Quote:

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is the frontrunner in the presidential elections that will take place on Sunday. If past pronouncements and practice by the United States are any indication, every effort will be made to oust an avowed socialist from the the U.S. “backyard.”

Last August, Donald Trump publicly raised the “military option” to overthrow Venezuela’s democratically-elected government. Then David Smilde of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) counseled for regime change, not by military means, but by “deepening the current sanctions” to “save Venezuela.”

Meanwhile the sanctions have taken a punishing toll on the Venezuelan people, even causing death. Sanctions are designed, in Richard Nixon’s blood-curdling words, to “make the economy scream” so that the people will abandon their democratically elected government for one vetted by the U.S.

In January, Trump’s first State of the Union address called for regime change of leftist governments in Latin America, boasting, “My government has imposed harsh sanctions on the communist and socialist dictatorships of Cuba and Venezuela.” Hearing these stirring words, both Democrats and Republicans burst out in thunderous applause.

“Dictatorships,” as the term is wielded by the U.S. government and mainstream media, should be understood as countries that try to govern in the interests of their own peoples rather than privileging the dictates of the U.S. State Department and the prerogatives of international capital.

This Plan to end in very short terms the so-called ‘dictatorship’ of Venezuela calls for, ‘Increase internal instability to critical levels, intensifying the decapitalization of the country, the escape of foreign capital and the deterioration of the national currency, through the application of new inflationary measures that increase this deterioration.’”

That is, blame the Venezuelan government for the conditions imposed upon it by its enemies.

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I sure hope Americans aren't posting opinions about Venezuela on Facebook too.  THAT would truly be meddling in their elections. 

Patlal said:

Every country meddle in the elections of their neighbors IMO. In fact a neighboring country should have a say simply because they will be greatly affected by the decision.

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MagicMush123 said:

Patlal said:

Every country meddle in the elections of their neighbors IMO. In fact a neighboring country should have a say simply because they will be greatly affected by the decision.

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Yea, lets have foreign nations decide our politics for us. Smart.

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Patlal said:

MagicMush123 said:

Patlal said:

Every country meddle in the elections of their neighbors IMO. In fact a neighboring country should have a say simply because they will be greatly affected by the decision.

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Yea, lets have foreign nations decide our politics for us. Smart.

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It's already the case. We have no choice but to adapt to our neighbors.

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MagicMush123 said:

Patlal said:

MagicMush123 said:

Patlal said:

Every country meddle in the elections of their neighbors IMO. In fact a neighboring country should have a say simply because they will be greatly affected by the decision.

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Yea, lets have foreign nations decide our politics for us. Smart.

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It's already the case. We have no choice but to adapt to our neighbors.

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Who adopts to who? Who bends for the other? Should south Korea just adopt north Korea's policies to adapt to their neighbors?

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Seriously_trippin said:

Venezuela is in a free fall because of inflation. Right now they are WEIGHING money it’s so bad I don’t know if we should intervene but it’s never gone wrong in the past

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mmcc said:

Seriously_trippin said:

Venezuela is in a free fall because of inflation. Right now they are WEIGHING money it’s so bad I don’t know if we should intervene but it’s never gone wrong in the past

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never gone wrong for who?

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Quote:

Nicolás Maduro was successfully re-elected president of Venezuela on Sunday, receiving 5.8 million of the 8.6 million ballots cast, on a turnout of 46 percent. His nearest challenger, Henri Falcon, received 1.8 million votes. The process was watched over by 150 international observers from over 30 countries, among them former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who said (Telesur, 5/20/18): “I do not have any doubt about the voting process. It is an advanced automatic voting system.”

Another election observer was former Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, who announced via Twitter (5/20/18):

The Venezuelan elections are developing with absolute normalcy. I’ve attended four polling stations. There is a permanent flow of citizenship, with short waiting and voting times. Very modern system with double control. From what I’ve seen, [it’s] impeccable organization.


However, Western media have taken an entirely different outlook to the proceedings, unanimously presenting them as seriously flawed, at best, and at worst a complete sham presided over by a dictator.
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The Ecstatic said:

Can't wait to hear our experts on South American politics tell us about how Venezuela is failing because socialism

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I love you.