Canada Bans Venezuelan Expats From Casting Ballots
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Canada-Accused-of-Violating-Right...
"Canada is prohibiting its Venezuelan immigrants from voting in the coming May 20 presidential elections, Bolivarian FM Jorge Arreaza said during a press conference Wednesday. Canadian authorities said they will not allow Venezuelan embassies or consulates in the cities of Toronto, Ottawa or Vancouver to install polling stations.
'They denounce that there is a dictatorship in Venezuela, but who is denying the right to vote? Only dictatorship countries do not allow citizens to exercise their right to vote..."
This is an outrageous action and a firing offence - Freeland must Go!
"International observers from more than 40 countries - including Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa and former Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero - have confirmed the transparency of Venezuela's electoral system."
https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/status/998080881657966598
Did she ban Poles, Hungarians, etc. from voting? Would she ban Israelis? Of course not.
Ottawa is Trying To Interfere in Venezuela's Election
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/yves-englers-blog/2018/04/ottawa-trying-...
"Is there no voice in Parliament willing to denounce Canadian interference in another country's electoral process? The Trudeau government is engaged in a wide-ranging campaign to weaken Venezuela's elected government. In a bid to elicit regime change, Ottawa has worked to isolate Caracas, imposed sanctions and supported the country's opposition.
Clearly Ottawa is guilty of interfering in the electoral process of Venezuela. When Russia has been accused of (a much more mild) form of intervention every party in Parliament is quick to condemn them."
Freeland Must Go!
US Regime Change in Venezuela: The Truth is Easy If You Follow the Money
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.ca/2017/07/us-regime-change-in-venezuela-t...
"The Opposition is Pro-Washington, Not 'Pro-Democracy'..."
Freeland and Trudeau Are Actively Complicit in an Ongoing US Regime Change Operation!
Evo Morales
"Lamentanos y rechazamos la decision unilateral de gobierno de Canada, de impedir derecho de [email protected] [email protected] a votar y elegir libremante a sus gobernantes...."
https://twitter.com/evoespueblo/status/997976747567181824
SHAME! Freeland Must Go! No Collaboration With US Regime Change in Venezuela!
The NDP is Seeking To Topple Venezuela's Government
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/yves-engler/the-ndp-is-seeking-to-topple-v...
"NDP members who oppose imperialism [ARE THERE ANY?] need to challenge Helene Laverdiere's support for Washington and Ottawa's efforts to topple Venezuela's government. Has it become NDP policy to support United States-backed coups in Latin America?
Canadian Politics Lesson #1 The NDP is RIGHT NOT LEFT! PRO imperialist NOT anti-imperialist! GOT IT? Either fix it, admit you're a right-winger, or tear the filthy, disgusting thing down and start over!
Maduro easily wins second term in Venezuela Election
That's just the headline for now. I'll link to the actual news story in 8 hours when one's available.
If he does that, it's because there was no "opposition" figure that could ever possibly have been popular. Venezuelans have had issues with the PSUV, but they knew they had nothing to gain from any "free market" measures.
Not quite true. Capriles could have been. Lopez might have been too. Pardon my cynicism, but I think that if their failure was guaranteed, they'd have been permitted to run just so they could lose.
That’s actually beside the point.
Venezuela is not controlled by NATO's banksters so it is obviously evil. If the people are fortunate and NATO manages to make a regime change I think a theocratic monarchy would make a good fit with the rest of our allies.
López and Capriles are pro-U.S. members of the bourgeoisie. They supported and encouraged the street violence and attempted coups. López's political movement is out and out fascist. Henri Falcón was a viable candidate - the only opposition leader who had the courage to break ranks and run. The fact that he favours dollarization and privatization of public services will not serve him well among informed voters, but he stands to get support. The evangelical candidate who also advocates privatization as a way of placating the U.S. has run his strong campaign. The media in Venezuela are largely in private hands and have been quite outspoken, plus Venezuelans receive daily doses of anti-Maduro propaganda from the hostile radio stations in neighbouring Colombia. The international campaign against the PSUV has been extreme and Canada's role in it unconscionable.
Why is Canada's so-called 'progressive' left allowing Canada including the NDP to actively participate in a US-led full-court press against Venezuela and for US regime change? That must be the question. If the NDP supports and does not oppose, as seems the case, then it should be eliminated and replaced with a party that can and does. What the hell are all the NDP fans on this board going to do about this relentless and disgusting subservience and collaboration?
Heavens!
They don't lead the ascetic life that Maduro does, and Chavez before him?
This is just "red baiting" in reverse. I don't expect babble's mods to act on it or anything, but it's really no more relevant or intelligent than "he's a COMMIE".
Really?
So the state media hasn't been running back-to-back Maduro ads then? If you say so.
The very best we ALL can hope for, after their all-but-inevitable victory, is that they smarten the fuck up and stop running the country into the ground chasing some inviable magical dream.
There's plenty of room for socialism in Venezuela. What if they tried sensible socialism, though?
Thanks for this reality check, Hoodeet. As for Canada... well, I don't blame Chrystia Bravehome for having a Nazi grandfather, except when she follows in his footsteps. Venezuela is one of the examples where she has sold herself to the enemy, just as grampa did. She should seriously be locked up and put on a rigid diet.
Which of course, means letting Wall Street, the State Department and the U.S. oil industry decide what amount of socialism is "sensible"-and we already know how much THEY will allow(i.e., nothing to the left of Pinochet).
The problem is, Magoo, that you accept the idea that wealthy white people outside Venezuela have a right to influence what happens there, have a right to impose whatever constraints they want.
Why should the people who, since the late Seventies, have never once, never for a moment, deviated from their insistence on erasing every vestige of socialism, social democracy, or even the New Deal from the face of the earth be allowed to impose their will on Venezuela, as they have imposed it nearly everywhere else?
Look at how miserable it got when they were allowed to do that in Nicaragua in 1990. They forced the Nicaraguan people, essentially at gunpoint, to elect the government the U.S. wanted. For the overwhelming majority of the Nicaraguan people, nothing but misery resulted. No one who wasn't born a billionaire saw any improvement in their lives from the defeat of the Sandinistas. Nothing was made better for the Indigenous. Nothing improved for Afro-Nicaraguans. They did put a "right to private property" in the constitution, and we all know what happens to social justice and human equality when property matters more than human need.
And the fact is, the "opposition" would have been trying to overthrow the PSUV no matter what it did. They would have been fomenting violent protests no matter what. They would have been hoarding toilet paper and other consumer goods no matter what. The "opposition" wasn't going to accept ANY alternative, or even any respite from, perpetual austerity.
And had the "opposition" stayed in power rather than falling in the Nineties, it would have kept on doing what it had done, privatizing, slashing wages, slashing social benefits, raising food and electricity prices over and over and over, and slaughtering nonviolent trade union members in the street for protesting that austerity. The Perez government that did those things called itself "social democratic". It practiced what you'd call "sensible socialism". It obeyed the empire to the north at every single moment.
Is that how it goes in the Nordic countries? Or Canada?
Ah. Wealthy white people. OK.
So, Canada won't host Venezuelan elections, and the 20,000 or so Venezuelan expats will have to buy a stamp if they want to vote by mail -- not that 20,000 split votes is going to matter either way.
We've been over this so many times, Ken. And you don't seem to see that it's not actually up to you or me -- are we those Wealthy Whiteys?? -- but the Venezuelan people. All I've ever supported was a genuinely free and fair election according to their own Constitution. If they choose Maduro, in a genuinely free and fair election I promise you I'm not going to say "send in the tanks; the people must suffer". Thing is, they're already suffering, and the government seems to want to prolong that as much as possible.
I don't want them to elect the government that you assume the U.S. wants. I want them to elect the government that THEY want, and to not have to lose their government food rations if they do.
US Interference in Venezuela Could Reelect President Maduro (and vid)
https://venezuelanalysis.com/video/13829
"Professor Steve Ellner says US has interfered in Venezuelan elections by urging the opposition to boycott and by imposing economic sanctions..."
TRNN: UN Rapporteur: US Sanctions Cause Death in Venezuela
http://rabble.ca/comment/5372891#comment-5372891
"I can say that the sanctions against Venezuela entail a crime against humanity which could be brought before the ICC as a violation of Article 7 of the Statute of Rome."
Canada vs Venezuela: Have the Koch Brothers Captured Canada's Left?
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/16/canada-vs-venezuela-have-the-koc...
"...One would think that Canada's NDP, as a social democratic party, would be supportive of the progressive policies that have been enacted in Venezuela. Surely the bulk of people who vote NDP would be far more supportive of Venezuela than they would of US policies to undermine that country? So how is it that the NDP's maverick foreign affairs critic is capable of aligning herself with American imperialist reactionary policies...?
What are those sanctions, specifically?
From what I can gather -- surely from media beholden to Empire! -- it's pure financial stuff, like investing in PSUV debt. Exactly how does that constitute a "crime against humanity", with regular Venezuelans the hapless victims?
This is like when North Koreans were starving because sanctions prevented government officials from buying luxury jewelry and cars.
Someone please tell us how regular Venezuelans can't afford corn flour because the citizens of one country on Earth cannot purchase the debt derivatives of their government.
I'd just like to thank everyone, in advance, for not engaging Mr. Magoo in his patented agent provocateur trolling antics™ on this issue.
No worries if nobody replies. But I'm not going to play "team sports" on this, so I might just keep posting even if it makes me a bad lefty.
And you can keep playing team sports, even if it makes you a bit of a hypocrite, given how often you've criticized the same.
"Go, Maduro! Go, Ghost of Chavez who's now a Bird who supports Maduro!"
The Empire and the Election
Today, Venezuelans will go to the polls to elect the country’s next president. In the United States, the election has been widely condemned as a sham. While there are good reasons to be highly critical of the election, calling it a sham is a dangerously misleading simplification of a complex and dynamic reality. Most importantly, this stance ignores the very real possibility that the opposition could have won the election, and the fact that this is unlikely to happen not because of government fraud, but due to the hardline opposition’s myopic decision to boycott the election. The sham election narrative is dangerous because it plays into the US government’s and hardline opposition’s longstanding pursuit of (violent) regime change, a ridiculous and illegal strategy that has contributed to Venezuela’s profound woes, as have highly inept government policies....
Entitled Creeps: Will Intl Media Report?
"Opposition voters in the School Andres Bello in the municipality of Chacao prevented the former Spanish president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero from carrying out his work as an observer of the electoral process in Venezuela."
https://twitter.com/rosendo_joe/status/998319363043315713
Venezuela's Highly Unusual Presidential Elections
https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2018/05/15/venezuela-president...
"This is the best opportunity since 1998 that the opposition has to defeat the Bolivarian Revolution. So why are they boycotting the election? Contrary to popular belief, Venezuela actually has one of the most transparent and fraud-proof election systems in the world..."
I would mostly agree. One cannot hope to win a race that they choose not to run in.
But that's not, logically, exclusive of calling that race a sham, particularly if that's why you chose not to run. It's kind of on the opposition if they chose to sit it out, but it's also on them to say how losing by default improves anything. Notwithstanding, of course, those who were deemed ineligible to run because they might have won.
LIVE UPDATES: Venezuela Presidential Election
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Live-Updates-Venezuela-Presidenti...
"Polls were due to close at 6:00 PM but will stay open as long as there are people in line to cast their votes..."
..more from post #24
quote:
If the government were truly committed to the revolutionary transformation of society, a claim that had credibility through 2013, such tactics could perhaps be seen as justified by a logic of “the ends justify the means,” a view that is of course subject to critique. It is nearly impossible, however, to see how the Maduro administration could be considered genuinely revolutionary, given that its maintenance of inept policies — most notably Venezuela’s disastrous currency policy — is widely viewed as the leading reason for the country’s current economic debacle, including by leftist economists like Mark Weisbrot who have been sympathetic to the government for years. Far from being revolutionary, Venezuela’s current government has repeatedly demonstrated its unwillingness and incapacity to even meet its citizens’ basic needs.
This, in fact, is why the current election cannot be considered a mere sham, notwithstanding the severe problems already noted. The profundity of Venezuela’s crisis, and the government’s continuing demonstration that it will not or cannot do what it takes to resolve the crisis, has made this election genuinely competitive. Repeated polls show that the main opposition candidate, Henri Falcón, has a strong chance to win the election. Polls taken in the last week put Falcón up by between 8.5 and 13 points.
quote:
The second reason that a Maduro victory is likely is that he retains significant popular support. This fact is difficult for people in the United States to fathom, but evidence shows that it is true. There are a few reasons that can explain this continuing popular support. For one, the Hugo Chávez administration’s policies enabled significant material gains for the popular sectors between 2004 and 2013. The memory of these gains is not easily erased. Relatedly, despite his disastrous handling of Venezuela’s economy, Maduro has maintained a symbolic, and to a lesser extent practical, link to this past. The government’s CLAP program, which distributed badly needed food, is not only a means for pressuring voters, but also a demonstration that the Maduro administration continues to care about the poor and working class in Venezuela.
..finally
quote:
These examples illustrate that popular sector support for Venezuela’s government will not continue forever. As occurred in the 1989 “Caracazo” uprising and again in the aborted April 2002 coup against Chávez, the best-case scenario is that Venezuela’s future be decided not in the halls of Washington, nor in the gated communities of Altamira, but in the barrios of Petare, Catia, and 23 de Enero. Herein lies the only hope for a genuine solution to the profound problems facing Venezuela.
Breaking News: 67% For Maduro out of 45% participation rate, 21% for Falcon
https://twitter.com/compartycanada/status/998382073902698496
Why is Canada's so-called 'progressive' left allowing Canada including the NDP to actively participate in a US-led full-court press against Venezuela and for US regime change?
Because they’re chicken shits. Cmon NNDP you know this very well.
Thanks for starting this thread! This further proves that western countries like Canada are actually a greater dictatorship than communist socialist countries!!!!
Thanks for the chuckle Unionist!
You know, when you try to be funny, you’re not. And sometimes when you’re comments are not meant to be humorous, they are.
But really, you’re just being mean.
Dp
In the CBC article I read it mentioned there are 5,000 Venezuelans in Canada, so clearly it wasn't about changing the election, and the government probably opened themselves up to more criticism than any benefit from doing this.
Don't know how those 5,000 people feel, but if it is anything like the one citizen I know, maybe they should have let them vote, assuming it would get past the embassy. These are people who left the country, after all, remember? Then there's this:
http://www.timescolonist.com/some-venezuelan-canadians-say-ottawa-right-...
Magoo is special, and he came into this discussion as usual to give us a pro-U.S. take on Venezuela. The only reason he isn't banned from this site is because we love him.
But why did you comment about me? Have I ever said a mean word about you? I strongly advise you to give opinions about the content of other people's posts. If you make asinine and unfriendly statements like the one you've just made, you will be at best ignored, and at worst called names. Either way, we will miss the intelligent and constructive things you have to say.
I've done nothing to you. So consider retracting your personal insult. Thank you.
I just don't understand the logic bechind banning the voting. Most often expatriates vote against the political leanings of the country they come from. So if anything the voters in Canada would likely have a bone to pick with the current regime.
The reasons given appear to be missing a deadline and disapproval about the process. I hope they are consistent and deny polls opening in the US election.
Not just the United States, in fact most other countries in the hemisphere have gone further than them:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/ar...
Canada is on Wrong Side of Venezuelan Conflict - by Linda McQuaig
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/03/15/canada-on-wro...
"...Washington is waging economic war against a nation that has dared to rise up and reject US control over its ample oil reserves. Sadly, Trudeau is backing up the US bully."
They were probably thinking that Maduro was very likely to win, regardless of any anti-Maduro vote by expats in Canada. So for them it was probably better to start their delegitimization campaign early.
Indeed. What possible reason could you have to attack Unionist?
I took it as a very tongue-in cheek aside directed more at Magoo than U. He has been the object of Magoo's standard fuckery, so 'but really, you're just being mean' I thought as rather droll. If he returns, I think you'll find it was an attempt at levity rather than an attack.
First off I apologize to brother Unionist. I think I unintentionally insulted your sense of humour. I can go into this deeper but to avoid thread drift, please just accept my apologies.
As far as Mr Magoo goes, he is expressing his opinion or voicing an opinion/view/idea etc etc. And this shouldn’t be discouraged.
Mr Magoo has made comments I don’t like and I have snapped back, so maybe I’m being a hypocrite?
I find it odd the you posters find this squabble more interesting than the subject of a cabinet minister potentially destroying Canada’s reputation????
I believe the liberals are going out of their way to drive Canada’s reputation into the ground!
Now I find that number of 5K Venezuelans in Canada eligible to vote very low and I don’t believe it. However I do agree that eliminating them from casting a ballot futile.
I’m going to stick to my guns on this one and say that internationally, Canada dropped a few notches!
There you go with stupid biased comments. You will never accept a government that the people want because you will always buy the right wing bullshit that the elections are not good enough.
I wish the people of the US had the right to vote in a fair and free election but they don't. You never complain about their rigged elections because they always result in the NATO banksters controlling everything. Like most Western useful idiots you only ever denigrate left wing governments but the bizarre part is you seem to actually think your world view has something to do with democracy and freedom.
There you go with your slanderous comments based on your right wing mindset.
So you're literally claiming:
1. U.S. elections aren't free or fair.
2. Venezuelan elections -- despite the government enjoying sole use of state media for electioneering, and despite the state declaring opposition candidates ineligible to run for office for a decade or more, and despite the disgusting use of so-called 'red points' -- are totally legit.
3. I'm stubbornly unwilling to admit to these awesome truths because I hope that NATO bankers had won the Venezuela election.
Why do I feel like if Justin Trudeau used the CBC to run ads for the Liberal Party, and solely the Liberal Party, you'd say there was something hinky about that?
Why do I feel like people enjoy pointing at Jimmy Carter's proclamation, several years ago, that Venezuelan elections are the bestest in the whole wide world, even as they would never sit quiet if a Canadian government pulled that shit?
For the record, if the U.S. electorate really wants Jill Stein taking the wheel, I'm not going to complain. It's any country's right to make a foolish choice at the ballot box.
TRNN: Maduro Wins the Presidency in Venezuela: What Will the US Do Next?
https://youtu.be/QsEYa8yov14
"We speak with journalist Lucas Koerner of Venezuelanalysis.com , election observer Roger Harris, and Venezuela analyst Greg Wilpert."
IMTV: Venezuela - Between Imperialist Aggression and Economic Crisis
https://youtu.be/Qx0CFDjLd5U
Jorge Martin, Hands Off Venezuela campaign interviewed.
Why is Canada a part of this Lima Group anyway.
Just think if she had won instead of Freeland.
Unfortunately, when it comes to Venezuela, Libya, Ukraine or any other priority of empire, you'll usually find the NDP bends over for Uncle Sam much the same as the others. See #7.
I never blame Chrystia Bravehome for having a Nazi grandfather, except when she takes after him.
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