The U.S. also imposed penalties on Venezuela's Military Industries Co. for violating the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act by selling or buying sensitive equipment and technology related to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missile systems.
However there are obvious concerns that this fits neatly with the objectives of those within the right-wing opposition in Venezuela who are planning for the non-recognition of the coming elections if, as expected, Hugo Chavez wins. With the polls showing strong leads for Hugo Chavez, a campaign is already underway by sections of the right-wing opposition coalition to present any electoral defeat as being down to Chavez-led fraud. This has seen baseless attacks on the independent National Electoral Council (CNE,) which has overseen all of Venezuelans’ elections described as free and fair by a range of international observers. The opposition has announced plans to place tens of thousands of ‘witnesses’ at polling stations on election day and then, illegally to release its own results ahead of the official results in a clear bid to discredit them. These plans have sharpened fears that opposition-led disruptions and destabilisation will follow their defeat. This could easily meet Duddy’s condition of 'an outbreak of violence and/or interruption of democracy'.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) led by current Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is no mere opposition party. Rather, they are the Zimbabwean face of neoliberal capitalism and continued subservience to corporate-imperial power. Although Tsvangirai’s party shrouds itself in the flag of anti-corruption and “sustainable development”, the truth is that these are merely the rhetorical cover for rolling back the gains made by the people of Zimbabwe under the leadership of Mugabe and ZANU-PF.
A RECENT missive from whistle-blowing website, Wikileaks, makes the shocking revelation that the MDC-T leader and prime minister in the inclusive Government used a state trip to call for the maintenance of sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Morgan Tsvangirai visited the US president, Barack Obama, and met at the White House on 12 June, 2009.
The trip, which was sanctioned by the State, was meant to be bring the two governments diplomatically closer together, but Mr Tsvangirai used the trip to ask the US to maintain sanctions against Zimbabwe for “retaining leverage” against Zanu-PF.
This was revealed in a letter written to Mr Obama by the MDC-T leader on 29 December, 2009 and published in a cable by WikiLeaks this week.
Mr Tsvangirai said that sanctions can be used to “sustain momentum when it comes”.
During his trip, Mr Tsvangirai hoodwinked Zimbabweans arguing that Zimbabwe has made progress and that he was working well with President Mugabe and that they enjoyed a functional, working relationship, while secretly calling on the US to retain the illegal and ruinous sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Mr Tsvangirai at the time travelled with a State contingent that included tourism minister, Walter Mzembi, from Zanu-PF whom President Obama refused to meet although he met other ministers from the two MDC factions.
The WikiLeaks cable also reveals that Mr Tsvangirai was also talking to US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, about the sanctions, which he prefers to call “restrictive measures”.
Ambassador Ray has in the past denied that he takes sides in the Zimbabwean conflict and says the US is a neutral party in the country’s politics.
Mr Tsvangirai’s secret letter also reveals that the US has been directly supporting his office – an allegation that the MDC-T has in the past denied. He also reveals that the US President was “personally” giving support to the MDC-T party.
“Your support for my office has also been invaluable and I look forward to this continuing,” writes Mr Tsvangirai in a letter to President Obama.
Zanu-PF Politburo member and former Zimbabwean Minister of Information, Professor Jonathan Moyo has in the recent past written extensively about how the US is funding parallel government structures in the country and the MDC-T party has denied this. This letter now puts paid to MDC-T refusals that the US has been funding parallel structures in the inclusive Government.
In the secret letter Mr Tsvangirai also thanks US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who he sent his “warm thanks”.
Mr Tsvangirai also reveals that South African President Jacob Zuma has had “secret dialogue” with President Obama over Zimbabwe.
Professor Moyo has criticised the mediation role of President Zuma and his spokesperson Lindiwe Zulu alleging that they are not impartial in their mediation role in Zimbabwe.
Mr Tsvangirai wrote: “The role played by SADC, in general, and the mediator President Jacob Zuma, in particular, is greatly appreciated.”
He added: “I know that you have personally played a crucial role in helping this to happen, and I encourage you to continue your crucial dialogue with President Zuma.”
MDC-T has reportedly invited three Central Intelligence Agency agents to attend its policy conference set for this Friday as part of last ditch efforts to formulate an appealing election manifesto ahead of the impending harmonised polls. . . . . .
The Herald is reliably informed that the three CIA agents were also behind MDC-T's security policy document which is expected to be tabled at Friday's meeting.
In the document titled "Policy Discussion Papers - Security Sector Cluster: 1. Defence and National Security 2. Home Affairs", MDC-T announces plans to fire all serving security chiefs with a Zanla or Zipra background and hire what it termed senior police staff from Western countries to instil "professionalism" in the force should it attain power.
It is understood that the US spies were expected to arrive sometime this week to work on the policy document that would be launched at the close of the national policy conference.
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the invitation of foreigners although he refused to divulge their countries of origin.
Mr Mwonzora preferred to call the foreign delegates "observers".
Our policy is working and it’s helping drive changes here. What is required is simply the grit, determination and focus to see this through. Then, when the changes finally come we must be ready to move quickly to help consolidate the new dispensation . . . . .
He [Mr. Tsvangirai] is the indispensable element for regime change, but possibly an albatross around their necks once in power.
If the impasse on election reforms persists, the vote may be rescheduled. Political leaders recognise that to proceed when the risk of large-scale violence is high and when parties and SADC disagree over what constitutes an acceptable threshold for credible elections would be dangerous. Faced with divisions that threaten their performance in the polls, ZANU-PF and MDC-T may back postponement.
A military takeover is unlikely, not least because of uncertainty about the political allegiance of the rank and file, probable regional censure and international isolation. However, allegations of the army’s bias and complicity in human rights violations raise concerns it may seek to influence the election outcome. It may also present itself as a stabilising force if inter- and intra-party relations deteriorate further.
The pervasive fear of violence and actual intimidation contradicts rhetorical commitments to peace. A reasonably free vote is still possible, but so too are deferred or disputed polls, or even a military intervention. The international community seems ready to back the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which must work with GPA partners to define and enforce “red lines” for a credible vote…That the elections are likely to be tense and see some violence and intimidation is clear; what is not yet clear is the nature of the violence, its extent, and the response it will generate. [emphasis added]
However, even a cursory examination of recent similar episodes in Venezuela, Iran, and elsewhere shows that “disputed elections” are the favorite tool of subversion by the imperial powers which use NGOs such as the International Crisis Group as their unofficial mouthpieces. When the ICG speaks, it is with the voice of US intelligence and the ruling class.
If the experience of Venezuela is any indication, we are likely to see violence in the streets should MDC-T lose the election, particularly if the margin of victory is small. As with Capriles and the US-funded opposition in Venezuela, the creation of violence in the streets is merely a trick employed for the purposes of destabilizing the government in a time of transition, with the goal of creating enough chaos to delegitimize the rule of the victors. And so, ZANU-PF and the Zimbabwean people must remain vigilant as the country heads into these all-important elections.
Pro-Pakatan Rakyat groups have vowed to overthrow the Barisan Nasional government this year through a massive street rally.
Speakers at a forum held yesterday unanimously agreed that waiting for five years until the next general election was too long, and vowed to overthrow BN this year through “force”. . . . . .
Electoral watchdog group Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Hishamuddin Rais pointed out that it was useless to take their unhappiness to the courts as he claimed the justice system was being controlled by the government.
“That is why we must take to the streets. We have to come out. What Najib likes is wrong, and what he doesn’t like is what we have to do,” he said.
“We will mobilise a big group and rally on the streets. This is not a threat, this is a promise,” he stressed.
Without a doubt, this premeditated sedition aimed at Malaysia's ruling government has been designed, funded, and directed from Washington on behalf of Wall Street and London, not by the Malaysian people on behalf of Malaysia's best interests.
The street protests conducted by Bersih have all the hallmarks of US-backed "color revolutions," and this recent attempt to overturn election results that do not favor an overt US-proxy, foreshadows the same destructive, divisive, violent, and regressive unrest that has plagued Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria after US-engineered uprisings have left each in turn destabilized, failed states overrun by extremists, dictators, and traitors many times worse than the governments activists sought to overthrow.
And with Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria in hindsight, will Malaysians fall into this same familiar trap? Whatever discontent Malaysians may have with the current government, it is all but assured Bersih and US-proxy candidate Anwar Ibrahim will compound perceived injustices while compromising Malaysia's political, social, and economic stability, and begin channeling Malaysia's resources and energy toward foreign interests and designs,particularly those involving the encirclement and containment of China.