Venezuela is a Russian-friendly state with a population of 30 million located in the north of South America. Its capital is Caracas, which with three million residents. Venezuela is a big irritation for the United States and the Latin American countries under US control. The country is an exporter of oil and one of the most important players on the global oil market. It's a coveted prize for Washington.
Last August, there was an attempt to assassinate President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, during a military parade with the help of several UAVs filled with explosives. Police snipers shot down the flying bombs. They managed to save Maduro.
And here's a new attempt, much more large-scale. A coup attempt took place in Venezuela last Wednesday. The President of the National Assembly, a young talent with American education, 35-year-old Juan Guaido, declared himself president of the country and brought his supporters to the streets.
Immediately, Donald Trump declared the legitimate and legally elected by popular vote president, Nicolas Maduro, to be illegitimate, and recognized the impostor Juan Guaido as the head of the state.
There is currently a dual power in Venezuela. The Supreme Tribunal and the army are on the side of Maduro. The majority in parliament supports the pro-American opposition, meaning that they support Guaido. The international community has split, too. It's important that Russia and China, as members of the UN Security Council, condemned the coup. Out of the Latin American countries, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Mexico support Maduro.
President Putin expressed support for Nicolas Maduro over the phone last Thursday and stressed that "destructive external interference grossly violates the fundamental rules of international law".
India condemned the external interference in Venezuela's affairs. UN Secretary-General Guterres urged the conflicting parties to hold a dialogue in a neutral manner. Having negative experience with the Ukrainian Maidan, the EU evasively called for new elections. The US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru recognized the rebels as the legitimate authority in Caracas. This position is at the behest of the USA.
Last Friday, State Secretary Mike Pompeo even appointed a kind of "exarch" to Venezuela. This is Elliott Abrams. Officially, Abrams is responsible for "restoring democracy in Venezuela". Spokesperson of the Russian MFA, Maria Zakharova, acidly commented on this appointment:
"This is Washington’s attempt to introduce direct control of the political situation in Venezuela which the American establishment regards as its future regional vassal. They "restored" democracy in Iraq and in Libya, they failed to do it in Syria, actually, they weren't allowed to. Now, it's Venezuela".
Another significant detail is that the UK, in response to Venezuelan President Maduro's demand, refused to hand out gold bars worth $1.2 billion, which were stored in its banks. We learned this on Saturday. This news may seem interesting to those who still believe in the impartiality of the Western banking system.
Here's our war correspondent, Anton Stepanenko, reporting from Caracas, which is in rebellion.
Today, opponents of President Maduro took to the streets of the Venezuelan capital again. There are riots ongoing simultaneously in several different squares. The agenda includes the adoption of the resolution on the political amnesty of the opponents of the current authorities. Amnesty should be extended to anyone who supposedly helps democracy. According to the opposition, it's them who are building democracy. In fact, supporters of Guaydo grant indulgence to themselves, keeping possible unrest in mind, as it happened in the streets of Caracas on January 23rd. As it was expected, indulgence is adopted unanimously with the following rationale: we aren't judges and can't judge them, but we know that they're innocent, therefore we grant amnesty to them.
Despite the fact that it was the weekend, only 150-200 liberals came to the rally. At other protest venues, there were even fewer people.
"Don't pay attention to that there are so few of us. If it's necessary, more people will come. It's just a day off today, and people usually prefer to relax. And after the recent clashes with the police, people are in fear".
The fears were in vain. The liberals were reasonably restrained, so few patrolmen lazily stood on the sidelines and watched the political activity of the dissenters. People waited for the main liberal and fighter for democracy, Juan Guaido, to attend the rally. They were doing so to welcome him. They even printed the amnesty resolution in advance and were going to hand it to him. He finally appeared and said that some of the American diplomats remained in Caracas. Next week, another large-scale rally will be held against the current authorities in the capital. Maduro's supporters are also preparing to hold rallies to support the current president next week.
"We're volunteers from the University of Santa Maria. We're here in case the situation escalates and medical aid is needed".
By the way, the volunteers aren't in politics and are on-duty at any mass rallies of supporters of either the government or the opposition. On January 23rd, when the opposition held a rally, their help turned out to be in-demand: there were dozens of victims.
The neighborhood of Santa Monica in Caracas is considered to be deprived. It could have become a criminal oasis, especially since it's surrounded by opposition-minded, richer neighborhoods. But they appreciate the support of the state and hold on to the help of the government here. The support is tangible and regular. The price of this food ration for one family is 5 cents. It contains three packs of rice, tuna, flour, corn oil, lentils, and milk powder. Community activist Henri Dudamel delivers the boxes himself. It's safer because help is targeted.
Henri Dudamel: "We're distributing these food rations from the government this week. Last week, there was poultry and eggs. Next week, there will be vegetables, and then fish. And we'll do so every week".
They distribute rations according to the lists. They mark families which they've already supplied with food with yellow, and families whom they have yet to supply with gray. Over the last 8 years, 2.5 million slum dwellers settled in such neighborhoods on the outskirts of Caracas. They appreciate the authorities' attention here. From here, the pathos of the opposition rhetoric seems to be far from sincere.
Henri Dudamel: "Look at these photos. We went to a rally to support President Maduro. It was the day when the opposition held its rallies. Look at how many of us took to the streets".
Many people took to the streets of Caracas to support President Maduro. But only a few people noticed it. The Western media didn't cover it as it wasn't profitable for them. This was their information "artillery preparation" for the attack on the legitimate authorities.
But Larissa Costas, on the contrary, was an alternative source of information those days. She is the host of the information program of the Venezuelan news channel VTV. She saw with her own eyes who, how much, and for whom, voted in the streets of Caracas. But the Western media had their own truth.
- Was it censorship?
Larissa Costas:
- Yes, it was. We were just made to shut up. They made the entire nation shut up.
When I asked her if she's frightened of telling the truth about the situation in the country, Larissa answered that this is her profession. It's either truth from the TV screen or fees from Western sponsors. She's chosen to work on TV, to tell the people of Venezuela what sentiments, in fact, are in their country.
Anton Stepanenko, Artyom Grigoryan for Vesti Nedeli from Caracas, Venezuela.
