Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has warned the U.S. about intervening in Venezuela. He said the “economy is a disaster,” but added that “we must learn the lessons of the past and not be in the business of regime change or supporting coups—as we have in Chile, Guatemala, Brazil & the DR. The US has a long history of inappropriately intervening in Latin American nations; we must not go down that road again.”
Sanders is not the only far-left politician who sides with the contested President Nicolás Maduro. The newly elected Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) claims that President Donald Trump is planning to stage a coup and install a “far-right opposition.”
A US backed coup in Venezuela is not a solution to the dire issues they face. Trump's efforts to install a far right opposition will only incite violence and further destabilize the region. We must support Mexico, Uruguay & the Vatican's efforts to facilitate a peaceful dialogue.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 25, 2019
To put her statement in perspective, consider that Venezuela currently has no right-wing or centrist political alternative. The so-called opposition who won the election that Maduro refuses to acknowledge is also socialist.
Either Omar is ignorant about how far left Venezuela is, which is a distinct possibility, or she is herself so far left that she imagines centrists like Trump to be “far right.” Given her troubling ties to Islamic extremists and terrorists, the latter is also plausible.
Dictators
Do you know who else support the near-dictator Maduro? Russia. And Cuba. And China, Turkey, Iran, and Hezbollah.
A spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “the events in Venezuela clearly shows the attitude of the progressive international community against international law, the sovereignty, and not to interfere with the internal affairs of a country where the government wants to change.” [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”24″]…dictatorships and terrorist organizations rally behind Maduro with a similar message as American leftists.[/perfectpullquote]
Similarly, spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bahram Ghassemi said that “Iran supports the government and people of Venezuela against illegal acts, such as coups and foreign interference in the domestic affairs of the country.”
Apparently, dictatorships and terrorist organizations rally behind Maduro with a similar message as American leftists.
Russia Again
That Putin supports the Maduro regime should not surprise anyone. Russia is one of the world’s largest oil producers and is currently dependent on high prices to keep its economy afloat. We cannot read Putin’s mind, but he knows from personal experience in the Soviet Union how socialism destroys a nation’s economy and productive capability. It makes sense that he would want a radical leftist in power in Venezuela, which used to be one of the world’s largest oil exporters, thereby destroying one of his competitors.
Always Wrong
This is not the first time Sanders has sided with dictators. He was such a fan of the Soviet Union that he and his wife went there on their honeymoon. Due to the sanitation of history books by progressives, Americans have forgotten or never been told about the dreadful history of the left siding with genocidal regimes. They’ve backed madmen like Stalin and Mao, and when Cuban dictator Fidel Castro died in 2016, he was hailed by leftists across the world. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Castro was “a remarkable leader” whose death had brought him “deep sorrow.”
If you think the radical left have learned from their mistakes and stopped supporting groups calling for the extermination of entire nations, you would be wrong. A worrying number of progressives in America, including many Democrats, have adopted the slogan of the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas, “From the river to the sea,” in support of Palestinians. The slogan means that Palestine will extend all the way from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. It’s a call for the extermination of Israel as a nation.
Next time you hear people on the left support shady regimes, know that it is not the first time this has happened, and it will surely not be the last.
