When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Venezuela

Latin America's Shameful Appeasement of Nicolás Maduro

The response of regional states to the Venezuelan regime's assault on democracy is a lesson in how to humiliate democracies with your petrodollar clout.

In Caracas on July 27
In Caracas on July 27
Marcos Peckel

-OpEd-

BOGOTÁ — The American continent should hang its head in shame for standing by as the violence, and violation, has been inflicted on Venezuela. Years of growing tensions culminated last Sunday in the total usurpation of the state by a gang of "Bolivarian" leftists, corrupt soldiers and the Cuban government.

Last-minute declarations by a group of nations including my own, Colombia, that they would not recognize the National Constituent Assembly President Nicolás Maduro will impose, is far too little, far too late.

The regional apathy before this systematic assault on democracy is in itself, partly responsible for the Venezuelan calamity. Protected by the likes of Brazil's Lula da Silva, the two Kirchner presidents in Argentina and more of their ilk, the Venezuelan regime's founder, the late Hugo Chávez, proceeded to demolish liberties one at a time, starting with press freedoms.

Still, since it's a "left-wing" regime, it is acceptable among intellectuals and political types imbued with healthy doses of arrogance, pride and hypocrisy. The head of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, has said the group would not recognize the new Assembly, and called for an urgent meeting of the regional group. His response is admirable, and not unlike Don Quixote's defiance of the windmills. Admittedly he has taken over a servile organization already on its knees before the Chavista system, though still not as servile as UNASUR and CELAC, the big regional trading groups and sham congregations designed to protect the 21st-century Socialism of the Bolivarians.

The time has come to disconnect these state and non-state actors from their life support system: petrodollars.

Latin America has something to learn from Africa.

Meanwhile, the rulers of the Caribbean states, most of whose populations are descended from slaves, should explain why today they have become slaves to Venezuelan oil, and ready to trade liberty and justice for a misery bowl of sustenance. The President of Uruguay, Tabaré Vasquez, should look in the mirror and ask himself why he has so far suffered Maduro in Mercosur, against the opinions of his partners and the values of this leading regional democracy.

The last U.S. administration led by President Barack Obama, with its pitiful foreign policy legacy, played along with Maduro through a policy of appeasement. He kept sending the negotiator Thomas Shannon to stroll and chat in the Miraflores Palace. Donald Trump now has few cards with which to influence events, and anything he does may end up fortifying the dictatorship.

Latin America has something to learn from Africa, that continent we have always underestimated. When the Gambian president Yahya Jammeh sought to ignore the election results that had given power to his successor Adama Barrow, the African Union intervened to defend democracy. It even warned him of possible use of force, letting him know that he must go or "be moved." He went.

The Venezuela people's brave efforts have hit the wall of the regime's firepower. Its spurious Constituent Assembly will soon start "deliberating" on the corpse of the National Assembly elected in 2015, that is unless the Chavista-Cuban army monolith starts to crack. Because it does not seem as if the finger wagging and mutterings of foreign states will stop it. The regime's secret-police thugs have just taken their high-profile opponents, Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma, from house arrest back to jail.

That looks like just the start, as darkness descends on the homeland of Simon Bolívar.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

How Vulnerable Are The Russians In Crimea?

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on the occupied Crimean peninsula, and Russia is doing all within its power to deny how vulnerable it has become.

Photograph of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with smoke rising above it after a Ukrainian missile strike.

September 22, 2023, Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia: Smoke rises over the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters after a Ukrainian missile strike.

TASS/ZUMA
Kyrylo Danylchenko

This article was updated Sept. 26, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.

Russian authorities are making a concerted effort to downplay and even deny the recent missile strikes in Russia-occupied Crimea.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

Media coverage in Russia of these events has been intentionally subdued, with top military spokesperson Igor Konashenkov offering no response to an attack on Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, or the alleged downing last week of Russian Su-24 aircraft by Ukrainian Air Defense.

The response from this and other strikes on the Crimean peninsula and surrounding waters of the Black Sea has alternated between complete silence and propagating falsehoods. One notable example of the latter was the claim that the Russian headquarters building of the Black Sea fleet that was hit Friday was empty and that the multiple explosions were mere routine training exercises.

Ukraine claimed on Monday that the attack killed Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. "After the strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers died, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored," the Ukrainian special forces said via Telegram.

But Sokolov was seen on state television on Tuesday, just one day after Ukraine claimed he'd been killed. The Russian Defense Ministry released footage of the admiral partaking in a video conference with top admirals and chiefs, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, though there was no verification of the date of the event.

Moscow has been similarly obtuse following other reports of missiles strikes this month on Crimea. Russian authorities have declared that all missiles have been intercepted by a submarine and a structure called "VDK Minsk", which itself was severely damaged following a Ukrainian airstrike on Sept. 13. The Russians likewise dismissed reports of a fire at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, attributing it to a mundane explosion caused by swamp gas.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refrained from commenting on the military situation in Crimea and elsewhere, continuing to repeat that everything is “proceeding as planned.”

Why is Crimea such a touchy topic? And why is it proving to be so hard to defend?

Keep reading...Show less

The latest