It's bad enough that the U.S. government has supported coup-attempts in
Venezuela and imposed hurtful economic sanctions on the Venezuelan
people. It is now seeking to add to those sanctions. This December marks 200 years since the speech that created the Monroe Doctrine,
when U.S. President James Monroe declared that only the United States
-- not European powers -- would dominate other nations in the Western
hemisphere. Enough is enough. At long last it is time for friendship and
cooperation rather than imperialism from the United States in the
Americas.
The U.S. supported a coup attempt in Venezuela in 2002, and on various more recent occasions. In 2018, U.S. officials plotted coup efforts
with Venezuelan rebels. Since 2019 the U.S. government and obedient
media outlets have pretended that the
U.S.-educated and U.S.-directed Juan Guaidó is president of
Venezuela, despite his never having been elected and never having held
power. In 2019, Guaidó attempted to seize power, and the U.S. Secretary
of State threatened to use military force "if that’s what’s required." As of 2023, Guaidó lives protected from Venezuelan law in the United States.
The Monroe Doctrine is not dead. A March 4, 2019, article in The Washington Post reported on the U.S.
National Security Advisor explaining that the U.S. can overthrow the
government of Venezuela for being (according to him) dictatorial, even while the U.S.
supports dictatorial governments around the world, because Venezuela
falls under the Monroe Doctrine. A November 29, 2022, Fox Business
article cited the Monroe Doctrine as justification for opposing a
government of Venezuela that the U.S. government has long sought to
overthrow.
The U.S. government refers to its ongoing efforts to overthrow the
government of Venezuela as "resolving the Venezuelan crisis" and
supporting "democracy" and "human rights," while opposing
"dictatorship." But this verbiage doesn't make the actions moral or
legal.
Sanctions are immoral.U.S. economic sanctions technically exempt humanitarian items -- but
banks, insurance companies, and other corporations are afraid that if
they make loans, provide insurance for shipments or send goods to the sanctioned nation, the U.S.
government will accuse them of violating the sanctions, levy hefty fines
and place them on a banned business list. As a result of broad
U.S. economic sanctions, the people in countries such as Venezuela, Iran, Syria, North
Korea, Sudan, and Zimbabwe struggle without adequate food, electricity,
medicine, medical supplies, masks and respirators. Those who suffer most
under sanctions include pregnant women, children, and the chronically ill, as
has been reflected in a report on Venezuela by the Special Rapporteur for
Unilateral Coercive Measures of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Sanctions are illegal. Sanctions authorized by the
United Nations and not punishing a whole population may be legal.
Sanctions imposed by a single government or group of governments, or
engaging in collective punishment, or coercing other governments to
participate in a form of blockade are not legal. Such sanctions violate
national sovereignty and bans on collective punishment in the Geneva
Conventions as well as the UN Charter, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, and in some cases the Genocide Convention.
Sanctions are ineffective on their own terms. Professor
David Cortright writes: “Policy makers seem to have forgotten the
reasons for shifting to targeted sanctions. The purpose is not only to
avoid unintended humanitarian consequences but to minimize the risk of a
rally-round-the-flag effect. When sanctions harm the innocent they lose
legitimacy and political support. Governments under blanket sanctions
can blame their country’s economic and social miseries on external
enemies, diverting attention from their own mismanagement. They can
isolate domestic opponents by accusing them of helping foreign enemies. .
. . The sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council are more selective
and targeted. They freeze the assets and ban the travel of
approximately 100 Iranian officials and entities responsible for the
country’s nuclear program. They do not hurt ordinary people. . . .
Sanctions that target potential bomb makers are smart. Those that harm
innocent civilians are counterproductive and should be abandoned.”
H.R.4086 / S.1931 - AFFECT Human Rights in Venezuela Act.
This bill is designed to seek negative information on the Venezuelan
government. That information might be true or not, but it is notably not
sought on the much-worse governments of loyal U.S. weapons customers,
and it is not used to promote self-governance -- rather, foreign
governance.
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