This week we talk with Diego Sequera from Mision Verdad in Venezuela about the attempt by the United States government to orchestrate a coup in his country.
Firstly some background, Hugo Chavez nationalised Venezuelan oil in the late 1990s and drove big oil companies like Exxon out of Venezuela. Since that time the US has attempted intervention, so far unsuccessfully.
This time a US economic blockade has brought on a shortage of some goods and medicines. At the same time there has been high inflation so poorer wage earners are unable to buy essential goods and services. Some people have died as a result of lack of medicine. We heard an account on this show in February where Eulalia (Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network) said that her sister had died as a result of lack of medicine. At the same time the United Nations Agency for Refugees says that there is a humanitarian crisis on the border with Columbia. UNHCR representative Angelina Jolie announced this week that over 4 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015 and that on Wednesday over 30,000 left the country through the Colombian border. Listen to the Paradigm Shift today 14 June 2019 for an analysis of the current crisis with Eulalia from the Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network and Diego Sequera a writer and journalist in Caracas from Mision Verdad.
Paradigm Shift is broadcast from the studios of 4ZZZ in Brisbane on FM 102.1 and is available online 4zzz.org.au