Carlos Sánchez Berzaín
June 28, 2020
(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) Venezuela has become the Transnational Organized Crime’s center wherefrom Cuba’s regime operates conspiracies, narcotics’ trafficking, terrorism, and a long list of crimes to destabilize countries, topple governments and democratic leaders. Venezuela is an occupied country and its people are subjected by a usurper regime’s force and violence. Venezuela’s occupation is a threat and an effective attack against the Americas and the world, it affects the national security of all democratic States who, for their own interest, must implement effective actions to liberate Venezuela.
For many years Venezuela stopped being a Venezuelan problem and became a Latin American, regional, and worldwide problem. What started with Hugo Chavez’s rescue of, and partnership with, Fidel Castro -the sole remaining tyrant and Cuba as the only dictatorship in the region in 1999- has turned to be that this 21st Century in the Americas be that of the history of the deliverance, expansion, and ascension to power of a Transnational Organized Crime’s group who uses politics as an alibi, that of “Castrochavism”.
The Cuban regime had always used the coverage of “revolution”, of the “left”, and of being “anti-imperialist” to disguise the most heinous of crimes against humanity. Ever since 1959, they violated all human rights with executions by firing squads, torture, imprisonment, exile, and the absolute and total subjugation of the people, whom they brainwashed and changed their values and identity based on violence and extortion driven by the needs the very own regime produces. Quickly, they violated the rights of the people of other States with guerrillas, terrorism, invasions, and interventions. Soon thereafter, they directed and executed crimes of; kidnapping, extortion, narcotics’ trafficking, coups d’ etat, and more. What is happening now in and from Venezuela is nothing new.
Hugo Chavez’s death was very beneficial for the Castro’s because it gave the total control of the criminal organization to Cuba. In Hugo Chavez’s succession the dispute was between Castrism, represented by Nicolas Maduro, and Chavism led by Diosdado Cabello, and obviously Cuba imposed its dictator.
If we recall, the concept of “threat” as “the crime that consists of intimidating someone with a claim of provoking a serious mishap . . .” we shall see that Venezuela’s usurper regime is not only a threat, it is an attack with effective criminal actions. Within the framework of the UN’s definitions over international peace and security, it is an attacker and an intervener, as proven by its support to, and rearming of, the FARC, its complicity with the ELN, and the crimes they commit against Colombia’s people and sovereignty, the destabilization of the government with the support of “similar groups and politicians”, the sustained actions of “assassinating the reputation” of democratic leaders, and much more.
Venezuela’s Castrochavist regime is also an operator of; sedition, conspiracy, and acts of destabilization and toppling of democratic governments. It publicly announces its crimes using – amongst others- the “Forum of Sao Paolo” to execute the self-confessed “light Bolivarian breeze” after producing the failed coup against President Moreno in Ecuador in October of 2019, after intervening in Chile’s destabilization, in the open conspiracy in Brazil, … operations that today are still underway and that now include Bolivia and other countries.
From occupied Venezuela a whole array of narcotics’ trafficking crimes is committed with the FARC, ELN and other criminal organizations’ cocaine from Colombia, with Evo Morales from Bolivia, and with the cartels from Mexico. Authors of the “Lava Jato” corruption plot who along with Brazilian companies such as Odebrecht, are -until now- protected in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Argentina and other countries. They launder money, pay expensive lobbyists, kidnap, assassinate, torture, they have political prisoners, have exiled millions of people and they do so with the facade of being the “government” when in reality they are a mafia.
The usurped Venezuela is a platform for China, Iran, Russia’s penetration and expansion with antidemocratic objectives in the region. From the very own usurped Venezuela there has been criminal funding to form and sustain political groups in Europe, tested in Spain, Italy, Greece, and elsewhere.
For Venezuela to recover its freedom and democracy is an utmost need and an urgent and immediate interest of the International Community. One way of doing this, is to empower President Juan Guaido to ask for the formation of a Multinational Force -under his command and responsibility- to end the usurpation, the “credible threat”. To accept elections with the regime’s participation is tantamount to recognize Organized Crime as a political actor.
Attorney & Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.
Translated from Spanish by; Edgar L. Terrazas, Member of the American Translators Association, ATA # 234680.