Obama sabotages left-wing states ANC, BRICS targeted, warns Isturiz Shannon Ebrahim, Foreign Editor, The Star, Johannesburg, 11 May 2016 “US President Barack Obama is using his remaining time in office to destabilize all progressive countries and undermine their emancipation movements,” the Vice-President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela told Independent Media during his visit to the country. Vice-President Aristobulo Isturiz is categorical in his belief that US embassies are operating to destabilize left wing governments, including that of the ruling ANC. “It is their intention to weaken the BRICS countries,” he said as he drew parallels between outside efforts to destabilize Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia and other left-wing Latin American governments. It is Isturiz’s contention that media multinationals are working hand in hand with the US government to destabilize governments of the region. Asked about the veracity of reports by the Washington Post that Obama and all Latin American governments other than Cuba had urged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to negotiate with opposition leaders, Isturiz strongly rejected such reporting saying “what else can you expect from the Washington Post?” “Obama did what no other US president has done – issue a decree against Venezuela, declaring that it is a threat to the safety of the USA. “Obama not only ratified the degree, but has gone further, saying that President Maduro must go. He is taking liberties that don’t belong to him,” Isturiz said. While Isturiz insists that Latin America will not become a playground for the [US] Americans as it was in previous times, he blames the multilateral bodies for their silence in the face of such regime change efforts. Venezuela’s Vice-President believes that the methodology that the Americans are using to enact regime change is to use the parliaments of the region as a forum to conspire against incumbent left-wing governments, as happened in Uruguay and Honduras. “It is in this way that they try to make a coup d’état look legal,” Isturiz told Independent Media. The other way in which Isturiz believes that the imperialist powers are undermining progressive governments is by using the rating agencies to raise the level of risk for each country, thereby deterring investment and adding to economic difficulties. Venezuela hs now been pegged at the highest level of risk. Isturiz believes that the way to counter the imperialist threat is to strengthen south-south relations, just as Hugo Chavez had advocated 10 years ago at a meeting of the AU where he had declared that the time had come to look South. Chavez had propose four elements of the South-South agenda, those being a bank of the south, a university of the south, Petrosur to develop oil and mining of the south, and Telesur – a media agency reflecting the views of the South. Part of Isturiz’s agenda in South Africa was to see how to operationalise some of this vision, including bringing the progressive Latin America media organisation Telesur to the continent – an issue which was raised with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. Isturiz also placed great importance on the need for Venezuela and South Africa to collaborate in the exploration of mineral resources. “The weight of the petrol economy has not enabled us to develop other strengths, and we need to build a productive economy,” he said. Mining was key in bilateral discussions, but there were also extensive discussions on tourism, medicine and educational exchanges. For Venezuela, BRICS represents hope for emerging markets, and Isturiz’s message to South Africans is to consolidate internal unity and strengthen regional bodies of the South. Transcribed by hand from hard copy. -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
