I am saddened that Ottawa some will join the gang that would overthrow the government of The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Venezuela has earnestly pursued a democratic socialist path. In the 1830s Simon Bolívar aimed at a strong and united Spanish America able to cope not only with the threats emanating from Old Spain and the Old European Holy Alliance but also with the emerging power of the New United States.
Today, vast Venezuelan oil reserves are a key target of U.S. and multi-national corporate designs. The power to tighten or loosen the spigot in Venezuela is a key to global oil profits.
From the late 1990s Venezuela rode high on oil revenues making socialist reforms easy. Life for the poor improved. Oil revenues cushioned Venezuela’s errors and miscalculations but in the world oil price dip things unraveled and stiff U.S. sanctions blocked remedies otherwise available through the global banking community.
To rally opposition among the middle classes and many of the poor, the Venezuelan private sector has held back medicine and food from ordinary outlets, putting them instead through a black market and thereby firing massive inflation. There has been a mass exodus and warm welcomes for those who can afford to settle out of country. Poorer masses seek meager relief back and forth across the borders.
If the Venezuelan military will not flip to the U.S., that country will be hit with heavy U.S. air assaults followed by troop deployment from Columbia, NATO’s first and latest “associate member.”
It is a dirty shame that Canada is on board with this. We should be helping Venezuela, not helping to ruin it.
Dave Cursons
Cawston