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I came “face to face” with imperialism during the ANC’s fact-finding mission to Venezuela, said former state security minister Bongani Bongo, who returned from a nine-day visit last week from the oil-rich but poverty-stricken country.
The ANC delegation, which departed on March 10 from South Africa, would have been led by ANC secretary general Ace Magashule, but Magashule stayed behind to conclude the party’s candidate-list process.
They arrived back in South Africa last Tuesday.
“The Venezuelans are very poor and are suffering, but they are still standing. It is not as though there is an atmosphere of war. During our visit, there was a street carnival in Caracas in which 70 000 people took part.
“We attended an open-air music concert and spent a day on the beach. There were easily 100 000 people on the beach relaxing. It was very nice,” said Bongo.
“This is imperialism which the United States of America’s multinational corporations are using as a vehicle to exploit developing countries like Venezuela, such as oil and mineral resources,” said Bongo.
“I visited Venezuela to show support for the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is the target of attempts by the government of the United States to effect a coup together with the newly elected president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and the Lima group,” said Bongo in an essay that he wrote about the visit for City Press’ sister newspaper, Rapport.
The Lima group is a group of 12 Latin American countries which in 2017 resolved to work together to free political prisoners in Venezuela, effect free elections and prevent the implosion of democracy in that country.
Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, some of the world’s largest gold reserves and other minerals was, since 1999, ruled by the socialist regime of Hugo Chávez, who died of cancer in 2013.
The country thrived in the 1990s thanks to oil exports, but has produced little since then and the economy imploded after oil prices began to decline in 2008 and large industries were nationalised.
Chávez nationalised a large portion of the country’s oil industry, agricultural businesses, unused agricultural land and banks.
When Chávez was replaced by Maduro without free elections taking place, then US president Barack Obama instituted sanctions against the country for the first time.
Last year, Maduro won a presidential election, but the country’s National Assembly declared the elections, which were brought forward, invalid.
The National Assembly declared Juan Guaidó president instead.
Guaidó has since been recognised by the Lima Group and the US as the legitimate head of state. Maduro’s election has been rejected by the EU and the Union of South American Nations.
South Africa, along with China, Egypt, Cuba, Russia and Syria accepted the election outcome.
Bongo says the sanctions are the reason that the country is poor today, but economists inside and outside Venezuela agree that the economy collapsed a decade ago.
According to Bongo, the Carter Foundation of former US president Jimmy Carter recognised the election as lawful, but the foundation turned down an invitation to send an observer.
“I have come face to face with imperialism. America is blocking access to medicines and other basic foodstuff to Venezuela to frustrate the country and its people.
‘This shows how the American government is cooperating with the Lima Group to try to undermine Maduro’s government.
“The Americans are deliberately trying to get their hands on Venezuela’s oil resources,” Bongo said.
“The US also tried to exploit Venezuela’s oil resources. They are using the self-declared president Guaidó, who was never elected. This is being done to handicap the collection of tax in Venezuela,” Bongo said in his essay, adding that this was preventing the state from distributing resources to its people.
However, Maduro himself has been accused of preventing food aid from entering the country in the past few months while Venezuelans are starving.
. Bongo is number 41 on the ANC’s national parliamentary list
