As violent, anti-democratic protests continue in Venezuela, the corporate media in Canada are deliberately spreading lies and confusion about the situation in that country. At this difficult time, the Communist Party of Canada expresses our full solidarity with the people of Venezuela and their freely elected government, and we condemn the vicious campaign of disinformation conducted by right-wing forces in this country against Venezuela.
It is not surprising that the Canadian ruling class joins with U.S. imperialism in supporting the latest attempt to impose a brutal “regime change” in Venezuela. The attitude of the Canadian government was shown clearly last year. At that time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a shocking, insulting statement hoping that the death of President Hugo Chavez would bring “a more promising future for the Venezuelan people… based on the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.”
The response of the Venezuelan government remains completely valid today, stressing that Venezuela “has freely and democratically chosen its Socialist destiny,” and that the Bolivarian Revolution has given the country a more promising, independent and sovereign future.
In Venezuela, the majority of voters have democratically supported the Bolivarian Revolution many times at the ballot box. But here in Canada, the Harper Tories were elected in 2011 by a minority of voters, after a campaign marked by the clumsy attempts of Conservative operatives to deny many Canadians the right to vote. It is Canada which should take a lesson in genuine popular democracy from Venezuela, not the reverse.
As with any country which embarks on serious attempts to create a new society on the principles of popular democracy, economic independence, and social justice, Venezuela has had to face challenges from established, wealthy interests. The Canadian media’s coverage of the recent protests and the comments of right-wing politicians have ignored this truth, turning it upside down.
The violence in Venezuela today is created by thugs carrying out murderous attacks from their wealthy neighbourhoods, not by the government. The shortage of some commodities is directly linked to profiteering by wealthy business interests, while the government makes strenuous efforts to prioritize the needs of the workers and the poor. The attempt to overthrow the Maduro government is not a struggle for democracy, but rather a deliberate effort to provoke a brutal U.S-backed suppression of the democratic rights of the majority of Venezuelans.
The Canadian and U.S. governments arrogantly claim that Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution and the ALBA process are “undemocratic” because these projects reject the neoliberal agenda of corporate globalization. The truth is that these corrupt governments are guilty of undemocratically imposing anti-working class economic and social policies such as corporate-driven “free trade” deals, here in North America and across the planet.
The people of Venezuela will not be bullied into surrender by the threats and violence of the “opposition” forces. The Communist Party of Canada renews our commitment to stand in solidarity with the working class and the poor in Venezuela, and with their freely-elected government.
No to counter-revolutionary “regime change” in Venezuela! Yes to the historic advances of the Bolivarian Revolution!
Statement by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, March 2014