Distorting 'Democracy' in Venezuela Coverage

[Judi Lynn]

MAY 10, 2019
GREGORY SHUPAK

Writing of the failed US-sponsored coup attempt in Venezuela on April 30, Uri Friedman of The Atlantic (5/1/19) referred to the Venezuelan branch of the coup as Juan “Guaidó’s pro-democracy movement.” The logical contradiction could scarcely be more pronounced: A wave of Friedman’s wand transforms a political force seeking the military overthrow of Venezuela’s elected government into a “pro-democracy movement.”

The Venezuelan government’s current mandate comes from winning an election on May 20, 2018 that was observed by more than 150 members of theInternational Electoral Accompaniment Mission. In a joint report, the observers said of the agency that organizes the country’s electoral process, “The technical and professional trustworthiness and independence of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela are uncontestable.” The Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America, one of the groups that participated in the observer mission, reported that the “results communicated by the National Electoral Council reflect the will of the voters who decided to participate in the electoral process.”

The Wall Street Journal (5/1/19) performed the same trick, writing that “Venezuela’s democratic leaders launched a revolt against Cuban-backed dictator Nicolas Maduro.” In the Journal’s universe, Maduro is a “dictator” despite heading a country with a legislative branch controlled by the opposition, where in October 2017 the opposition won five governorships, and which has thus far declined to arrest a politician agitating for a military putsch in open collaboration with hostile foreign powers, to the extent of entertaining the possibility of supporting a US invasion and supporting US-led sanctions that are devastating the country’s economy.

. . .

For the Journal, “Venezuela’s democratic leaders” are those who sat out the country’s election, claimed it was unfair and then declined to file an appeal with the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE). One is hard-pressed to imagine a more soundly democratic practice than Guaidó not running for president and then declaring himself president even as 80 percent of Venezuelans had never heard of him at the time. According to historian Tony Wood (London Review of Books, 2/21/19):

More:
https://fair.org/home/distorting-democracy-in-venezuela-coverage/?awt_l=5xHp4&awt_m=hxro_mtLAmOI_TQ

Also posted in Editorials and other articles:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016232153

[Oele]

1. Who are "The Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America" and why should we trust them?

Also, having a "a legislative branch controlled by the opposition" doesn't mean much when that legislative branch has been robbed of its power.

[LessAspin]

2. The Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America

The Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America ?

They represent one more layer of verification than the system that allowed Trump to ascend to the Presidency.