Noam Chomsky, Greg Grandin and 70 Other Experts Sound an Alarm on Venezuela
By Venezuela Analysis
27 January 19
Noam Chomsky, Alfred de Zayas, Sujatha Fernandes, Boots Riley, John Pilger,
Vijay Prashad and many others oppose US interventionism in Venezuela. The
statement is worth the read.
The United States government must cease interfering in Venezuela’s internal
politics, especially for the purpose of overthrowing the country’s government.
Actions by the Trump administration and its allies in the hemisphere are almost
certain to make the situation in Venezuela worse, leading to unnecessary human
suffering, violence, and instability.
Venezuela’s political polarization is not new; the country has long been
divided along racial and socioeconomic lines. But the polarization has deepened
in recent years. This is partly due to US support for an opposition strategy
aimed at removing the government of Nicolás Maduro through extra-electoral
means. While the opposition has been divided on this strategy, US support has
backed hardline opposition sectors in their goal of ousting the Maduro
government through often violent protests, a military coup d’etat, or other
avenues that sidestep the ballot box.
Under the Trump administration, aggressive rhetoric against the Venezuelan
government has ratcheted up to a more extreme and threatening level, with Trump
administration officials talking of “military action” and condemning Venezuela,
along with Cuba and Nicaragua, as part of a “troika of tyranny.” Problems
resulting from Venezuelan government policy have been worsened by US economic
sanctions, illegal under the Organization of American States and the United
Nations ― as well as US law and other international treaties and conventions.
These sanctions have cut off the means by which the Venezuelan government could
escape from its economic recession, while causing a dramatic falloff in oil
production and worsening the economic crisis, and causing many people to die
because they can’t get access to life-saving medicines. Meanwhile, the US and
other governments continue to blame the Venezuelan government ― solely ― for
the economic damage, even that caused by the US sanctions.
Now the US and its allies, including OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and
Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, have pushed Venezuela to the
precipice. By recognizing National Assembly President Juan Guaido as the new
president of Venezuela ― something illegal under the OAS Charter ― the Trump
administration has sharply accelerated Venezuela’s political crisis in the
hopes of dividing the Venezuelan military and further polarizing the populace,
forcing them to choose sides. The obvious, and sometimes stated goal, is to
force Maduro out via a coup d’etat.
The reality is that despite hyperinflation, shortages, and a deep depression,
Venezuela remains a politically polarized country. The US and its allies must
cease encouraging violence by pushing for violent, extralegal regime change. If
the Trump administration and its allies continue to pursue their reckless
course in Venezuela, the most likely result will be bloodshed, chaos, and
instability. The US should have learned something from its regime change
ventures in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and its long, violent history of sponsoring
regime change in Latin America.
Neither side in Venezuela can simply vanquish the other. The military, for
example, has at least 235,000 frontline members, and there are at least 1.6
million in militias. Many of these people will fight, not only on the basis of
a belief in national sovereignty that is widely held in Latin America ― in the
face of what increasingly appears to be a US-led intervention ― but also to
protect themselves from likely repression if the opposition topples the
government by force.
In such situations, the only solution is a negotiated settlement, as has
happened in the past in Latin American countries when politically polarized
societies were unable to resolve their differences through elections. There
have been efforts, such as those led by the Vatican in the fall of 2016, that
had potential, but they received no support from Washington and its allies who
favored regime change. This strategy must change if there is to be any viable
solution to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.
For the sake of the Venezuelan people, the region, and for the principle of
national sovereignty, these international actors should instead support
negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opponents that will
allow the country to finally emerge from its political and economic crisis.
Signed:
Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus, MIT and Laureate Professor, University of
Arizona
Laura Carlsen, Director, Americas Program, Center for International Policy
Greg Grandin, Professor of History, New York University
Miguel Tinker Salas, Professor of Latin American History and Chicano/a Latino/a
Studies at Pomona College
Sujatha Fernandes, Professor of Political Economy and Sociology, University of
Sydney
Steve Ellner, Associate Managing Editor of Latin American Perspectives
Alfred de Zayas, former UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic
and Equitable International Order and only UN rapporteur to have visited
Venezuela in 21 years
Boots Riley, Writer/Director of Sorry to Bother You, Musician
John Pilger, Journalist & Film-Maker
Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Jared Abbott, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, Harvard University
Dr. Tim Anderson, Director, Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies
Elisabeth Armstrong, Professor of the Study of Women and Gender, Smith College
Alexander Aviña, PhD, Associate Professor of History, Arizona State University
Marc Becker, Professor of History, Truman State University
Medea Benjamin, Cofounder, CODEPINK
Phyllis Bennis, Program Director, New Internationalism, Institute for Policy
Studies
Dr. Robert E. Birt, Professor of Philosophy, Bowie State University
Aviva Chomsky, Professor of History, Salem State University
James Cohen, University of Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle
Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Associate Professor, George Mason University
Benjamin Dangl, PhD, Editor of Toward Freedom
Dr. Francisco Dominguez, Faculty of Professional and Social Sciences, Middlesex
University, UK
Alex Dupuy, John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology Emeritus, Wesleyan University
Jodie Evans, Cofounder, CODEPINK
Vanessa Freije, Assistant Professor of International Studies, University of
Washington
Gavin Fridell, Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor in International
Development Studies, St. Mary’s University
Evelyn Gonzalez, Counselor, Montgomery College
Jeffrey L. Gould, Rudy Professor of History, Indiana University
Bret Gustafson, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Washington University in
St. Louis
Peter Hallward, Professor of Philosophy, Kingston University
John L. Hammond, Professor of Sociology, CUNY
Mark Healey, Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut
Gabriel Hetland, Assistant Professor of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S.
Latino Studies, University of Albany
Forrest Hylton, Associate Professor of History, Universidad Nacional de
Colombia-Medellín
Daniel James, Bernardo Mendel Chair of Latin American History
Chuck Kaufman, National Co-Coordinator, Alliance for Global Justice
Daniel Kovalik, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh
Winnie Lem, Professor, International Development Studies, Trent University
Dr. Gilberto López y Rivas, Professor-Researcher, National University of
Anthropology and History, Morelos, Mexico
Mary Ann Mahony, Professor of History, Central Connecticut State University
Jorge Mancini, Vice President, Foundation for Latin American Integration (FILA)
Luís Martin-Cabrera, Associate Professor of Literature and Latin American
Studies, University of California San Diego
Teresa A. Meade, Florence B. Sherwood Professor of History and Culture, Union
College
Frederick Mills, Professor of Philosophy, Bowie State University
Stephen Morris, Professor of Political Science and International Relations,
Middle Tennessee State University
Liisa L. North, Professor Emeritus, York University
Paul Ortiz, Associate Professor of History, University of Florida
Christian Parenti, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, John Jay
College CUNY
Nicole Phillips, Law Professor at the Université de la Foundation Dr. Aristide
Faculté des Sciences Juridiques et Politiques and Adjunct Law Professor at the
University of California Hastings College of the Law
Beatrice Pita, Lecturer, Department of Literature, University of California San
Diego
Margaret Power, Professor of History, Illinois Institute of Technology
Vijay Prashad, Editor, The TriContinental
Eleanora Quijada Cervoni FHEA, Staff Education Facilitator & EFS Mentor, Centre
for Higher Education, Learning & Teaching at The Australian National University
Walter Riley, Attorney and Activist
William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa
Barbara
Mary Roldan, Dorothy Epstein Professor of Latin American History, Hunter
College/ CUNY Graduate Center
Karin Rosemblatt, Professor of History, University of Maryland
Emir Sader, Professor of Sociology, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro
Rosaura Sanchez, Professor of Latin American Literature and Chicano Literature,
University of California, San Diego
T.M. Scruggs Jr., Professor Emeritus, University of Iowa
Victor Silverman, Professor of History, Pomona College
Brad Simpson, Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut
Jeb Sprague, Lecturer, University of Virginia
Christy Thornton, Assistant Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University
Sinclair S. Thomson, Associate Professor of History, New York University
Steven Topik, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine
Stephen Volk, Professor of History Emeritus, Oberlin College
Kirsten Weld, John. L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences,
Department of History, Harvard University
Kevin Young, Assistant Professor of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Patricio Zamorano, Academic of Latin American Studies; Executive Director,
InfoAmericas
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