London, Washington Seeking ‘Classic Regime Change’ in Venezuela: Expert


London, Washington Seeking ‘Classic Regime Change’ in Venezuela: Expert

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Latin America expert in Leesburg, Virginia, said the British and US governments are seeking a classic regime-change operation in Venezuela similar to those carried out in Iraq and Libya, adding that it is orchestrated to unleash chaos throughout the region.

“What is underway in Venezuela is a classic “regime-change” operation of the sort that was carried out in Iraq, Libya, and Ukraine, and attempted in Syria, all with disastrous consequences,” Dennis Small told Tasnim.

He added, “The primary interests behind those coups d’etat are the financial and political interests centered in the City of London and Wall Street, who seek to eliminate the very principles of national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations—in other words, the Westphalian system which has served the world well when respected.”

“…it is designed to unleash chaos and permanent conflict throughout the region, in much the same way these same interests have done in Libya and throughout the Middle East.”

Dennis Small is the Ibero-American Editor of Executive Intelligence Review (EIR), a Washington, D.C.-based weekly magazine founded by the American statesman and economist Lyndon LaRouche.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Tasnim: What is your take on the recent developments in Venezuela? How do you see the US role in this?

Small: What is underway in Venezuela is a classic “regime-change” operation of the sort that was carried out in Iraq, Libya, and Ukraine, and attempted in Syria, all with disastrous consequences. The primary interests behind those coups d’etat are the financial and political interests centered in the City of London and Wall Street, who seek to eliminate the very principles of national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations—in other words, the Westphalian system which has served the world well when respected. This is their strategic objective because their entire trans-Atlantic financial system is bankrupt, and is ready to collapse far more drastically than in 2008, and they are seeking to maintain their control over a dying order in this fashion.

The British government has played the primary role in each and every one of these cases, with allied factions in Washington going along (e.g., look at the dominant role played by Tony Blair vis a vis George Bush in the Iraq war).

President Donald Trump has been an obstacle to these British efforts, as seen in his efforts to forge a working relationship with Russia and China. The irony is that the very forces that are out to impeach President Trump—British intelligence, the FBI, Mueller, etc.--are the same forces intent on overthrowing the Maduro government in Venezuela.

The plan to carry out a regime-change operation in Venezuela goes back many years—Juan Guaido himself is just a creation of National Endowment for Democracy and related networks, schooled in the “color revolution” theories of the notorious Gene Sharp.

But the Venezuela gambit was put in high gear most recently because the British and their American allies lost the battle with President Trump over Syria policy, when he insisted on pulling American troops out of that country. So they have chosen to blow things up in another theater, with the hopes of provoking a confrontation with China and Russia there.

Tasnim: In one of your recent interviews, you said the US is pressing ahead with its regime change policy in Venezuela to undermine the national sovereignty of the Latin American country. “If this (regime change) is allowed to prosper, which I trust it will not, we could have situations in South America, which would be similar to what was unleashed in Libya or Iraq,” you said. Please explain.

Small: The Venezuela regime-change operation being orchestrated today by the likes of Vice President Pence, National Security Adviser Bolton, and convicted felon Elliott Abrams, is NOT designed to establish a stable, Guaido government in that country. It is designed to unleash chaos and permanent conflict throughout the region, in much the same way these same interests have done in Libya and throughout the Middle East. It is also meant as a message to any government in Ibero-America thinking of adopting a nationalist approach and working with China’s Belt and Road Initiative—which many countries consider a viable alternative to the collapsing Western financial system.

Tasnim: As you know, the US has a long record for “regime change” campaigns in Venezuela and other countries. In 2002, the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was ousted for two days in a US-backed coup which was ultimately defeated. In 1953, the CIA led a coup against Iran's first democratically-elected government and toppled Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Why does the US seek regime change in sovereign nations?

Small: There is a fallacy in the way this question is posed. Mosaddegh was a nationalist leader ofinternational stature, who was marking a valid way forward for Iran. The Chavez government was actually installedin power in 1998 with the full backing of the British government as a kind of Jacobin force designed to polarizethe continent and create instability (see https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2002/eirv29n18-20020510/eirv29n18-20020510_065-venezuelas_chavez_londons_jacobi.pdf ). 

I should emphasize that although EIR, and its founder Lyndon LaRouche, have been among the sharpest critics of the Hugo Chavez regime and his anointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, Mr. LaRouche repeatedly stated that in NO CASE are regime-change operations justified, even against governments we disagree with, because that would violate the very principle of national sovereignty on which a stable world order depends.

Tasnim: President Nicolas Maduro recently lashed out at the United States over new unilateral sanctions imposed on the Latin American country’s oil sector. It seems that Washington has set eyes on the country’s oil. What do you think?

Small: Yes, there is no question that some people are eyeing the oil—in fact, John Bolton was explicit that it would be much better to have American companies run Venezuela’s oil, rather than PDVSA. But such fairly standard resource grabs, although significant, should not be mistaken for the underlying strategic objective of the operation: dismantle the Westphalian system, and usher in a new world order based on geopolitics and the rule of the jungle, emphatically including a direct confrontation with China and Russia. That is why Chinese President Xi Jinping is so correct in continuing to offer the west, especially the United States, to establish win-win cooperation and participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, as something reflecting the common aims of mankind.

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