Is US Supporting Oligarch Coup Attempt In Venezuela?

Is US Supporting Oligarch Coup Attempt In Venezuela?
By Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org
February 17th, 2014

Venezuela is a country engulfed in myth in the US media. It is almost impossible to get the truth from corporate media outlets. Indeed, Venezuela may be the most lied about country in the US media. Sadly, groups that had been previously trusted like Human Rights Watch have joined the anti-Venezuela propaganda campaign and their reports on the country have been rebutted in great detail. In this current round of misinformation, the presence of propaganda against Venezuela also been evident in the social media.

The misinformation in the United States is because Venezuela is the lynch pin of the movement of Latin America away from US domination. Further, the oligarch class in Venezuela continues to control much of the media and big business interests. They are able to have a big influence on the economy, create scarcity of key goods and can impact the value of Venezuelan currency by flooding Venezuela with off-market US dollars. The oligarchs lost big in recent municipal elections and have lost national elections to Chavez and Maduro repeatedly. Not only is Venezuela a challenge to US hegemony in the Americas, it is a challenge to big finance capitalism. It has rejected the corporate-based neoliberal economics that the US is pushing throughout the world to the detriment of most people and the benefit of the wealthy. For all these reasons Venezuela is a top target of the United States and the oligarchs in Venezuela.

The opposition leader, Leopoldo López , has deep roots in the United States where he went to college and graduate school. He received his masters degree from Harvard and reportedly has had ties to the CIA since undergraduate school (see Maria Paez Victor article below). He is openly inciting violence, calling for the removal of Maduro and promising violence until he leaves. López is being sought for arrest in Venezuela. Secretary of State John Kerry has threatened repercussions if he is arrested. López is an economist who worked in the Venezuelan oil industry. His father was Secretary of Agriculture in the 1940s and he is the great, great, great grandson of the first president of Venezuela, Cristóbal Mendoza (who served from 1811-12). He was elected mayor of Chacao in 2000 and 2004. In November 2005 López was suspended from future political activity after his term as mayor expired in 2008 over allegations of misuse of funds. López is calling for a major march on Tuesday and promises to present himself to officials who are seeking his arrest.

President Maduro has expelled three US diplomats. Venezuelan authorities identified the expelled diplomats as Breeann Marie McCusker, Jeffrey Gordon Elsen and Kristofer Lee Clark, all vice consuls. They were allegedly involved in providing visas and were meeting with college students of the last few months, according to the Venezuelan government. Maduro expelled three other US diplomats on September 30, 2013 because they were working with the right wing oligarchs to undermine the Venezuelan economy.

More:
http://www.popularresistance.org/is-us-supporting-oligarch-coup-attempt-in-venezuela/