The coup d’etat strategy against Nicolas Maduro incorporates global pressure for greeting the parallel government and chaos and death inside the country. The recent series of happenings seems to have been planned out step-by-step: the attempted theft of weapons by a group of members of the Bolivarian National Guard on the morning of January 21, followed by incidents of violence concentrated in the west of Caracas; U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence’s video supporting Juan Guaidó and calling for demonstrations on January 23; the swearing-in of Guaidó; U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Guaidó a few minutes later; ongoing incidents of violence; the convening of a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) to seek recognition of the parallel government; the U.S. $20 million announced by Pence for “humanitarian aid”; and yet more planned violence. Not all went as planned. Concerning the global front, the effort to get the OAS to accept Guaidó as president failed, with only 16 votes out of 34. This is not a new failure: the Lima Group formed in 2017 by right-wing Latin American governments, now weakened by the Mexican government’s anti-interventionist stance, emerged out of a similar situation. At the extraordinary session of the Security Council, which was requested by the United States, U.S. delegates, their allies in the Lima Group and part of the European Union did not achieve their goals at the Security Council, while most other countries demanded respect for the sovereignty of Venezuela. Nineteen of the 35 countries rejected Venezuelan foreign intervention. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said at the UN Security Council that they cannot lead us to a civil war in Venezuela. He wondered why the U.S. was not judged by members of the UN Security Council, and added that the U.S. attempt to carry out the coup d’etat in Venezuela is obvious and this should be condemned by this organization. How can the U.S. President, who has threatened Venezuela with the military, not be questioned by the world? It is the U.S. that commands the opposition in Venezuela and the failed governments of the region. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has dismissed demands by European countries to call new elections in eight days terming it almost childlike saying the country will not allow anyone to impose on us any decision. Leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium say they will recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s president if Maduro doesn’t call new elections. It is bizarre that the issues of the Venezuelan government were mostly unknown to everyone until early in January.
It seems the projected president wants to rule from Washington, or at least with its approval, and not that of the Venezuelan people.
