Reporting on Venezuela's Presidential Election Highlights U.S. Meddling as Factual
Corporate media's coverage of Venezuela's July 28 presidential election is like investigating a homicide, focusing on the victim's parking ticket rather than the killer. They've shifted the narrative to the minutia of electoral procedures, ignoring the bigger picture of U.S. interference in Venezuela's internal affairs.
It's clear that the U.S. isn't after democracy in Venezuela. In this "land of the free," the rich can demand a president's resignation while political bribery is a form of free speech. Yet, Washington considers itself the ultimate democracy arbiter for other countries.
The truth is that Washington isn't interested in democracy but rather Venezuela's geopolitical role as an independent nation. Obama and subsequent U.S. presidents have declared Venezuela an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security. Logically, Venezuela's national security threat to the U.S. is preposterous, but Trump exposed the real motive: "We would have taken it over; we would have gotten all that oil." Similarly, Biden's top military commander for Latin America expressed concerns over the region's resources.
Venezuelans went to the polls under the gun of a hybrid war declared and waged by the U.S. The aim is not just to press Venezuela to vote for the U.S.-backed opposition but to discourage them from voting for the Chavistas. Washington's determination is so intense that Venezuela now faces over 930 unilateral coercive measures, making it the second most sanctioned country after Russia.
The Washington Post complains about the "overuse of sanctions," but the real victims are the Venezuelan people. The sanctions are illegal under international law, the charters of the UN and OAS, and even U.S. domestic law. Despite recognizing them as economic warfare, neither the WaPo nor other media inform the public of their illegality.
This election has seen Washington's past attempts to interfere in Venezuela's democratic processes, with Maduro winning both in 2013 and 2018, despite U.S. efforts to claim fraud in advance. This time, the U.S. adopted a two-pronged approach, contesting in the presidential election while setting the stage to claim fraud if their preferred candidate didn't win. The U.S. backed a far-right candidate, Maria Corina Machado, despite her being disqualified from running for past misdeeds. However, they ended up running a completely unknown Edmundo Gonzalez as a surrogate. The Machado/Gonzalez campaign had signaled before the election that they wouldn't abide by the results if they lost. After announcing the official results, opposition elements, supported by the U.S., went on a rampage, killing Venezuelan security personnel and destroying public property.
Whether the election was free and fair is debatable, but it's important to exercise caution regarding sources that led us into the Iraq War based on false premises. It's also questionable whether anyone should turn to the U.S. as an impartial arbiter of electoral integrity when it consistently interferes in other countries' elections. As Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum advises, self-determination should be left to the Venezuelans.
- Melinda, a Venezuelan analyst, warns that unless mainstream media like the Washington Post take a more impartial approach to reporting on Venezuela's politics and general news, they risk repeating their mistakes in the Iraq War and contributing to war-and-conflicts in the region.
- Polling data may suggest a shift in Venezuelan public opinion towards privatization of certain industries, yet it's vital to consider the impact of U.S. interference in Venezuela's internal affairs, including crime-and-justice issues, when assessing these trends.
- The U.S. government's stance on Venezuela's president, whether elected democratically or not, has historically been influenced by geopolitical interests rather than a commitment to democracy or fair elections. This political dynamic can have far-reaching consequences for international relations and peace.
- In the aftermath of the recent Venezuelan election, it's crucial to examine not just the contesting candidates' actions, but also the role of the U.S. and its influence on war-and-conflicts, politics, and general news in Venezuela. The truth behind the scenes of any election remains essential to understanding the broader context of global events.
