Since Thursday, most of Venezuela has been in darkness. A massive blackout has affected several states, as well as the capital city of Caracas.
The outage continued on Friday, and its causes are still unknown. The government says it is a result of right-wing sabotage and part of a plan to overthrow the government of President Nicolás Maduro. For its part, the right-wing opposition is using the situation to demonstrate Maduro’s incompetence as a leader. Meanwhile, the “solution” provided by the right wing is the privatization of public services, not public investment. The blackout is taking place in the context of an infrastructure crisis in Venezuela and a severe lack of investment by Maduro’s government.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reveled in the misery suffered by millions of Venezuelans. While the U.S. government argues that its intervention in Venezuela is “humanitarian,” Pompeo’s tweets reveal deep hypocrisy. With a cynical and imperialist tone, he tweeted that “Maduro’s policies bring nothing but darkness.”
As if that provocative comment were not enough, he added, “No food. No medicine. Now, no power. Next, no Maduro.”
Along with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, Vice President Mike Pence and others, Pompeo is one of the main promoters in Trump’s cabinet of the attempted coup in Venezuela. These leaders back the self-proclaimed president Juan Guaidó, who has also won the support of right-wing leaders around Latin America, such as Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. Pompeo’s tweet is a clear attempt to give ammunition to the right-wing coup.
The U.S. government is using the Venezuelan economic situation as an excuse to intervene in Venezuela and humanitarian aid as its guise. In this dire situation, in which a blackout affects most of the country, U.S. officials are celebrating it as a circumstance favorable to their coup aims, showing their true imperialist colors.
