By Yunus Soner, Caracas / Venezuela
Venezuela is heading to presidential elections on July 28. More than 21 million citizens are called to vote, with current President Nicolás Maduro standing for re-election. On the side of the opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez is the leading one in a field of 9 candidates.
Government and opposition present opposing political programs in a number of fields. We asked Jorge Arreaza what is at stake regarding Venezuela’s foreign policy and the balances on the continent. Arreaza is former Venezuelan Foreign Minister and currently the Executive Secretary of the ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty.
From the perspective of ALBA, the elections in Venezuela, what do they mean?
Hard question. Elections in Venezuela have always been a decision between the path of sovereignty, the path of democratic socialism, or that of becoming colony, submission and domination. Since 1998, every election in Venezuela is about taking one extreme or the other.
And at this moment, after so many years of consecutive aggression, blockade, sanctions against Venezuela, against Cuba, against Nicaragua. But in the Venezuelan case, for our alliance, victory in Venezuela is fundamental because it would demonstrate the conscience of a people that it wants to be independent, it believes that it is independent and that it wants to move forward on his own feet despite all the political, economic, psychological and media attacks.
So, it is a victory that all the people will celebrate and when I say the people of ALBA, I go beyond its 10 member countries, because the popular sentiment in Our America is the same in all countries, from Mexico to Argentina, from California to Argentina.
And I am sure that all the people will celebrate it, because they will see that there is a people that has been able to, despite the attacks, and this will mean that they can also dare.
Venezuelan opposition follows path of Milei: Disintegration
Do you think that if we look at the opposition, for example, in Argentina, President Milei is betting more towards a path of regional disintegration. Can that also be said of the Venezuelan opposition? That programmatically, they do not seek integration, but rather continental disintegration, isolating Venezuela in regional terms?
It is that one of the premises from which we start is that for the countries of our America to be truly independent, I think it is valid for Africa as well, we must first go through union and then be truly independent. These governments are a kind of envoys of imperialism, of neocolonialism, to hit integration, to fragment us, to disunite us, because in this way we will never be independent, we will always be dominated.
Not even Mexico with its strength, nor Brazil, nor Argentina, which are great countries, are truly independent and will only be so the day that all of our America constitutes a great pole of power in this multipolar world and can jointly face the challenges, can generate knowledge, can generate goods and products for life, can generate economic strength from the bases, knowledge, only there will we be truly independent.
That is why they are going to disintegrate, to disunite. We on the contrary in the balance move towards the extreme of union.
Venezuela’s reason to join BRICS
Speaking of BRICS multipolarity, Venezuela is getting closer and there is ambition to join the BRICS. What is the expectation from here?
Well, I know that Venezuela and other ALBA countries are there at the gates of entering BRICS. BRICS in this multipolar world is another path. BRICS proposes to disengage from capitalism and neoliberalism in the formulas as imposed by the United States.
And from ALBA, we are already at the forefront. We have a common currency to de-dollarize ourselves. We have a bank to generate our own development processes, as the BRICS now have. Furthermore, we have undertaken processes of independence from the United States and its financial domination for 10, 15 and even 20 years. So, it is like a natural field, and I think it would be a gain for the BRICS if ALBA countries can join.
ALBA and Türkiye
My last question coming, from Türkiye. What does ALBA mean for Türkiye? What does it offer? Why should Türkiye, which already has very good relations with Venezuela, with Cuba, with other countries, contact ALBA? And, to ask a little provocatively, Syria is already a special guest in ALBA, can you imagine that for Türkiye as well?
Yes, well, when Türkiye expresses its will, I am sure that the countries will evaluate it carefully. But for Türkiye, I think what matters is to understand that the Bolivarian alliance is the heart of the union.
We carry the spirit of Bolívar, and we want UNASUR to be infected with that spirit, may the CELAC be infected with that spirit.
We are in contact with the people, we are not isolated governments, we are popular governments and social movements that are in ALBA beyond the governments.
I believe that if the friendly countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, that believe in sovereignty, that believe in independence, that believe in mutual respect, in fair trade, in solidarity exchange, I am sure that they will understand that the ALBA countries are the door to the true union of our America and the fact that they are already incorporated with us will mean that tomorrow they will also be with CELAC, they will be with UNASUR and the other processes.
It’s a type of regional door, maybe then. It is the safest door because it is the door that is anchored directly in the people.
Thank you so much.
This interview was conducted on behalf of TeleSUR.