Venezuela’s Narrowing Options

Photo by Alejandro Alarcon | CC BY 2.0


“¡Patria o muerte!” 
(fatherland or death) is the traditional slogan of Latin American revolutionaries. It is also the grim choice that the US government is imposing on the people of Venezuela, as the Washington consensus (e.g., Foreign Policy) screams “it’s time for a coup in Venezuela.”

Washington Rejects Electoral Transition

The runner-up in the May 20 Venezuelan presidential elections was Henri Falcón, who campaigned to replace the Venezuelan bolivar with the US dollar, institute a severe regime of International Monetary Fund austerity on the populace, and auction off the country’s assets at fire-sale prices to foreign bidders.

So what is there not to like about this neoliberal dream for the Trump administration? Answer: it does not go far enough. A far more radical final solution is being promoted by the Colossus of the North.

Instead of embracing Falcón as would be expected on account of his economic proclivities, Washington demanded that he not even run in the presidential election and went as far as threatening to impose personal sanctions on him and his family. The US lie that Venezuela is a dictatorship was exposed by Falcón showing just the opposite by running.

As it turned out, Maduro was affirmed with a landslide 68% of the vote compared to Falcón’s second place showing of 21%. But Falcón faced the dual challenges of opposition from the left and boycott from the extreme right.

A year ago, a…

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