Timothy Alexander Guzman, Silent Crow News – President Hugo Chavez has been fighting cancer since June of 2011. Back on December 11th, 2012, Chavez received his 4th cancer operation but suffered respiratory problems afterwards, but has recovered according to the Associated Press on December 18, 2012. During his ordeal, Chavez has named Nicolas Maduro, his Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs as his successor if he will not be able to fulfill his presidential duties. The West is closely monitoring the situation waiting to see if Chavez would step down leaving Maduro in charge with the possibility that they can manipulate his new successor, if not, Maduro would encounter the same threats his President faced throughout his Presidency. Venezuela will struggle politically and economically if Chavez were to step down. But Chavez has prepared his nation for any future confrontation with the West despite his battle with cancer.
When President Hugo Chavez was elected by a land-slide victory in 1998 by the Venezuelan people, a change in the political and economic landscape was on the way. President Chavez was determined to set Venezuela on a path to self-determination away from U.S. domination. The United States has been intervening in numerous Latin American nations since it’s’ inception of Manifest Destiny in the 19th Century.
Under President Chavez, Venezuela has witnessed changes that improved the economic conditions of the poor and working class people. A fact the West does not like to admit. Although high crime rates continues to be problematic and the drug trade remains intact, Chavez has provided programs that has helped the people progress towards a positive direction. First and foremost, he has passed laws that will not allow American corporations to exploit Venezuela’s resources. The mainstream media that is owned and managed by the elite in Venezuela demonizes Chavez because his socialist model of democracy or the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ is not in line with America’s corporate policies. President Chavez has implemented land and oil industry reforms, improved education for school-aged children and even provided the ‘Mission Robinson’ literacy program for adults who finally learned how to read and write. In 2005, UNESCO declared Venezuela an “Illiteracy Free Territory” which in itself is a success. Chavez also provided universal healthcare for all people young and old. From job training programs, free university tuitions, providing subsidies to single mothers, to creating drug prevention programs, and other government policies implemented by Chavez has actually helped elevate the Venezuelan people to a better life. He has reduced poverty levels by more than half where at one time, 80 percent of the population was living below the poverty line.
The injustices suffered by the Venezuelan people throughout their history had been in the hands of numerous governments supported by Washington which had economic and political implications that created high-levels of poverty. Economic disparities in Venezuela were lead by US corporate interests who controlled the oil industry for decades. The people are now confident and realized their potential to protect themselves from US imperial interests that seeks to impose policies that benefit American Corporations in their country.
Since Chavez became president, Venezuela has seen a rise in the political participation of it’s’ citizens which is a threat to Washington. Why would the Venezuelan people participating in a democratic process in their own country become a threat to Washington? Because Washington and its’ business interests do not want a well-informed people participating in the political process that would impede on their corporate profits and their control over a population that has been exploited economically and politically for more than a century.
Chavez is on Washington’s hate list because he wants’ Venezuela to be independent of US policies that try to dictate how he governs his country. Chavez uses the oil profits for the betterment of his people which is one of the reasons he has been targeted by the United States since the second Bush administration with a failed coup attempt back in 2002. He is most likely a target by President Barack Obama, who was instrumental in the 2009 Honduran coup d’état of President Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya even wrote a letter one-year after the event and accused the United States of orchestrating the plot when he stated that “What we suspected at the beginning has now been confirmed. The United States was behind the coup.” Venezuela will be signaled out for either a military attack or another staged Coup by the U.S. controlled opposition or a possible assassination attempt if Chavez returns to office.
Washington’s crusade for world domination is the agenda, but with the declining dollar, its’ failed military interventions in Southern Asia and the Middle East and its’ waning political and corporate influence in Latin America that includes Ecuador, Nicaragua, Cuba since 1959 and Bolivia will be difficult to achieve. The U.S. would consider any means to regain its hegemonic power that would rule the world once again, including war. It is a signal for Caracas to prepare itself for the possibility of a future war. Washington wants to regain its influence on the world stage, but the world is tired of the America’s imperial policies and its’ wars that has caused millions of lives across many nations of the world. Washington’s concern is to regain control of Venezuela’s resources because it needs to maintain its military machine and to keep profits flowing in to Wall Street. But the Chavez government is in preparation to counter such a threat to its’ national sovereignty with ‘Plan Sucre’. The AFP reported that Representative Maria Corina Machado told El Universal newspaper that ‘Plan Sucre’ would “transform a professional army into a guerrilla army”. Chavez understands the danger the United States imposes on his nation so he is creating a Guerilla Army, one that can counter such a threat. “The plan calls for “strengthening the territorial militias, in order to ensure the necessary strength for the overall defense of the nation, targeting recruitment levels of one million by 2013 and two million by 2019″. A Guerilla Army would create a Vietnam style war in Latin America that would last at least another decade or so.
Chavez is trying to defend Venezuela against US corporate interests who have their eye on the vast oil reserves and now their gold deposits. In August 2011, Chavez had demanded Venezuela’s 99 tons of gold reserves that was stored in the Bank of England which was valued at more than $11 billion. His demand was acknowledged and received Venezuela’s gold deposits a few months later. The move to nationalize the gold mining industry since Venezuela has one of the world’s largest gold reserves valued at a total of $21 billion according to Futures Magazine back in 2011 was a move that was sure to make Washington nervous. Muammar Gaddafi was targeted for his plan to dismiss the dollar as the reserve currency in the continent of Africa and replace it with the gold dinar for its oil trades with nations that purchase Libyan oil. He was targeted by the US run NATO forces and now Libya is facing sectarian and tribal violence since Gaddafi’s death. Those who do not follow Washington’s rules are sure to be prime targets. Chavez is cautious for good reason and is preparing his countrymen for the possibility of a future war with the United States and NATO despite his cancer problem. Maybe the rest of the world should follow Venezuela’s lead to prepare themselves for war against imperial powers that seek to control them. In a time when the world is heading towards World War III, sovereign nations should be prepared to defend themselves for the possibility of an invasion from a declining superpower. Can it happen to Venezuela? Maybe because anything is possible, but one thing is for sure, oil and gold do make it a tempting target for the hawks of Washington.
