The Venezuelan Thing Abides

Venezuelan protesters being hosed down in Caracas

In all the hoo-hah over the "Crimean Crisis" (right, whatever), the ongoing sabotage and subversion situation in Caracas and much of the rest of Venezuela is often forgotten, not even a sideshow in the pageant of world events.

But we shouldn't overlook it.

The protests by the Prada and Gucci set in Venezuela against the Bolivarian Revolution and the Maduro government have not stopped, not by a long shot, but participation seems to have declined significantly. This may or may not be due to official repression -- which has sometimes been reported to be severe. More than likely, it is due to the protesters' lack of unity and coherent policy prescriptions.

I've said, and I'll say again, these people just want their power back. The protesters are mostly middle and upper income Venezuelans, mostly white, and mostly of the former ruling class. Their power was diminished or eliminated by the Bolivarian Revolution, and they are still resentful and determined to restore their position and status in order to once again be able to exploit and oppress the lower orders, the poor people, the zambos, indios, and negros who have seen their condition improve and their situation advance under Chavismo.

More than likely, the protests in Venezuela will resume their intensity once the situation in Crimea stabilizes -- if it does -- and the various NGOs and government agencies in Colombia and the US can once again focus their attention on detaching Venezuelans from their Boliavarian Revolution, and detaching Venezuelan oil from the clutches of the Revolutionaries.

Returning things to the status quo ante in Venezuela, when the right kinds of people ruled the unruly masses with rod and staff and they could loot the treasury at will is only just, amirite?

But these things take time in the Modern World; no longer is Gunboat Diplomacy manifested throughout the uncivilized parts of creation, no longer does Washington just dispatch the Marines any time the natives get restless under the thumb of their overlords.

The hubris that led to the bloody debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to many other interventions and drone wars against "suspected militants" -- (Good doG in Heaven, suspected? That could be anyone, for any reason or none at all. What are they thinking? Or is thinking no longer allowed among the High and the Mighty?) -- has somewhat tempered the urge to send the troops much of anywhere these days. Their fights against peoples struggling to be free -- as they interpret the term -- haven't turned out so well.

But Venezuela is being "done" nonetheless, through internal subversion and sabotage, directed from the palatial suburban spreads of the wealthy in Caracas as well as the fincas in the outlying regions, as well as from Bogata, as well as from Miami, and I think there is no doubt of consideration and direction from the think tanks and strategic centers of Washington, DC, as well.

When the time is right, and the situation is ripe, Venezuela will be returned to its rightful place among nations, subservient to the will of the Grand Pooh-Pahs in Washington, and once again, its people impoverished, embeggared, ragged and starving, under the let and authority of some of the very people who are causing so much ruckus in the streets.

At least that is the scheme, that is the plan.

Please note: This Plan, which was circulated by RT in Spanish last November, in advance of the Venezuelan municipal elections on December 8, 2013, has not been authenticated. There is no proof in other words -- none that I've seen, anyway -- that the plan as it was published by RT was ever actually created, developed and implemented in toto or in part by the actors and elements named.

And yet, rather shockingly prescient, many of its aspects have been part and parcel of the demonstrations and their string-pullers since the latest wave began right after the elections in December. There has been a mounting level of violent protest, sabotage, interference with supplies and deliveries of electricity, food stuffs, and basic supplies (the Toilet Paper Revolution, this one is) and to favorably propagandize the rebels everywhere. Whether or not the plan is authentic, in other words, it is being carried out almost to the letter.

As far as I know, no one has attempted to discredit the Plan, either. There have been ritualized denials by the State Department that their personnel have had anything to do with the uprisings, but they are as creditable as this unsourced document, maybe less so, given the fact that the State Department has a somewhat sketchy relationship with the truth now and then. So I don't know. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the document that RT circulated, but it is certainly interesting that some parts of it are being implemented in Venezuela.

Once the Ukraine Thing is stabilized and Moldova is folded into the EU's Far Periphery, I'm sure attention will once again be turned to Venezuela, where all eyes will be on that bus driver in Miraflores Palace, and getting his ass out of there.

Until then, Venezuela abides.