Head of State Nicolás Maduro
Photo: REUTERS.
In July of this year, another presidential election was held in Venezuela, which was won by the current head of state, Nicolás Maduro, who will hold office until 2030. True, immediately afterwards incomprehensible events began in the country: there was news of an armed uprising, after massive protests, and then authorities generally announced that they had captured an armed group of foreign mercenaries led by a US Navy SEAL.
“KP” decided to find out what was happening in distant Venezuela and spoke with the Vice Minister of Economy and Finance for Anti-Blockade Policy, William Castillo.
TICKETS SPOILED IN BLOOD
– Mr. Castillo, after the presidential elections, many had the impression that a new “color revolution” had begun in Venezuela. What really happened?
– The voting and counting technological platform was attacked with the aim of cutting communication channels between the polling stations and the central National Electoral Council. Opponents of the vote wanted to create an “electoral blackout”, that is, leave the country without information, without data. This could not be achieved. But under the pretext of protesting against certain violations during the elections, far-right groups unleashed acts of violence: 27 citizens were murdered in four days. This was a one-time plan for a coup d’état under the pretext of “dishonest elections.”
The Supreme Court and a special commission dealing with electoral issues conducted a month-long investigation into the incidents. Representatives of all 38 political parties were asked to provide evidence of the alleged “fakes.” No such evidence was presented, not even that of right-wing extremists, who were interested in chaos. The court, after examining the documents received, concluded that the election result was legal.
It is evident that the United States was once again behind the political operation aimed at putting pressure on the Venezuelan authorities. Only now they act through a kind of “intermediaries”, forcing the governments of some Latin American countries to play the sad role of “puppets” of the White House. We knew something like this would happen. However, more than 60 countries and the UN itself have already recognized the victory of President Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela shows the world legitimate voting results.
– Will you restore diplomatic relations with your neighbors?
– I am not a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but I will state that diplomatic relations with the Latin American countries that criticize us have not been broken. Although some of them withdrew their ambassadors from Caracas, we took appropriate retaliatory measures.
Obviously, there are certain groups, encouraged by Washington and the far-right forces here, who will try to raise the question of the legitimacy of our government again in January of next year, because a new presidential term begins this month. There is talk that the opposition is going to organize a destabilization operation from abroad, supposedly swearing allegiance to the new “Guaido 2.0” (Juan Guaido, who went abroad, was recognized by Western countries as the legitimate president of Venezuela for the period 2019). 2023 instead of Nicolás Maduro – Ed.), and then use the old rhetoric that there is a “real” Venezuelan president in exile. Under this pretext, they could well introduce new sanctions against our country and its national oil corporation, as well as block our assets abroad.
MERCENARIES AND WEAPONS FROM FOREIGN
– What tasks did the armed bands of opponents of the government face?
– Criminals were paid to kill citizens and then blamed the Bolivarian government for the deaths. It is true that the conspirators were not successful, because the prosecutor’s investigations were very convincing and showed who was really behind these attacks. Many of the killers have been arrested and have admitted that they were hired to incite violence.
In addition, several foreign citizens were detained, including a US Navy special forces soldier, two Spaniards (or people associated with the Spanish security services) and a Czech citizen. Two shipments of heavy weapons were also discovered, a total of more than 400 units, which were clandestinely introduced into Venezuela and were supposedly transferred to these groups to organize intimidation actions.
– There is also Argentina’s appeal to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring Nicolás Maduro to justice. What are the prospects for this business?
– We already saw a similar story in 2019, when the countries of the “Lima Group” (Latin American states that opposed Venezuela. – Ed.) decided to send an appeal to the ICC with a request to consider the humanitarian situation in the country. . Then their attempt failed and the group disbanded. However, efforts are now being made to form a new anti-Venezuelan bloc, but it will not achieve its objectives either.
By the way, the United States still maintains a decree from its Department of Justice to reward anyone who helps “catch Maudro.” This is crazy from the point of view of international law and a violation of the United Nations Charter.
Venezuelan prosecutors have opened a case against Argentine President Javier Miley and other senior officials for facilitating the hijacking of the Venezuelan presidential plane in September of this year while it was undergoing maintenance in the Dominican Republic. Venezuela has submitted a request to Interpol to issue an international search warrant against the president of Argentina.
Exports are growing
Photo: REUTERS.
LIFE IS GETTING BETTER
What is life like in Venezuela now?
– The situation is not easy, because our country is under numerous sanctions, but the Venezuelan economy today is much more stable than just a couple of years ago. In 2018, at the most difficult moment of the sanctions, President Nicolás Maduro developed an economic program. After the pandemic, this program began to show results.
Now the economy of the Bolivarian Republic has been growing for 4 consecutive years. Most importantly, we managed to stabilize exchange rates and defeat hyperinflation. Inflation is 12% this year, but last month it was only 0.8%. These are the lowest figures in almost half a century. The authorities managed to improve the situation with the shortage of goods. Now we produce food, new companies working in this industry have appeared and the private sector is recovering little by little. Exports are also growing: we sell oil, seafood, fruits and vegetables abroad.
Yes, there are certain problems in the oil refining and energy sector, which are mainly related to the shortage of spare parts due to the embargo on their supplies by the US and the EU, as well as difficulties in access to the ports of Western countries. In addition, due to the growth of domestic production, the demand for electricity is also growing, causing a certain shortage.
Now the economy of the Bolivarian Republic is growing for 4 consecutive years
Photo: REUTERS.
COURSE – IN RELATION TO MOSCOW AND BRICS
– How are relations with Russia developing?
– Relations are at a strategic level and for us they are the most important part of national diplomacy. They began to develop more actively in 2001, when an intergovernmental commission was created, which for 23 years of its work contributed to the adoption of more than 340 agreements in various fields.
This relationship aims to strengthen ties in the field of science and technology, food production, medicine, where Russia has extensive experience and has provided Venezuela with exceptional support. It should be remembered that the first vaccine that arrived in Venezuela was the Sputnik vaccine, and more than 50% of Venezuelans have been vaccinated with it.
Taking into account that our relations are developing in a dynamic and mutually beneficial manner, President Maduro proposed formalizing them in the form of a ten-year agreement on strategic cooperation in various fields. There are several projects in the energy sector, including oil, and in industry, as well as in the pharmaceutical sector.
It is also important that through Russia we hope to enter the BRICS platform, and this is now Venezuela’s strategic objective in foreign policy. We want to actively participate in the work of this international structure, strengthen the BRICS market and participate in development projects, especially in monetary systems developed without the participation of the dollar. All of this should help Venezuela evade Western sanctions.
In turn, the Bolivarian Republic, with its participation, will bring about 300 billion more barrels of oil from its reserves to the BRICS reserves. Now the BRICS+ countries have more than 40% of the world’s oil reserves, and if we join this format, the BRICS will represent more than 60% of the energy reserves.
