The New York Times Again Gets It Wrong On Venezuela

In an editorial today which purports to support a more sane foreign policy than that of the last four years, the New York Times calls President Nicolás Maduro a “tenacious dictator.” This narrative framed by the corporate media gets repeated time and time again. No respect for the specifics, and no attempt to present an alternative viewpoint. What about the political effects of crippling U.S.-imposed sanctions and an opposition that uses force supported by Washington to achieve regime change? What about the past presidential elections in Venezuela in which the only credible objections were irregularities but nothing worse than the voter suppression in U.S. elections. Even if you accept the accounts of most of those opposed to Maduro (which I don’t), Venezuelan elections can’t be compared to those of a narco president (as demonstrated in the U.S. courts, unlike Maduro) like Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras. Yet the NY Times made no mention of Hernández. While, as the NYT’s editorial points out, U.S. foreign policy may become more enlightened in some areas of the world (possibly with regard to Iran), the basic precepts will undoubtedly, unfortunately, remain the same.