Venezuela:
A Call for Peace/Nicolás Maduro, is the president of Venezuela.
The
New York Times |2-04-14
The
recent protests in Venezuela have made international headlines. Much of the
foreign media coverage has distorted the reality of my country and the facts
surrounding the events.
Venezuelans
are proud of our democracy. We have built a participatory democratic movement
from the grass roots that has ensured that both power and resources are
equitably distributed among our people.
According
to the United Nations, Venezuela has consistently reduced inequality: It now
has the lowest income inequality in the region. We have reduced poverty
enormously — to 25.4 percent in 2012, on the World Bank’s data, from 49 percent
in 1998; in the same period, according to government statistics, extreme
poverty diminished to 6 percent from 21 percent.
We
have created flagship universal health care and education programs, free to our
citizens nationwide. We have achieved these feats in large part by using
revenue from Venezuelan oil.
While
our social policies have improved citizens’ lives over all, the government has
also confronted serious economic challenges in the past 16 months, including
inflation and shortages of basic goods. We continue to find solutions through
measures like our new market-based foreign exchange system, which is designed
to reduce the black market exchange rate. And we are monitoring businesses to
ensure they are not gouging consumers or hoarding products. Venezuela has also
struggled with a high crime rate. We are addressing this by building a new
national police force, strengthening community-police cooperation and revamping
our prison system.
Since
1998, the movement founded by Hugo Chávez has won more than a dozen
presidential, parliamentary and local elections through an electoral process
that former American President Jimmy Carter has called “the best in the world.”
Recently, the United Socialist Party received an overwhelming mandate in
mayoral elections in December 2013, winning 255 out of 337 municipalities.
Popular
participation in politics in Venezuela has increased dramatically over the past
decade. As a former union organizer, I believe profoundly in the right to
association and in the civic duty to ensure that justice prevails by voicing
legitimate concerns through peaceful assembly and protest.
The
claims that Venezuela has a deficient democracy and that current protests
represent mainstream sentiment are belied by the facts. The antigovernment
protests are being carried out by people in the wealthier segments of society
who seek to reverse the gains of the democratic process that have benefited the
vast majority of the people.
Antigovernment
protesters have physically attacked and damaged health care clinics, burned
down a university in Táchira State and thrown Molotov cocktails and rocks at
buses. They have also targeted other public institutions by throwing rocks and
torches at the offices of the Supreme Court, the public telephone company CANTV
and the attorney general’s office. These violent actions have caused many
millions of dollars’ worth of damage. This is why the protests have received no
support in poor and working-class neighborhoods.
The
protesters have a single goal: the unconstitutional ouster of the
democratically elected government. Antigovernment leaders made this clear when
they started the campaign in January, vowing to create chaos in the streets.
Those with legitimate criticisms of economic conditions or the crime rate are
being exploited by protest leaders with a violent, antidemocratic agenda.
In
two months, a reported 36 people have been killed. The protesters are, we
believe, directly responsible for about half of the fatalities. Six members of
the National Guard have been shot and killed; other citizens have been murdered
while attempting to remove obstacles placed by protesters to block transit.
A
very small number of security forces personnel have also been accused of
engaging in violence, as a result of which several people have died. These are
highly regrettable events, and the Venezuelan government has responded by
arresting those suspected. We have created a Human Rights Council to
investigate all incidents related to these protests. Each victim deserves
justice, and every perpetrator — whether a supporter or an opponent of the
government — will be held accountable for his or her actions.
In
the United States, the protesters have been described as “peaceful,” while the
Venezuelan government is said to be violently repressing them. According to
this narrative, the American government is siding with the people of Venezuela;
in reality, it is on the side of the 1 percent who wish to drag our country
back to when the 99 percent were shut out of political life and only the few —
including American companies — benefited from Venezuela’s oil.
Let’s
not forget that some of those who supported ousting Venezuela’s democratically
elected government in 2002 are leading the protests today. Those involved in
the 2002 coup immediately disbanded the Supreme Court and the legislature, and
scrapped the Constitution. Those who incite violence and attempt similar
unconstitutional actions today must face the justice system.
The
American government supported the 2002 coup and recognized the coup government
despite its anti-democratic behavior. Today, the Obama administration spends at
least $5 million annually to support opposition movements in Venezuela. A bill
calling for an additional $15 million for these anti-government organizations
is now in Congress. Congress is also deciding whether to impose sanctions on
Venezuela. I hope that the American people, knowing the truth, will decide that
Venezuela and its people do not deserve such punishment, and will call upon
their representatives not to enact sanctions.
Now
is a time for dialogue and diplomacy. Within Venezuela, we have extended a hand
to the opposition. And we have accepted the Union of South American Nations’
recommendations to engage in mediated talks with the opposition. My government
has also reached out to President Obama, expressing our desire to again
exchange ambassadors. We hope his administration will respond in kind.
Venezuela
needs peace and dialogue to move forward. We welcome anyone who sincerely wants
to help us reach these goals.
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