Antiwar Hero Medea Benjamin Disrupts Venezuela Coup Circle Jerk
Before they launch missiles, they launch narratives. Before they drop bombs, they drop talking points. Before they implement crushing starvation sanctions, they demonize and condemn. Before they invade, they propagandize. Before the killing starts, manipulation paves the way.
For this reason, the front line of any antiwar movement is a fight against the establishment narratives about disobedient nations that are aggressively promulgated by the political/media class. And right now one of the very most adept Americans at doing that is an activist named Medea Benjamin.
Benjamin once again displayed her knack for getting her message seen in high-profile spaces in a way that grabs attention and punches through cleanly and concisely as she crashed the warmongering bloviations of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a meeting of the Organization for American States (OAS) in Washington, DC.
Following a speech in which Pompeo regurgitated already established Trump talking points referring to Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro as the "former president", accusing him of being "economically incompetent", "profoundly corrupt" and "undemocratic to the core," Benjamin cut off his applause by standing at the end of the council room with a sign reading "OAS: DON'T SUPPORT A COUP IN VENEZUELA" and decrying the Trump administration's attempts to topple the Venezuelan government.
"Don't support the coup!" Benjamin shouted. "A coup is not a democratic transition! Do not listen to Secretary Pompeo! Do not support the coup! Do no support the coup in Venezuela!"
"We call on the OAS to support the democratically elected leader and work for a negotiated solution," Medea continued to yell as security staff cajoled her out of the room. "Coups only bring more violence, war and destruction!"
And of course Medea Benjamin is correct. This US-led coup is not different from all the other US-led coups in South America and in oil-rich nations around the world; it is designed to be profitable for the already wealthy and strategically advantageous for the already powerful, with none of the interest in humanitarianism and democracy that it always pretends to have.
For those of you who haven't been following this story, here's a quick breakdown:
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves of any nation on the planet, and if that one fact right there doesn't raise your suspicions, you've got a lot to learn about US interventionism. US foreign interventions often boil down to resource control, so if a resource-rich nation refuses to be absorbed into the blob of the US-centralized power alliance it's a safe bet that you'll eventually hear the US State Department saying that the people in that nation are in bad need of some Freedom and Democracy (read: starvation sanctions and CIA coups). Venezuela has been no exception, and the economic strangulations which have been heaped upon the nation under both the previous administration and the current one have effectively made it nearly impossible for its economy to get its head above water. Add in the fact that the CIA Director all but admitted in 2017 that the agency was working to topple the Venezuelan government, and it's not surprising that we're seeing civil unrest there today.
Anyway, on Wednesday some guy named Juan declared that he was the real president of Venezuela and not Nicolas Maduro, who was democratically elected by an overwhelming majority in May of last year in an election which was found to have been perfectly legitimate by the international Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America. Juan Guaido did not win any election to this position, nor indeed has he ever campaigned for it. The basis for the claim of Maduro's illegitimacy, a congressional interpretation of Article 233 of Venezuela's Constitution, was struck down by the nation's highest court as fraudulent. Nevertheless, on Wednesday the Trump administration announced that it would no longer be recognizing Venezuela's elected government and would only be recognizing the office of Juan the guy. This move was copied by Canada and a host of South American US allies.
This is of course a huge move by the United States. The only thing that holds governments in place is people's recognition of them, and on an international level that means their being recognized by other governments. If China ceased recognizing America's current government and instead conducted all its diplomacy through some guy named Steve who works at the Home Depot in Newark, New Jersey, all diplomatic relations between the two nations would instantly crumble. In light of this brazen act, Maduro said all US diplomats have 72 hours to leave the nation, to which the Trump administration replied that it has no intention of doing since the order came from Maduro and not the rando named Juan (who as noted by Moon of Alabama is very keen on changing Venezuela's oil policies to America's advantage).
So now the US is, as WikiLeaks observed, effectively conducting "a small occupation" of Venezuela by keeping its diplomats in the nation illegally. If the Venezuelan government (the actual one, not the imaginary one) were to make a move to throw them out, things could get really ugly.
"And so the confrontation begins, as I anticipated just hours ago," tweeted Venezuelan-American attorney and journalist Eva Golinger when this news broke. "Maduro expels US diplomats, they refuse to leave. If he tries to force them out, US will respond, with 'all options on the table' (military intervention). This is a total reality show, invent a reason to invade."
And the Trump administration has indeed made it clear that it considers "all options on the table" up to and including a full-scale military invasion of Venezuela.
"All options are on the table for the United States in regards to actions to be taken," a senior administration official told reporters on Wednesday, adding, "When we say 'all options are on the table' that means all options are on the table."
So this is a full-fledged coup attempt, being pushed along by starvation sanctions, CIA covert ops, and copious amounts of propaganda, and it has become a tinder box that could erupt into a US-funded "civil" war or direct US military involvement at the drop of a hat. The mass media is as usual moving almost exclusively in the direction of unquestioning support for this trajectory. The time to protest is not when the bombs start falling, but when the war propaganda gets rolled out, as is happening right now.
Medea Benjamin is showing the way for anyone who's sick of standing by feeling helpless while the US steamrolls another nation beneath the treads of its insatiable war machine. If you're looking for ideas on how to disrupt the narratives of war, she's setting a very good example for everyone.
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As a Venezuelan, who happens to be a college professor, who has taught among other courses, American Literature and History, who happens to be an anti-anything-that-looks-like-Trump, and who understands the historical dynamics of colonialism/neo-colonialism, I must say you are making the wrong reading of the Venezuelan situation in as much as suggesting that Congressman, and now president (E) Juan Guaidó (he has a name and a last name) is some sort of parachuter who has zero support from the Venezuelan people and is just serving the interests of the Empire. You are echoing the chavista rhetoric and siding with the wrong people.
I am not going to go dissertate about the recent history of Venezuela or about the ongoing series of crimes the chavista government has committed in the last 20 years. If the wave of migration that Venezuela has sent to the neighboring countries and the protests that have been widely covered by all kinds of media and by people themselves thanks to current technology does not tell you anything, there is nothing I will say to persuade you of the opposite.
I am not happy before the prospect of having to thank Trump for the end of the chavista era (I still doubt that can be done right now, we had a similar situation in 2002 and it was disastrous), but to allow Maduro and his criminals to continue destroying my country just because the methods used to depose him are not fair or obey to foreign interests, etc is just simplistic, myopic and even a more criminal position.
What Maduro (and Chavez before him) did to Venezuela has been a crime that cannot be expressed or described in words or images. The proof of that is that after 20 years of reports in words and images there are people around the world defending them.
The only thing I can say is that you have to live it. You have to be where we are and then we can talk about methods or laws or fairness. No American citizen who may identify themselves with leftist ideas would accept what Maduro has done in the last 6 years as legitimate and would do anything, absolutely anything to get rid of him.
The way you have reported what is happening in Venezuela is insulting. It minimizes the level of rejection the Maduro administration has, the gravity of their disastrous measures, and the seriousness of the situation the Venezuelan people are living. This has been hell for more than 6 years now. Previous to that, it was purgatory.
You do a disservice to any progressive cause that opposes abuse and imperialist mentality by just siding with what seems to be the victim now. To show the Maduro government as the victim, as legitimate (ignoring how he got elected) shows either a supine ignorance of the situation or a shameless fidelity to an ideological stance.
I am not friends with far right stance, I now despise far left postures and I would oppose any so-call centrist politics if they turn out to be promoters and perpetuators of injustice. To suggest, like Turkey, China, Russia and other countries which still support Maduro for reasons similar to the ones the US, France, Germany or any other super power may have, that Venezuelans should settle their disputes on their own, that they can have elections and the best man/woman should win and that victory should be respected is to ignore the level of manipulation, corruption, and totalitarianism that has been implemented in Venezuela.
Any intelligent person should understand that even if the method used is illegal, which is not the case here, Maduro is one of those presidents that must be rid of by any means necessary. The decision has been overdue for 6 years and the price has been paid in blood and tears by millions of Venezuelans.
I admire your patience, @hlezama. I am done explaining the obvious. Anyway, you have said it all.
I have followed Abbey Martin's reports on Venezuela closely and these have generally given quite a different perspective from what you say above. But you are Venezuelan. Given the difficulties and years of sanctions imposed on Venezuela it must be increasingly hard to believe in finding political solutions. But I hope you don't regret getting rid of Maduro by any means should that be the regime change playbook...
Juan Guaidó has a postion that, given the situation, constitutionally requires him to make a judgement whether the republic has a functioning president and vice president. He acted on that requirement. That the members of supreme court are beholden to the executive, is no secret and inevitable given framework they work under. Therefore, the mechanism that was supposed to adjudicate the impasse is compromised. Short of war, it seems from the outside that the situation in Venezuela can't get much worse. Hopefully Guaidó's declaration can serve as a catalyst for change, and he should be respected for using the legal tool at his disposal to try to force development in the situation.
I suggest you read what article 233 of their constitution is. It does not give Guaido authority in anyway to become president, especially when he did not receive a single vote.
I'm neither a politician nor a Venezuelan but I enjoyed reading your argument and appreciate the facts that you have laid out succinctly.
My heart breaks for your country and I pray that sense and justice will prevail.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
To want to have the US government start a war in your country, and your people not solve this yourselves, is just sick. Have you not learned anything from the middle east?
You don't seem to have understood a single word from what I wrote.
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This is a tough one. Talking to a few Venezuelan Steemians, it seems the People of Venezuela are tired of being hungry, literally, tired of being hungry.
The US is of course imperialistic and a known Colonizer, with only self interest for its wealthy, so I agree that if Venezuela was resource poor, the US most likely would not give a dam.
I will re-steem to see if anyone from Venezuela comments....
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If Venezuela did not have it's huge oil reserve, the U.S. would not have intervened to create the economic chaos that has been going on there for the past few years. When Venezuela rejected the continued use of the petro dollar for it's oil, that's when the economic pressure against Venezuela by the U.S. became serious.
Yeah, that's the especially tough thing about economic sanctions. It is the poor of a country that are the most impacted.
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Proof?...I didn't think. Just knee jerk some brain fart right.
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STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Economic hit men has flooded Venezuela and it is scary. Madea Benjamin is not always right, but usually fighting the good fight
Hola caitlinjohnstone,
Tu post ha sido seleccionado por el bot de @provenezuela, te hemos dado un voto en apoyo a los autores venezolanos!
Gracias por ser parte de nuestra comunidad!
What a jewel of an article!
Very inspirational.
I've come across in my local press upon the opinion of a known American-interests mouthpiece casually exploring the merits of a humanitarian war that the US should lead in Venezuela.
It's a very tricky situation as the people of Venezuela are undoubtedly suffering and many would probably welcome anything that eases their pain, yet those that today pose as would-be saviours are the same that actively took part in destroying the country's economy.