MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina and Brazil fearful Venezuelan crowds in the streets could be contagious

Latin America's populist left wing believes there is a simultaneous right wing conspiracy to destabilize Cristina Fernandez and Maduro

The current political crisis in Venezuela is rattling regional organizations, has two of the leading countries fearful of the crowds in the streets, while Latin American left wing populism believes there is a concerted right wing effort to destabilize the governments of Venezuela and Argentina, according to Argentine political analyst Rosendo Fraga.

 Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro describes the protests as an attempt by the “fascist right”, supported by the US and regionally articulated by former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, to knock him out of office.

According to this vision the offensive in Venezuela now includes armed gangs infiltrated among protestors, the second phase of the economic crisis precipitated by economic groups which loath 'chavism' and have forced inflation to a soaring 50%, brought recession, scarcity of staples and a huge exchange-rate gap.

In this scenario, according to Fraga, president Maduro has gained strong solidarity from Mercosur, not only for ideological affinities, but because both Brazil and Argentina fear the challenge of violence in the streets of their countries.

Brazil experienced it for several months during last year's Confederation Cup and there are chances of a repeat during the June/July World Cup because of the lavish spending on stadiums and corruption while the people are exposed to African public services and infrastructure.

In her latest statements President Dilma Rousseff pledged to appeal to the Armed Forces if necessary to keep order in the streets during the coming world event.

Cristina Fernandez went through a similar situation when the police last December mutinied in almost all provinces demanding better pay and work conditions, which was accompanied by rampant looting, robbing and arson in many cities. The situation also remains volatile because of inflation, insecurity, the run on the US dollar and what is forecasted as a recession.

But while Mercosur is supporting Maduro, countries from the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico) have a different position, Unasur (Union of South America Nations) condemns violence and Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) expresses concern about the tragic events, which means there are dissenting opinions.

Likewise, the Latin American left wing populist interpretation is that there is regional right wing conspiracy looking to destabilize Venezuela and Argentina simultaneously.

And, coincidence, according to Fraga both have a similar approach to economics. With inflation and the latest readings of January Argentina has overtaken Venezuela, 3.7% vs 3.3%. Both countries check on prices: the program is called 'cared prices' in Argentina and 'fair prices' in Venezuela.

The dollar clamp was initiated by Hugo Chavez in 2003 and Cristina Fernandez followed in 2011. The plunge in international reserves as well as devaluation of their currencies has also been parallel although of different magnitude. Recession seems to be awaiting round the corner and both leaders are committed to more government intervention, and last but not least determined to keep honoring sovereign bonds to avoid default.

Last week Maduro said there was a coup in process against his government and on the same day Cristina Fernandez claimed that a group of banks, media and members from the opposition tried to make 'her government blow to pieces' by speculating with the dollar, prices and hoarding.

And if that was not enough proof of the conspiracy was printed in January, The Economist came out with a strong headline saying: “Argentina and Venezuela, the party is over”, just before both countries became victims of the alleged destabilization attacks.

But, concludes Fraga, despite the conspiracy theories which the populist left in the continent has grabbed to, the fact is that above all in the two cases what is evident is the complete failure of both economic experiences.