US Officials Condemn Venezuela's 'Kidnapping,' Back Coup Attempts
Venezuelan officials are calling the attempted capture of President Nicolás Maduro a 'kidnapping,' a term the US media finds alarming. Funny, isn't it? Because when the US offers a $15 million bounty on a sitting head of state, as the Trump administration did for Maduro (CBS News, March 26, 2020), it's not a 'kidnapping,' it's 'justice.' This diplomatic wordplay conveniently skirts over decades of
US-backed coups and interventions in Latin America, from Chile's Salvador Allende to Panama's Manuel Noriega, who was literally abducted by US forces. This isn't about 'condemnation'; it's about control. The US, with its extensive history of financing opposition groups and sanctioning nations that defy its influence (OpenSecrets.org data consistently shows millions in lobbying for 'democracy
promotion' in countries like Venezuela), is simply upset its latest regime change project has run into a snag. One might wonder if the outcry would be as loud if the target weren't sitting on the world's largest proven oil reserves. How's that for 'defense of democracy'?