INTERNATIONALIST 360°

Venezuelan Opposition Strategy Deflated at the UN

Internationalist 360°

Marco Teruggi
Ambassador Samuel Moncada denounced the attack against Venezuela planned and implemented from the United States.

For the third time since January, the United States convened a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to address the issue of Venezuela. This time, their aim was to have Juan Guaidó recognized as the country’s interim president. The objective was proposed by the North American vice-president, Mike Pence, as the first government to take the floor: “the moment has arrived for the United Nations to recognize Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela, and to seat his representative in this body”.

The analysis upon which he constructed his request was the recognition of the National Assembly as the only legitimate institution, and Guaidó as president until new elections. He outlined the narrative used by the United States to justify its new attacks: “Venezuela is a failed state, as history teaches us, failed states have no limits: terrorists, drug traffickers and even Hezbollah are seizing the opportunity to settle there”. Both arguments were familiar.

Just as the US position was anticipated, other government decisions were also defined as at previous meetings. Such was the case of the Russian Federation, which, through its ambassador to the Council, Vasily Nebenzia, opposed the “interference of the United States in other States”, denounced the attacks on the economy, the theft of Venezuelan property by various means, and U.S. cynicism “because on the one hand they are subjected to sanctions, while at the same time they speak of international assistance (…) The political situation can only be resolved through a national dialogue, but Guaidó is not willing to do this because he has not received instructions in this regard,” he said.

The government of the People’s Republic of China also advocated a dialogue between the parties: “China opposes military intervention in Venezuela, and the use of humanitarian aid for political purposes. Unilateral sanctions will only exacerbate people’s daily lives, and will not bring peace to the country,” said Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu.

Several countries shared a common position, such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, who endorsed Guaidó’s recognition as president in charge, and affirmed that, “as interim president in full respect of the Constitution, he could organize free and transparent elections”. A solution in line with the International Contact Group, against the background of Maduro and a resolution engineered from outside.

Venezuela, in the words of Ambassador Samuel Moncada, denounced the attack devised and applied from the United States, with “deliberate economic destruction, aggression with the use of financial instruments, undue pressure, and the use of dominant positions in the markets”. The solution, he said, “should not be interventionism or donations by criminals or donor conferences that conceal the plunder committed, it should be a return of money, an end to the blockade, an end to sabotage of our infrastructure, an end to the threat of military intervention”.

The final result was the one that was predictable: similar to the two previous meetings, without possible agreement, with blocs aligned on the same positions. The meeting convened by the US seems to be designed to keep the issue on the international agenda, to deepen the narrative around the humanitarian crisis and the failed state. It was not possible to arrive at the result reached on Tuesday at the Organization of American States (OAS), where the envoy of Guaidó was recognized by 18 votes in favour replacing the representative of Venezuela. A “Pyrrhic” victory that undermines the institutionality of the OAS, as described by the Mexican Foreign Minister, Jorge Lomónaco.

During the day, while the Security Council was in session, the Venezuelan right called for the second day of “Operation Freedom,” with protest rally points in different parts of the capital and the country. The result was a new affirmation of the downward trend in the opposition’s ability to convene around the figure of Guaidó, the inability to generate expectation that could inspire the opposition population. The mission has entered a state of crisis, because of the distance between what was promised and its translation into concrete actions.

The next steps in the U.S. agenda are indicated by Mike Pompeo’s visit to Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, including the border city of Cúcuta, on Sunday. Pompeo, who reiterated yesterday that “Maduro’s regime represents a threat to the United States,” will seek agreements on the order of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation.

The option of a solution through intervention has been excluded from the possibilities put forward by all US allies.

Such was the case in Spain, where Elliot Abrams met on Wednesday with representatives of the executive, including José Manuel Albares, diplomatic advisor to the government, and Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, who expressed “the need for a democratic solution to the very serious crisis the country is suffering” and that “the current situation in the Caribbean country requires a political, peaceful and democratic solution that categorically excludes the use of force”.

Against this backdrop when the coup strategy failed to find a breakthrough, the Venezuelan government consolidated its cooperation in a meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross. Their President, Peter Maurer, indicated his willingness to advance in joint efforts, within the framework of an aid plan that is apolitical, neutral, without deepening the scope of the “humanitarian crisis” in the country. The priority areas will be Caracas, the border with Colombia and the state of Bolívar, bordering Brazil.

The joint work between the government and the Red Cross is important because of two central dimensions: the first is to respond to existing difficulties in the country, as has been done in cooperation with the government of China which on March 29 brought a shipment of 65 tons of medicines to the country. Secondly, because it has removed the right wing narrative, which states that the government is blocking all forms of social aid.

A problem for the right wing is that they have no cards in their hands after three months into Maduro’s new term, which they do not recognize. They appear to have run out of options. Hence Pompeo, Abrams and Pence have once again assumed public leadership.

Translation by Internationalist 360°