House Progressives Stand Up To Centrist Democrats And Trump, Warn Against Venezuela Intervention
In a letter sent Thursday, more than a dozen House progressives warned against U.S. intervention in Venezuela, HuffPost reports.
Representatives Ro Khanna of California, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, as well as others, expressed “deep concern” with the Trump administration’s “handling of relations” with Venezuela.
“Broad unilateral sanctions and threats of military action are making life worse for ordinary Venezuelans,” the letter states.
Instead of pursuing “misguided policies” the United States should join other countries in “promoting Venezuelan efforts to achieve constructive dialogue and democratic solutions” to the ongoing crisis, House progressives wrote.
As HuffPost notes, the letter is not only aimed at President Trump but also at centrist Democrats, the majority of whom have backed the president’s policy in regards to Venezuela’s internal affairs.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, on January 23, via Twitter, Trump recognized Venezuelan right-wing opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president. The vast majority of Democratic politicians backed this decision, bar a few notable exceptions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — who often accuses Trump of being an agent of Russia — supported the initiative as well.
Spearheading bipartisan Venezuela escalations are Elliott Abrams, convicted over the Iran-Contra scandal and known for organizing a number of murderous coups in Latin America during the 1980s, and Bush-era war-hawk John Bolton. Apparently, in line with his reputation, Bolton announced that “all options are on the table,” possibly alluding to military intervention in Venezuela, which has the largest amount of proven oil reserves in the world.
Khanna, Ocasio-Cortez Among Progressive Democrats to Condemn US-Backed Regime Change in Venezuela https://t.co/Bj6wiLOrob #HandsOffVenezuela pic.twitter.com/plFLzPr99Y
— Common Dreams (@commondreams) March 7, 2019
But progressive Democrats are urging both parties and the Trump administration to hit the pause button. In a statement supplied to HuffPost, Representative Ro Khanna said that Venezuela’s President Maduro is an autocrat, but warned against further escalations, sanctions, and interventionism.
“If we can be willing to stand on principle, then the Democratic Party should oppose broad-based sanctions that are hurting people there, and interventionism that has proven time and again to be counterproductive. That’s the direction our party needs to move.”
“Here’s the mistake we make: We’re quiet when these interventions are happening,” Khanna explained, citing Iraq and Libya interventions as major mistakes of U.S. foreign policy.
United States intervention in Venezuela, according to the California representative, would make the situation in the Latin American country “worse.”
The vast majority of Venezuelans agrees with Khanna, according to polls.
Eighty-six percent of Venezuelans oppose military intervention, and 81 percent of Venezuelan citizens is against U.S. sanctions, according to the Centre for Research on Globalization.
Heavily armed soldiers aborted a plan to enter Venezuela by force https://t.co/nndJevDLQY via @TicToc pic.twitter.com/h56peseYh3
— Bloomberg (@business) March 7, 2019
Of all Democratic presidential candidates, according to HuffPost, only Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Tulsi Gabbard explicitly oppose sanctions and regime change in the Latin American country.
