As a casual observer, I can easily be led astray by all of the, "he
says, she says" that goes on. My rule of thumb is to keep my nation's
nose out of the affairs of other nations. But that does not appear to
be possible, either.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/20/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There is, nestled in the article, another statement to the effect that
democracy needs to be restored in Venezuela. Many left of center sources
describe the current government is undemocratic. Neither The Grayzone nor
Code Pink have reported this, nor has Abby Martin.
Miriam
Trump's Venezuela Regime Change Alliance Dwindles
By teleSUR
20 August 20
The number of US-allied governments actively participating in the
destabilization of Venezuela has dropped from 50 to 19 in less than a year.
The Canadian Dimension, a forum for debate on contemporary issues facing
the
Left, published an analysis of the political situation in Venezuela. The
text is presented below:
On December 6, Venezuelans will go to the polls to elect a new National
Assembly. Since the last election in 2016, self-declared interim president
and opposition leader Juan Guaido has seen his domestic popularity -and his
standing among many foreign nations- slide.
In fact, upon Guaido's return last year from an international tour
-financed
by the U.S. - to seek backing for more sanctions and the ouster of elected
president Nicolas Maduro, Guaido was booed out of the Caracas airport.
Such was the anger of ordinary Venezuelans against an individual who
recently signed a contract with U.S.-based mercenaries to overthrow the
government in a bizarre failed plot that has come to be known as the "Bay
of
Piglets."
Now, Guaido and right-wing factions within the National Assembly are
boycotting the elections, as opposition leaders have vowed not to recognize
the "false" electoral body designated by the Supreme Court. The United
Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allies are expected to win on
December 6.
While Guaido's standing in Venezuela is currently at rock bottom, the
self-declared interim leader has also seen much of his international
support
evaporate. According to an August 14 press statement issued by the U.S.
State Department entitled "Joint Declaration of Support for Democratic
Change in Venezuela":
"We call on all political parties and institutions in Venezuela to engage
promptly in, or in support of, a process that will establish a broadly
acceptable transitional government that will administer free and fair
presidential elections soon and begin to set the country on a pathway to
recovery. For a peaceful and sustainable resolution of the crisis, a
transitional government is needed to administer presidential elections, so
that no candidate has an improper advantage over others."
For its part, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) issued an identical statement,
calling for a "swift and peaceful transition to democracy" in Venezuela.
Like Venezuela's opposition leaders, U.S. President Donald Trump and
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not recognize the upcoming
legislative elections. They have instead demanded "a process that will
establish a broadly acceptable transitional government that will administer
free and fair presidential elections," which are not yet due, and which
would necessarily exclude Maduro.
This is the usual formula: one that establishes a pretext for more
sanctions, violent regime-change actions and open coup attempts, all geared
to stoke a revolt among the Venezuelan people and a mutiny among the armed
forces.
However, the press statement issued by the U.S. State Department and GAC is
notable because of the dwindling number of ally countries that are now
"committed to the restoration of democracy in Venezuela."
What used to be a long list of more than 50 nations is now down to just 19:
Albania, Australia, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa
Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia,
Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Republic of Korea, Saint Lucia, Ukraine, and the
United Kingdom.
This is a far cry from the formerly extensive coalition of dozens of states
that have heretofore unequivocally recognized and supported Guaido. The
State Department could not even get sign-on from all of the members of the
Lima Group -the multilateral body consisting of 14 countries, including
Canada, that is dedicated to a "peaceful exit to the ongoing crisis in
Venezuela."
Thus, the list of partner states now includes Israel, along with some of
the
most servile allies of the U.S. (and notable violators of human rights and
democracy) such as Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, and Haiti.
More intriguingly, the two rivals to Canada's defeated bid for a United
Nations Security Council Seat last June, Norway and Ireland, do not appear
on the list of countries dedicated to "an end to the Maduro dictatorship."
This appears to vindicate those who had lobbied the UN and other
international organizations to reject Canada's campaign for a UNSC seat,
citing the Trudeau government's support for anti-democratic actions in
Venezuela, Bolivia, and Haiti, to name just a few examples.
Even many in the U.S. Congress admitted the failure of the Trump
administration's Venezuela policy in a recent hearing.
"Our Venezuela policy over the last year and a half has been an unmitigated
disaster," said Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut and a
member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"If we aren't honest about that, then we can't self-correct." Murphy
continued, declaring that U.S. support for Venezuela's opposition forces
has
handed Maduro an opportunity to label Guaido an 'American patsy' while
hardening support for his government around the world.
Ironically, Trump may have been better off if he considered some of the
diplomatic overtures coming from within the Venezuelan government. Its
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza, wrote an op-ed for the Council
on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), stating, "Trump would do better if he
followed his initial instinct of talking to President Maduro. A respectful
dialogue with Venezuela is what is really in the interest of the U.S."
It is not surprising that Senator Murphy's admission of failed coup
attempts
at a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on August 4 has
become a popular YouTube video.
During the hearing, Murphy pressed Special Representative for Venezuela,
Elliott Abrams, on the administration's disastrous policy on Venezuela,
which has "left America in a weaker position, failed to restore democracy,
and allowed the humanitarian situation to worsen." Murphy continued:
"[W]e thought that getting Guaido to declare himself president would be
enough to topple the regime. Then we thought putting aid on the border
would
be enough. Then we tried to sort of construct a kind of coup in April of
last year, and it blew up in our face when all the generals that were
supposed to break with Maduro decided to stick with him in the end. I think
this is just a prescription to get stuck in a downwards spiral of American
policy from which we cannot remove ourselves."
The Canadian media should take a similarly critical stance toward the
Trudeau government's dubious attempts to oust the Maduro regime, including
its failure to condemn Guaido for his partnership with armed US mercenaries
to foment a violent coup within Venezuela.
Anything less is an endorsement of generations of failed U.S.-led policies
in Latin America, ones that have contributed to violence and
destabilization
throughout the entire hemisphere.