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U.S. recognition of opposition leader may bring the world a new humanitarian crisis

24/1/19

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has declared himself the country’s interim president, winning support from Washington, prompting the beleaguered socialist Nicolas Maduro to sever diplomatic ties with the US.
President Trump was among the first leaders in the Americas to recognise Mr Guaido’s claim to the presidency, tweeting that the Venezuelan people “have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime”. The US president’s remarks were swiftly followed by similar statements from Canada and right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela’s neighbours Brazil and Colombia.
The recognition came after Mr Guaido told a rally in the capital Caracas that Mr Maduro had usurped power, and he promised to create a transitional government that would help the country escape its hyperinflationary economic collapse.
Soon after, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Paraguay and Costa Rica said they would follow suit – although Mexico’s left-leaning government said there would be no change of policy for now and Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, attacked what he called an imperialist assault on South America’s right to democracy and self-determination.
In response to Mr Guaido’s claims and the international response, Mr Maduro – who began a second term in office on 10 January following a widely boycotted election last year – accused the opposition of seeking to stage a coup with the support of the United States, which he said was seeking to govern Venezuela from Washington.
He also announced he was cutting diplomatic ties with the US and gave American diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave the country.
Speaking from the presidential palace to a crowd of red-shirted supporters, Mr Maduro said the US was making a “grave mistake”, and noted that countries including Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina had all seen their leftist governments toppled during the Cold War with the help of American intervention.
“The imperial government of the United States is leading a coup attempt against us in order to install a puppet presidency that they can control in Venezuela,” Mr Maduro raged. “Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional president ... I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with the US. Get out! Leave Venezuela. We have (our) dignity dammit!”
Mr Guaido, meanwhile, has received praise from a host of western allies after vowing to hold legitimate elections “and to re-establish the constitution we need the agreement of all Venezuelans”.
The declaration takes Venezuela into uncharted territory, with the possibility of the opposition now running a parallel government recognised abroad as legitimate but without control over state functions.
Mr Trump’s recognition of Mr Guaidó as acting president comes after vice president Mike Pence penned an opinion article expressing support for the opposition. Mr Pence wrote that the United States stands with the protesters standing up in opposition to Mr Maduro.
“Nicolas Maduro has no legitimate claim to power,” Mr Pence wrote in The Wall Street Journal. “Nicolás Maduro must go.”
But, Mr Maduro retained support from other countries in the western hemisphere, including from Bolivia’s leftist president, Evo Morales, who affirmed his alliance with the Maduro government on Wednesday and tweeted in solidarity against the United States’ attempts to meddle in the affairs of South American countries.
“Our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and our brother Nicolas Maduro, in these decisive hours in which the claws of imperialism seek again to mortally wound the democracy and self-determination of the peoples of South American”, Mr Morales tweeted.
But as the dramatic news sunk in, Venezuela specialists said they were unsure what the immediate impact might be – and how Maduro might react.
“We are defending the right to the very existence of our Bolivarian Republic,” Maduro said, accusing his foes of trying to steal Venezuela’s oil, gas and gold: “They intend to govern Venezuela from Washington. Do you want a puppet government controlled by Washington?”
Beyond breaking ties with the US, many now expect Maduro to order the arrest of Guaidó or other opposition leaders. Farnsworth said Maduro might also “turn sharpshooters on crowds and try to scare everybody back home”.
If that happened, the US and the international community would be forced to react. The US official said it had “a host of options” if such a crackdown occurred: “Everything is on the table – all options.”
Venezuela has experienced a series of food and medicine shortages, as well as widespread crime as the country’s economic woes have rendered the bolivar currency virtually worthless. Thousands of Venezuelans have fled to neighbouring countries to escape the economic crisis.
Increased economic sanctions could exacerbate an already severe humanitarian emergency that the UN says has created the biggest migration crisis in recent Latin American history. A military intervention that would potentially lead to massive destruction and great loss of life and could drag the US into a messy and protracted occupation and reconstruction process was also undesirable.
Smilde said: “Look at Somalia, look at Afghanistan, look at Iraq: all of those cases were supposed to be short military actions and actually what they do is end up generating enormous costs in terms of loss of life and infrastructure.”
Venezuela was once Latin America’s richest nation. Now inflation may reach 1 million percent and a recent poll found that 30 percent of Venezuelans eat only once a day.
As conditions in Venezuela worsen, a massive and growing number of people are fleeing to neighboring nations. The UN High Commission on Refugees estimates that 5,000 people leave every day.
The Venezuelan exodus “is on the scale of Syria,” said Matthew Raynolds, of the United Nations refugee agency.
Yes, the U.S. recognition of opposition leaders may cause a serious humanitarian crisis for Venezuelan people and turn the country into an Iraq or Afghanistan version 2.0./.
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All comments [ 11 ]


Allforcountry 4/8/19 20:05

Rather than continue along our current path of retreat, the country must dedicate itself to responding to—and preventing—global crises.

Swift Hoodie 4/8/19 20:06

Today we face a global humanitarian crisis of epic proportions.

Wilson Pit 4/8/19 20:07

Over the past 15 years, 3.3 billion people—almost half of the world’s population—have been exposed to political violence. And still darker clouds loom on the horizon.

Herewecome 4/8/19 20:08

The United States has a long bipartisan history of global humanitarian leadership, stewarded by once-shared values. Yet this tradition is under threat.

Gentle Moon 4/8/19 20:09

Even during the vaunted days of the Obama administration, the US government denied families their right to asylum and supplied weapons that helped to fuel conflicts overseas.

Red Star 4/8/19 20:10

he Trump administration is dragging the country even further from our humanitarian values—separating parents from their children at our southern border, boycotting meetings on the global refugee crisis, and requesting multibillion-dollar cuts to foreign aid.

yobro yobro 4/8/19 20:10

The United States cannot turn its back on its global humanitarian commitments, and the American people must push back against efforts to do so.

For A Peace World 4/8/19 20:11

Rather than continue along our current path of retreat, we need to embrace a new humanitarian grand strategy

Vietnam Love 4/8/19 20:12

we need a proactive policy for peace.

Voice of people 4/8/19 20:13

It is time to reverse these priorities and create an overarching strategy of violence reduction and conflict prevention.

Me Too! 4/8/19 20:14

we must build a 21st-century humanitarian-response system centered on dignity, local leadership, and innovation.

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