Chavista demonstrators holding a photo of President Hugo Chávez during a march. Photo: Christian Hernandez/AP/File photo.
The crisis at USAID, an agency of the US empire historically known as the financial arm of interference in Latin America, has unleashed a tectonic shift in the network of Venezuelan NGOs that, for two decades, has sought to shape public opinion against the state.
Since 2001, USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) have invested more than $700 million in Venezuelan non-governmental organizations, according to public data from the US budget.
These NGOs, superficially presented as representatives of so-called “civil society,” acted as transmission belts for a political agenda aimed at destabilizing the Bolivarian government, as stated by Carolina Escarrá, a political scientist and expert in strategic diplomacy, in an interview with the Sputnik news outlet. She analyzed the White House’s true objective as being to “force a change of regime” in the South American nation.
“The impact of the closure of USAID is very important,” said the analyst, “because it has been the main funder of NGOs that have presented themselves as ‘civil society.’ This dates back to the coup against Hugo Chávez in 2002. USAID and NED created an office for the transition [of power] in Venezuela, which distributed funds to specific organizations.”
The expert explained that, after the failure of the coup, funding was channeled directly to organizations such as Súmate, which was led by far-right opposition leader María Corina Machado and linked to attempts to create a “parallel National Electoral Council (CNE)” in 2004.
“It was an intelligence operation,” she explained, “since funds from the US Congress were used for training, logistics, and media campaigns to create a crisis of governability.”
Escarrá highlighted the fact that since 2012, USAID has been promoting the training of young people in Gene Sharp’s tactics—the ideologue of soft coups —through NGOs, such as in the case of Otpor (Serbia). “The objective was to create social unrest that would justify international intervention,” she said. “They wanted a civil war, for Venezuelans to kill each other.”
This scheme included campaigns to saturate the media with narratives of “humanitarian crisis,” even though institutions such as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN recognized Venezuelan progress in food security. “The OAS tried 19 times to declare an emergency in Venezuela and failed,” he pointed out. “Their lie was unsustainable.”
FBI Investigates Juan Guaidó and Carlos Vecchio for Misappropriation of USAID Funds
Money without accountability
Between 2017 and 2022, the US allocated $656 million to Venezuela: $467 million supposedly for migrants in the region, and $189 million supposedly destined for health, education, and food within the country. However, Escarrá revealed a crucial fact: only 2% of these resources were actually utilized for their declared purposes.
“In 2019, USAID signed an agreement with Guaidó’s self-proclaimed ‘interim government’. Of the $189 million for domestic aid, much of it ended up in phantom projects,” reported the analyst. “For example, Guaidó promised 300 dollars each to doctors during the pandemic, but that money never arrived.”
The modus operandi of this scheme included cash transfers, prepaid cards, and funds to organizations such as Caritas, Foro Penal, and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, many linked to international regime-change networks such as George Soros’ Open Society.
“There were no audits,” she added. “It was money without accountability to buy loyalties and finance lobbying operations.” Escarrá believes that the decline of USAID in Venezuela not only exposes the collapse of a model of imperial interference, but also opens a path towards the redefinition of NGOs in the country.
The recently approved Law on the Supervision of Non-Governmental Organizations in Venezuela adds to this spirit, to promote greater transparency and prevent forces of imperialism and colonialism from interfering in the nation. Escarrá concluded that “the technical closure” of dozens of NGOs —dependent on US funds—will not harm society. “On the contrary, it will strengthen organizations that are truly committed to the country,” she explained. “Now they will have to show how they spend each dollar, without hiding behind their false narrative of political persecution.”
(Sputnik) by Jose Negrón Valera with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
José Negrón Valera
Venezuelan anthropologist and writer, researcher in unconventional warfare, counterterrorism and information operations. Author of the books 'A loft for Cleopatra', 'Kings and dinosaurs' and 'Knowledge and power: the process of academic renewal at the UCV (1967-1970)'. National Literature Award "Stefanía Mosca" 2018.
