The right course on Venezuela

I do not normally write letters but feel moved to do so faced with the current situation in Venezuela.

The crisis is getting worse as more and more American and Western pressure is put on the country.

Of course, this pressure affects the poor and vulnerable in that country far more than the wealthy supporters of the self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido´ , who until recently was a covertly funded activist indirectly for the CIA.

The neoliberal forces are gathering for the kill, led by America and their ambassador Elliot Abrahams, who is a convicted criminal for his support of the Right-wing forces who murdered and massacred the poor indigenous population of Guatemala and countless other south American countries throughout history.

The difference this time is it is happening openly without any subterfuge right in front of our noses.

As far as I can tell, President Nicolas Maduro has been elected fair and square in internationally monitored elections and should be supported as the president of that country.

Admittedly, he is not perfect and there are concerns about the way the country is run, but it is a matter for the politics and people of Venezuela to elect new presidents.

Six-and-a-half million people voted in the election that put Maduro in power and he should be allowed to govern and be voted out of power if the people so wish.

That is not the job of the Western World’s governments led by the biggest neoliberal of them all, President Donald Trump.

Maduro stands for the poor and dispossessed indigenous people and against the interests of the multinational corporations and Venezuelan elite.

There is talk of suppression and yet the media, owned entirely by the rich and wealthy, continually spouts anti-government propaganda without any controls and people protest freely in the streets on both sides. Hardly the work of a dictator.

The humanitarian situation and financial crash in Venezuela has been engineered intentionally via embargoes and sanctions led by the US and its neoliberal allies in order to force a coup to install a neoliberal friendly puppet president who will sell the riches of Venezuela to the corporations of America for a fraction of their true worth so they can get fat on the profits as the poor and indigenous are once again plunged into poverty, hunger and servitude.

I applaud our government’s stance against recognising Juan Guaido´ as the rightful president of Venezuela.

Good on you, Jacinda and Winston.

John Glennie

Ahititi