Venezuela has continued to assault on civil liberties started by the late Hugo Chavez under his “mini-me” President Nicolas Maduro. That legacy took a particularly menacing turn when opposition congresswomen Maria Corina Machado was stripped of her office after speaking to the Organisation of American States (OAS) about the violence in her country. The Venezuelan government insists that she “acted as a Panamanian official” by accepting the invitation and that her speech constituted a crime of “inciting violence”.
The violence in Venezuela has claimed the lives of more than 30 people and injured some 460 others as the public grows angry over an economy ravished through mismanagement, government takeovers, and controls. Not only is the government denying free speech and international principles in cracking down on Machado for speaking to the OAS, but it has denied legislative powers and privileges. Venezuela’s National Assembly’s president, Diosdado Cabello, has declared Machado in violation of the country’s Constitution and said that she was introduced at the OAS meeting in Washington DC as an “alternate ambassador” to Panama. He suggested that Panamanian government “now name her permanent ambassador.”
President Nicolas Maduro now refers to his critic as “former congresswoman.”
The move against Machado appears to struggle to confirm her warnings of a dictatorship in Venezuela. After ruining an economy in an oil-rich nation, the Chavez-Maduro government appears to be plunging even further into authoritarianism — much like Chavez’s hero Fidel Castro did. Venezuelans can look over at Cuba at an island frozen in the 1950s to see what that mix of authoritarianism and centralized controls can mean for a nation.
Source: BBC
Ms. Skrzypczak, is it true that Hugo Chavez had premature babies taken out of incubators when he invaded . . . excuse me. I think I’m mixing up my agents provocateur.
But kudos on all the face time you’re getting with the right wing American media. Glad to see you also have time to troll nonpolitical blogs.
For comment as surely, you have to live in Venezuela, in the streets to see the harsh reality, see how Cubans make our national guard, to see how they kill our young.
I attached a video:
http://www.maduradas.com/que-lo-vea-el-mundo-entero-breve-documental-explica-la-actual-crisis-en-venezuela-video/
After seeing it, all of you will be able to search the internet as many that show our reality. The U.S. government or the oligarchs who no longer live in Venezuela, has absolutely nothing to do with the protests, fascists are officials government who violate the law and human rights daily.
I, too, am relieved that many commenters are actually reading facts re Venezuela such as columns by Weisbrot in Guardian/CEPR. Yet another attempt at regime change in a country the US (and our corporations) don’t like.
Each time I read a post like this here, I come very close to dropping this RSS feed. I like your writing Mr. Turley but every once in a while you swallow a load of establishment lies and this is clearly one of those cases.
You’re lucky to have readers who educate you on these things. I won’t try to educate you about the Venezuelan oligarchy as others have already done so in this thread, but I would ask you to consider that you are an expert on American jurisprudence, and that that in no way gives you any special insights into foreign affairs.
Oil-Queda, Dredd. You threw me a bp fastball and I hit it hard!
Dredd,
That is one of the more scary books that has been written in awhile…. Saying Dulles was the first head of the CIA and they were cohorts of the Bush Dynasty…. Says more than you want to know…
Anonymously Yours
Darren,
Might I suggest you read the book …. The Dulles brothers….A joint biography of John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, who led the United States into an unseen war that decisively shaped today’s world
…
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They were following an old script and following it well.
nick spinelli
It doesn’t matter if it’s the Middle East or South America, where there is oil there are dictators.
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Installed by The Guess Who as needed.
Machado violated her country’s constitution my accepting the Panamanian seat in the OAS.Article 149 of the Venezuelan Constitution clearly states: “Public officials shall not be permitted to accept employment, honors or rewards from foreign governments without authorization from the National Assembly.”
Oh, she also signed a declaration in 2002 supporting the coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of her country.
Excuse me if I don’t shed a tear for her ‘Freedom of Speech’.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the Middle East or South America, where there is oil there are dictators.
I came to the comments expecting a neoliberal pity party, and was pleasantly surprised to see the majority of commenters actually are paying attention to what’s really been going in in Venezuela.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/20/venezuela-revolt-truth-not-terror-campaign
The wealthy oligarchs have been bankrolling the anti-government protests, which amount to the wealthy private university students going out to barricades in wealthy neighborhoods between classes and late-night partying so they can take selfies and post them on twitter.
On top of the domestic astro-turfing, the U.S., both government and businesses, throws tens of millions annually into venezuela to bankroll the opposition.
http://roarmag.org/2014/02/venezuela-protests-opposition-coup/
Darren,
Might I suggest you read the book …. The Dulles brothers….A joint biography of John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, who led the United States into an unseen war that decisively shaped today’s world
During the 1950s, when the Cold War was at its peak, two immensely powerful brothers led the United States into a series of foreign adventures whose effects are still shaking the world.
John Foster Dulles was secretary of state while his brother, Allen Dulles, was director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this book, Stephen Kinzer places their extraordinary lives against the background of American culture and history. He uses the framework of biography to ask: Why does the United States behave as it does in the world?
The Brothers explores hidden forces that shape the national psyche, from religious piety to Western movies—many of which are about a noble gunman who cleans up a lawless town by killing bad guys. This is how the Dulles brothers saw themselves, and how many Americans still see their country’s role in the world.
Propelled by a quintessentially American set of fears and delusions, the Dulles brothers launched violent campaigns against foreign leaders they saw as threats to the United States. These campaigns helped push countries from Guatemala to the Congo into long spirals of violence, led the United States into the Vietnam War, and laid the foundation for decades of hostility between the United States and countries from Cuba to Iran.
The story of the Dulles brothers is the story of America. It illuminates and helps explain the modern history of the United States and the world.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013
This “uprising” is nothing more than an astro-turfed counter-revolution financed by Venezuela’s financial elite and Big Oil – both of whom are still upset at the loss of profit and control they possessed before the actual Bolivarian revolution.
Venezuelans as a whole are far better off now than before Chavez rose to power.
This is almost funny coming from the US. I recall that the US government did FAR worse than Maduro. Apart from the ongoing deadly COINTELPRO activities of murder, burglaries, theft, bombings, and violations of international law on a scale that would make Putin green with envy, I recall the shootings at Kent and Jackson State for which NO person has even been held to account. Then we can all recall the bombings, murders, etc..during the civil rights movement. I will join in protest when the US indicts and punishes the perps of these programs, NOT before. I will not join in any protest when the US is effectively waging war against Venezuela.
This is even worse when you recall that the US supported and sponsored a coup against Chavez, and is actively involved in sabotage and supporting violence against the supporters of Maduro. One has to ask what would happen to a US Congressperson who accepted a post as a representative of the Soviet Union to speak at the UN during the Cold War. Such a Congressperson would be lucky to avoid execution, and would undoubtedly wind up in prison at the very least. So I think that representing another country and accepting such a position even in the US would be grounds for expulsion from Congress. We all know that socialists who were elected to Congress were denied their seats in the 1930s, and they had done nothing wrong or illegal. So being expelled from the Venezuelan National Assembly is a very light sanction compared to what the US has done, is doing and will do.
As for the state of the Venezuelan economy, it is hard to make any judgment since the US is supporting, advising, and facilitating economic sabotage against the government. So it is disingenuous to blame the policies for this state of affairs since it is not simply being allowed to succeed or fail on its own. I suggest folks read Inside the Company by Agee to get an idea of what the CIA and the US did. One example is in Venezuela, the CIA vetted all Venezuelan employees of the oil companies to make sure that they were loyal to the US. I was not too surprised when the workers at those companies went out on strike when Chavez won his election. I most certainly hope that all those traitors were fired and can never work in Venezuela again. Of course, I am sure that all of those scabs came to the US and were given similar jobs here. So I have to say, that this action by Venezuela is hardly any violation of law or even US traditions. Let deal with REAL violations and have the US cease its warfare against the Maduro government.
I’m going to have to agree with Carlyle Moulton.
This article’s tone reeks of Neo-Liberal shading & propaganda. (which the BBC is notoriously known for to cover the crimes of The Street in London).
I read Mark Weisbrot’s The Americas Blog over at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) for a much clearer picture of the goings on in South America.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/
Also, the your enjoyment:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/obama-administration-faces-diplomatic-isolation-in-latin-america-on-venezuela
The Chavez and Maduro governments have shamefully misused Venuzeula’s natural resources, instead of letting them benefit deserving multinational corporations and wealthy local oligarchs they have wasted them on poor people and scandalously made considerable inroads into poverty.
The oligarchical elite along with agents of the US are in the process of restoring a properly fascistic government. The demonstrations are not occurring in poor or working class areas but only in the good suburbs populated by the elite and their upper middle class hangers on.
You’re wrong on this professor, just echoing the orthodoxy of the very serious people in Washington.
Here is a contradictory article
Talk about a country unclear on the concept.
We should learn from this because the policies of the Democratic Party are leading us down the same road. A strong federal government is not good.
It is sad this happens but given the government down there it is not surprising.
I hope this government doesn’t trump up some sedition charges and put her in jail.