US Media Offers Stage to Venezuelan Opposition Figure While Ignoring Imperial Hand
📰 THE STORY: CBS News's 'Face the Nation' hosted María Corina Machado, a leading opposition figure in Venezuela, portraying her as a beacon of democracy battling an authoritarian regime, with the implied need for international (read: US) intervention. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This isn't Machado's first rodeo as a US-backed opposition figure. In 2002, the US-backed coup
attempt against then-President Hugo Chávez failed thanks to popular mobilization. Machado herself was linked to organizations receiving US funding, including through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which has a long history of interfering in the internal politics of sovereign nations. Chávez won election in 1998 with 56% of the vote and was re-elected multiple times before his death in
2013, always under international observation. Double Standard: Imagine CBS News giving a prime-time slot to a figure openly calling for the overthrow of a US-allied government, or one deeply critical of the US role in, say, the 2019 coup in Bolivia or the decades of US support for dictatorships in Latin America. The coverage is always framed as 'pro-democracy' when it aligns with Washington's
interests, and 'authoritarian' when it doesn't. When actual protests for self-determination erupt in places like Chile (2019) or Colombia, they are often framed as internal 'unrest' or 'terrorism' to be suppressed, rather than legitimate popular movements. Follow the Money: Machado's political activities have been consistently supported by US government-funded organizations. For example, the US