After two weeks of violent anti-government protests in Venezuela and brutal crackdowns by that government, and after at least 13 people died in those protests (Opposition activists put the number of dead at 15), the U.S. government and U.S. media are finally paying attention to the crisis.
Answering a question on Venezuela at Monday’s daily White House briefing, Jay Carney replied:
Well, we are concerned, and we made clear, that with our OAS and regional partners — the Organization of American States and our regional partners — we are working to urge calm and encourage a genuine dialogue among all Venezuelans. As President Obama said in Mexico last week, rather than trying to distract from its own failings by making up false accusations against the United States, which the government there has, the Venezuelan government ought to focus on addressing the legitimate grievances of the Venezuelan people.
Another way of putting this is that when President Maduro calls for a dialogue with the U.S. President and an exchange of ambassadors, he should focus instead on the dialogue with the Venezuelan people because that is what is at issue here. This is not about the United States. The government of Venezuela needs to release detained protesters immediately. It also needs to stop impeding the work of independent journalists and restricting information-sharing via television, radio and the Internet.
Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are universal human rights. They are essential to a functioning democracy. And the Venezuelan government has an obligation to protect these fundamental freedoms.
International news sources such as the BBC, Reuters and The Guardian have been covering the crisis fairly well.
Here at home, The Hill today pretty much regurgitated Carney’s press briefing statement.
The New York Times started to cover the Venezuelan crisis in-depth over the weekend with “Protests Swell in Venezuela as Places to Rally Disappear” followed by “Venezuela Is Divided Even on Its Death Toll,” and, this morning, with an extensive report on the crisis and how “In Venezuela, Protest Ranks Grow Broader.”
The most recent Times piece describes the diversity of the protesters who are piling rocks to be used as projectiles, building barricades, making firebombs: “These were not your ordinary urban guerrillas. They included a manicurist, a medical supplies saleswoman, a schoolteacher, a businessman and a hardware store worker,” and how the National Guard indiscriminately responds, “with tear gas and shotgun fire, leaving a man bleeding in a doorway.”
As to the causes of the outrage and violence: “…more than the litany of problems that have long bedeviled Venezuela, a country with the world’s largest oil reserves but also one of the highest inflation rates…violent crime and chronic shortages of basic goods like milk and toilet paper…fueled by President Nicolás Maduro’s aggressive response to public dissent, including deploying hundreds of soldiers here and sending fighter jets to make low, threatening passes over the city.”
Please read the Times’ perhaps somewhat belated, but nevertheless welcome coverage of the crisis and tragedy befalling our Latin-American neighbors. Especially read the comments, many made by those caught up in the midst of the violence, such as this mother of two, who calls herself simply “I am a Venezolana”:
Yo_Soy_Venezolana
I am a Venezuelan living in the midst of all this mess and I thank the Times for taking interest in the Venezuelan situation. This may not have become the big bad mess it is right now if not for the fact of all the shortages, the daily killings that are now increased and helped by the National Guard and the paramilitary groups supported by Mr. Maduro’s government. If you watched yesterday’s statements made by Ms. Luisa Ortega Díaz (who is Venezuela’s Attorney General) you would be amazed at how easily and readily she admitted that the National Bolivarian Intelligence Service shot and killed unarmed protesters but at the same time stated that “there is no Human Rights violations in Venezuela”. How in the world can you ever think to reconcile those ideas?
I’ve got two girls, a two and an eight year old kid for whom I agonize when I think they should be going to school and leading happy lives instead of hearing and watching what they are. And don’t get me wrong, I do try to keep them apart from all the angst we are living, but they are not stupid and they read my fears on my face.
Anyone who thinks Venezuelans are just throwing a fit should take a few minutes reading all the statements that Alimentos Polar has made warning the people about the shortages they are suffering and which will increase the food shortages in Venezuela, and that will most likely be blamed on us demonstrators even when the situation with Alimentos Polar and other companies has been worsening for years now.”
Lead image: The streets in Caracas. Courtesy dolartoday.com
