venezuela. Sanctions were subsequently imposed on
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S.’
sanctions and ominous statements rang on deaf ears in Caracas,
however, as President Maduro struck a defiant tone Sunday night after
the voting had concluded, telling a crowd of supporters that “A
spokesperson for emperor Donald Trump said that they would not
recognize the results of Venezuela’s constituent assembly election.
Why the hell should we care what Trump says? We care about what the
sovereign people of Venezuela say.”
He responded
similarly to news of the sanctions, stating during a public address
that “I feel proud to be sanctioned Mr Imperialist Donald
Trump.” “Impose whatever sanctions you like but I am the
leader of the free people,” he added.
As MintPress
has reported on several occasions, not everything in Venezuela is as
it seems. The U.S. has long been involved in attempting to
destabilize the government of Venezuela ever since Hugo Chávez was
first elected nearly two decades ago. After decades of backing
several failed coup attempts and years of economic warfare, the
United States is very much involved in the nation’s crisis, yet has
gone to great lengths to try to obscure its role in agitating the
nation’s increasingly chaotic situation.
With
Venezuela’s massive oil reserves, the largest in the world, as well
as its government’s frequent rebuke of U.S. corporations and
influence over the years, the country has long been on the U.S.
government’s hitlist. Furthermore, with some members of the Trump
administration having expressed a personal vendetta to bring about
the end of the Chavistas and the latest warning that the U.S. “won’t
accept” a government they have now labeled “illegitimate,” it
seems quite possible that Venezuela may very well be Trump’s first
foray into the U.S.’ long-standing practice of destabilizing and
deposing democratically-elected, leftist governments in Latin
America.
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