How Bernie Sanders Talks About Venezuela Matters Greatly
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A large part of why President Donald Trump is targeting Venezuela is because he views it as a failed socialist state.
His administration’s cynical effort to “restore democracy” holds huge rhetorical value for Republicans, which would like to box in Senator Bernie Sanders and other left-leaning Democrats as they pursue popular democratic socialist policies.
These policies include single-payer health care, like Medicare For All, free college tuition, free child care, and the Green New Deal, which would put the United States on a path toward confronting threats posed by climate change.
Which is why it is critical for Sanders supporters — as well as for those who back the goals of what has been referred to as the “political revolution” — to be bold when addressing what is unfolding in Venezuela.
How Sanders discusses Venezuela is likely to play a significant role in his ability to defeat Trump in 2020, if he wins the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
During his 2019 State of the Union Speech, Trump declared, “We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom, and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.”
Trump added, “In the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country.”
“America was founded on liberty and independence, not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country,” Trump proclaimed.
The line was met with raucous applause from Republicans. There were even a number of left-of-center Democrats, who grinned. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer remained seated until he felt moved to stand and clap for the president as well.
As news of the success of Sanders’ first fundraising day after his 2020 announcement spread, the Trump/Pence 2020 campaign sent around an email warning of a “new wave of radical socialist Democrats” that would try to bring “full-blown socialism” to America.
Sanders has a history, particularly in the 1980s, of speaking out against U.S. interventions in Latin American countries. That has led his opponents to attack him for backing “strongman dictators” in Cuba and Nicaragua.
He currently opposes military intervention in Venezuela, but he has been less sharp in his opposition to other aspects of a regime change agenda pursued by the Trump administration.
Asked about his position on Venezuela during a CNN town hall event on February 25, he called the economy a “disaster” while saying nothing about the sanctions and effective trade embargo that the U.S. government has imposed on the country. He joined the chorus of leaders throughout the world, who contend President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected in an illegitimate election in May 2018.
It is widely claimed in the Western press that the Maduro government banned the opposition from running in the presidential election against Maduro. As Ryan Mallett-Outtrim made clear in 2017, no opposition parties were banned. Specific parties were told they had to re-register because they boycotted mayoral elections — a tactic opposition parties have employed several times to delegitimize and attack Venezuela’s democracy.
While the U.S. military, with support from Brazil, Colombia, and opposition groups, tried to force humanitarian aid through the Venezuela border, Sanders tweeted, “The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters.”
It is inaccurate to suggest Maduro is not allowing humanitarian aid. Over 900 tons of food and medicine were delivered last week at a Venezuela port in La Guaira. The aid came from China, Cuba, India, and Turkey. Russia also delivered 300 tons of medicine and medical supplies. So, what Maduro is opposing is the weaponization of aid by the Trump administration, which is intended to stir rebellion and reinvigorate a floundering coup attempt led by Juan Guaido.
Thus far, Sanders has not protested this weaponization of aid, even as a coalition of groups led by the Washington Office On Latin America (WOLA) has expressed concern over U.S. aid delivery operations that lack political neutrality.
Elliott Abrams is the special envoy to Venezuela. In President Ronald Reagan’s administration, Abrams ordered planes carrying “humanitarian aid” to shuttle weapons to the right-wing Contras in Nicaragua in the 1980s. He flew to Colombia as the U.S. military prepared to force the delivery of aid, and his presence gives Maduro’s government valid reasons to be concerned about any truck shipments trying to cross the Venezuela border.
It is not enough for Sanders to refer to past U.S.-backed coups in Brazil, Guatemala, and Chile that he opposed. Nor is it adequate to invoke past opposition to the wars in Iraq and Vietnam because that still leaves Trump and Republicans plenty of room to use Venezuela as a way to whip up fear around socialist policies.
The way to counter Trump is for Sanders supporters, the base of the Democratic Party, and activist groups to mobilize. Create a space for Sanders, Gabbard, Omar, and other politicians to boldly dissent and discuss the reality of what the U.S. is inflicting upon Venezuelans.
Space for wide discourse is necessary so the Sanders campaign does not have to worry about being marginalized if they fully articulate key issues around Trump’s regime change policy.
For example, both Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who is running for president in 2020, and Representative Ilhan Omar have gone beyond simply opposing military intervention. Yet, in doing so, they have faced smears intended to ensure they censor themselves.
Sanders will likely find that space for dissent on Venezuela benefits his 2020 campaign by disarming a key rhetorical attack from Trump and Republicans. There will be less reason to fear red-baiting because a base of support will help him defend against it
More significantly, this will make it much more difficult for Congress to fully back a regime change policy that could potentially plunge Venezuela deep into a civil war.
