September 7, 2019, Strategic Culture
Foundation (Russia) https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/09/07/brics-needs-a-unified-front-against-us-intervention-in-venezuela/
Ramona Wadi
Venezuela’s
destabilisation by the US is understood best by the countries that have faced
imperialist interference. Cuba’s revolutionary process, for example, has
produced consistent political solidarity with Venezuela and is actively urging countries to
reconsider their stance as regards the US sanctions which are creating severe
humanitarian consequences.
The
recent executive order signed by US President Donald Trump encompasses all
entities that do business with Venezuela, thus creating an embargo that will
further isolate the nation, even as the US moves to open a
“Venezuela Affairs Unit” unit in its embassy in Bogota, Colombia. The unit
would engage in diplomacy with
the US-backed Juan Guaido, who is recognised by
the Trump administration and its allies as the purported interim Venezuelan
president. Its aim, according to US Special
Representative to Venezuela Elliot Abrams, is in anticipation of “the day this
regime falls”.
In
a report titled
“Economic Sanctions as Collective Punishment: The Case of Venezuela”, it is
estimated that 40,000 people have died as a result of the US-imposed sanctions
from 2017 to 2018. According to the US, Venezuela poses “an unusual and
extraordinary threat” to its national security – unfounded claims as Trump
continues with overt attempts to bring down Maduro’s democratically-elected
presidency.
Political
pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is instigated by the US,
yet there is a backdrop of support from its allies in the region and, globally,
from countries that spout the democracy line, even if there is nothing
democratic about foreign interference. While mostly in the background in
comparison to the US, Canada has
facilitated support for the Venezuelan opposition. In Europe, countries which
have not explicitly backed Guaido
have assumed an allegedly neutral stance which constitutes tacit agreement in
terms of opposition support. The EU criticised US sanctions on Venezuela but
has also threatened
the country with similar punitive measures, as the European Parliament
expressed its support for Guaido.
The
international community is dominated by discourse that promotes foreign
intervention according to the undemocratic agendas of the so-called democratic
countries. Venezuela is urgently in need of a unified political strategy that
stands in political solidarity against imperialist interests.
BRICS
has positioned itself as one such alternative in terms of economic prospects,
international security and stability. Russia and China have repeatedly affirmed
their support for Maduro. South Africa and India have likewise followed suit.
On the other hand, Brazil under President Jair Bolsonaro is preventing BRICS
from promoting a political discourse that fully repudiates US interference in
Venezuela.
Contrary
to the rest of the BRICS countries, Brazil recognised Guaido as Venezuela’s
interim president and it has expressed support for
the international community to pay heed to “Venezuela’s cries for freedom”.
Brazil has also adopting measures in
line with the Lima Group, as well as prohibited Maduro and other senior
Venezuelan officials from entering Brazil.
At
the G20 summit in Japan, BRICS stated it supported
dialogue between Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition to reach a solution. Yet
the call is marred by the political divide between Brazil and the other BRICS
members. This lack of consensus, including the divergence in terms of
recognition of who is Venezuela’s legitimate leader, weakens its political
diplomacy in the international arena. As Brazil aligns with the US, although reportedly holding back
from endorsing military intervention in Venezuela, It is moving away from one
of the organisation’s main aims, which is to establish itself in opposition to
capitalist and imperialist exploitation.
In
a recent interview, former Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva expressed
his disappointment at BRICS not moving further politically. “BRICS was not
created to be an instrument of defence, but to be an instrument of attack.” If
this momentum is to be built, BRICS needs to find equilibrium in its politics,
rather than allow itself to be swayed into a seemingly neutral position due to
the US allegiances of Brazil under Bolsonaro. It is not enough to preach
dialogue like the rest of the international community have done while weakening
Venezuela’s autonomy. BRICS must evaluate its relevance, especially when it
comes to one of its members demonstrating political opportunism that is
contrary to the group’s aims.
*Ramona Wadi is an independent researcher, freelance journalist, book reviewer and
blogger. Her writing covers a range of themes in relation to Palestine, Chile
and Latin America.
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