“The Government of Honduras condemns any attempted coup d’état in Venezuela.”
Enrique Reina, Foreign Minister of Honduras
By Richard Irons
On July 31, Enrique Reina, the Honduran Foreign Minister issued an important statement on behalf of the country with regards to developments in Venezuela, which read as follows:
“The Government of Honduras condemns any attempted coup d’état in Venezuela and the use of force by violent groups, calling for respect for the institutions and sovereign will of the Venezuelan people expressed at the polls.”
It goes on to say that, “The electoral process was peaceful and had wide participation. We have recognized the announcement by the electoral authority of an irreversible trend, the only authority responsible for concluding the process of counting…”
And adds that, “The international campaign launched before, during and after to ignore elections, loaded with fake news and resulting from those who were not present in the process, is not impartial.”
It concludes that “We have to wait for the total analysis and declaration from the electoral authority,” and warns that “We must not forget the shameful precedent of recognizing Guaidó as an illegitimate, illegal and non-existent president. For purely ideological reasons.”
This strong intervention from Honduras, a country which suffered horrendously after its own US-backed, right-wing 2009 coup, and didn’t then restore a progressive President until 2021, is particularly timely when attempts are being made by those seeking ‘regime change’ in Venezuela to portray Latin America’s left as moving towards the US’ agenda.
This statement from Honduras shows this is far from the truth, as does my previous in-depth article which gives the true story. This full picture involves the Presidents of Bolivia, Honduras, Cuba and Nicaragua recognising the election; the youth-wing of Brazil’s ruling-party the PT saying “We repudiate any attempt at foreign intervention and internal destabilization through violence, fake news and manipulation”; Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador slamming attempts from the US, the US-dominated OAS, and allies for external interference in Venezuela; and Evo Morales – removed as President of Bolivia by a coup in 2019 – arguing that in Venezuela now “It is the same script of the coup d’état in Bolivia.”
And now in the aforementioned statement, we have seen Honduras strongly warn of the danger of US-backed, far-right ‘regime change’ being forced in Venezuela.
This new statement followed on from one from Honduras’ elected President Xiomara Castro who was quick to recognise the official, Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) announced results of Sunday’s election, congratulating the incumbent on his “victory that reaffirms Venezuela’s sovereignty.”
Progressive movements in Bolivia and Honduras, countries that have both gone through the experience of coups in the last 15 years, talking of the danger of US-backed, far-right ‘regime change’ in Venezuela should set alarm bells ringing for the Left across the world. Their concerns must be noted here in Britain and beyond.
Also, what is urgently needed is for people to seriously question any statements from the US – and its far-right allies in Latin America such as Milei in Argentina and the coup-regime in Peru – when their interests in ‘regime change’ are so obvious when it comes to oil-rich Venezuela.
It is therefore most welcome that one significant left force in Europe that seems to be doing just that, namely Podemos in Spain, whose International Department’s X account posted, “It is the task of the international community… to ensure respect for the electoral results by all parties inside and outside the country.”
Podemos clearly then understands that the risk of external intervention in Venezuela to force ‘regime change’ is clearly growing – it should be firmly opposed.
On the way forward, the ruling Workers’ Party (PT) of Brazil’s Executive Committee statement is worth pointing to – it argues that “It is important that President Nicolás Maduro, now re-elected, continues dialogue with the opposition, in order to overcome Venezuela’s serious problems, largely caused by illegal sanctions,” and at the same time insists that “the problems of Latin America and the Caribbean are addressed by the people of our region, without any type of violence or external interference.”
- You can read Richard Irons’ recent piece on former Bolivian President Evo Morales warning against a potential far-right coup in Venezuela here.
- You can read the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign’s statement on the UK and US refusal to recognise the election results here.
- You can hear an account of the far-right anti-democratic violence from election observer Calvin Tucker here.
