It is a war crime for the U.S. to stage a coup in Venezuela. We have been sending in operatives for decades to foment unrest while imposing crippling sanctions. John Bolton has threatened to send 5,000 troops to Colombia and suggested that U.S. oil companies take over their oil.
This is imperialism, plain and simple. Venezuela is no threat to the U.S. or its neighbors. They have their troubles, yes, but so do we.
The U.S. should end its sanctions against Venezuela. Their express purpose is to create suffering – think of Guatemala, Iraq, Chile, Iran, Afghanistan or Vietnam – making a bloody mess of poor people.
Sadly, war typically unifies Americans. After the Trump shutdown and strings of scandals, the world’s largest arms dealer wants to stir up a war. Good for the economy, right?
Meanwhile, we have the world’s highest per capita prison population, we arrest as many people of color as possible, pay them $4 a day to work in prison, then prevent them from voting. We scrub voter rolls of people of color. Who are we to judge Venezuela’s electoral process? Let’s quarantine the U.S. military.
Jim Merkel
Belfast
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