Oh joy, oh bliss, oh yay. Once more, a brave lone voice of democracy has spoken out against a country creeping ever so slowly yet steadily toward dictatorship. No, he’s not talking about the recent power-grab of Sultan Erdogan in Turkey (although he probably should). Nor is he talking about the blatant corruption, nepotism, and general mockery of democratic institutions in the US of Amnesia (although he most definitely should, as it’s in the purview of his organization). No, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, has decided to take yet another swipe at a country that’s in nowhere near as dire shape, democratically speaking, as Turkey or the US. A country that is a permanent Usual Suspect. Yes, folks, he’s babbling again about Venezuela:
On Wednesday, the secretary-general of the OAS, Luis Almagro, lamented during a forum in Miami that a failed democracy has brought Venezuela to a complete dictatorship, and warned that it is a harbinger of inequality in the region.
“Venezuela is a democracy that has deteriorated into a complete dictatorship. There are no rules, there is no control of power,” Almagro stated while inaugurating the World Strategic Forum, which will bring together representatives of the public and private sectors of all countries of the world for two days.
Almagro, who was not referring to the marches that took place on April 19 in the capital of Venezuela, of oppositionists and government supporters alike, claimed that Venezuelan citizens are unprotected.
“There is total impunity which threatens the survival of the citizens,” he said.
Almagro said that the OAS is advancing in the application of its Democratic Charter to Venezuela to restore democracy and pull it out of crisis.
“Citizens lack their basic rights, the economy is in freefall, there is no food, no access to medicines or medical attention,t he most basic elements of security have been lost,” Almagro lamented.
Almagro also said that democracy is a process, not an end, and that it must not be eroded as has occurred in Venezuela.
“Venezuela, which should be one of the most prosperous countries of the region, shows us the cost of a failed democracy, the price of exclusion, polarization, of a failed government.”
Translation mine.
Well. Let’s give Señor Almagro credit for getting a couple of basic no-brainers right. Namely: No shit that democracy is a process, not an end in itself. And no shit that it shouldn’t be eroded!
But that’s where his factuality ends. The rest of it is all lies.
Venezuelan democracy isn’t eroded. And the Bolivarian government of Nicolás Maduro, despite four years under siege from domestic and foreign collusion against it, has NOT failed. The people voted for Madurito, and their trust in him hasn’t waned. In fact, support for the PSUV and other Chavista parties is growing. All the democratic institutions of Venezuela are still in place and still functioning, despite opposition attempts to shut them down (through firebombing, among other illicit measures). And when an authority steps out of line, as was the case with two police officers who killed an opposition demonstrator recently, know what happens? They get indicted, just as they should in a properly functioning democracy!
Meanwhile, if anyone in Venezuela is not playing by the rules, it’s the opposition. They’re even tweeting out farcical, anti-democratic hashtags like #ElectionsNoLibertyYes. (Remind you of anyone? Such as, say, a certain orange dictator in Washington, who tweets #MAGA petulantly from his gold-plated bathroom throne in lieu of, you know, ACTUALLY GOVERNING?)
The reason they don’t give a shit for elections — a democratic mainstay — is because they don’t WANT democracy, they just want power. Even though they already had it for 40 years, and fucked it up at every turn while the US turned a blind eye. And if they can’t get it back legitimately, they’ll stop at nothing to get it illegitimately…even murder. And again, the US will turn a blind eye to all that, and instead point out how impoverished Venezuela has become…crossing fingers behind its back that YOU, dear reader, will not realize that the poverty is due to hoarding, robbery, and an unofficial economic blockade that’s Made in USA.
But the majority of Venezuelans didn’t vote for the eternally fascist, eternally putschist opposition, just as a majority of US-Americans didn’t vote for that jumped-up fascist putschist Drumpf. That’s worth taking into consideration, even though Señor Almagro glossed over all that. (And I’m pretty sure a majority of Turks aren’t enamored of Drumpf’s buddy, Sultan Erdogan, and his latest power grab, either.)
But never mind all that! Venezuela must be “democratized”, and we all know what that means. Another war for oil, natch! And it will be led by the United States of Amnesia…the most hypocritical fake democracy in the world. And Luis Almagro will probably be jizzing his overpriced pants at the democracy of it all.
