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Chavez's Venezuela

By Robert Naiman

Most readers of the Veteran are no doubt aware that the Bush administration has been waging a low-intensity political conflict against the government of Venezuela. The Bush administration has been politically and financially supporting Venezuelan opposition groups for several years, including funding groups that were involved in the attempted coup d'état against President Hugo Chávez's democratically elected government in April 2002. As depicted so grippingly in the must-see documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, the coup was reversed by popular mobilization, no thanks to the Bush administration, which welcomed the coup—about which it had prior knowledge, according to declassified documents, although this was denied at the time. The Bush administration also lobbied other governments to support the coup government.

Reporting in the US media on the political conflict between the Bush administration and the Venezuelan government often emphasizes the war of words between US and Venezuelan officials. But although no one loves to be criticized—certainly not the Bush administration—there are deeper issues at stake: control of Venezuela's oil reserves, the largest outside the Middle East; Venezuela's programs to use its oil wealth for the benefit of the poor majority through education, health, and other social programs; and Venezuela' efforts to promote regional economic integration as an alternative to the corporate globalization agenda promoted by the Bush administration.

Although right-wing critics in the Bush administration and Congress like to make vague and unsubstantiated allegations that Venezuela is subverting or threatening its neighbors, the real danger that Venezuela represents to the Bush administration is the power of a positive example. If Venezuelans can successfully insist on more control over their natural resources and demand that these resources be used primarily for the benefit of the Venezuelan majority, then others might be emboldened to do the same. This year, Bolivians elected Evo Morales as their president on a platform much like the one that brought Chávez into office in 1998; and at this writing, Ollanta Humala is leading in the Peruvian presidential race on the basis of a similar platform.

In addition to the political effects of the perception that Venezuela is defying Washington and getting away with it, there are real economic effects. The ability to borrow from Venezuela has bolstered the ability of Argentina and Bolivia to steer course independent of the prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Venezuela's economic and political policies are loosening the grip of the United States and US-dominated international financial institutions on the whole region.

The power of Venezuela's example is also seen in military affairs. Recently, Argentina and Uruguay have decided that they will no longer send soldiers to train at the School of the Americas (the "School of Assassins") at Fort Benning, a step Venezuela took in January 2004. As a result, efforts by the Bush administration to punish, pressure, and undermine and isolate Venezuela can be expected to intensify.

However, these efforts by the Bush administration to undermine Venezuela can only flourish if people in the United States allow it. Here are some things you could do to counteract the Bush administration's war against Venezuela:

• Follow the press. Every weekday, the Venezuela Information Office (VIO) prepares a selection of daily press clips on Venezuela, together with a summary. You can get the daily VIO Roundup or the weekly digest emailed to you by signing up at www.veninfo.org. Reading the summary and skimming the articles will keep you up to date on what's happening.

• Write letters to the editor. Vicious, unsubstantiated attacks on the Venezuelan government regularly appear in the US media, often planted by US government officials. More people are needed to respond to these attacks. A short letter (less than 200 words) does the trick.

• Write to and call Congress. Phone the congressional switchboard at (202) 225-3121, or call your local office. Use websites to submit a comment (www.house.gov and www.senate.gov). Your representatives in Congress need to know that you oppose US efforts to undermine the government of Venezuela by funding Venezuelan opposition groups through the National Endowment for Democracy and similar programs.

• Educate your friends. The VIO can tell you where to find a copy of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Get a copy and invite your friends over, or show it in your union hall or religious group. In addition to being informative, it's a great movie—the filmmakers happened to be in Caracas when the coup unfolded. They caught the coup and the popular mobilization that reversed it on film. It's a powerful story.

• Buy your gas at Citgo. Your neighborhood Citgo gas station is actually owned by the government of Venezuela. Of course, maybe you're an eco-warrior and go everywhere on your bicycle; if so, kudos to you. If not, you might as well buy your gas at Citgo and do some good—the Venezuelan government uses the proceeds to fund education and health programs for Venezuela's poor. Find a station near you at www.citgo.com.