Commentary: Canada's lamentable double standard towards Venezuela [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

June 26, 2017

By Sheldon Birkett
Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

In Ottawa, on May 1, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on the phone with Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, affirming a commitment to encourage dialogue between the government of Venezuela and the opposition, Mesa Unidad Democrática (MUD). Trudeau offered his support for a democratic resolution on the political and economic crisis in Venezuela.

The rumors of an initiative for Trudeau to lead an Organization of American States (OAS) Venezuela mediation effort came from Peru’s foreign minister, Ricardo Luna, after stating that the liberal-minded Trudeau holds a “global power role.”

However, on May 16, 2017, Trudeau met with Lilian Tintori in Ottawa. Tintori is the wife of the leader of the right wing opposition party Voluntad Popular, Leopoldo López, who was imprisoned in 2015 for inciting violence in the “guarimbas.” At the meeting with Tintori, Trudeau committed to restoring dialogue “as enshrined in the OAS’s Inter-American Democratic charter.”

Though the Canadian government continues to push for talks on the Venezuelan crisis through the OAS, a fair and impartial Latin American mediation process ought to exclude the involvement of Canada and United States. Canada and the United States should be excluded because they have been outspoken partisans in this conflict and form part of a bloc of countries lead by a strong supporter of the Venezuelan opposition, who is the secretary general of the OAS, Luis Almagro.

More:
http://www.coha.org/canadas-lamentable-double-standard-towards-venezuela/