THE VIOLENCE OF IMPERIALISM

While the United States continues its efforts to overthrow the democratically elected Venezuelan government, it is implicated in Israel's assassination of a political leader in another country.


THE UNITED STATES administration continues to loudly protest the result of the Venezuelan election. Unfortunately for the United States and the opposition forces it backs in Venezuela, the election was overseen by over 800 independent observers, many from other countries. They have declared the election to be 'fair and transparent'. One of those observers, the US-based National Lawyers Guild, has commented:

'Any difficulties that we witnessed at the polls were normal and routine in all electoral systems. At the majority of polling sites we visited, wait times were relatively low (under 5 minutes) throughout the day, although there were surges in turnout leading to longer waits at times. Those with special needs were accommodated through a fast-track line. Longer and shorter wait times at the polls took place across neighbourhoods and, when there were longer lines, the delegation did not witness any participants that decided not to vote due to waits.

'The delegation underlined its absolute rejection of claims of fraud being promulgated by the U.S. backed opposition, right wing forces in the region including the Lima group, U.S. officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Western media.'

While the United States has sought to delegitimise a fair election, it has displayed next to no concern that Israel flagrantly violated another country's sovereignty in order to assassinate a political leader. The 'best' that the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been able to come up with is to claim that the United States 'was not aware of or involved in' the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

This stretches credibility. The assassination came only days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington. Netanyahu met Donald Trump as well as Joe Biden. It's possible that this means that Netanyahu has been trying to play them off against each other, ensuring each back him even more than they ordinarily would. Such has been Israel's destructive influence on American mainstream politics, many people are backing Kamala Harris as if she represents a meaningful break from the Biden administration's support for Israel's genocidal war in Gaza. She doesn't. Only her rhetoric is less offensive.

Two different countries and two different responses from the United States. It continues its efforts to overthrow a Venezuelan government that refuses to be its vassal state. In stark contrast, Israel can only continue to exist because of the enormous financial and military resources the United States pours into the Zionist state very year.

Israel continues to be America's imperialist outpost in the Middle East. It will continue to defend it even as it commits genocide in Gaza and, because of its belligerent and illegal behaviour, risks plunging the Middle East into a wider and catastrophic regional war. The United States will carry on with its imperialist ways, regardless.

What is to be done? Other countries, that are not prepared to be servants of America's imperialist ambitions, need to organise in terms of using embargoes and economic boycotts against Israel with sufficient vigour as was done against the South African apartheid government.