After New Spying Accusations, America Must Take a Tough Stance on Maduro
Last Sunday, the Venezuelan government announced that it had captured a man alleged to be an American spy. The man, Matthew John Heath, is accused of plotting an attack on oil refineries in an attempt to cause unrest. Venezuelan state media also alleges that the man has CIA ties and was receiving assistance from three co-conspirators. Venezuelan prosecutors have said that Heath was carrying a “coin” that links him to the CIA and also claim that he was carrying weapons and significant amounts of cash.
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, believes Mr. Heath was attempting to launch an attack on Venezuela’s oil refineries, stating: “The Venezuelan state has managed to neutralize the plans to attack the oil industry and national electric system.” In addition to this, Venezuelan authorities have stated that phones found on the conspirators contained images of bridges, oil refineries, and military installations.
While the United States Marine Corps acknowledges that a man named Matthew John Heath was enlisted from 1999 to 2003, it has not confirmed whether this is the same man detained in Venezuela. Saab has also accused Heath of involvement with MVM, a Virginia-based military contracting firm. MVM has stated that Heath is “not currently an employee or a contractor.”
These events come after Venezuela sentenced four Americans to 20 years in jail after allegedly attempting a coup earlier this year. Venezuela has accused the United States of involvement in both incidents—an accusation which President Trump denies.
The Venezuelan government’s allegations that the United States was involved in both incidents are clearly baseless. The evidence tying Mr. Heath to the CIA—a “coin” found on his person - is incredibly weak. Saab’s case is further weakened by the lack of identification found on Mr. Heath and the fact that the weapons found with Mr. Heath would not have been able to cause any significant damage to infrastructure. Instead of Heath being a CIA spy, it is much more likely that Maduro is attempting to draw the anger of his citizens away from internal problems such as Venezuela’s failing economy and towards the United States.
Despite having the world’s largest crude oil reserves, Venezuela has recently been in the midst of a gasoline shortfall, caused by poor maintenance and a lack of investment, which has resulted in a significant underproduction of crude oil. These shortages have caused Venezuela to become reliant on imports from Iran. The United States is mulling retaliatory measures against Iran for their trade dealings with the Latin American nation. This situation, coupled with hyperinflation and COVID-19, has weakened Maduro’s grip on power.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó recently met with President Trump to discuss the ongoing situation in Venezuela. After the meeting, President Trump promised further economic action against the Maduro regime.
The United States should not be provoked by Maduro’s accusations and should instead continue on its current course of supporting democracy in Venezuela. The United States must show a firm commitment to human rights. To this end, the United States should continue placing nonmilitary pressure against the Maduro regime. This is a policy with broad, bipartisan support—Joe Biden has also expressed his support for Juan Guaidó and the Venezuelan opposition.
In addition to ramping up economic pressures against Maduro, the United States must also not only deny Maduro’s attempts to implicate the CIA in these small-scale incidents, but should also strongly condemn them as poor attempts to divert attention away from the internal issues he is facing.
If the United States values democracy and human rights, it needs to firmly stand up to the Maduro regime and its attempts to accuse the CIA of involving itself with Venezuela’s opposition. The Venezuelan government is using small scale incidents such as the one involving Mr. Heath to both undermine the credibility of Venezuela’s opposition and obfuscate its own responsibility for the state of the Venezualen economy.