FEBRUARY 12 saw the announcement of the discovery of a plot to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with government officials saying the plans included violent attacks on the presidential palace and other government buildings.

The thwarting of this latest coup attempt comes as leaders of numerous Latin American countries have warned of a similar situation developing in Venezuela to that which preceded the 1973 coup against Chile’s Salvador Allende, which led to the horrendous dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

In recent weeks, Maduro himself has warned that the right-wing opposition in the country is trying to create conditions that will lead to a coup. The warning came after a series of raids on shipping companies revealed that they were hoarding products to generate shortages.

Venezuelan Vice-President Jorge Arreaza also echoed Maduro’s concerns, saying the opposition is intentionally creating shortages of supplies to destabilise the country.

In an illuminating contribution to the discussion, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa called on young people in his progressive governing alliance to learn from Latin America’s history, when economic wars and coups have been regularly used to destabilise popular governments.

Comparing the current “economic war” by sections of big capital against the Venezuelan government to what happened in Chile in the early 1970s, he said that “after the elections in March 1973 in Chile, the defeated bourgeoisie chose the path of economic war to overthrow Allende: stockpiling, speculation, etc,” adding that “the resemblance is striking with what is happening now in Venezuela.”

He further added that this happened “once the Chilean elites realised that they could not achieve victory in the ballot box and were defeated in the legislative elections in 1973.”

Adding to this discourse, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said that the steps taken by the Venezuelan government to confront hoarding and scarcities are “absolutely legitimate” in light of the “economic war” being waged in the country.

Hammering home this important point, he argued that a strong government response in Venezuela was necessary as “it is similar to what happened with Chile and Allende.”

The minister went on to explain that various sectors were interested in taking over Venezuela’s oil reserves — the largest in the world — and therefore “it interests them to take that country like many others, that is the reality of the history of humanity.”

Linking the “economic war,” the ongoing anti-democratic, destabilisation plans from elements of the opposition and the increasingly aggressive attitude of the US, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega meeanwhile accused the US government of launching a calculated economic war that seeks to undermine Venezuela’s political stability, explicitly comparing the situation to Washington’s role in the overthrow of Allende.

“We see clearly that they want to repeat the same situation that took place in Chile, they are applying the same script and they want to have it end in a military coup,” Ortega stated.

Ortega’s words followed the US government announcing officially the introduction of a new set of sanctions which target former and current Venezuelan officials.

The Venezuelan government has pointed out the sanctions are politically motivated, and that they form part of US plans to oust the elected government.

In response, the Non-Aligned Movement group of 120 nations has issued a statement denouncing US sanctions on Venezuela as an intervention into Venezuelan affairs.

The body described the sanctions as “intended to undermine Venezuela’s sovereignty, its political independence and its right to self-determination.”

The Non-Aligned Movement considers the unilateral sanctions a “violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter and the basic principles of international law of relations between states.”

Latin America is right to stand by Venezuela — so must we.

Matt Willgress is the national co-ordinator of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign (www.venezuelasolidarity.co.uk) and writes a regular column for the Morning Star on Latin America

A solidarity event, US Intervention and Destabilisation in Venezuela— Lessons of Chile & Nicaragua, will take place at 6.30pm on Tuesday, March 31 at The Discus, Unite House, London WC1X 8TN. The event will feature contributions from Dr Francisco Dominguez, political refugee from the Pinochet dictatorship and co-author of Right-Wing Politics in the New Latin America; ambassador of Nicaragua Guisell Morales and Marcos Garcia of the Venezuelan Embassy.