The role of NGOs in political destabilization in Venezuela.
The role of NGOs in political destabilization in Venezuela.
By Micaela Ovelar
“The United States seems destined by Providence
to plague America with misery, in the name of freedom.”
Simón Bolívar, 1829
The Venezuelan National Assembly has just approved a Law that regulates the actions and financing of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). This has raised new criticism against the government of President Nicolás Maduro, as the international hegemonic press tries to establish that the initiative promoted by the Bolivarian Government seeks to limit the area of action of Venezuelan civil associations. However, this Law, which has come a long way to be approved, aims to protect the Latin American country from the historical intervention of the United States that, from the CIA, the USAID, the NED and its network of influence, finances civilian organizations who appear not to pursue partisan political goals, but who – through so-called international cooperation or humanitarian assistance – have encouraged and facilitated coups d’état and guarimbas (social protests) in Venezuela since before Hugo Chávez came to power.
US interventions, a very old story
Starting in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, a “new global political and economic order” began to materialize among the planetary powers, in which the erroneously called “order” had been established under the parameters of U.S. imperialism. In 1947, with the aim of configuring an international domain tailored to its needs, the North American government chaired by Harry Truman (Democratic Party), created the Central Intelligence Agency, better known by its acronym CIA.
During its first years, this agency served as a private detective for the U.S. government in the world, but with a license to kill like “sicarios” without international law to stop them. Since the 1960s, these intervention acts on other nations led to the CIA becoming involved in numerous failed and successful coups d’état, which, in the face of international pressure, forced the U.S. Congress to limit the activities of this hybrid Agency, thus intra and parastatal character.
However, the imperial and interventionist ambition of the new hegemony was not going to be stopped before any nation or any law, since, in the first place, the very birth of the federation of the 50 States that make up the United States of America today has in its DNA the idea of the so-called “Manifest Destiny”, according to which it is its moral duty to expand throughout the American continent (and beyond), and, secondly, the United States seems not to know, nor want, nor be able to respect its own sovereignty. A sovereignty established by dint of the theft of territories from Mexico and the use of methods that today we would call, in addition to being violent and undemocratic, terrorist, racist, supremacist and genocidal.
| Regarding the respect and protection of its territorial sovereignty, let us remember the incidents, and especially what they triggered, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (1941), and in the Twin Towers, New York (2001). |
That is to say, for the U.S. government historically the other countries of the globe, always seen as enemies of its divine designs, must submit and collaborate in a good way if they do not wish to be subject to sanctions, blockades, coups d’état, civil and military wars. And everything shall be done in the name of freedom and democracy. This is the idea of “Manifest Destiny” executed and expanded through the Monroe Doctrine. This is how “America for Americans” has gone to the United States intervening throughout the world as police and judge, as the standard of one of the democracies furthest from the majority of the people and of a hyper-monitored and curtailed freedom.
During the 1960s, embarrassing American interventions, through the CIA and diplomatic missions in countries under siege by Washington D.C., had to be eliminated. It is in this context that, in 1961, then-President John F. Kennedy (Democratic Party) created the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). From this Agency, and under the façade of international cooperation or assistance, the United States began to intervene in those countries whose natural resources were desirable and whose governments were reluctant, rebellious and politically uncomfortable, that is, in countries that were trying to be independent of the centers of power.
The projects that received funding from USAID have been very varied, covering areas such as Education, Human Rights, Agriculture, Health, among others, but the true goal has always been to permeate and destabilize “rebel governments”, even infiltrating institutions belonging to those non-aligned governments. This is the era of the ghost and unfounded fear of communism or socialism that persists to this day.
In this regard, the prominent Mexican political scientist, Pablo Moctezuma Barragán (2021), states that where truly dictatorial and repressive governments existed, but that obeyed the White House, the U.S. Administration in power, whether Democratic or Republican, also intervened, but in those cases US did it to dismantle democratic movements.
Indeed, Latin America and the Caribbean has been a historical witness of North American interference in our region, where to impose its interests and plunder our resources, the United States has worked clandestinely and openly through the CIA and USAID.
We can mention violent coups d’état such as that of Venezuela (1948), Guatemala (1954), Paraguay (1954), Dominican Republic (1963), Brazil (1962), Bolivia (1971), Chile (1973), Argentina. (1976). , among others. Barragán also maintains that the United States has been “exposed by its history of violent interventions and, in recent decades, has begun to organize soft coups, soft, covert coups, in order to destabilize a government and cause its fall, without apparently “the United States has been held responsible for the consequences of its actions.”
The USAID agency also received rejection from the countries it theoretically wanted to help develop, among other things because US ambassadors and CIA agents frequently appeared at conspiratorial meetings that ended in coups d’état.
Now is when the National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, enters the scene to act directly with civil society. The NED, founded by Ronald Reagan (Republican Party) in 1983, has also focused – through international cooperation and financing – on financially supporting projects that claim to promote democracy, but end in social, political, and political destabilization. economic crisis, migration crises, in their desire to wage an imaginary struggle against the idea of the threat that communism supposedly represented during the Cold War. An idea that the United States continues to exploit to advance the imperialist agenda throughout the world.
What is the NED?
On its website, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) defines itself as “an independent, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Each year, NED makes more than 2,000 grants to support the projects of non-governmental groups abroad who are working for democratic goals in more than 100 countries.”
Furthermore, the NED maintains that: “Since its founding in 1983, the Endowment has remained on the leading edge of democratic struggles everywhere, while evolving into a multifaceted institution that is a hub of activity, resources and intellectual exchange for activists, practitioners and scholars of democracy the world over.”
This is the official version, the democratic face with which the NED presents itself to the world. But Latin America knows that it is a tool in favor of the interventionist interests of the White House, whether from the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, since the mission continues to be submission to U.S. imperialism.
The NED is bipartisan: “From its beginning has remained steadfastly bipartisan. Created jointly by Republicans and Democrats, NED is governed by a board balanced between both parties and enjoys Congressional support across the political spectrum. NED operates with a high degree of transparency and accountability reflecting our founders’ belief that democracy promotion overseas should be conducted openly.”
The NED is funded primarily through annual appropriations from the U.S. Treasury Department and is subordinate to the U.S. Congress and the US Executive Department of State. The NED also functions as a source of financing for Non-Governmental Organizations in the world with the purpose of guaranteeing the interests of the United States government.
The NED is not autonomous; by law, it is required to consult with the State Department about any foreign programs it funds before beginning its activities. And all financial transactions are subject to audit, executed by the United States Information Agency (USIA).
The NED encourages cooperation between U.S. and foreign private sector groups only if they are consistent with U.S. interests; Therefore, it is impossible for an international organization to receive funding from the NED if it does not coincide with the interests of the United States, and if the program does not conform to the actions of the State Department.
The NED network in Venezuela
Like other Latin American countries, Venezuela has suffered from U.S. interventions in the form of rude and incessant harassment. First the CIA, then the USAID and now the NED, continue to actively work against Venezuela, from inside and outside the Latin American country.
As one can safely conjecture, the arrival of Hugo Chávez (1998) and the emergence of the Bolivarian Revolution has increased the United States’ attacks against the nation with the largest proven oil reserve on planet Earth, ultimately a strategic ally from Cuba, China, Russia and Iran, now also from Turkey, alliances that have infuriated Washington. Indeed, Venezuela’s independent and sovereign foreign policy has led the White House and the U.S. Congress to blatantly support, through the NED and its network of similar organizations and institutions, the Venezuelan political opposition in its unsuccessful attempts to break the democratic and constitutional order of Bolivarian and Chavista Venezuela, but above all of a Venezuela that firmly wishes to continue being sovereign and independent.
Several analysts and media have used declassified information obtained thanks to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act to bring to public opinion the evidence that demonstrates the U.S. government’s participation in destabilization campaigns against Chávez, from the beginning of his arrival at the Miraflores Palace. Already in 1998, the NGO “Center for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge” (Cedice Libertad) received funding from the Center for International Private Enterprise. According to an investigation by the U.S. media “The Intercept”, the NED has detailed in documents that explain to the U.S. Congress the allocation of its funds that the aid to Cedice Libertad “is aimed at ‘a change of government’ in Venezuela.”
The participation of the United States embassy in Caracas, as well as the support for opposition organizations and political actors, in the Coup d’état of April 11, 2002, against President Chávez, has been widely documented. In that sense, it is worth remembering that the director of the NGO “Cedice Libertad”, Rocío Guijarro, was one of the people who signed the so-called “Carmona Decree”, an instrument of the coup government that bears the first surname of the de facto president, Pedro Carmona Estanga, leader of the business federation (Fedecámaras), who governed Venezuela from April 12 to 13, 2002. Through the Carmona Decree, the very brief government that overthrew Chávez for two days, dissolved all powers in Venezuela and attempted to establish a government servile to the United States.
In the same order of ideas, in a cable from 2006, which was released by the Venezuelan-American lawyer Eva Golinger, author of the book “The Chávez Code: Deciphering the US Intervention in Venezuela”, reveals the strategy of the United States ambassador in Caracas, William Brownfield (2004-2007), to finance political organizations in Venezuela: “1) Strengthen democratic institutions, 2) Infiltrate Chávez’s political base, 3) Divide Chavismo, 4) Protect American businesses and 5) Isolate Chávez internationally.” Currently Brownfield, who was also ambassador to Chile and Colombia, continues his attack against Venezuela, calling for more sanctions against the Venezuelan people, to accelerate the collapse of the Maduro government, who has just been re-elected for a new period (2025-2031).
Each year, the NED allocates over 3 million dollars to finance Non-Governmental Organizations that promote all types of actions against countries not aligned with the foreign policy of the United States. Most of these funds are destined for the opposition in Cuba and Venezuela.
In the Bolivarian Republic, in 2012 alone, the NED granted financing for nearly 1.3 million dollars to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that were used as platforms to promote social destabilization and that are linked to the various assassination and coup attempts, in Venezuela.
The National Endowment for Democracy, together with a network of organizations such as Atlas Network, has continued the Imperialist Agenda against the Bolivarian Government of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
In 2014, opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has promoted sanctions against Venezuela and has also called for disavowing Nicolás Maduro as president-elect in the last elections on July 28, 2024, publicly recognized the work of the NED. In a video we can see Machado saying: “Thanks to the Atlas Network, to all the freedom fighters.” Atlas Network is one of the American organizations through which the NED operates.
In 2016, the Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, one of the promoters of the Law that regulates the operation of NGOs, stated that the NED had financed destabilizing groups by approving projects in the order of 1.6 million dollars, during that year. “In Venezuela, the list of NGOs that have received their big checks from this foundation, the NED, is extensive, among them: Sumate, Cedice, Un Mundo Sin Mordaza, Espacio Público, Forma, Transparencia Venezuela, Foro Penal Venezolano, Instituto of Press and Society (Ypis), among others,” said the current Minister of Interior Relations, Justice and Peace.
In 2002, the ONG Súmate, founded by opposition leader María Corina Machado, received financing from the NED. Sumate, which according to its statutes seeks to “build democracy,” has been dedicated to promoting political destabilization and interference against Venezuela. María Corina Machado has also signed the “Carmona Decree.”
The NED has dozens of global and regional programs. In Latin America and the Caribbean, through the “Program for the Promotion of Democratic Ideas and Values”, the NED allocated 3.7 million dollars during 2016 and 2017. Of these projects, 12 were executed in Cuba and 11 in Venezuela. NGOs were also funded in Bolivia (3), Nicaragua (3), Colombia (2), Haiti (2), Guatemala (3) and Mexico (1).
Venezuela and international cooperation
The Bolivarian Revolution has carried out a diplomacy of peace and unity with the countries of the so-called Global South, especially with vulnerable populations, social movements, artists and intellectuals, in order to build true ties of brotherhood and solidarity with the peoples oppressed by the imperial yoke of the United States and Europe. As described in the Explanatory Memorandum of the Draft International Cooperation Law, which is under discussion in the Venezuelan National Assembly:
“In the field of international cooperation, the policy of the Venezuelan State is oriented towards the search for international balance and the construction of a multipolar world as opposed to the neoliberal and unipolar model that seeks internationalization and empowerment of capital accumulation to impose its hegemony. of unique thought through the ideological design of globalization, alien to the cultures, idiosyncrasies, and histories of the peoples of the world. Hence, Venezuelan foreign policy today in the framework of contemporary international relations plays a vitally important role, conceiving international cooperation as a means of integral human development, social justice and well-being of the people.”
Thus, Venezuela has financed binational projects in countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and has also financed social projects in North America and Europe. The role of Bolivarian and Chavista Venezuela has not been exclusively that of a recipient country of International Cooperation, but it has also been a provider of international financing for projects to be developed in various areas (Health, Education, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Housing, etc. ).
However, the current International Cooperation Law dates back to 1958, a time in which the country was governed by a de facto government. It is for these reasons that the Venezuelan Executive promotes a new International Cooperation Law in accordance with the new era and the current role of the Bolivarian Revolution in the framework of international relations.
Many interests and correlation of forces have stopped the approval of this regulatory body that seeks to renew and update the Bolivarian diplomacy of peace and friendship with the peoples of the world. However, the new Venezuelan Law of International Cooperation will not take much longer to be finally approved.
Venezuela’s democratic response to combat US interference
On August 15, 2024, the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela approved the Law on Supervision, Regularization, Performance and Financing of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and Non-Profit Social Organizations. The approval of this Law has been disseminated by the hegemonic media and social networks as “a new advance by the Venezuelan government to restrict the field of action of civil society.”
However, the purpose of this Law is to “establish the regime for the constitution, registration, operation and financing of non-governmental organizations and non-profit social organizations, as associative forms oriented towards the co-responsible participation of society, in accordance with the provisions of this Law. established in the Constitution and the international treaties ratified by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Likewise, the legal norm aims to: 1. Facilitate the exercise of the right to association as a human right and expression of the model of participatory and leading democracy established in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; 2. Generate certainty and legal security on the applicable procedures for the organization, operation and financing of non-governmental organizations and non-profit social organizations; and 3. Contribute to the fight against money laundering, organized crime and financing of terrorism, in compliance with the Republic’s international commitments.
The need and urgency of this Law is mainly due to the advance of fascism and the terrorist goals pursued by Non-Governmental Organizations that receive financing from the NED, as well as from organizations that make up its network of covert interventionist action. We can name, in addition to the attempted Coup d’état of July 29, 30 and 31, 2024, promoted by the opposition leader with very strong financial ties with the USAID and NED, the following destabilizing events, known in Venezuela under the name of “Guarimbas ”:
2014 Guarimbas. “The Exit” Plan: In February, protests began in Caracas, a date known as “Youth Day.” Protests broke out in several cities across the country, resulting in clashes with security forces. The protests intensified and deaths and injuries were reported. In March, a group of Military Aviation generals, with direct links to sectors of the Venezuelan opposition, were captured. They were preparing a plan for a military uprising, which was denounced by lower-ranking officers.
The “guarimbas” continued until the month of May, although with less intensity, as did the number of marches carried out by the opposition in various Venezuelan cities.
2015 Coup Attempt:February 12, an attempted coup d’état called “Blue Coup” or “Operation Jericho” was dismantled. The plan was to attack the Miraflores Palace with a plane, and where the commemorative events for Youth Day would be held, which is celebrated in Venezuela on this day.
2016 Coup Attempt: February 12 and 13. A plan whose idea was to attack strategic points of state institutions by air was dismantled; It included operations against civilians as well. An attempted military coup under the shock doctrine.
2017 Guarimbas:April. Throughout this month, large demonstrations began in Caracas and other Venezuelan cities. Clashes and road blockades are reported in several areas of the country. On May Day. The Labor Day march turns into a massive protest against the Maduro government.
Coup attempts between 2018-2020: During this period, the coup opposition called for other demonstrations and protests, although not under the name of “guarimbas”, but they did continue to contribute to the context of a political and economic crisis in the country.
From 2020 until the presidential elections of July 28, 2024, mediated by the Covid19 pandemic, Venezuela saw social conflict reduced in the streets of the country. But behind the scenes new attempts to break the constitutional order were being planned with the support of the governments of the United States and Europe.
All attempts at destabilization have had the logistical support and conceptual guidance of the United States government, which continues to finance NGOs, political parties and opposition leaders to try to destroy the Bolivarian Revolution.
Conclusions
Venezuela, respectful of the Magna Carta and international agreements, recognizes and protects the right of every person to associate for lawful purposes, with no limitations other than those norms that guarantee national security, citizen security or public order, to protect the public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others.
Venezuela recognizes the right of its citizens to peaceful demonstration, since, as established by the Venezuelan Constitution, every person has the right to freedom of conscience and to demonstrate it, unless its practice affects their personality or constitutes a crime (Art. 61).
However, the Bolivarian Revolution, a democratic, constitutional and peaceful revolution, cannot allow the intervention of the United States in its internal affairs. The Venezuelan government cannot ignore the injection of millions of dollars, which year after year are destined to promote fruitless attempts at color revolutions.
The Bolivarian Revolution must prevent the advance of fascism, neo-fascism and other manifestations of the extreme right, racist, supremacist, xenophobic, servile and instrumentalized by the United States government, to try soft blows. A psychological war, a cognitive war, that has affected a good part of the country’s youth.
Therefore, Venezuela’s response has been the implementation of a set of laws that protect the Venezuelan people from returning to the guarimbas, from the death of innocents, and that seek to stop the advance of fascism and US imperialist meddling at its roots. The laws against Hate Speech, against Terrorism and those that regulate international cooperation and the actions of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) will not fully prevent the United States and its allies from continuing to hit the government and the Venezuelan people, but they are part of a protective shield against these attacks, which, although they have failed in their attempts to put an end to the Bolivarian Revolution, have impacted the minds of Venezuelan youth, who are the future of Venezuela and its revolution.
Aware of this danger, the Venezuelan Government has made efforts to, on the one hand, promote the return of Venezuelans who have had to leave the country due to the more than 900 sanctions unjustly imposed on Venezuela, and on the other, in addition to initiatives to guarantee the peace and economic stability of the Latin American country, the Bolivarian Government has promoted the holding of the Great Congress of the Historical Block to strengthen debates from the bases, to build the national hegemony after the victory of Nicolás Maduro on July 28. The Great Congress of the Historical Block will take place from October 31 to November 2, 2024.
“And in this congress let us land the programmatic vision, the vision strategic, the geopolitical vision of the next 30 years of Venezuela, we can think long, big and we can establish the drawing of the stages, from the ones we are living onwards, we can make a historical and strategic planning would say our commander Hugo Chávez, because here we are making revolution for the generations that are growing and for the boys and girls that are being born, because our country belongs to them, we are aware of that.
Let’s call everyone, this is an inclusive methodology necessary, participatory, that people feel the happiness of giving their opinion, of propose, if it is integrally useful, and all the Bolivarian forces truly chavistas, authentically patriots, socialists and progressives of Venezuela, feel that they have a space to draw the future of the Revolution Bolivarian of the 21st century.”
President Nicolás Maduro
On September 2, 2024