Venezuela at risk of 'color revolution'

In Venezuela there are forces that are trying to carry out a “color revolution” through different mechanisms, Carlos Rafael Faria Torotosa, Head of the Venezuelan Diplomatic Corps in Moscow, said in an interview with Sputnik.

Venezuela at risk of “color revolution”. Photo Reuters

"Here we are talking about actions to discredit the government, distort the truth about corruption and election results. These two elements are very important because people use false information to stir up discontent among residents," - said the diplomat.

According to the head of the diplomatic mission, color revolutions have become a reality in today's world.

"There are quite a few countries that can claim this, such as Ukraine and Georgia, the former Soviet Union. There is also Libya, Syria, the Middle East and North Africa," he said.

According to Mr. Tortosa, in Venezuela the course of events is also developing according to this scenario: "discrediting the government, establishing information mechanisms that distort the truth about events happening in the country, in this way creating a basis for intervention, to finance extremist groups".

“We know that this is what is happening in Syria,” Mr. Tortosa stressed.

The diplomat commented that in Venezuela, those forces aimed their attacks at the economy, which is a characteristic of the plot to carry out a color revolution in this country.

"They are trying to interfere in internal affairs with the support of imperialist forces using two factors: the departure of Comandante Chavez and the sharp drop in oil prices, on which we depend," he said.

The representative of the Venezuelan Embassy emphasized that the drop in oil prices is not related to domestic economic problems.

"Oil prices depend on the decisions of major players in the energy market, such as the United States and Saudi Arabia. Which countries are most affected? For example, Russia also depends on oil, but it has found successful economic solutions. Iran also depends on oil, it is blocked due to international sanctions," he said.

The head of the Venezuelan diplomatic delegation stressed that Russia has been changing its economic model for many years, constantly expanding the process of diversification and industrialization.

"Unfortunately, in Venezuela for many years we have not taken steps in this direction. It is necessary to remember that only 18 years have passed since the revolution in our country. Some say that this is quite a long time. But it takes many years to carry out reforms and restructure the economy. And Venezuela has outlined plans for the development of economic sectors of strategic importance," he said.

Meanwhile, food and medicine distribution networks are under attack.

"We see that a well-calculated plan has led to the fact that our food is exported abroad, first of all to Colombia. Smuggling has taken place through different channels and mafia groups have been created to carry out this plan," said Tortosa.

In addition, according to the diplomat, Venezuela's currency was also attacked.

"They took the main instrument for commercial transactions in our country, the bolivar, and took these currencies out of the country. We had a complicated situation at the end of last year. Tons of 100 bolivar notes - the largest denomination at that time - were discovered in Brazil, Colombia, even in some countries on other continents, in Europe. This caused serious damage to Venezuela."

According to the Venezuelan diplomat, the purpose of these actions is to discourage Venezuelans and cause their discontent.

"Who can bear the fact that there are no bolivars to buy things in the supermarket? Who can not be bothered when they cannot buy food?" he asked.

"All this creates the basis for a color revolution. The next step is to incite public disorder in the streets, to carry out the extreme actions that we are seeing in Venezuela when the far-right elements burn down private homes, attack Chavez supporters, kill our supporters," - said Mr. Tortosa.

According to Sputnik