United States is the obstacle for restoration of democracy in Venezuela.
Venezuela is holding elections on 28 July. But the outcome is predictable and inevitable. The ruling Chavista government of Maduro will not lose the elections and even if they lose, they will not allow the opposition to come to power. The ruling establishment cannot afford to let the opposition to come to power for a simple and fundamental reason.
The US has filed criminal charges in US courts against President Maduro and has announced a bounty of 15 million dollars on his head. Here is the US State Department notification:
"Maduro was charged in a March 2020 Southern District of New York federal indictment for narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 960a and 963, and 18 U.S.C. § 924.
The U.S. Department of State is offering a REWARD OF UP TO $15 MILLION for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Nicolás Maduro Moros.If you have information and are located outside of the United States, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If in the United States, please contact the local Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in your city".
Announcing bounty on the head of the serving president of a country is unusual and illegal. But the US does not care for international law.
There is a total of 55 million dollars bounty on the heads of 14 Venezuelan government leaders. These include Vice President Cabello (10 million dollars bounty), ministers, military officials, judges and senior government officials. These are serious charges such as drug trafficking, narco-terrorism, money laundering and possession of weapons. The punishment for these would be imprisonment in US jails for long periods or for life.
The US has been intervening in Venezuela ever since the leftist president Hugo Chavez came to power in 1998. The US had supported a coup against him April 2002. Chavez was arrested and put in jail. But the coup organizers messed up the capture of power by their greed and incompetence. This opened the opportunity for Chavez to come back to power after 48 hours. Since then, the US has imposed brutal economic sanctions on Venezuela ruining its economy and particularly oil production and exports. During the Trump administration, there were a number of open attempts for regime change.
The US refused to recognize the legitimacy of the reelection of President Maduro in 2018 and instigated a legislative leader Juan Guaido to declare himself as president in January 2019. They recognized Guaido as the President and forced over 50 countries including Latin American countries and members of EU to do the same. The US let Guaido and his cronies and American lawyers to appropriate the Venezuelan government funds frozen in American banks. But the Guaido circus collapsed in corruption scandals. Then the US dropped Guaido and re-recognised Maduro government and loosened the sanctions in order to deal with the oil shortage caused by the Ukraine crisis. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world which are more than even those of Saudi Arabia.
If the opposition comes to power after the 28 July elections, the US will ask them for extradition of Maduro and dozens of government leaders to US. The opposition leaders would be too happy to oblige. Many of the current government, military and judicial members will end up in jail in the US.
This is what has just happened to the ex-President of Honduras Juan Hernandez. He was in power for two terms from 2014 to 2022. As soon as he finished his term, he was extradited to US where he has been convicted to life imprisonment on drug trafficking charges. His brother is also in US jail on the same charges.
In 1989, the US invaded Panama, captured President Manuel Noriega and took him to US where he was put in jail for 17 years on drug trafficking charges. Noriega was a CIA asset and was helping the Americans to destabilize the Sandinista government of Nicaragua in the eighties besides doing other dirty work for the Americans.
So why would the Venezuelan leadership commit mass suicide by letting the opposition come to power? The Chavistas might change Maduro for another one of their own. But they cannot afford to give up power to the pro-American opposition.
The people of Venezuela are the victims in the game between the US and the government of Venezuela. Democracy is fractured and the economy is in ruins for over a decade. Inflation is running high. There is shortage of food and essential items since the government does not have enough foreign exchange for imports. Oil exports and production have been severely crippled by the American sanctions. Poverty and insecurity have forced over five million Venezuelans to flee and take refuge in to other Latin American countries and the US. The country is crying out for relief.
As long as the US holds the sword over the heads of the leftist government leaders of Venezuela, there is no possibility for free and fair elections and change of government.
The author is an expert in Latin American affairs