America’s nasty war

Nov 20, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The Cold War ended but only for the Soviet Union. The USSR splintered following the implosion within the bloc. The Americans however have never ended their quest for ideological supremacy.
The Americans, despite its avowed rejection of extra-constitutional changes since the break-up of the USSR, has found a new way to depose governments in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is called, oxymoronically, “constitutional coups.”
The first such coup took place in 2008 with the ouster of the President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. The coup plotters, the Honduran military, flew Zelaya to Costa Rica and produced a contested resignation letter to the Congress which gave constitutional cover to the military’s actions.
President Obama and the Organization of American States originally condemned the coup but then backpedalled and eventually pushed for fresh elections, rather than a restoration of the constitutional order. The removal of Zelaya was a constitutional putsch which had the support of US commercial interests.
The second constitutional coup was not all related to any business interest. It was a direct attempt to remove a left wing President in Paraguay.
In June of 2017, Fernando Lugo, the President of Paraguay was removed by a constitutional putsch. He was the victim of impeachment by his own Congress. He was not given enough time to prepare a defence. He was hurriedly removed from office before he could have said quicksilver.  His removal gave the Americans a new formula for removing democratically elected Presidents – have them removed by their legislatures rather than through elections.
In Guyana, the People’s Progressive Party failed to gain a majority in the December 2011 elections. Four years later, the Americans were egging on a vote of no confidence which would have forced the Donald Ramotar government to step aside. The Ramotar administration however diffused this attempt by proroguing parliament.
The Americans were furious. They and their allies condemned the lawful prorogation of parliament.
The Americans then began to prepare for regime change under the guise of empowering youth groups and civil society movements. The Americans had been exposed for their funding of similar civil society groupings in Venezuela where they managed to also give opponents of President Maduro a majority in the legislature in the elections of 2015.  The opposition APNU+AFC won a razor-slim one seat majority in the general elections in Guyana of May 2015.
The Americans were not finished. They next placed their sights on Brazil. In August of 2016, the Americans ended the 13 years rule of the Workers’ Party of Brazil after the Senate of that country impeached President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil.
The Americans had found a new way to remove democratically elected governments. They no longer wish to be associated with regime change resulting from military coups.
But as with Honduras, once the outcome of the coup is favorable to the Americans, they will set aside principle. The Americans are still seeking to influence the results of elections. They have done so in Venezuela and Guyana.
The recent state elections in that country resulted in a grave blow to the opposition forces which are heavily supported by the Americans. But instead of licking their wounds, the Americans are spreading the cheap propaganda that the results of those elections were fixed. However the country with the best electoral commissions in the world with a reputation for delivering free and fair elections, is Venezuela.
The Americans were also behind the mobilizing of civil society and youth groups in the run up to the 2015 elections in Guyana. It is not surprising that no sooner had the elections delivered the results that the Americans wanted, that initiative has fallen off the American radar. They are no longer interested in this approach.
Constitutional coups are now the new resort of the Americans when they want to bring about regime change. This suits their pretense of supporting democracy since they can claim that the change in government not extra-constitutional and therefore democratic.
Who will be the next victims of the continuing Cold War by the Americans?  Venezuela is continuing to pose a thorn in their side. They want to make an example of the Bolivarian Revolution which was led by Hugo Chavez. They will not stop until they see the Maduro government toppled. This is part of their continuing Cold War destabilization.
They have failed to bring about regime change via elections in Venezuela. They have and they have no chance of doing so constitutionally. And so they are paving the way for possible military intervention. Guyana must not allow itself to be part of that plot.

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