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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEbRuARY 1, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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PRO-CON
Is the US push to unseat Venezuelan
leader Maduro the right course?
Marcelo Garcia/Miraflores Presidential Press Office
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raises his fist from an amphibious tank at the naval base in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela.
PRO: Maduro must go — Venezuelans
deserve a functioning democracy
CON: Trump’s efforts to oust Maduro
are illegal, will kill more Venezuelans
W
W
ASHINGTON — Last weekend, blocking Maduro from receiving all cash
the Bank of England blocked flow derived from Venezuela’s state-owned
Nicolas Maduro from withdraw- oil company — Petroleos de Venezuela or
ing $1.2 billion worth of gold from a Vene- PVDA.
zuelan state account.
That income will be handed over to the
That action followed the United King-
government once the interim president
dom’s decision to recognize Juan Guaido as assumes office.
the interim president of Venezuela. Maduro
Following U.S. recognition of Guaido,
will experience similar banking troubles
Venezuelan government bank accounts in
elsewhere, as 52 countries — including
the U.S. were placed under Guaido’s con-
the majority of nations in South America,
trol as well. He has established a gov-
North America and Europe — now recog-
ernment in exile and appointed a U.S.
nize Guaido as Venezuela’s lawful leader.
representative and ambassador to the Orga-
That recognition matters. In the U.S. and nization of American States.
all those other nations, Guaido now has the
As interim president, he is responsible
ability to name diplomats and handle the
for leading Venezuela through a transition
country’s financial affairs.
and preparing for its first free and fair elec-
While things go south for Maduro
tion in nearly two decades.
abroad, his stock is also tanking back
For the U.S., it is imperative that
home. His socialist regime has pil-
Maduro step down. He and his cro-
laged and bled the country dry. He
nies have turned Venezuela into an
retained his presidency last year
international drug trafficking hub.
only by rigging the elections.
The U.S. Treasury has designated
Now, anti-government protests
high-ranking officials like Madu-
are rocking dozens of cities in Ven-
ro’s former vice president, his attor-
ezuela, as millions of his country-
Ana
ney general and his secretary of
men demand his departure. The
Quintana
homeland security as drug-traffick-
size, scale and magnitude of these
ing kingpins.
demonstrations far exceed anything
Accordingly, the U.S. has seized
seen in Venezuela’s 20 years of
$500 million in narcotics-related assets
socialist misrule.
from the vice president. And Maduro’s own
Not every country is onboard with a
nephews are serving prison sentences in
democratic transition in Venezuela. Cuba,
the U.S. for attempting to sell drugs to an
Russia, China and Syria — as well as the
Palestinian Authority and the terrorist orga- undercover DEA agent.
While Venezuelans starve, Maduro’s
nization Hezbollah — have strongly con-
regime
has enriched itself by trafficking
demned calls for Maduro’s resignation.
drugs
throughout
Latin America and into
Still, the pressure is getting to Madu-
the U.S., often colluding with violent car-
ro’s government. Over the weekend, his
tels that have left a high body count in their
chief diplomats in Washington, Houston
and Miami abandoned the sinking ship and trail.
The regime also openly supports
pledged their loyalty to Guaido.
regional and international terrorist move-
Despite broad bipartisan support in the
ments, like Colombia’s deadly Revolu-
U.S. Congress for resolving Venezuela’s
crisis, certain members continue supporting tionary Armed Forces, National Libera-
tion Army and Iran’s equally murderous
the Maduro regime.
Leftist claims of Guaido being a self-ap- Hezbollah.
All three are designated as terrorist orga-
pointed puppet of the U.S are inaccurate.
nizations by the U.S.
His interim presidency is constitutional, a
Latin American security and stabil-
reflection of the people’s will. Maduro’s
ity
is good for Latin America and good for
presidency has been neither for years.
the U.S. For 20 years, Venezuela’s social-
Nor is it accurate to claim that U.S. pol-
ist leaders have wreaked havoc in the hemi-
icy aims to destroy the Venezuelan econ-
sphere. The Trump administration is jus-
omy. U.S. sanctions are targeted specifi-
cally against regime officials for corruption, tified for mounting a pressure campaign
against them. Venezuela and its people
human rights abuses and narco trafficking.
deserve an opportunity at freedom.
The U.S. also forbids purchasing Vene-
Ana Quintana is an analyst in The Her-
zuelan gold, a lucrative industry for corrupt
itage Foundation’s Allison Center for For-
officials.
eign Policy Studies, specializing in Latin
The recently announced oil sanctions
take things a step further. The U.S. is now
American issues.
ASHINGTON — If Russia, tle-known Venezuelan congressman,
China and North Korea decided anointed himself after a phone call from
to recognize Nancy Pelosi as Mike Pence the night before.
the president of the United States, would
What do the Trump administration
Americans go along with that?
and its allies want in Venezuela, besides
I mean, the ones who don’t like
the world’s largest oil reserves for Amer-
Trump, think he is a real threat to the
ican oil companies?
country, and even not a legitimately
Mostly they want power in the region,
elected president? I don’t think so. But
where just a few years ago left govern-
Trump, his Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo, and National Security Adviser
ments who were quite friendly with Ven-
John Bolton all think that the United
ezuela presided over the majority of the
States should be able to choose a new
region.
president for Venezuela.
The U.S. “national security state”
So does “ouster in chief” — as the
lost a lot of influence in Latin America
New York Times recently described him
during the first decade or so of the 21st
— Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). And this
century, and now they are taking it back.
bunch has just recruited Elliot Abrams,
To be sure, a large majority of Vene-
who many believe should have been con-
zuelans want a new government,
victed as a war criminal in the
1980s, to help make their dream
and there are good reasons that
come true.
they would.
How could this go wrong?
The economy has shrunk by
Well we do have some 21st-cen-
a record 50 percent in the last
tury experience with U.S.-spon-
five years, and inflation is over
sored “regime change” and it
Mark
a million percent annually. It’s a
has ranged from murderous to
Weisbrot
record-breaking depression com-
horrific.
bined with hyperinflation, and
Iraq, Syria, Libya, Honduras
it’s mostly the fault of the current
— all have led to a lot of killing
and suffering, mostly of civilians includ- government.
ing children.
But the U.S. has imposed harsh sanc-
Many of the migrants fleeing Hon-
tions to make that depression worse
duras in the caravans that Trump has
and make it nearly impossible to fix the
recently demonized and manipulated
hyperinflation. These sanctions, which
politically were escaping from misery
caused by the 2009 U.S.-backed military are illegal under international and prob-
ably U.S. law, have killed many Vene-
coup in that country.
zuelans by worsening the scarcities of
Not to mention the much larger wave
life-saving medicines.
of migrants upending European politics,
most of them escaping from the mess
New sanctions announced this week
that the U.S. government created with its will take more billions of dollars of rev-
regime change wars in the Middle East.
enue and assets from the government,
We can put aside the fanciful notion
severely deepening the depression. More
that the Trump regime change operation
Venezuelans will die and others will flee
in Venezuela has something to do with
the country, exacerbating the Venezuelan
promoting democracy.
Trump is still good buddies with MBS refugee crisis.
A worse scenario may unfold if the
in Saudi Arabia — that’s Crown Prince
regime
change operation pushes Venezu-
Mohammed Bin Salman or Mister Bone
Saw, as he was called after his under-
ela, which is still a politically polarized
lings killed and chopped up a Washing-
country, into civil war.
ton Post journalist and U.S. resident.
Isn’t it time we stopped trying to
And the murderous Rodrigo Dute-
choose other people’s governments and
rte in the Philippines, who has killed
focused on trying to clean up our own
thousands in his own country; or Juan
mess at home?
Orlando Hernandez of Honduras, who
Mark Weisbrot is co-director of
stole his re-election last year in broad
the
Center for Economic and Policy
daylight. And so on.
Research in Washington, D.C., and the
But President Nicolas Maduro has
to go, they say. So Juan Guaido, a lit-
president of Just Foreign Policy.