By Gennady Zyuganov
Chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)
The beginning of the New Year began with President Trump casting aside the mask of peacemaker and showed that his real aim is blackmail and world domination. Indeed, he turns out to be a more aggressive American leader than his predecessor Biden whom Trump fiercely criticised precisely for his foreign policy adventures.
After the attack on Venezuela and an unprecedented kidnapping of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, Trump, flushed with the seeming ease of his “victory” declared the whole of Latin America to be his property. He forbade the countries of Europe and Asia to do any independent business on that continent. Simultaneously he issued a warning that Mexico, Cuba and Columbia could become the next victims of aggression.
Mr Trump clearly does not intend to stop with Latin America. In Asia he has acted as the chief accomplice of Israel’s attack on Iran. In Africa, he green-lighted US Air Force strikes on Nigeria intervening in the long-running quarrel between the Muslim cattle herders and Christian land farmers in that country. In Europe, even loyal US allies were stunned and panicked over Trump’s intention to grab Greenland from Denmark. In all the wars over the past 75 years, beginning with the Korean war, American hawks sought to enlist as many allies as possible. But Trump has come to believe in his omnipotence so much that he does not merely spurn European aid but treats Europeans with obvious contempt. Now, if Denmark puts its foot down on the issue of Greenland, the world will no longer be surprised if its prime minister is seized by the Delta force simultaneously with the bombing of Copenhagen.
Today we are looking not at a violation of the norms of international law. We witness a conscious and total destruction of the centuries-old system of international relations. Trump is out to replace the universally accepted norms agreed under the UN auspices with the right of the strong and the arrogant. It is a challenge to the whole of humanity.
Precedents exist in world history. In the early 19th century Napoleon proclaimed himself to be the master of Europe, and then of the whole world. In the 20th century the German Fuhrer, Hitler, after seizing Europe, made a bid to rule all continents. Now 21st century America has produced a new “ruler of the world”. The first two cases brought the pretenders to world dominance to a sticky end. There is no reason why Trump, like his European predecessors, will not break his neck in an attempt to subdue the whole world.
Donald Trump imagines himself to be a superman who can bring Latin America back to the state of the US backyard in which it languished 200 years ago. He is bent on depriving dozens of that continent’s countries of their freedom and independence. But the peoples of Latin America have proved by numerous victorious in battles against American imperialism their readiness and ability to firmly uphold their interests. The death of Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967 did not stop the revolutionary processes on the continent. Shining examples have been given by the outstanding fighters against imperialism Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Time after time progressive forces come to power in the Latin America. Brazil, the largest country on the continent, is led by the socialist president Lula da Silva.
In the drama in Venezuela the decisive word will be said by its people and its courageous legitimate government. In spite of the absurd statements that the country will now be ruled by the US Secretary of State, Rubio, Venezuela has already declared that it would not bow to diktat. Threats from Washington are unlikely to scare the people that cherishes its independence. A treacherous strike involving 150 aircraft and a thuggish raid on the presidential residence is one thing. A land operation in the Venezuelan mountains and jungle is another. The US military are nothing loath to attack a patently weak enemy and then proclaim a historic victory. When they meet with tough resistance it quickly becomes clear that they are not the best of fighters. We have seen it recently in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As for Trump’s claim that Nicolas Maduro is drug trafficking, they are astonishing in their cynicism and hypocrisy. The USA, like no other country, has contributed to drug addiction becoming a global evil. It was through its efforts that in the 1960 and 70s, during the Vietnam War, production of opium in the Golden Triangle saw unprecedented growth. It flourished at the convergence of the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos to finance secret CIA operations. After the occupation of Afghanistan in 2001 the USA was energetically restoring the production of heroin there, ensuring the delivery of its supplies to Europe via its bases in Albany.
In Latin America the main producer of cocaine, in its time, was anti-communist Columbia. Many documents and journalistic investigations point to the close links of the US Drug Administration with the Columbian drug barons. The CIA used part of the drug money to finance the operations to topple the left-wing government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua. The USA itself is one of the world’s major producers of marijuana. It ill-behoves the USA to accuse Nicolas Maduro, the legitimate president of Venezuela, of drug-dealing! On the contrary, the whole world should accuse Washington of the narcotisation of humanity.
Trump’s thuggish attempt to blackmail the people of Venezuela by seizing its president is doomed to fail. No court in the USA has the right to try the head of a sovereign state. What the Trump administration has committed is kidnapping of people by a colluding group of criminals. The court should try not Maduro and his wife, but the organisers and executors of this evil act, including Mr Trump himself.
To be sure the White House will, like a mad dog, hold Nicolas Maduro hostage. But the people’s president of Venezuela has already become a symbol of resistance to imperialism. Nelson Mandela in his time was a world symbol of resistance to the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The CPRF considers Nicolas Maduro to be the number one political prisoner on the planet. The hearts of honest and courageous people cannot be indifferent to this. We appeal to all the patriotic and anti-fascist forces to struggle together for the liberation of the president of Venezuela.
The imperialist circles are trying to launch a strategic offensive. To rein them in a broad public movement should be mounted all over the world. We call on the parties and associations, all the progressive forces to hold substantive consultations and work out concrete measures to counteract reaction. The working people and their organisations must make their voice heard in this complex situation. United actions in defence of peace, security and justice are particularly important today.
Trump’s problems do not end with the criminal kidnapping of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Rather, they are only beginning. The past years have seen major shifts in the world balance of forces. The countries of BRICS and the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, the states of the Global South of which Latin America is a key part, are increasingly assertive. Russia’s miliary might and China’s economic muscle are capable of totally devaluing Washington’s claims to world domination. We call on all the states on the planet that cherish their sovereignty, to resolutely condemn Washington’s actions.
Clearly, global capitalism is capable of launching any adventures. The international situation is becoming more and more explosive. If it is to rise to the new challenges and ensure popular unity Russia must alter its socio-economic and socio-political course. That is why the CPRF’s Victory Programme offers a path of accelerated development of the country and achievement of social justice. Trump’s frenetic attempts to hold back the progress of humanity on one particular continent, and his piratic tricks at sea are doomed to fail. All the wars the USA unleashed in recent decades have ended in ignominious defeat. This time must be no different.
No to imperialist expansion! Yes to cohesion in the struggle against aggression and international banditry!
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