"The
smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit
the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate
within that spectrum." – Noam Chomsky
By
Manmeet Sahni
Part
1
Humanitarian
crisis, starvation, migration, repressive government, economic
crisis, sanctions, resistance, Communist Party, Chavez,
hyperinflation, crackdown on corruption, election fraud: just some of
the keywords used by the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times,
Reuters and the Miami Herald to describe Venezuela as it heads to the
polls on May 20 to select its next president.
While
some of these words might give a glimpse into the current situation
in Venezuela, Western media's hyper-sensationalism of the nation's
domestic affairs falls far short of addressing the realities on the
ground.
On a
recent episode of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver – a British
comedian – attempted to shed light on the ongoing crisis by weaving
some random anecdotes into a 20-minute segment. He outrightly
dismissed crucial facts about Venezuela and its socialist history,
coming perilously close to publicly endorsing the U.S. sanctions
intended to prolong the crisis.
Critics,
however, took note. Gabriel Hetland is a professor at the University
of Albany who writes extensively about Venezuela. Writing in The
Nation, she said: "The U.S. government has not only cheered
and funded these anti-democratic actions. By absurdly declaring that
Venezuela is an 'unusual and extraordinary threat' to U.S. national
security, and pressuring investors and bankers to steer clear of the
Maduro administration, the White House has prevented Venezuela from
obtaining much-needed foreign financing and investment."
One of
the main failings of the Western media is the refusal to acknowledge
the history of the issues currently playing out in Venezuela.
In 2006,
after Hugo Chavez was elected Venezuela's president for a second
term, Nicolas Maduro – who would later become president – was
named foreign affairs minister. Under Chavez, Maduro made strategic
alliances with neighboring countries, forging and strengthening
regional alliances with progressive governments in Brazil, Bolivia,
Nicaragua, Cuba, Ecuador, Argentina and Uruguay, as well as with the
Caribbean Community (Caricom).
Venezuela's
foreign policy is notable for its multipolar vision: a geopolitical
perspective unconfined to the binary, Cold War powers represented by
the United States and Russia. It was Maduro who revitalized the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and established
Petrocaribe as part of Venezuela's cooperation with other Caribbean
nations.
Despite
attempts by the Western power axis – the United States,
Switzerland, Canada and the European Union – to overthrow Maduro's
government, the president has sought to consolidate support with
member states of the Non-Aligned Movement, including South Africa,
Dominica, Iran and Cuba.
Maduro
has made repeated calls to the mainstream media for fair, unbiased
and accurate coverage, but to little avail. In April 2017, then
Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said Venezuela was being exposed to
a "very aggressive global media campaign" and called
for "responsible management of information."
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