I hesitate to write anything at all about Venezuela. I don’t speak Spanish (beyond dos cervesas por favor).I haven’t lived there. I have no inside informants.
In trying to sort out the confusion, I turn to an unlikely source – Franciscan priest Fr. Richard Rohr. Rohr’s speciality is religion, not international politics. But I have found his process for understanding Bible stories helpful in deciphering complex secular issues.
A story needs four levels of analysis, Rohr argues.
There is, first, the literal level. No interpretation, “just the facts, ma’am,” as Joe Friday used to say.
Second, the underlying issues.
Third, connections to previous similar stories. (In the Bible, at least, themes keep recurring.)
Finally, how does this affect me?
The first level
In Venezuela’s case, the literal level is complex enough. President Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded former President Hugo Chavez, got re-elected in what many consider a fraudulent election. He consolidated his power by creating a constituent assembly, made up of his supporters, to replace the existing National Assembly, which is controlled by his opposition. In the absence of what it considers a legitimately elected president, the National Assembly declared its Speaker, Juan Guaido to be Maduro’s constitutional successor.
By analogy, imagine Donald Trump creating an alternative Congress composed of his fans, while the existing House of Representatives declares Nancy Pelosi to be the rightful president.
The U.S. wants to see Guaido as Venezuela’s president. Canada, most South American countries, and most of the European Union, followed the U.S. lead. Among the U.N.’s 193 member states, 65 endorse Guaido; the remainder continue to recognize Maduro, or take no stand.
The second level
So now to Rohr’s second level of analysis. What’s going on under the surface here.
Clearly, the U.S. still holds a grudge against Venezuela. Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976; Big Oil has never forgiven it. When he became president in 1998, Chavez poured oil income to the people, reducing unemployment, infant mortality, and poverty by half, and roughly doubling literacy, health, and social support.
Venezuela currently has the world’s largest oil reserves, surpassing even Saudi Arabia. That’s a rich prize, even at today’s oil prices. U.S. corporate interests would welcome a regime change.
The third level
Now let’s put regime changes in a longer context.
Like Venezuela, Libya had abundant oil. Like Venezuela, a little-known military officer, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, seized power. Like Chavez, Gadhafi used oil revenues to dramatically improve literacy, health, and employment.
But the U.S. considered Gadhafi a communist stooge. It bombed Libya in 1986 for – supposedly – blowing up a Berlin night club frequented by U.S. personnel; two Americans died. Libyan terrorists were also blamed for blowing up a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, two years later. During the “Arab Spring” uprisings of 2011, NATO waged an air war over Libya.
After rebels shot Gadhafi, the “transitional government” that replaced him led to chaos, losing most of Gadhafi’s social progress.
Or consider Afghanistan. After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, a multi-national force took arms against the Taliban, accused of sheltering Osama bin Laden. The Taliban were, ironically, the same mujahedeen the west had supported against the Soviet attempt to control Afghanistan. The protracted Western withdrawal left the Taliban eve more firmly in control.
In Chile, a U.S.-backed coup killed socialist president Salvador Allende. General Augusto Pinochet established a 17-year reign of torture, execution, and internment.
In Iraq, one war drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait’s oil fields. A second war, validated by faked intelligence reports of “weapons of mass destruction,” toppled Hussein. In the anarchy following the end of the war, ISIS fanatics seized control.
In Syria, the Arab Spring didn’t sweep Bashar Al-Assad from power. Instead, the civil war brought long-banned poison-gas attacks against civilians.
And Syria, I’m told, is no longer the world’s biggest source of refugees; Venezuela is.
The historic context suggests to me that regime change pushed by foreign powers has typically caused more harm than good. Less democracy, rather than more. Lower social standards, not higher.
The fourth level
All of which leads to Rohr’s fourth consideration – how will this affect me, safely distant from these crises?
Obviously, I can’t tell governments to butt out of Venezuela’s affairs.
It makes me a lot more skeptical about the platitudes that politicians utter. They tend to act as a shield concealing the undercurrents, the real story.
Also, I get increasingly frustrated that today’s entertainment media treat all conflicts as a bare-knuckles bout between two individuals. There’s much more going on below the surface.
The main lesson for me is to apply Fr. Rohr’s analysis more rigorously to all current news. Not just Venezuela.
*******************************************************
Copyright © 2019 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved.
To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca
********************************************************
YOUR TURN
Do I actually understand crypto-currencies? As I said last week, I don’t. But apparently my elucidation of what I still don’t understand helped some of you gain a slightly better grasp of these things.
Dan Bitor wrote, “Thank you for the brilliant article you wrote. I once read that, put in seconds, a million dollars is 11 days, a billion dollars is 32 years, a trillion dollars is 32,000 years! America is $22 trillion in debt. Canada's debt is nearing one trillion.
“Digital money gives citizens a detached view of money. Remember earning your first dollar and hanging it on the wall in a picture frame? Try that with digital! Counting out a big purchase with $20 bills gave one time for sober second thought as opposed to punching in your PIN number.
“Everyone in debt, buying stuff they don't need with money they don't have.
“The great financial crisis of 2008 was just a warm up for what's coming. None of the problems that created the crisis have been fixed, and have only been made worse.”
Tom Watson also enthused: “Wow! I have wondered about how to understand crypto-currency, so thanks for explaining it. What it confirms is my intention not to get involved.
“I did, though, have a whimsical thought: Some guy has sent a couple of messages, indicating that he had complete access to my computer, and therefore threatening a complete take-over of my banking, indeed my entire life, if I didn't send him a tidy dollop of Bitcoin. Maybe I should suggest he contact the estate of Harold Cotten, claiming I had deposited all my Bitcoin with him.”
Bob Rollwagen pointed out, “Your understanding of crypto-currencies is probably better than mine. However, to buy into them, you have to put up an acceptable national currency valued in the market of the day, so somebody is getting rich.”
Steve Roney agreed about crypto-currencies, and also about the previous week’s column on bullying. But, he continued, “The praise from some of your commentators has me worried. This is a good example of ‘virtue-signaling’—doing something that costs you nothing, and has no moral value, only to make the public statement ‘I am a good person.’
“Wearing a pink shirt does nothing to stop bullying. Nobody is openly in favour of bullying, so declaring you are against it is hardly meaningful, and is educating nobody who does not already know about the general campaign against bullying.
“On the other hand, unfortunately, it can distract attention from the real problem. It is a pink herring. Bullies can happily wear a pink shirt, just like everyone else, then use this as a moral cover to go on bullying. If challenged—including by their own conscience—they can say ‘I am not a bully. I wore a pink shirt!’ And now they have moral warrant to go on bullying.”
******************************************
TECHNICAL STUFF
If you want to comment on something, write me at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the ‘Reply’ button.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedges-unsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca.
You can now access current columns and seven years of archives at http://quixotic.ca
I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca
And for those of you who like poetry, I’ve started a webpage http://quixotic.ca/My-Poetrywhere I post (occasionally, when I feel inspired) poems that I have written. If you’d like to receive notifications about new poems, write me at jimt@quixotic.ca, or subscribe yourself to the list by sending a blankemail (no message) to poetry-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca(If it doesn’t work, please let me know.)
********************************************
PROMOTION STUFF…
To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols. (This is to circumvent filters that think too many links constitute spam.)
Ralph Milton’s latest project is a kind of Festival of Faith, a retelling of key biblical stories by skilled storytellers like Linnea Good and Donald Schmidt, designed to get people talking about their own faith experience. It’s a series of videos available on Youtube. I suggest you start with his introductory section: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u6qRclYAa8
Ralph’s “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal -- is still available. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at wwwDOTsinghallelujahDOTca
Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca>
I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom
Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawoodATgmailDOTcom to get onto her mailing list.
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom or twatsonATsentexDOTnet