Biden Inaugural Guest is Venezuelan Coup Leader Charged with Inciting Violent Assault on Govāt Building
By Anya Parampil – Jan 17, 2021
After condemning the pro-Trump invasion of the Capitol, the incoming Biden administration invited Carlos Vecchio ā a coup leader charged in the 2014 torching of the Venezuelan Attorney Generalās office ā to its inaugural ceremony.
As Washington recovered from shock and outrage caused by pro-Trump hooligans storming the United States Congress ā breaking windows, smashing doors, and intimidating police officers in order to push their way inside ā a sense of pre-inaugural excitement began to sweep the nationās capital. Who would be attending incoming President Joe Bidenās inauguration on January 20, scheduled to take place exactly two weeks following the Capitol riot?
While heavily armed National Guard troops descended onto Washingtonās streets to set up check-points, construct fences around government buildings, and establish their military presence, news about the upcoming swearing-in ceremony began to trickle out in the media.
Lady Gaga was booked to belt out the National Anthem, while Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Bruce Springsteen, and a host of other Democratic Party-aligned pop artists were scheduled to perform throughout the day. Former Trump cabinet members, including Vice President Mike Pence, Supreme Court Justices, and lawmakers were all expected to attend, though the National Mall would be closed to the general public.
Beyond entertainers and high-level federal officials, foreign dignitaries were invited to join a smaller-than-usual group of individuals permitted to witness the dayās festivities.Ā Among those dignitariesĀ isĀ Carlos Vecchio, a former Exxon lawyer who currently serves as US-recognized āInterim Presidentā Juan GuaidĆ³ās envoy in Washington. When the Trump Administration initiated a coup against Venezuelaās government in January of 2019, Vecchio became GuaidĆ³ās ambassador, and has risen to prominence as the de facto leader of a US-based exile lobby dedicated to toppling Venezuelaās UN-recognized government.
The Biden teamās decision to invite Vecchio was a disappointing sign to those hoping the new administration would break from Trumpās failed and destructive policy of recognizing GuaidĆ³ as Venezuelaās leader. In the two years since Washington appointed the previously unknown opposition figure to lead its attempt at regime change, GuaidĆ³ has failed to rally public support in Venezuela or gain control of any government ministry. The countryās military remains loyal to President NicolĆ”s Maduro and the United Nations still recognizes the Maduro governmentās authority.
Beyond giving the appearance that Biden will continue the Trump Administrationās doomed Venezuela policy, Vecchioās presence at the presidential swearing-in ceremony was filled with irony. In the days following the Capitol riot, Biden and his allies have denounced the violent takeover of Congress as an assault on democracy, with the incoming president himself declaring the rioters to be ādomestic terrorists.ā
RELATED CONTENT: Venezuela Denounces Trump, Crystallex and GuaidĆ³ For Attempting to Loot Citgo
Yet Carlos Vecchio, the GuaidĆ³ ally with a fresh ticket to Bidenās inauguration, is responsible for leading his own assault on his home countryās democracy ā and is currently wanted in Venezuela for inciting a violent attack on the Attorney Generalās office in Caracas.
After condemning Trump for inspiring the Capitol riot, Biden sent inaugural invite to @carlosvecchio ā Venezuelan coup leader charged with inciting insurrectionist 2014 attack on gov't building.
See what Vecchio's charged for here, it might seem familiarhttps://t.co/S3nJHdccrk pic.twitter.com/zb6umY3WJ4
— Anya Parampil (@anyaparampil) January 18, 2021
Bidenās guest charged with inspiring a violent assault on Venezuelaās public institutions
On February 12, 2014, right-wing opposition leader Leopoldo LĆ³pez led a feverish rally of his supporters in the heart of Venezuelaās capital, Caracas. For over a month, LĆ³pez and his political allies had been holding demonstrations aimed at overthrowing newly-elected president NicolĆ”s Maduro, who came into office following snap elections held in the aftermath of Hugo ChĆ”vezās death.
Carlos Vecchio, the corporate lawyer who went on to represent Juan GuaidĆ³ in Washington, also spoke at the demonstration, and stood loyally by LĆ³pezās side as he delivered his incendiary speech calling for an angry march to the Attorney Generalās office, and whipping the crowd into chants of, āNo fear! No fear!ā
LĆ³pezās supporters heeded his call and charged straight for the office of Venezuelaās Public Prosecutor, eventually setting the building on fire. Columbia Universityās Global Freedom of Expression projectĀ concededthe mayhem āresulted in the death of two people and considerable damage to public property.ā
LĆ³pez and his allies, including Vecchio, were charged for their role in inciting the destruction. LĆ³pez was eventually sentenced to 13 years in prison for his actions, while Vecchio fled to the United States to escape āincitement of violenceā charges.
The attack on Venezuelaās public institutions in February of 2014 mirrored events that would take place in Washington DC roughly six years later, when President Donald Trump delivered a speech on the White House eclipse instructing his supporters to march to the Capitol as lawmakers voted to cerity his election loss. Within minutes of arriving at Congress, Trumpās followers overwhelmed the meager crowd of police deployed to protect the legislature and forced their way inside ā unafraid to shatter doors and windows as they did so.
Following the violent breach of the Capitol, incoming president Joe Biden characterized the mobās actions as āan unprecedented assault on our democracy, an assault literally on the citadel of liberty, in the United States Capitol itselfā and āan assault on the rule of law.ā Democrats in the House of Representatives quickly moved to impeach Trump, charging the president with āincitement of insurrection.ā
In light of their outraged response to the Capitol raid, which they branded an act of illegal insurrection, Biden and his allies might be sympathetic to the Venezuelan government, which similarly moved to charge LĆ³pez and his co-conspirators, including Vecchio, for their role in encouraging a blitz on government buildings after the countryās Attorney Generalās office was torched by a politically-charged mob.
Instead, the wanted coup leader Vecchio was welcomed by a bipartisan crew of top Washington politicians including President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Florida neocon Senator Marco Rubio, and former Democratic Party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The violent actions of Vecchio and his allies were hardly limited to the events of February 12, 2014. The chaotic demonstrations they led lasted until May of that year, resulting in the deaths of 49 people and roughly 10 billion dollars in damage. Regime change rampages by Venezuelaās opposition have featuredĀ assaultsĀ on journalists, theĀ constructionĀ of barricades manned by vandals, and theĀ burningĀ to death of political opponents.
On June 13, 2017, activistsĀ setĀ Venezuelaās Supreme Court on fire following jailed opposition leader LĆ³pezās call for a rebellion against the Maduro government. Days later a police officer named Ćscar PĆ©rezĀ hijackedĀ a government helicopter and attempted to launch four grenades at the Court while firing live bullets at the countryās Interior Ministry. (TrumpĀ honored PĆ©rezĀ during a political rally in South Florida on February 18, 2019).
For his part, Juan GuaidĆ³ has led two failed campaigns of violent insurrection against Venezuelaās government. In April of 2019, heĀ calledfor an uprising against President Maduro while a group of a few dozen soldiers launched an attack on the La Carlota Air Base in Caracas. While the rebellion failed to generate popular support, LĆ³pez was broken out of house arrest during the dayās events, leading to his eventual exile in Spain.
Roughly a year later, GuaidĆ³ was exposed at the center of yet another coup plot when former U.S. Green Beret Jordan GoudreauĀ accusedĀ the politician of contracting his services to carry out a botched capture or kill operation targeting President Maduro. Goudreau, who previously provided private security for Trump campaign rallies, produced aĀ contractĀ containing GuaidĆ³ās signature along with aĀ voice recordingĀ of GuaidĆ³ allegedly discussing the deal though GuaidĆ³ himself has denied involvement.
Biden and the Democrats reacted with indignation when the U.S. Capitol was breached for just one afternoon, immediately initiating Trumpās second impeachment by the House of Representatives. Within days, the Capitol was surrounded with unscalable fencing and 25,000 National Guard soldiers were summoned to occupy central Washington DC ā more than three times the amount of troops deployed to Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan combined.
It would be instructive to imagine how Democrats would have responded if Trump or his supporters attempted anything like the years-long campaign of insurrection by Venezuelaās opposition ā and did so with the full-throated support of a foreign power. What if Trump supporters had set up barricades around Washington DC, preventing residents from leaving or entering their own neighborhoods? What if they had lit the Supreme Court on fire and bombed it from the air in a stolen military helicopter? And how would Democrats have reacted if Trump had contracted foreign mercenaries to capture or kill Biden?
Anyone troubled by these hypothetical scenarios should be equally disturbed that Carlos Vecchio, a veteran coup leader allied with seditious forces in his home country, will be present at Bidenās inauguration on January 20.
Sen. Durbin lobbies for Venezuelan coup leaders hours after condemning Trumpist āinsurrectionā
In the lead up to the House vote on President Trumpās impeachment, on January 11, U.S. Senator Dick DurbinĀ tweeted, āThe President and his Republican enablers incited a violent mob into storming the Capitolā¦ This was an assault on our democracy, our national security, and our Constitution. There must be accountability, including impeachment.ā
Hours later Durbin took to Twitter again toĀ boastĀ of his meeting with incoming Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, saying the two discussed āhis plan for the State Department in the Biden Administration.ā
According to the senatorās office, Durbin explicitly advocated the Biden administration preserve support for Juan GuaidĆ³, whom he described as Venezuelaās āInterim-President.ā
We thank you @SenatorDurbin for addressing with the nominee for US Secretary of State @ABlinken the critical situation of Venezuela, the actions to restoring democracy hijacked by Nicolas Maduro's dictatorship, and the necessary support to the Venezuelan people. https://t.co/IUTNVPbTI7
— CARLOS VECCHIO (@carlosvecchio) January 13, 2021
āWe thank you Senator Durbin for addressing with the nominee for U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken the critical situation of Venezuela, the actions to restoring democracy hijacked by Nicolas Maduroās dictatorship, and the necessary support to the Venezuelan people,ā Vecchio tweeted in response to news of the conversation.
Featured image: File Photo.
Anya Parampil
Anya Parampil is a journalist based in Washington, DC. She previously hosted a daily progressive afternoon news program called In Question on RT America. She has produced and reported several documentaries, including on-the-ground reports from the Korean peninsula and Palestine.
