Haley, Pence convey US message on Venezuela: only election worth holding is one that results in regime change
“On
May 20, without fail, presidential elections will take place in
Venezuela and the people will defend their right to decide with
votes, without interventions of any kind. The whole world will
witness a new popular expression which will reaffirm the democratic
character of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
by
Elliott Gabriel
Part
2 - Shifting winds in the south
Haley’s
speech came one day after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence slammed
Venezuela at a meeting of the 35-member Organization of American
States (OAS), calling on the Washington-based body to expel the
Bolivarian Republic “regime” and for Venezuela’s authorities to
“suspend this sham election and organize real elections.”
“We
believe it is time to do more, much more,” Pence told delegates
from the OAS, which includes Venezuela as a member. “Every free
nation gathered here must take stronger action to stand with the
Venezuelan people and stand up to their oppressors.”
Venezuelan
authorities reacted with rage, blasting Pence’s “attempts to
cover up the damage his government has caused to Venezuelan society
through unilateral coercive measures with a false humanitarian
concern, which seeks to bend the people’s will to take the wealth
and natural resources of our country.”
“We do
not accept the U.S. as a court or authority of anything; we are
free,” Venezuelan Deputy Minister for North America and
Representative to the OAS Samuel Moncada said. Bolivian President Evo
Morales hailed Venezuela’s stance, noting: “The empire acts
with fear before a sovereign vote, and knows that it will never again
be able to subjugate free people.”
Last
Friday, former CIA chief and newly-appointed Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo contributed his own venomous input to the conversation,
stating that “a dictator today in Venezuela cripples his economy
and starves his people” and that the State Department must take
action to assist the hundreds of thousands of migrants who have fled
the economically besieged South American nation.
Noting
the hypocrisy of Washington waxing sympathy for the very people
afflicted by the steady torrent of sanctions unleashed by the White
House, Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry said: “Mr. Pompeo shows
false concern for the reality of Venezuela while hiding the perverse
effects of the unilateral coercive measures of his government …
[The Trump administration] has launched erratic maneuvers, typical of
the arrogance and despair of imperialist politics, after having
failed once and again in the face of the will of a free and
independent people.”
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