Communist Party Condemns U.S.-led Foiled Coup Attempt against the Elected Maduro Government in Venezuela
In the wake of the recent coup plot against the democratically-elected government of President Nicolas Maduro, the Communist Party of Canada restates our long-standing solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. We condemn the role of the Canadian state in this murderous plot, and in the wider imperialist assault against the sovereignty of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
As the world knows, the coup was blocked when a retired Venezuelan Air Force general and 10 military and civilian opposition figures were arrested. They had planned to bomb the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly, Telesur TV network, the Defense Ministry and other Caracas sites on February 12, the one-year anniversary of violent anti-government attacks which caused 43 deaths.
The main imperialist backing for the coup came from Washington, which still treats the entire western hemisphere as an arena of “vital US interests,” nearly two centuries after the proclamation of the odious “Monroe Doctrine.” As President Maduro revealed, the script of an eight-minute video to be aired by the coup group was even written with the help of a U.S. embassy advisor.
The “transition agreement” of the plotters included plans for a show trial of government leaders, and the privatization of nationalized industries, especially PDVSA, the state-owned oil industry that has been the main source of funding the extensive advances in healthcare, literacy, housing, poverty-reduction and other great social gains in Venezuela since 1999.
Other imperialist countries and U.S. allies, including Canada, were aware of the impending coup, but did nothing to alert the Venezuelan government, indicating their sympathy with the plotters. A German embassy representative warned German citizens residing in Venezuela to obtain a two-week supply of food, water and emergency provisions in the event of renewed political unrest. An RCMP official connected with the Canadian embassy had sought information on airport capabilities in case of an “emergency”, and we are certain that this revelation is just a tiny part of Canada’s role in this affair.
This is no surprise, in the context of the Harper government’s active support of U.S. militarism and aggression. Having abandoned any pretense of playing the role of a global “peacemaker”, Canada is among the handful of imperialist powers who sign on regularly to provide fighter-bombers, naval vessels, troops and political backing for US/NATO military interventions. The U.S., France, and Canada planned the overthrow of elected Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, and Canadian mining and finance capital are major players in the imperialist exploitation of Latin America.
All this explains why the Harper Conservative government refuses to condemn the coup plotters, and instead continues to hint that they would be pleased with the overthrow of popular democracy and the restoration of capitalist regimes in Venezuela and Cuba.
The Communist Party of Canada will continue to expose the plans of imperialism and the Venezuelan oligarchy to use violence and economic destabilization to create the conditions for a fascist Chile-style coup. We extend our solidarity with the Bolivarian government’s “Operation Dignity” and other measures to protect the interests of working people, and for the arrests of the conspirators. We demand that the Canadian government end its shameful backing for Washington’s interventionist meddling, and instead support the principle of sovereignty and independence for the countries and peoples of Latin America.
Above all, we warn that the danger is not over, and that the struggle to defend Venezuela’s gains and oppose U.S. imperialism’s schemes must be strengthened at this difficult period for the Bolivarian Revolution.
Central Executive Committee,
Communist Party of Canada
March 5, 2015