![\"\"](\"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/MaduroWins.jpg\")
The Communist Party of Canada condemns the statement issued by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland in which she states that \u201cthe elections in Venezuela are illegitimate and anti-democratic\u201d and that \u201cCanada rejects the Venezuelan electoral process \u2013 and its results\u201d and will institute further pressure and interference in Venezuela\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>\n
Freeland\u2019s statements, on behalf of the Canadian government, are in lock-step with those of the Trump administration in the US, just as they were when the US opened its Embassy in Jerusalem while Israeli snipers shot more than 2,000 unarmed people in Gaza, killing 60 including women, children and infants. Venezuela\u2019s ambassador was expelled from Canada months ago, however Israel\u2019s ambassador shamefully remains.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Minister\u2019s outrage is reserved for progressive and popular governments only, and doesn\u2019t extend to the actions of far-right and universally condemned governments like that of Israel\u2019s Benjamin Netanyahu.\u00a0\u00a0 Or governments like Trump\u2019s which threaten to \u201ctotally destroy\u201d the Korean Peninsula, or rip up international agreements like the Iran nuclear deal as the prelude to war on Iran.\u00a0\u00a0 These are war crimes \u2013 somehow missed or over-looked by the Foreign Minister and the Canadian government.<\/p>\n
In Honduras, where there was blatant fraud in last year\u2019s elections, the Trudeau government decided to recognize the results. In fact, the election process in Venezuela is recognized around the world as one of the most transparent and democratic anywhere.\u00a0\u00a0 The election results are also widely recognized as accurate, legitimate, and democratic, though clearly not to the liking of Freeland the Liberal government.<\/p>\n
Not surprising since this government has gone out of its way to interfere in this election to secure the defeat of the Maduro government.\u00a0\u00a0 On May 20th, Canada was the only country in the world that prevented Venezuelans living in Canada from voting at Consulates across Canada. So much for democracy.<\/p>\n
But the Canadian government\u2019s opposition to the Maduro government goes back to the wildly popular Chavez government and the Bolivarian Revolution which promised \u2013 and delivered \u2013 healthcare and education to the people, using Venezuelan oil profits to do it.\u00a0 In the last 7 years, mostly under the Maduro government, 2 million homes have been built for poor Venezuelans. The Canadian government could have thrown its weight behind this noble effort to redress 100 years of impoverishment using the country\u2019s abundant energy resources, but instead the Liberals \u2013 and Harper before them \u2013 sided with Venezuela\u2019s 1% – the filthy rich, and some of the most corrupt political parties and personalities in Latin America.<\/p>\n
Freeland\u2019s denunciation of the May 20 election results could have been written last month or last year; since it is not about the election process, it\u2019s about the election result.\u00a0 It\u2019s a result the Canadian government doesn\u2019t like and is working to overturn, together with the Trump administration in the US, the Lima Group representing the interests of Latin America\u2019s 1%, and the opposition forces inside Venezuela \u2013 also representing the wealthy 1%.\u00a0\u00a0 These actions by Canada constitute gross interference in the internal affairs of another country, and on Venezuela\u2019s sovereignty and independence; something which the Canadian government \u2013 and the Canadian people \u2013 would not tolerate if Canada were on the receiving end.<\/p>\n
Once again Venezuela demonstrates the level of control of the oil and gas monopolies in the US and Canada. These forces are willing to use every tool they can gather for their own interests, advocating that states ignore Indigenous rights and climate change, force pipelines through assessments, destabilize states, and start wars.<\/p>\n
Over 250 international observers from 60 countries including the former President of Spain Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and the former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, have all confirmed that the election was fair and transparent, and are calling on the international community to respect the result. \u00a0\u00a0This is the shared conclusion of the delegation of Canadian observers, which included representatives from the United Church of Canada, UNIFOR, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers\u2019 Federation, Common Frontiers, and Rabble.ca.<\/p>\n
The Communist Party of Canada demands the Canadian government accept the results the election, respect the decision of Venezuelan voters, and end all efforts to overturn these results, or to overthrow the elected government of Venezuela as advocated by the US President and government.<\/p>\n
We call on the Canadian government to immediately rescind all sanctions against Venezuela, and to immediately restore and normalize diplomatic, trade, and international relations between Canada and Venezuela.<\/p>\n
Venezuela has a right to self-determination and sovereignty, including the right to elect progressive and popular governments critical of imperialism, and moving in the direction of socialism.<\/p>\n
Canada has no right to interfere:\u00a0 that is a crime under international law.<\/p>\n
Communist Party of Canada, Central Executive Committee<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Communist Party of Canada condemns the statement issued by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland in which she states that \u201cthe elections in Venezuela are illegitimate and anti-democratic\u201d and that \u201cCanada rejects the Venezuelan electoral process \u2013 and its results\u201d and will institute further pressure and interference in Venezuela\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-solidarity","category-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2815,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812\/revisions\/2815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}