Us involvement in world politics: Venezuela and Afghanistan Introduction

Venezuelan opinions on Chavez

The media of Venezuela is well known to be anti-Chavez. Wealthy Venezuelan families own many of the largest broadcasting corporations and they would dearly like to see Chavez and his leftist polices defeated. The El Nacional group of newspapers does not hide its opposition to Chavez nor do many other leading media groups. The owners are supposedly angered by Chavez’s “alleged abuses of press freedom” however many claim that they are in fact simply using the media as tools in the elitists’ fight against Chavez. Indeed, the role the media played in, as Chavez alleged, inciting and misleading the public during the 2002 coup attempt appears to be undeniable, during the coup one media tycoon was reported to have told the coup leaders that “We can’t guarantee you the loyalty of the army but we can promise you the support of the media.”(The Economist). The morning after Chavez was removed, temporarily, from power the El Nacional newspaper, making no attempt to hide its allegiances, lead with the celebratory headline, "It's over!"(Ceaser).

Aside from the military coup Chavez also faced enormous adversity during the general strike of December 2001. Businesses across Venezuela ceased work in a reaction to 49 laws that Chavez had recently passed. By Venezuelan law it was within his power to have acted in this way but it was, nonetheless, a dramatic step to have taken. Many of the laws concerned land reform and oil production and most companies claimed they were, “hostile to private investment”(Easton). The strike was also called in support of “the PDVSA managers' protest against a new board of directors seen as appointees of President Chavez”(BBC News). The PDVSA is the largest oil production company in Venezuela and is governed by, as stated in their website, an “Alignment and subordination to the State”. Although the strike was, for the most part, peaceful it threatened to cripple the Venezuelan economy and succeeded in bring oil production to a virtual standstill. Eventually after seven weeks President Chavez succeeded in ending the strike. After time public support for the strike waned with Venezuela’s poor, loyal to Chavez, taking to the streets and demonstrating in support of the leader. Chavez used drastic measures to crush the strike including the sacking of 5,000 striking oil workers. As I have mentioned before Chavez’s methods have been questioned on numerous occasions however, the fact remains that he is a democratically elected leader and a general strike should not be used to remove him from power. (McDermott)

The result of the general strike and numerous political protests for and against President Chavez was the calling of a recall election. It was hoped that this would put an end to the political conflicts that had become commonplace in Venezuela. Early predictions showed that President Chavez would lose a recall election. The majority of the media sources, who as already explained, were extremely anti-Chavez, were claiming that the opposition would be victorious. Also voicing their support for the opposition were many of the large corporations who had been involved in the general strike. Amid concerns over possible corruption independent observers from The Carter Centre for conflict resolution were present. Ultimately they would be required to verify the results as first the opposition and then Chavez both claimed victory. However, it soon because apparent, that Chavez had indeed survived the recall election with a massive 58% of the vote.

Chavez’s victory in the election can be attributed largely to his huge popularity amongst Venezuela’s poor. He himself came from a poor background and throughout his political career has focused on using government resources to benefit the most needy Venezuelans. After his victory in the election he vowed to continue his “Bolivian revolution”. As part of his revolution Chavez has used money from oil exports to fund programmes for the poor including “literacy, health care, job training, land reform, subsidized food, small loans.”(Benjamin). Critics of Chavez claim that he has not actually significantly improved the lives of the poor population. It is true that unemployment sits just above 14% having risen from 12% in 1998, when Chavez was first elected. However, the results of the election would seem to speak for themselves and the opposition cannot deny that whatever President Chavez’s policies may be they have earned him the support of 58% of the population, which is a massive margin of victory.

Allegations against the US Government

In the previous section I spoke about how Chavez’s policies have “alienated him from Venezuela's traditional white ruling elite”(Becker), and how this can be seen as one factor in the coup against him. Whilst it is true that anti-Chavez Venezuelans were behind the coup, the strike and the recall election, allegations are rife of behind the scenes US government interference. The main accusation leveled at the US is that they have given massive financial support to those political parties that oppose Chavez. Obviously the US government denies any such involvement however, evidence has been produce that would appear to prove their guilt. Various reputable media sources have reported that “ Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that, in 2002, America paid more than a million dollars to those political groups in what it claims, as was reported by the Independent newspaper in March 2004, is an ongoing effort to build democracy and "strengthen political parties"”. The US government does not directly supply this funding, it comes from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) which is a non-profit organization designed to promote worldwide democracy. The NED does however receive all its funding directly from the US government and many claim it is simply a method by which the US can “routinely meddle in other countries' affairs” (Independent). Much of the controversy centres on Sumate, a group that, according The Miami Herald, is simply a “civic organization that promotes voter education, monitors elections and does independent exit polls”, but according to Chavez and many foreign news sources it is associated with political parties. On its website the NED does admit funding Sumate, but, only so that they could “develop materials to educate citizens about the constitutional referendum process and to encourage citizens to participate”. Other sources suggest however that Sumate’s actually organized the recall petition against Chavez and used the US government funds to promote the opposition parties cause.

As highlighted earlier in this paper the US government has many reasons to desire the removal of Chavez and much evidence has surfaced to support Chavez’s claim that they are actively seeking his removal. Following the coup “officials at the Organisation of American States and other diplomatic sources asserted that the US administration was not only aware the coup was about to take place, but had sanctioned it, presuming it to be destined for success”(Vulliamy). Chavez has consistently maintained that the US is trying to overthrow him and had full knowledge of the coup claiming that, “The Government of Washington is using the money of its people to support not only opposition activities but acts of conspiracy,”(Palast). As a telling side note nearly all of the articles I found regarding the coup were from non-US news sources. There is very little information to be found in the US media on the events of April 2002 and when the coup was briefly reported in the US the actual word “coup” is obviously avoided. Again, this does not provide any evidence of US guilt, however, it does highlight their general stance and attitude towards Chavez. Moreover, it once again highlights the extent to which the US media is merely a voice for the US government.

Conclusion and comparison with Afghanistan

In conclusion this investigation has demonstrated that whilst there remains little concrete evidence of the US government’s involvement in Venezuela there is much to suggest that they did indeed interfere in the country’s affairs. Based on the US government’s track record of meddling in South/Latin American countries one can guess that there is at least some truth behind the allegations against the US. These allegations include covertly funding the opposition to Chavez through the NED, having prior knowledge of the 2002 military coup and even supporting that event. For the most part the US media simply serves as the voice of the US government and distorts the facts and manipulates the accounts of events in order to conform to the official government stance.

At no time has this paper sought to suggest that Chavez is a perfect President. Certainly he has he faults, for example his close friendship with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro should not be overlooked. That does not however, mean that the US is justified in its constant attempts to over-emphasise this connection nor should it divert attention from the fact that President Chavez is democratically elected leader and not a dictator.

Many see the efforts of the US to create an atmosphere of fear surrounding Chavez, playing off the events of September 11^th, as merely a smoke screen for the true issue at stake in Venezuela, oil. The US would like to see a more pro-US policy concerning oil exports and they know that Chavez will not give it to them. Therefore, as Chavez claims, they are seeking ways to remove him from power. This is where the connection with Afghanistan becomes apparent, as the US removal of the Taliban government has been closely linked to the Caspian oil reserves. As will be explained in the second half of this paper, the US government was able to use military force to achieve their goals in Afghanistan unlike Venezuela. There are various reasons that no such tactic could be use in Venezuela. For example, there are no terrorists hiding in Venezuela that could provide a convenient excuse for military action, Venezuela is not a third world country and has far more power that Afghanistan due to its oil resources and, the US relies on those oil resources and it is also in the US’s interests to maintain good trade agreements with Venezuela. Another possible reason, albeit extremely depressing, is that the Western world would care far more about the death of innocent Venezuelans, with whom we can associate more easily, than the slaughter of thousands of men, women and children in Afghanistan, with whom we feel little connection and for whom, evidently, we have little compassion.

If September 11^th did not happen, then the United States would not have invaded Afghanistan. At least that is what Bush would have everyone believe. Bush mistakenly informs the American public time and time again that once the terrorist threat is over, the American troops will be withdrawn. Nearly everybody from the supporters of the war to the local bartender believes this to be the truth, and it isn’t entirely their fault. Bush administrators have worked arduously to propagate the notion that America must be inside Afghanistan for a matter of national security. The truth of the matter is that September 11^th and the whole ‘War on Terrorism’ was used as a justification to enter Afghanistan and check up on their oil situation. Recent tasks such as seeking out Al-Qaida leaders, and gaining full access to terrorist training camps have acted as a catalyst to American involvement in the Middle East. Consequently, Bush propagandists have had a field day spinning the truth to the American public. For example, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, “September 10th, 2001, was not the last day of world innocence. It was, however, the last day of America's lack of understanding of a worldwide extremist movement determined to terrorize, to defeat, to destroy civilized people everywhere (Rumsfeld 1).” Undoubtedly, there is no way any patriotic American would want to refute this statement. However, what some people fail to realize is the American government’s hidden agenda in Afghanistan. In this particular case, there is too much clear evidence that the United States has ulterior motives to be just, coincidence. The vast amount of oil in the Caspian Sea, Cheney’s statements about the importance of the Caspian in relation to national security, and the fact that the United States imports over half of its oil from foreign countries are all supposed coincidences in the War on Terrorism.

The issue of oil and Afghanistan has long been a topic of controversy. The reason being is that the Caspian Sea area contains a large amount of natural resources, or more specifically, natural gas and oil. In fact, researchers expect oil production to even surpass Venezuela, the current leader of South American oil exportation (Caspian 1). Thus, the potential power that Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan (states of the Caspian) residents could have is extremely big. Before Vice President Dick Cheney was Vice President, he was CEO of the oil company, Halliburton and during his reign he stated, “I cannot think of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian (Guardian 1).” The reason that Afghanistan is so significant is because in order for the oil to benefit the United States, it must be piped through a country to be distributed. Other countries around the Caspian are not options because the only countries that can complete this task are Russia and Iran. Both are countries that the United States has worked diligently to suppress their political and economic growth. It is distressing however to the United States that Iran is the most desirable route to pipeline oil out of the Caspian because not only is it the most direct route, but the oil could be processed in established Iranian oil compounds. The only logical country to pipeline the oil through would be Afghanistan. For a map of the Caspian Sea and its surrounding areas, see figure 1. Also, by pipelining the oil through Afghanistan it would allow sales to the south where the demand for oil is high, as opposed to the west (Europe) where the demand is low (Guardian 2). For a struggling economy, the largest monetary benefit is always a primary concern.

The topic of energy is always one of high concern to the United States. The reason being is obviously that we use an excessive amount of energy compared to other nations. The United States currently imports around 51 percent of its crude oil, which amounts to an astonishing 19.5 million barrels daily. By 2020, the Energy Information Administration approximates that the United States will import around 64 percent of its crude oil, or 25.8 million barrels daily (Hindu 1). The entire Caspian Sea region is estimated to have around 179 billion barrels of oil in its entirety. In terms of the dollar, each barrel of oil is worth $25 dollars. Simple math allows one to estimate the value of all of the oil in Caspian Sea, which amounts to about $4 trillion dollars. The amazing thing is that oil isn’t even the only natural resource in the Caspian. Natural gas that amounts to around $1 trillion dollars also resides there. This brings the total value of the Caspian Sea, including all of its natural resources to over $5 trillion dollars (Energy Basin 1). It is no wonder the United States is so interested in the region. However though, for obvious reasons they are not the only country or even company interested.

Throughout the 1990’s, three major projects went underway in an attempt to produce more oil from Caspian Sea region. Although none in Afghanistan, these developments were significant in the fact that they would allow previously unrecoverable oil to be recoverable. The first of these three projects happened in 1993 when Chevron conducted a $20 billion dollar deal in an attempt to aid the development of the Tengiz oil field. This oil field is estimated to contain anywhere from six to nine billion barrels of oil. The result of this investment was the joint company named Tengizchevroil. Because this region contains export pipelines with more being built, Tengizchevroil has steadily increased its production with a goal of around 750,000 bbl/day in 2010. The second project involves the Azerbaijan International Oil Consortium (AIOC). In what was nicknamed the ‘deal of the century,’ Azerbaijan International Oil Consortium bought the rights to three separate oil fields, Azeri, Chirag, and Gunashli, respectively for eight years. All for the price of $8 billion dollars. These three areas are estimated to contain anywhere from three to five billion barrels of oil. The final development involves the offshore Kashagan block. The company that is developing the area is known as the Offshore Kazakhstan International Operating Company (OKIOC). After initial drilling, estimates of this region are up to a possible 40 billion barrels (Caspian 3). With all of the developments in the regions surrounding the Caspian Sea, there is no doubt that once Afghanistan is able to obtain a stable government, it too will be used to its full potential.

In the world today, oil is one of the most valuable natural resources. In fact, many Middle Eastern countries survive solely because their land has oil within it. The United States isn’t very different. Instead of just surviving, the United States is looking to prosper further by controlling strategic points in the Middle East. In 1981, President Carter’s state of the union addressed the issue of oil and his point was simple. Denial of safe access to Persian Gulf oil would not only be a threat to national security, but a threat to worldwide security. In fact, Carter even named the Soviets as the most likely threat to American oil access in the Persian Gulf, however he did claim that he would protect the surrounding regions from anything and everything (Carter 1). It is obvious that the United States holds oil in its highest regard and will go by any means necessary to ensure its continued access to the Middle East.

In any case, in 1998, in an effort to gain more influence in the Middle East through oil, the United States supported the Taliban. The reason being that the Taliban was Anti-Iranian and the United States sought to do everything it could to hurt the Iranians. The catch was that the once the Taliban was in power, they would have to agree to putting in an oil pipeline for the United States. A single oil pipeline in Afghanistan could yield around $100 million dollars in revenues. Irony strikes when the one of the main reasons Osama Bin Laden even began his terrorist activities was because he realized the United States was attempting to gain influence in the Middle East through Afghanistan and he wanted to have no part of it. Interesting how his actions gave the United States an excuse to enter Afghanistan without fear of question. Irony struck again when Iran released a statement supporting the United States for their actions against the Taliban and Afghanistan.

In 2001, actions carried out by the United States Special Forces led many to believe that the Bush administration had a hidden agenda in Afghanistan. The Special Forces team was reported to have destroyed Iranian oil tankers transporting oil to Afghan cities (War 1). The problem was that this had nothing to do with Osama Bin Laden or any sorts of terrorists.

During the War on Terrorism in Afghanistan, the United States was given military bases by Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The problem with that is that many of the surrounding countries in Central Asia are questioning the intentions of the United States. Specifically, they fear a permanent American presence in such a close proximity. Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia says there have been rumors that a secret treaty between the United States and Uzbekistan stating that the United States would be able to have a permanent establishment in their state (Corporations 2).

With the downfall of the Taliban, the United States placed Hamid Karzai in charge. Within the past year, President Karzai has attempted to restart negotiations of a possible pipeline through Afghanistan. On December 9^th 2003, the governments of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan signed a document to begin work on the pipeline, which has been wit fully named the Trans-Afghan Pipeline or TAP for short (Afghanistan 1). Even though this is natural gas news, it is still relevant that the new president of Afghanistan is working to use Afghanistan to transport the energy resources out of the Caspian Sea. This most likely was the goal of the United States all along. And by putting Karzai in power; their goal would more likely be reached.

It can be said that the ‘War on Terrorism’ is actually a war on terrorism and to a certain extent that is true. The United States would love to find Osama Bin Laden and all of the Al-Qaeda operatives. In fact, if that had happened before the election, Bush quite possibly could have won by the biggest margin in history. But, how much does the capture of Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda operatives really contribute to national security? The United States is the most prestigious country in the world and those less fortunate than America will always hate them. This is especially true when the United States is using its influence to control one of the only natural resources and source of a struggling economy in their region.

Recent studies have led many to believe that an oil pipeline in Afghanistan is not even possible for the United States. In fact, it has already by tried by an oil company by the name of Unocal. In late 1997, Unocal began negotiating with Afghanistan to begin the construction of an oil pipeline that would extend from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan (Unocal 1). The projected specifications for the oil pipeline were 42 inches in diameter, 1040 miles in length, and carry around 1 million barrels of oil per day. It was estimated that the project would cost around $2.5 billion dollars (Oil 1). Unfortunately, Unocal did not end up constructing the oil pipeline because of instability along with a variety of other reasons . At the time, Afghanistan was in amidst a civil war that tore the country into two groups, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, who controls the Taliban and the United Front, who controls the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Whilst the fighting was going on, the United States was once again searching for Osama bin Laden. In August of 1998, in response to the destruction of two United States embassies, Nairobi and Dar es-Salaam, the United States bombed training camps near the border of Pakistan (Untitled 1). As a result, Unocal withdrew from Afghanistan without even starting construction on their oil pipeline with the reason that the civil instability of Afghanistan made it impossible.

Along with the main cause of Unocal ceasing construction, there were also many minor reasons as well. The first reason was the pressure of the feminists, led by Eleanor Smeal and Mavis Leno (Corporations 1). In 1998, the feminists protested the dealings that Unocal had with the Taliban by picketing outside of Unocal offices. The reason being that the feminists felt that the Taliban was guilty of ‘gender apartheid.’ Basically the Taliban suppressed women’s rights to an unbearable extent and needed to be fixed immediately. Some of the biggest problems the feminists had with the Taliban was that they did not allow women to read, thus causing the female literacy rate in Afghanistan to be a mere four percent. Other restrictions that were put on females included not being able to laugh in public and not being able to walk outside without a male accompaniment (Feminists 1).

Following Unocal’s termination of its construction in Afghanistan, no other oil companies, not even international have attempted to claim Afghanistan. According to Ahmed Rahsid, the Unocal situation caused a lot of unrest with a lot of other oil companies. For obvious reasons, the sentiment in the United States towards oil companies was sour. Rashid also states that the possible presence of Osama Bin Laden in the vicinity poses too much of a risk to safely establish ties with Afghanistan (Corporations 1). He does however admit that setting up shop in Afghanistan is on the back of every oil companies mind because of the vast profit that one could possibly make.

It can be said that the war supporters do have valid points that there is no way the United States could be scheming for oil, there are still a few arguments left unscathed. Most of the arguments that war supporters make are from the Afghanistan of the past, still ruled under the Taliban. Contemporary Afghanistan is governed by the president that the United States placed there strategically. Oil companies now have recently viewed an increased stability of the government and may once again attempt to harvest the natural resources Afghanistan has to offer.

Prior to September 11^th, the United States along with almost all of the established nations worldwide were in competition to try to establish themselves as the oil gods of the Middle East. The United States’ biggest rival was of course Russia. Not only because of its location of being right next to the Caspian Sea, but because of tensions still left behind from the Cold War. Former Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin said, “We cannot help seeing the uproar stirred up in some Western countries over the energy resources of the Caspian. Some seek to exclude Russia from the game and undermine its interests. The so-called pipeline war in the region is part of this game (JURIST 1).” Both the United States wanted a monopoly of the pipelines branching out from the Caspian because of the obvious monetary benefits.

Following the events of September 11^th, an article in the New York Times was published, titled ‘Russia is Becoming an Oil Ally.’ The article states that Russia decided to be an ally of the United States in the war on terror, and as a result, political ties have been strengthened. Laurent Ruseckas of Cambridge Energy stated that, “The trend was already towards a depoliticization of Caspian energy, and this definitely advances that,” in an effort to show that the United States and Russia were truly becoming allies in the oil industry as well (Russia 1). The ‘alliance’ could be short-lived however because as quickly as they became allies, Russia broke the trust of the United States. Russia provided the United Front with arms and coaxed them to move into Kabul (JURIST 2).

The ‘War on Terrorism’ has had many interesting events occur during its duration. For example, the Taliban was overthrown. However, what isn’t widely known is that before it was overthrown, Bush was eager to do business with them. Bush’s ultimatum to the Taliban in threatening them if they did not turn over Osama Bin Laden was actually a hidden scheme to separate the two in hopes of befriending the Taliban (Hindu 4). Only when the ultimatum did not succeed was Bush forced to overthrow the Taliban and set in motion the plan for a democratic leader.

Regrettably, it is the easy thing to do nowadays to believe that the United States government is scrupulous in its actions. With all the propaganda thrown at the public from the Bush administration, it is no wonder people believe that the only reason we are invading Afghanistan is that we believe they are holding Osama Bin Laden. Sure that is one of their goals, however obviously not a priority of the United States.

Conclusion

The theme of the US government’s need for oil has been a constant throughout this entire paper. In Venezuela much of the true problem the US has with President Chavez centres around his policies on Venezuelan oil production. These polices have severely hurt the US which relies on Venezuela for 15% of its oil. The US is also concerned about the powerful role Venezuela has within OPEC. As we have emphasized during this paper although the main driving force behind the US involvement in each of these countries remains the same, oil, the behaviour of the US has been markedly different. The reason behind that, is much as the US media, which remember is always in the pocket of the US government, attempts to paint him as one, President Chavez is not a dictator and he has been democratically elected not once but twice, with massive margins of victory each time. The US has interfered as much as possible in the democratic processes of Venezuela providing funding for the opposition party, allegedly supporting the failed military coup of 2002 and continually portraying Chavez as a dictator and villain. They cannot however use military force in Venezuela because it is a relatively rich and powerful country thanks to its oil resources. In this example the US is simply forced to accept Chavez’s rule, whereas in other situations they have been known to wage economical warfare by placing ridiculous trade restrictions on a country Chavez has already ruled out the option by stating that if the US does that to Venezuela he will cases all oil exports. Unfortunately for the innocent men, women and children of Afghanistan they had no such power and so were defenseless against the brutal US military attack.

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12 Nov .2004 <http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forum/forumnew41.php>

project 12/10/98. 12 Nov .2004