View our expert panel to hear from Miguel Tinker Salas, Venezuelan scholar and Professor of Latin American History at Pomona College; Laura Carlsen, Mexican journalist and director of the Americas Program, and Medea Benjamin, author and anti-war activist on the growing crisis in Venezuela.
Venezuela’s economic and political crisis reached a level of international emergency last week as opposition leader Juan Guaido renounced sitting president Nicolas Maduro, declared himself president and called for new elections. President Trump — who put neocon Elliot Abrams (convicted of lying to Congress in 1980s Iran-Contra scandal) in charge of Venezuela policy — threatened military intervention and increased crippling sanctions.
david donnelly
Completely irrelevant and totally unnecessary criticism of the President.
Shame on you.
shiva
Yeahh exactly! It would be better if you had been talked about what the topic we searched!?
Niro
Good day Venezuela, remember not all that glitters is gold, mr president I support you, I also believe people need the aid, but look somewhere else for aid knock the door here in Africa and all of us will support you with aid. For the opposition leader I respect you and your views but don’t be used for others gain, whatever you cause and fight do so for the total benefit of Venezuela. Your nation is rich protect it
Mervin Kamanga
exactly
Patrick Noagbedzi
The President must give way for free and fair elections. Power belongs to the people.
Tony White
Excellent discussion of an important issue. How can the US intervene so obviously in another country when we are investigating foreign influence in our elections and our laws ban foreign campaign contributions while USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy are financing the Venezuelan opposition?
Notably Eliot Abrams has branded Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela as a “Troika of Tyranny,” an ominous threat to the three countries in Latin America which have adopted socialism and declared their independence from the United States. Given Trump’s domestic and foreign problems, do not let Venezuela become an excuse or distraction for military action or economic sanctions which punish the Venezuelan people!
Rodrick Phiri
People of Venezuela open your eyes. See What is happening in Iraq, Afghanstan, Libya Syria and Yemen. You mean you don’t see the reason? Your oil and gas of course. Shame Shame shame
Antonio Gutierrez
I think the lady in the butterfly room Medea Benjamin, needs to do some catching up on the events of the last 20 years inside Venezuela, and in spite of her antiwar activism, she lacs the necessary information and knowledge to understand what is going on. Venezuela has a small group of so called socialists sponsored by cuba and Russia who have tried to destroy the true ethnicity of Venezuelans not to mention stealing all the resources that the country has received in those 20 years. It is organized crime which controls what ever remains of our economy, this situation has forced them to launder through PDVSA all the stolen money, not to mention the laundering of all the money from drug trafficking that they have produced for over a decade, they have taken all the routes from colombian farc and eln which traffic cocaine to the US and Europe.
I suposse the lady Medea Benjamin will say this is untrue.
A military action is looking like the end solution to our problem since the organized crime group controling the army and small economy will not depart for they have to be subject of trials pending on all their ilegal actions over the last 20 years.
Maduro is a liar and stalled his stay in power with fake talks and manipulating this situation with the support of other south american solcialists such as the pope among other tricks such as a new fake constituent.
The Us government is the only group that has offered a REAL help and solution without any cheap coffee room discussions, once they understood the real scope of the problem.
The military is under enormous pressure from maduro to stay by all means necessary but for those of us with real contacts inside the top brass the reality reflects that approximately 90% of the military wants out and to take maduro down by means of an invading army.
Miguel Tinker is the only sound voice in this meeting.
I feel shame to see that people claiming to be profesors or academics from such and such universities have such poor knowledge of a country lying in their own back yard. Of course I am not surprised since I know the level of interest and also the sources from which this kind information is collected.
Please try to visit those places before speaking about them as if it were Greek history.
Have a nice day.
MK
if 90% of the military wants maduro out then why not simply overpower him through a militrary takeover, taking him down together with his 10%. Is that too difficult for the Venezuelan Military to achieve such that it wants a foreign military intervation?
Do the Venezuelan military have such little faith in itself? How pathetic.
if you want to overpower Maduro and you think you have 90% surport of the military i think you should do that by yourself and not by seeking a foreign militry intervation. that will be a shame. Is Libya not enough example of what can happen to Venezuela?
wheather Maduro continues to rule Venuezela or not, i really think that should be upon the Venezuelan people to decid without the intervation of a foreign power
Pedro A Delgado
My thoughts on the subject: I believe that Venezuela will see Maduro leave the country in 2019.
And the interim president to have elections within six months afterwards.
Trump has acted so far with prudence to avoid a military intervention that it is opposed by most people.
So far hundreds of the Venezuelan Armed Forces members have refused to follow Maduro and “jumped ship.
These hundreds have to be followed by thousands that do the same.
But Maduro is surrounded by thousands of Cuban military that have threaten to kill him if he surrenders and Maduro knows that they mean business as a cuban agent killed Salvador Allende in 9/11/1973 when he became paralyzed by fear.
A coverup court in Chile said later that he had killed himself as politically it was troublesome to come with the truth.
But on spite of the Cubans, the Russians, the Iranians and the Hezbollah that have thousands of operatives in Venezuela and the rest of Latin America, Venezuela will have elections as the conditions will continue getting worse to the point that the majority of the people will come to the conclusion that it is better to die fighting, than die because of hunger.
Geoffrey Ellis Aronson
If the USA were so concerned to get the aid to relief in Venezuela, it would have the United Nations act the conduit for its transference. Otherwise it’s just a propaganda ploy as it is not reaching where it is needed.
Man Singh Hooda
Right now Venez. required assistance of it’s own people to solve the crises.
jay
Venezuela needs thoughtful leadership who has personal credibility to take people along and take even harsher decisions to correct the mess.
in India , let free doles be stopped forthwith and no new freebies be given any more .
M K
What ever happens to Venezuel, it should be upon the Venezuelan people to decide and not for USA or Russia
NO NEED OF A COLD WAR
PEACE IN VENEZUELA!!!!
Dwane Marsh
As a retired U.S. military member, I would agree that U.S. military intervention is not the answer. And, if you haven’t noticed, Trump is NOT trying to intervene. Venezuela should solve their own problems as best they can. That said, if help is required (non-military), and asked for, then every effort should be made to help the people. It is up to the leadership to ensure no strings are attached.
But, many of you are ignoring the main issue. You seem to be too worried about the U.S., and not focusing on the reasons Venezuela is in this mess in the first place. It’s called Socialism. It has taken you from a rich, flavorful country, to a poor, derelict country in just a few years. If you wish to become again what you were, you MUST be rid of Socialism. It has been proven time and again never to work. God watch over the Venezuelan people.
david wills
AS WITH ANY COUNTRY THAT LOOKS AFTER ITS PEOPLE PROPERLY YOU NEED THOSE WITH EXPERIENCE OF RUNNING WHAT THEY NOT ONLY HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF BUT HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT .THAT CAN BE ANY THING & EVERY THING THAT WORKS SUCCESSFULLY WHAT EVER THE POLITICAL SYSTEM.THERE IS NO POINT HAVING PEOPLE IN CHARGE WHO FAIL EVERY TIME OR HAVE NO EXPERIENCE OF RUNNING THINGS THAT BENEFIT EVERY ONE, NOT JUST COMPANIES, THEIR SHARE HOLDERS, THEMSELVES, BUT IN THE OVERALL SCHEME OF THINGS THE COUNTRY SO THAT COUNTRY IS NOT ENSLAVED TO A POLITICAL SYSTEM THTA MEANS THE POPULATION IS AT THE MERCY OF POLITICAL ALLIES THAT THEN DICTATE WHILST PROPPING UP THE ELITE WHO DO NOT SUFFER AS THE MASSES DO.