Haley, Pence convey US message on Venezuela: only election worth holding is one that results in regime change

“On May 20, without fail, presidential elections will take place in Venezuela and the people will defend their right to decide with votes, without interventions of any kind. The whole world will witness a new popular expression which will reaffirm the democratic character of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

by Elliott Gabriel

Part 2 - Shifting winds in the south

Haley’s speech came one day after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence slammed Venezuela at a meeting of the 35-member Organization of American States (OAS), calling on the Washington-based body to expel the Bolivarian Republic “regime” and for Venezuela’s authorities to “suspend this sham election and organize real elections.”

“We believe it is time to do more, much more,” Pence told delegates from the OAS, which includes Venezuela as a member. “Every free nation gathered here must take stronger action to stand with the Venezuelan people and stand up to their oppressors.”

Venezuelan authorities reacted with rage, blasting Pence’s “attempts to cover up the damage his government has caused to Venezuelan society through unilateral coercive measures with a false humanitarian concern, which seeks to bend the people’s will to take the wealth and natural resources of our country.”

“We do not accept the U.S. as a court or authority of anything; we are free,” Venezuelan Deputy Minister for North America and Representative to the OAS Samuel Moncada said. Bolivian President Evo Morales hailed Venezuela’s stance, noting: “The empire acts with fear before a sovereign vote, and knows that it will never again be able to subjugate free people.”

Last Friday, former CIA chief and newly-appointed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contributed his own venomous input to the conversation, stating that “a dictator today in Venezuela cripples his economy and starves his people” and that the State Department must take action to assist the hundreds of thousands of migrants who have fled the economically besieged South American nation.

Noting the hypocrisy of Washington waxing sympathy for the very people afflicted by the steady torrent of sanctions unleashed by the White House, Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry said: “Mr. Pompeo shows false concern for the reality of Venezuela while hiding the perverse effects of the unilateral coercive measures of his government … [The Trump administration] has launched erratic maneuvers, typical of the arrogance and despair of imperialist politics, after having failed once and again in the face of the will of a free and independent people.”

Source, links:

https://www.mintpressnews.com/haley-pence-venezuela-regime-change/241895/

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