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The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) in a statement on the aborted coup in Venezuela said that it was a timely warning to the rest of the developing countries, like ours.

The CPSL statement said that the coup was engineered by the military top brass in connivance with some business leaders and privileged trade unions elite of the petroleum industry. It hailed the workers and peasants of Venezuela for frustrating the attempts of the coup leaders.

The statement:

"The Communist Party of Sri Lanka vehemently condemns the recent military coup d'etat attempted on President Hugo Chavaz of Venezuela which was dramatically aborted in a matter of 48 hours with the direct intervention of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan people, mostly workers and peasants.

It has now been revealed that the coup was engineered by the military top brass in connivance with some business leaders and privileged trade union elite of the petroleum industry.

The Communist Party of Sri Lanka salutes the working people of Venezuela for having magnificently responded to the call to frustrate the attempt of the coup leaders who miserably failed to consolidate their hold on to power by the dissolution of the Parliament and the Supreme Court. The interim President appointed by the coup leaders was an executive of the oil industry who suspended 48 laws within his stay in power for a few hours aimed at removing the state's role in the economy.

The striking feature of the attempted coup d'etat was the immediate siege of the Cuban Embassy in the capital of Caracas by the violent mob of 400 people led by the terrorist groups based in Miami, USA. Having cut off electricity and water for the Cuban diplomats, they forcibly besieged and stormed the Cuban Embassy.

It was gratifying to note that for the first time in the history of Latin America, once a continent of coups and political assassinations, that all the leaders of Latin America jointly and roundly condemned the interruption of the constitutional order and refused to recognise the coup government.

President Hugo Chavez who had triumphed in two Presidential elections obviously had earned the wrath of Imperialist powers by refusing to privatise the state owned oil industry - Petroleos de Venezuela, which was a target for immediate privatisation had the coup succeeded. Another matter of grave concern and worry to the architects of the coup was the fact that Venezuela as the world's fourth largest oil producing country, was supplying cheap oil to Cuba. President Chavaz was in fact considering joining some Middle East countries that have proposed suspension of oil supplies to countries helping the Israel aggression against the Palestinian people. President Chavez had won the hearts and minds of the poor of Venezuela through the progressive socio-economic measures which were not to the liking of business circles and certain military leaders.

In an all too hasty celebration of the coup, the New York Times editorially said, "Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened since the military intervened and handed power to a respected business leader."

The powers behind the coup have been eloquently exposed by this editorial comment.

Venezuela, another developing country narrowly escaped the onslaught of the political dictat of neo-liberal economic policies. This is a timely warning to the rest of the developing countries, like ours."

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