Chavez Warns of US Plan to Divide Venezuela

[magbana]

http://www.granma.cu/index.html

GRANMA
May 31, 2008

President Hugo Chavez Warns of US Plan to Divide Venezuela

Caracas, May 30.— President Hugo Chavez warned today of a separatist plan
orchestrated by the United States to take control of natural and other
economic resources in several states in the west of Venezuela.

“To be united is our best emblem. We must be alert to the attempts made by
counterrevolutionary forces to promote division in this country,” pointed
out Chavez at a political rally with Socialist Party members in the state of
Zulia.

“We are in Maracaibo, land of liberators and natural resources, but this is
also the epicenter of a separatist plan orchestrated by Washington,” the
president said.

“Now,” pointed out Chavez, “the oligarchy and the counterrevolutionaries
want to extend those manoeuvres to other departments, such as Merida, Apure
and Falcon, in order to create a so-called divisionist chain.”

“If the fascist counterrevolutionaries manage to win provincial governments
in these regions, let’s say in Tachira, Merida or Zulia, then 2009 will be a
year of war and great battles,” stressed Chavez.

According to recent statements by party leaders, the national leadership of
the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is ready to confront any
separatist attempt aimed at separating the state of Zulia from the rest of
the country.

Rodrigo Cabezas, the vice president of the PSUV in the region of
Zulia-Falcon, criticized the plans of Venezuela’s extreme right wingers from
some states in the west of the country. (PL)

Chávez alerta sobre plan divisionista contra Venezuela

Caracas, 30 mayo.— El presidente Hugo Chávez alertó hoy que Estados Unidos
fragua un plan separatista contra Venezuela con la meta de adueñarse de la
riqueza económica y natural de varios estados occidentales.

La unidad es nuestra mayor divisa, debemos estar atentos contra los intentos
de la contrarrevolución de fomentar la fragmentación en este país, subrayó
el jefe de Estado en un acto político en Zulia con militantes socialistas.

Estamos en Maracaibo, tierra de libertadores y riquezas naturales, pero
también está aquí el epicentro del plan separatista orquestado bajo el
impulso de Washington, subrayó el estadista.

Ahora —apuntó Chávez— la oligarquía y la contrarrevolución buscan expandir
esas maniobras secesionistas hacia otros departamentos como Mérida, Apure,
Falcón, para formar un llamado arco divisionista, dijo.

Si la contrarrevolución fascista logra ganar gobernaciones por estas
regiones, digamos Táchira, Mérida o Zulia, entonces el 2009 será un año de
guerra y grandes batallas, enfatizó el mandatario.

La dirección nacional del Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV), está
preparada para enfrentar cualquier intento separatista, que pretenda
desligar al estado Zulia del resto del país, precisaron recientemente
dirigentes partidistas.

El vicepresidente de la región Zulia-Falcón del Psuv, Rodrigo Cabezas,
criticó aspiraciones cismáticas de la extrema derecha venezolana radicada en
algunas regiones del oeste del país. (PL

[Judi Lynn]

1. This article discusses the US-backed secessionist plots in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia:

May 30, 2008
From a Texan-Venezuelan to an Ecuadorian Giuliani

Meet South America's New Secessionists
By NIKOLAS KOZLOFF

Having failed to halt the tide of South America’s Pink Tide, Washington is seeking to cultivate relationships with secessionist leaders in order to facilitate the breakup of countries which share left leaning governments. In Bolivia, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has explicitly supported demands of the political opposition for greater regional autonomy in the eastern section of the country and has funneled millions of dollars to the right.

~snip~
Who are these secession leaders who wish to derail South America’s Pink Tide?

A Texan Venezuelan

With the largest inland lake in Latin America, the most fertile land and 40 percent of Venezuela's oil production, the western state of Zulia and its capital Maracaibo may rightly claim to be the country's productive backbone. Zulia has always thought of itself as the Texas of Venezuela -- a land dominated by oil, cattle and predominantly conservative politicians. It is the country’s most affluent and populous state.

Local residents have long taken pride in zulianidad - a state identity based loosely on Caribbean food and hospitality, a local musical genre known as gaita, and the syncretic Christian practices that dominate local religious life, chief among them worship of the "Black Christ" housed in Maracaibo's cathedral.

In the twentieth century some “Zulianos” sought greater autonomy from the central government. Historical documents in the Public Records Office of Kew Gardens in London suggest that U.S. oil companies have been embroiled in secession plots (for more on this murky history, see my earlier Counterpunch articles on Zulia secession).

~snip~
“I Need to Urinate On You”

Venezuela is not the only country facing an internal secessionist movement. In Ecuador, the right opposition to President Rafael Correa is coalescing around Jaime Nebot, the mayor of the coastal city of Guayaquil. Affiliated to the country’s Social Christian Party, Nebot ran twice for the Presidency, in 1992 and 1996. During his second presidential bid, Nebot ran on a pro-business platform stressing privatization of public services.

Born into a prominent Guayaquil family, Nebot entered politics in 1984 when President Leon Febres-Cordero appointed the ambitious young man Governor of Guayas province, the district encompassing Guayaquil.

Nebot’s association with Febres-Cordero, a key ally of Ronald Reagan at the time, is not flattering. As I explain in my new book, Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left (Palgrave-Macmillan), torture and killing by the military as well as disappearances and arbitrary arrests multiplied in Ecuador during this unfortunate period of the country’s political history.

~snip~
Meet Rubén Costas: Bolivia’s Secessionist

Fair skinned and European looking, Rubén Costas hardly resembles Bolivia’s indigenous president Evo Morales. Elected Prefect of the western department of Santa Cruz in 2005, Costas has become a key advocate for greater regional autonomy and a thorn in the side of the government in La Paz.

Following Costas’ election, the right opposition escalated its pressure on the Morales government, organizing protests in the city of Sucre against the President’s proposed Constitution which would have given the country’s indigenous majority a greater say in political decision making. When clashes erupted which resulted in the deaths of three demonstrators and a policeman, Costas pounced by calling for a 24-hour business strike.

An advocate for powerful business interests, Costas was also one of the right wing politicians who called for a referendum on Santa Cruz autonomy earlier this month. Prior to the referendum, Costas remarked hopefully that the departments of Tarija, Pando and Benin would join Santa Cruz in its drive for autonomy and “a second Bolivia will be created.”

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff05302008.html



Manuel Rosales, Zulia secessionist, Venezuela



Jaime Nebot, Ecuador



Rubén Costas, Bolivia