Socialist Congresswoman Ilhan Omar believes America is to blame for the chaos in Venezuela, not the brutal and violent reign of dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Omar appeared on Democracy Now! – a far-left Public Broadcasting Service program – to discuss her thoughts on what host Amy Goodman described as a “U.S. supported coup attempt against President Maduro.”
“A lot of the policies that we’ve put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela, and we’ve sort of set the stage, uh, for where we are arriving today,” she said. “This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help people of countries like Venezuela and it certainly does not help and is not in the interests of the United States.
“And I think, finally, we have folks in Congress that see” her perspective, Omar said.
The finger-pointing comes amid a brewing civil war in Venezuela over intolerable living conditions, runaway inflation, and rampant crime and violence that has plagued the country for years. The situation is made worse by deep public distrust in Maduro’s government, ranked among the most corrupt in the world, and a rigged election in 2018 to keep him in power.
Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly, invoked constitutional powers to claim the presidency, a move supported by numerous countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, and Argentina. Iran, Russia, China, Cuba and Turkey have backed Maduro.
As conditions in Venezuela have deteriorated – with locals now regularly picking through trash, drinking out of ditches and bathing in sewer water – Maduro has employed the military to block humanitarian aid and supplies at the border.
In some instances, soldiers have fired on citizens who attempted to retrieve food or other necessities.
This week, some in the military defected to support Guaido and thousands of Venezuelans stormed the streets to take on state security forces struggling to suppress the uprising, Fox News reports.
!!! Intense clashes, a Venezuelan military vehicle just drove into a crowd of civilians on the highway. #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/pcSTd3TwMf
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) April 30, 2019
In one television broadcast published online, Venezuelan military vehicles plowed into protestors who gathered on a divided highway, while another show members of the military with guns drawn, on each other.
Soldiers arresting soldiers.
It’s hard to tell who’s who here. Guaido’s rebels have been using blue armbands, but this shot isn’t clear enough to see them. #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/3OLpXMB8Tc
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) April 30, 2019
Armed factions also exchanged gunfire outside of the La Carlota air base near Caracas, where Guaido held a rally alongside a dozen armed military as he called on Venezuelans and others in the military to help with the “final phase” of his plan to oust Maduro, Reuters reports.
And while the majority of Democratic countries support the move, many devoted socialists in Congress, including Omar, fellow freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders and others are rooting for Maduro to prevail.
Meanwhile, Maduro is consulting with Russian allies and preparing for the worst, a scary thought for millions of Venezuelans who have already suffered through the horrors of socialism for years.
“How many dead would there be if a civil war started here because of the foolishness of coup mongers and traitors?” Maduro said Thursday in an unusual morning appearance to request “loyalty” from the military, according to the Miami Herald. “And how long would the war last if there was an invasion? Because we would never surrender.”
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