U.S. Alone Once Again at Americas summit

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(The Progressive) The Obama administration wants to make Venezuela the new Cuba.

In December, shortly after President Obama announced that he wanted to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba, he ironically declared his intention to impose sanctions on Venezuelan officials. Then, in March, he signed an executive order stating that Venezuela constituted an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

First, the facts. Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, is approximately 1,370 miles from Miami. The Venezuelan government does not possess any long-range missile systems and it has threatened neither the United States nor any other countries in the region.

So, what’s behind the sanctions? The penalties target military, security, and justice officials who the United States claims were involved in cracking down on anti-government demonstrators last February and March. However, these were not peaceful or even pro-democracy protesters. Groups burned building and schools, blocked highways, and even strung wire across roads, leading to several deaths. In the end, forty-three people from both political sides were killed during the agitation. A year later, the Obama administration imposed sanctions.

Interestingly, when faced with the disappearance of forty-three students by government forces in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, the Obama administration has largely remained silent. Obama even welcomed Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to the White House in January, providing political cover to an embattled leader. ................(more)

http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/04/188084/us-alone-once-again-americas-summit