Jill Stein puts establishment politicians to shame with vocal opposition to US intervention in Venezuela

Jill Stein speaking
John McEvoy


Former US Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has opposed US intervention in Venezuela for years. But since president Donald Trump officially anointed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó ‘interim president’ on 23 January, Stein has pulled no punches in denouncing Washington’s latest imperialist venture. And her vocal opposition has put establishment politicians in Congress to shame.

Proper resistance

Stein’s Twitter feed has been full of crushing criticism of the US-backed coup attempt in Venezuela:

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In particular, she called on people to remember the propaganda blitz leading up to the illegal and disastrous invasion of Iraq:

And she noted the centrality of US oil interests in the region:

Stein also recalled over a century of US intervention in Latin America, its “backyard”, and insisted that democracy is asking (rather than telling) the Venezuelan people what they want:

Finally, Stein highlighted the utter hypocrisy of US ‘concerns’ for human rights and democracy in Venezuela while it arms the murderous dictatorship in Saudi Arabia:

She also pointed out that US democracy isn’t exactly something to write home about:

Two-party war state

Democratic representatives’ silence on US intervention in Venezuela is deafening. Though many claim to be in ‘the resistance’ to Trump’s disastrous presidency, their resistance ends abruptly when it comes to US foreign policy. The two-party war state, it seems, survives another day.

As Stein insisted, members of Congress who don’t speak out are “cowardly puppets of the war machine”:

Stein’s straight-talking anti-war stance is a refreshing break from cross-party silence. For this, Stein will likely face further attacks by a corporate media that overwhelmingly backs US imperialism. So she deserves complete solidarity from the anti-imperialist left.

Featured image via Paul Stein

Get involved

  • Join the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign.
  • Support Witness for Peace in its campaigns for peace and social justice in Latin America. You can also travel on one of its many delegations to the region.
  • See previous Canary articles on Venezuela – and for more Global articles, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
  • Watch The Canary‘s two 2018 interviews with Venezuela experts here and here.

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