RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The British government has apparently been supporting attempts to destabilize Venezuela’s elected government for some time. A document published by the British news website “The Canary” discloses the existence of a “Venezuela Reconstruction Unit” in the country’s Foreign Ministry.
A Ministry spokesperson later confirmed to the online magazine that the unit “was formed in the fall of 2019 to coordinate the UK’s involvement in international efforts to provide solutions to the appalling economic and humanitarian situation in Venezuela”. The unit’s chairman is John Saville, who served as the UK’s ambassador to Venezuela between 2014 and 2017.
Saville was instrumental in organizing a visit to London in January 2020 by the Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaidó, where he also met with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and other senior British officials and diplomats.
Guaidó proclaimed himself the “interim president” of Venezuela in January 2019 and has since been trying to oust the authoritarian government of President Nicolás Maduro by calling for new elections, in view of the fraudulent election by which Maduro was reelected. Guaidó has the support of over 50 countries – including the USA, several EU countries and right-wing governed countries in Latin America.
In early February 2019, the United Kingdom recognized Guaidó as Venezuela’s “interim constitutional president,” accredited an “ambassador” he had sent and from then on advocated overthrowing the Maduro government. However, the presence of a dedicated unit in the Foreign Ministry, which was also forging plans for the “reconstruction” of the South American country, had not been known until now.
“The Canary” also disclosed at the same time a series of exchanges of correspondence between Guaidó’s “ambassador” to Great Britain, Vanessa Neumann, and representatives of the Foreign Ministry. In a message dated May 30th, 2019, Neumann asked for a meeting with Development Secretary Rory Stewart and promised “support for British business in rebuilding Venezuela.” In July 2019, she also pressed for a meeting with Foreign Minister Raab “as soon as possible.”
On May 9th, shortly before an appearance on the BBC television channel, Guaidó’s representative had requested public support from Hugo Shorter, the US envoy in the Foreign Ministry, following the arrest of Guaidó’s “deputy,” Edgar Zambrano, in Venezuela. Shortly afterward, she received written confirmation: “The Secretary of State has just issued a tweet in support of Edgar Zambrano.”
In another e-mail, Nigel Baker, head of the Latin America section of the British Foreign Office, assured Neumann of “support for Juan Guaidó.” This happened a few weeks after Guaidó, together with rebellious soldiers, launched an operation to garner public support in Caracas, which failed after Maduro’s soldiers arrested some of the movement.
Neumann also made headlines last September after the release of a recorded telephone conversation between herself and Guaidó’s international affairs officer, Manuel Avedaño. In the discussion, she recommends that Venezuela’s claim for the return of Esequibo territory from neighboring Guyana be dropped in return for greater British support for a change of government in Venezuela.
The approximately 160,000 square kilometres of Esequibo are located in the border area between Venezuela and Guyana and was incorporated into the British colonial empire in 1899 following a controversial arbitration ruling. In 1966 the ruling was reversed by the “Geneva Convention”, which was signed by all parties involved. Due to different interpretations of the agreement, however, the territory has not yet been returned to Venezuela, although this is a constant demand of Venezuelan diplomacy.
The conflict over Esequibo has escalated further in recent years after the Guyanese government granted the US oil company Exxon Mobil permission to exploit oil reserves in the area still claimed by Venezuela. In 2016, Exxon announced the discovery of “significant” oil reserves off the coast of Guyana.
Guaidó’s abandonment of this position, prompted by Neumann under pressure from the British government, led to accusations by Venezuela’s Prosecutor General’s Office. It accused Guaidó, Avedaño, and Neumann of conducting an “illegal negotiation” on Venezuela’s sovereignty on behalf of a “non-existent government”.
The new disclosures made by “The Canary” were also noted on a diplomatic level. Venezuela’s representative to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, on Wednesday denounced Britain’s complicity in the operations against his country.
“The British government is trying to gain advantages for its operations in the event that Trump enforces his colonial regime in Venezuela,” Moncada wrote on Twitter. He also reiterated that the UK has blocked Venezuelan gold reserves at the Bank of England worth around £1.2 (US$1.5) billion and handed them over to Guaidó.
In addition, Venezuela summoned Duncan Hill, the executive officer of the British Embassy in Caracas, to the Foreign Ministry, where he was required to explain himself to Secretary of State Jorge Arreaza.
Source: Amerika21