Meanwhile, in Venezuela

The other day, the US slapped Venezuela with more sanctions after the failed state held a questionable legislature election, adding President Nicolas Maduro to the list of “prohibited persons” with whom US citizens are forbidden to trade. From The Guardian;

“Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people,” said treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin. “By sanctioning Maduro, the United States makes clear our opposition to the policies of his regime and our support for the people of Venezuela who seek to return their country to a full and prosperous democracy.”

Acording to Reuters, the US is still considering broader sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry, which could prove devastating for a country which is already in a state of economic free fall.

Maduro opposition boycotted the election, ensuring their loss at the polls. According to the New York Times, the software company that set up the process for the election charges that the voting process was “manipulated”;

“We know, without any doubt, that the turnout of the recent election for a National Constituent Assembly was manipulated,” the company, Smartmatic, said in a statement.

The vote was part of an ambitious plan by the government to consolidate power. President Nicolás Maduro instructed Venezuelans to select from a list of trusted allies of the governing party — including his wife — who will rewrite the nation’s Constitution and rule Venezuela with virtually unlimited authority until they finish their work.

Voters were not given the option of rejecting the plan. Venezuela’s new governing body, known as the constituent assembly, will soon take charge of the country with the power to dismiss any branch of government, including the opposition-controlled legislature.

CNN reports that after the election, opposition leaders were rounded up;

In the wake of the result, two opposition leaders — Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma — were detained, sparking condemnation from the United States and international organizations.

Not surprisingly, international labor movements support the new government, according to Australia’s News;

At a July 26 meeting of the Victorian branch of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union, Australia’s third-largest and most powerful union, members resolved to “pledge our support with the people of Venezuela and their Bolivarian Revolution Socialist Government”.

“This meeting notes the Venezuelan government is a democratically elected government and we reject the intervention of the US and other capitalist powers in Venezuela,” the resolution said.

“We call on the Australian labour movement to express solidarity with workers in Venezuela and against fascist and violent gangs. We call on the Australian government to dissociate itself with the US intervention and to work towards a peaceful resolution to this crisis in Venezuela.”

A day earlier, the Sydney branch of the Maritime Union of Australia resolved to “pledge our resolute solidarity with the people of Venezuela and their Bolivarian Revolution”.

According to the Guardian, Ken Livingstone, former mayor of London, blames the crisis on Chavez’ unwillingness to murder the opposition “oligarchs” when he took control of the country;

“One of the things that Chávez did when he came to power, he didn’t kill all the oligarchs. There was about 200 families who controlled about 80% of the wealth in Venezuela,” Livingstone told Talk Radio.

“He allowed them to live, to carry on. I suspect a lot of them are using their power and control over imports and exports to make it difficult and to undermine Maduro.”

Yeah, because it’s perfectly acceptable to murder the opposition when socialists seize power. It’s been that way since the French Revolution.

Speaking of socialists, the commies at Venezuelanalyisis blame the US sanctions on the country for the latest unrest;

While the Venezuelan people, who will suffer from worsened shortages of food and medicine, do not want these sanctions, some of the more extremist opposition leaders do. And it is their allies in the United States, like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who are lobbying for the sanctions. These right-wing U.S. politicians — with much cooperation from all of the U.S. administrations of the past 15 years — have consistently fought to overthrow the Venezuelan government. This is all they can think about, regardless of the consequences of escalating violence, increased suffering, or even civil war.

According to BBC, Venezuela’s chief prosecutor, Luisa Ortega, is investigating the charges into the vote fraud claims;

Ms Ortega, a fierce critic of President Nicolás Maduro, called for an independent audit of the vote.

The move came just hours after the British-based company, Smartmatic, that supplied the voting system said that the turnout figures had been inflated.

Mr Maduro has dismissed the claims.

Ms Ortega said she had appointed two prosecutors to investigate four out of the five directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) “for this very scandalous act that could generate more violence in the country than what we have already experienced”.

Sra. Ortega should keep her head on a swivel.

Category: Hugo Chavez