José Vicente Rangel and the 18 war planes: the plot thickens

José Vicente Rangel announced yesterday that five of the eighteen war planes he claims were bought by the opposition in the United States have already been delivered to a Colombian military base. Complicit in the plot are, according to JVR, an oil company based in Canada called Pacific Rubiales, the ex-PDVSA executives organization Gente del Petróleo, and also CIA, FBI, and DEA agents.

He also warned that “the conspiracy against Venezuela orchestrated from Colombia by the international and national right is increasing every day. (…) The ultra-right of Colombia, the Uribistas, the powerful economic groups, retired generals, media,  oil company Pacific Rubiales, and the intense activities of a sector of the Venezuelan opposition that moves with complete freedom in Colombia, have turned that country into an operation base against Venezuela.”

Elaborate plots have been routinely denounced by JVR in his TV program for more than a decade. He was behind many of the warnings of supposed attempts to kill President Chávez and, in his claims of an ongoing permanent conspiracy against the Venezuelan government, coined several memorable oxymora around the word coup, such as “electoral coup” and “continuous coup.”

Yesterday’s presentation by JVR included almost every event of the last months and every actor of the Venezuelan opposition in the ongoing plot: “an insistent campaign inside the Armed Forces, the exasperation of social conflicts, the political (politiquero) handling of university problems, speculation and hoarding of basic products of Venezuelan’s diet, and the excessive re-heating of street conflicts. Not a day goes by without an increase in the coup script and in the coverage of the conspirators.”

Also notable was his warning of the opposition’s “insistence on denying that there is an ongoing plot against the legitimate government of Nicolas Maduro.” For JVR precisely this denial constitutes proof of the conspiracy. 

More on the 18 war planes and the paramilitaries

The blog Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights has an excellent Q&A overview by David Smilde on the Venezuela Colombia relations, and some answers to recent conspiracy claims made in Venezuela. 

Here is part of the article:

Is there any truth to Venezuela’s recent claims that theVenezuelan opposition has purchased 18 war planes to be located in Colombia and that they captured nine Colombian paramilitaries conspiring to kill President Maduro?

Of course stranger things have happened and from the outside it is impossible to know without actually seeing the evidence. But neither claim seems likely. Eighteen warplanes, depending on the model and whether they were used or new would cost somewhere between $250 million and $1 billion and it is hard to imagine who in the Venezuelan opposition would be willing to put forward that much money for such a venture. Any actual belligerent action would require extensive ground support, ammunition and ground troops. This does not seem plausible even if it were free.

Paramilitary conspiracies against the Venezuelan government are, of course, a possibility. But the timing seems unlikely. Assassination attempts usually come from groups who feel threatened by strong leaders that oppose their interests. But Maduro has struggled in his first two months and many people in the opposition and in Chavismo doubt he will finish his term. It’s not clear why right wing opponents of the Venezuelan government would want to take him out violently.

Venezuela has a long and porous border with Colombia which means in states close to that border there is extensive presence of guerrilla, paramilitaries and all sorts of irregular groups involved in contraband, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. Any given day of the week the Venezuelan armed forces could round up some paramilitaries or other irregulars and accuse them of whatever they want. So it would require some real concrete evidence beyond mug shots to make this story plausible.

More on “Gente de Petróleo” and the 18 war planes

The government´s Sistema Bolivariano de Comunicación e Información published a note yesterday claiming that Gente de Petróleo (the organization of PDVSA executives fired after the oil strike of 2002), “control” the production of 20,000 barrels of oil in Colombia trough a company called Vetra Energía. 

The note, originally published in the government free daily newspaper Ciudad CCS, argues that this company could be linked to the “purchase of 18 war planes by the opposition, to be placed in one of seven US military bases in Colombia,” as previously denounced by José Vicente Rangel and by President Nicolás Maduro. 

Desecration of the Presidential Grave by the Right, The Fascist Air Force, and the ongoing “Mercenaries Plot”

According to a press note from AVN published on June 8, Maduro reveals on a public meeting of the Gran Polo Patriótico that the “right” had plans for stealing the body of President Chávez form his resting place: “The national fascist right had planned for April 15, to irrupt into the Cuartel de la Montaña and assault the coffin of the Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez, and also massacre the people of 23 the Enero [a low income are of Caracas near the Cuartel] and leave at least 10,000 dead. (…) I have no doubt, they had it all planned.” Maduro also declares that this is still the plan of the “right”. Later during the same meeting Maduro again mentions his theory about the “war of the dogs.” This is the full quote of a press note in English released by AVN that day:

Caracas, 08 Jun. AVN.- People's Power and Chavista ideology were defined by Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro as people's strength to face and defeat fascism.

"Fascism is fought with a clear revolutionary ideology, which we have. We have bolivarianism and the 21 century socialism, which are summarized in Chavismo," said president Nicolas Maduro.

The Venezuelan President stressed that another strength of the country fighting fascism is expressed in "a powerful State, which abides by Law and Constitution."

There must not exist weakness before fascism, its campaigns and lies, warned Maduro, urging to bear in mind what we are facing.

He said opponents seek to spread hatred and "inject scenarios which some experts in strategic analysis call 'dog wars,' a miserable name used to define actions aimed at dividing and breaking peace in countries, which are then intervened by the imperial foot."

Such war of rumors and strategies, Maduro said, are part of the fascist behavior of local rightists, anchored in their class interests.

President Maduro said Venezuelans already have elements to fight that: "It is fought with ideology as project, ideas; it is fought with spirit, new spirit based in love, homeland, future, a Christian love for the humble, for those who claim justice."

"Fascists, do not be wrong about me, about people. Here are people willing to defeat you," stressed president Nicolas Maduro.

 AVN 08/06/2013 17:55

On June 9, José Vicente Rangel reveals that a “sector of the Venezuelan right” has negotiated in the United States the purchase of war planes. These planes would be used, from a US military base in Colombia, in an “aggression operation” against Venezuela. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles qualified Rangel´s denunciation as a “good joke” and added that the idea could only come from “the twisted and dark mind of a nefarious character.” On June 11 Capriles again made reference to the claims: “Where are we supposed to keep 18 planes? In a garage?” 

On June 10, Minister of Interior Relations, Justice, and Peace, Miguel Rodríguez Torres informs on VTV that on Sunday 9 two groups of paramilitary were captured in Portuguesa and Táchira. Rodríguez Torres presumes “with much certainty, that all this could be part of a plan orchestrated from Colombia with the purpose of attempting against the life of our President and against the stability of the Bolivarian Government. (…) We are not at all surprised that this plan has undoubtedly a political end, a destabilizing end, within the context of the extreme right that dreams of a violent outcome, a non-constitutional outcome, of what they consider a crisis.”

The denunciations by Rodríguez Torres are ratified by Maduro via twitter a few minutes later: “I ratify it, they conspire form Colombia against our fatherland, the right has again coordinated groups of assassins to come to our fatherland,” and “The psychological war and the dirty war against our fatherland has as a basis to bring [into the country] the fascist violence of paramilitaries from Colombia.” Later during the day Maduro gave further detailsof the plot explaining that it was financed by Gente de Petroleo (an organization of PDVSA ex-executives of who lost their jobs after the oil strike of 2002 and that operates mainly in Colombia): “I will latter say their names, but first I would like to alert this financing of huge amounts of dollars.” The objectives of the plot, according to Maduro, would be the assassination of the President, the “confrontation” with military personnel of the Plan Patria Segura, and the “increase of the homicide rates in the country.”

On June 11, Foregoing Minister Elías Jaua declares: “From Bogotá a platform of conspiracy is being installed for the development and propagation of rumors, intrigues, and psychological warfare against the Venezuelan people. (…) [Groups] are organized, promoted and financed from Bogotá by obscure characters of the Colombian political and economic life. (…) These are paramilitary bands dedicated to fomenting violence in Venezulea, the facts are there, we have captured two paramilitary bands in two different States of the country and we will continue hitting at this destabilization strategy.”

On June 10, a note in English from the AVN web page informs that “Organizing open air food markets and supervising public and private distribution networks to guarantee stocks, the National Government intensifies its battle against an economic war staged by local right-wing sector in an attempt to destabilize the country through shortage, speculation and hoarding. (…) Ministers of Agriculture and Lands and Commerce, Yvan Gil and Alejandro Fleming, respectively, said the statement during an inspection to an open air market of staple goods and personal hygiene products at fair prices, arranged in downtown Caracas by the National Executive. (…) Gil said the State will continue ‘facing this war declared by a rightist sector, boycotting staple goods' distribution, production, availability.’”