James Petras: Western media seeking to destabilize Venezuela govt.

Press TV has conducted an interview with James Petras, professor emeritus at Binghamton University from New York, to discuss Venezuela-Colombia border skirmishes.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What is going on, in your perspective, between Venezuela and Colombia?

Petras: We have to put it in the historical context. For the past decade, contrabandists and paramilitary activists have been crossing the Venezuelan border. It has reached a point that today where millions of gallons of petroleum are smuggled across the border, causing shortages and loss of income for the Venezuelan government.

And most recently, three Venezuelan National Guard officers were shot by paramilitary forces coming from Colombia. They use Colombia as a sanctuary and as a warehouse for reselling Venezuelan goods smuggled across the border. This has created enormous security problems for Venezuela and the government was finally forced to militarize the frontier and expel many of the individuals, Colombians who are engaged in these illicit economic transactions.

It should be noted there are over five million Colombians who have emigrated from Colombia to Venezuela and are integrated in the society. This is a border issue that affects a particular sector of Colombians. We should be wary of taking the words of the Colombian president who has failed to abide by the security issues on his frontier with Venezuela.

I think this issue has been instigated by President Santos in collaboration with the United States to increase tensions with the Maduro government.

Press TV: When we look at actually how the story is being covered by a lot of Western media, projecting the Venezuelan government as being basically not very humanistic and not allowing migrants, something similar to what is happening in Europe, to enter into the country and painting a very negative picture over all of the Venezuelan government. What do you think the overall goal of this is?

Petras: The goal is to destabilize the Maduro government in the run-up to the elections in December; to create shortages, artificial shortages, to create violence in Venezuela, to prejudice the voters against the incumbent government. I think the purpose is to create a false image of a humanitarian issue, when the real problem is the paramilitarism, which still engulfs Colombia. We have to note that 25 trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia over the past year, something which does not occur in Venezuela.

Press TV: Do you think that Venezuela will be able to survive this ‘plot’ to destabilize its government?

Petras: I think it has taken its firm measures. I think the mobilization of the National Guard has led towards a sharp decline in contraband. There is no instances recently of paramilitary Colombians crossing the border and assassinating Venezuelans. So, so far, it has worked. It has 75 percent of the support of the Venezuelan population, which even includes many people who are critical of the Maduro government and have not typically voted for it and are a hundred percent behind these security measures, because of the fear and concern they have with the Colombian killers who use their home country as a sanctuary for attacks in Venezuela.

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