Canada missing a chance to lead
A dictatorship is taking root in Canada’s extended backyard and this assault on democracy is becoming increasingly ruthless.
Ottawa, however, has done little more than issue a series of statements condemning, deploring or expressing concern as Nicolas Maduro consolidates power in Venezuela through a sham election which paves the way for constitutional changes.
To get there, opposition protesters have been killed and opposition leaders have been arbitrarily arrested and jailed or forced into hiding.
Through it all, the citizens of Venezuela have endured chronic food shortages in a country that is literally running out of money.
Tuesday, the United Nations Human Rights Council reported that Venezuelan security forces have “systematically used disproportionate force to instil fear, crush dissent, and to prevent demonstrators from assembling, rallying and reaching public institutions to present petitions.”
Since protesters took to the streets in anti-Maduro demonstrations this spring, at least 124 people have been killed, most of them at the hands of security forces or armed pro-government groups.
At least 1,958 have been injured, although the UN says that number is almost certainly low.
Since April 1, the UN has documented more than 5,000 arbitrary detentions in which prisoners endured electric shocks, beatings, being hung by the wrists for long periods, threats of death and threats of sexual violence against the detainees or their families.
Canada is not the only country that has watched this unfold, and the Liberal government has little leverage in the region.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has issued a number of statements on the Venezuelan situation in the past month, starting with “concern,” (July 5) to “serious concern,” (July 26), to “denouncing and condemning,” (July 30), to “gravely alarmed,” (Aug. 1).
This is straight from the global affairs handbook of ramped-up reactions.
In her June speech outlining the Liberal government’s approach to foreign policy, Freeland spoke of clearly standing for Canadian values and human rights both at home and abroad without imposing them on anyone.
It is a Canadian role to provide refuge to the persecuted and set standards on how states should treat its most vulnerable, she said.
It would seem to be a good start for Freeland to give life to those words by slapping some type of sanctions on human-rights abusers in the ruling Venezuelan cadre, trying to deliver some type of aid to the Venezuelan people or providing sanctuary for those fleeing the iron hand of Maduro.
Peter Kent, the Conservative for- eign affairs critic, was at an Organization of American States (OAS) meeting when Freeland spoke bluntly to her Venezuelan counterpart and he concedes the Liberal minister has delivered some “admirably tough talk.’’
But Kent is pushing the government for substantive measures and he points to the government’s inability to speed passage of Canada’s Magnitsky Act before the Commons rose for the summer as one reason it has not followed the U.S. lead and slapped sanctions on Venezuelan leaders.
That legislation, named for the Russian lawyer who died in a Moscow jail after accusing government officials of tax fraud, would allow the sanctioning of human-rights abusers in Venezuela. The U.S. already has legislation on its books.
Canadian aid to non-governmental organizations in Venezuela has been a paltry $35,000.
Regardless, government insiders say the Trudeau government is moving toward some type of asset freeze and sanctions against Maduro’s inner circle.
The OAS has been unable to get the two-thirds vote it needs to even condemn Venezuela but Canada was at the table in Lima on Tuesday, meeting with “like-minded” OAS members who are trying to forge the needed anti-Maduro super majority.
A special OAS meeting to deal with the situation is expected Friday.
Canada could also be open to sanctuary requests from those fleeing danger in Venezuela, the government official said.
Donald Trump has acted, with Democratic approval, to freeze assets of 13 prominent Venezuelans, including Maduro, and bar Amer- icans from doing business with them.
Ottawa applauded the U.S. action, but Trump’s move could be counterproductive, allowing Maduro to claim he is under siege from foreign agitators led by the U.S. president.
Venezuela memories are fresh of U.S. involvement in a failed 2002 coup attempt against Maduro’s late predecessor Hugo Chavez.
Suspicions of Washington’s motives are well-founded in Venezuela, creating an opening to show leadership in this hemisphere.
International inaction has given Maduro time to consolidate his illegitimate hold on power.
Ottawa may seek to lead in the region, but it might find it simply lacks the influence. Tim Harper writes on national affairs. tjharper77@gmail.com, Twitter: @nutgraf1