Alan
MacLeod looks at the role of the media in the regime change operation
in Venezuela
by
Alan MacLeod
Part
4 - The administration shows its true hand
Instead,
since Maduro's swearing-in, many seem to have been openly championing
regime change in the country. One of the few positive things about
the Trump administration is that it does not try to conceal its true
intentions behind misleading, flowery words. John Bolton, Trump’s
National Security Advisor, has openly described Venezuela as a
business opportunity.
"It
will make a big difference to the United States economically if we
could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the
oil capabilities in Venezuela," he said.
With
clear parallels to the build-up to the Iraq War, he also labeled
Venezuela as belonging to a "troika of tyranny" and
recently suggested sending Maduro to Guantanamo Bay. The U.K.
government has blocked the transfer of Venezuela's gold out of the
Bank of England after it declared Guaidó its legitimate leader. At
the same time, the U.S. has ramped up its sanctions on the
beleaguered nation, in spite of pleas from the UN to do the opposite.
The Human Rights Council formally condemned
them, noting they made the crisis far worse. One Special Rapporteur
declared them a possible "crime against humanity".
And yet
the press overwhelmingly abets the pretense of "democracy
promotion" and protection of human rights. The Washington
Post, for example, applauded the administration's actions, urging
it to work with the body to tighten the sanctions while claiming
Guaido had given hope to the people of Venezuela.
The
mainstream media seems to ignore the opinions of everyday
Venezuelans. Eighty-six percent are against military intervention and
81 percent disagree with the current sanctions, according to a recent
local poll. Perhaps there's a ulterior motive to the mainstream
media's uniform approach in delegitimatizing Maduro's regime: to
undermine and attack the rise of socialist-inspired ideas back home.
When it
comes to key issues such as foreign policy, the charade that the
media cares about impartiality and truth withers away to reveal its
true role in serving the powerful.
***
Source,
links:
Comments
Post a Comment