Time.news – In this forgotten continent that is Latin America, where authoritarian regimes continue to abound and where bad governance is often the norm, Venezuela stands out for the brutality of its repressive system. This weekend was once again the scene of this political violence. Opposition leader Juan Guaido was violently attacked during a visit to the state of Cojedes. Juan Guaido won the 2019 elections, although the Castro-Chavista regime robbed him of victory. Its legitimacy is recognized by the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Parliament, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, the United States, Canada, Chile and many other nations .
The images show him with his shirt torn, violently attacked by civilian personnel carrying firearms. Most of the regime’s acts of repression are committed by commandos from the many Venezuelan secret services (DGIM, Sebin, FAES, etc.). “It was an ambush led by those who usurp power”, said Juan Guaido in the evening, as part of a video broadcast by Instagram. Unlike other opponents who died in chavismo jails, he can tell it.
ATTENTION | Strong escrache to @jguaido while in a restaurant with members of his party: they pushed him out. Credits to the author. pic.twitter.com/AnUVzL2qiv
– Érika Ortega Sanoja (@ErikaOSanoja) June 11, 2022
Translation: ATTENTION: Juan Guaido was heavily attacked while he was in a restaurant with members of his party. They pushed him out.
Since President Joe Biden’s decision last March to reconnect with a number of authoritarian regimes in order to fill the deficit created by the boycott of Russian oil, the regime has embarked on a process of “democratic normalization”, which gives rise to a new, more uninhibited form of repression. The piranha attack by the henchmen of the Sebin (Bolivarian National Intelligence Service) on Juan Guaido, amply documented, exposes the effects of the de-demonization of Venezuela by the Biden administration. The first consequence of this rapprochement was to stifle a report that Amnesty International had just published a few days earlier. This document concluded that the policy of repression and systematic persecution practiced by the Maduro regime constitutes in itself a crime of “injury to humanity”, subject to international justice. This declaration was a first on the part of an NGO, consisting in explicitly mentioning the possibility of seeing Nicolas Maduro brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Hague has never examined crimes of this kind, perpetrated in Latin America, since its constitution in 1998. Amnesty International’s report, designed with the NGOs Foro Penal and the Center for Defenders of Justice, associated with this request.
Under the effect of international criticism, Joe Biden seems to have taken note that this adventure, consisting of normalizing relations with Venezuela, would not pass. Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said yesterday on Twitter: “The United States is deeply concerned and condemns this escalation of acts of violence, harassment and intimidation against the interim President and all those who defend democracy”. Brian Nichols, Under Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, said “deeply concerned by the gratuitous attack suffered by President Juan Guaido and his team”. Adding that “This fierce attack put lives at risk” and “those responsible must answer to justice”. If there is a nuance between Nichols and his superior Blinken on the level of recognition and deference vis-à-vis Guaido, it is clear that for the administration they represent, there is an urgency to regain some distance. Because, even if Venezuela, Nicaragua and Honduras were not invited to the Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles last week, a secret diplomacy is well and truly underway.
Why is Venezuela important? Between Russia and Algeria, the United States has managed a tremendous geostrategic paradigm shift. They are in the process of replacing Russia for the gas markets of the European Union. For Spain, it is already done, in particular thanks to the warming of hatred between Morocco and Algeria, as well as the instrumentalization of the government of Pedro Sanchez.
Read also: Error or sordid blackmail, why did Sanchez alienate Algeria?
Still, for oil, the United States has seen the liter at the pump increase even more than that of the Europeans. In California, it exceeds six dollars. And in this game, which is nothing more than a geo-economic question of destroying rivals and keeping other suppliers on a leash, it’s a safe bet that the Guaidos won’t hold their own for very long.