Elliott Abrams' bloody lies: Why the duplicity of Trump's Venezuela envoy should terrify us
Written by Jefferson Morley / Independent Media Institute March 7, 2019
Elliott Abrams, President Trump’s special envoy to Venezuela, first became notorious in 1982 after he was named assistant secretary of state for human rights in the Reagan administration. As a junior point man for the Reagan administration’s wars in Central America, Abrams was an aggressive defender of pro-U.S. forces that committed human rights atrocities and fierce critics of those who reported accurately on their war crimes.
With Abrams set to testify this week before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his early days as a U.S. policymaker can serve as a guide to what we can expect from the Trump administration’s policy of “regime change” in Venezuela.
In an exchange that made national news at a House Foreign Affairs Committee last month, Rep. Ilhan Omar confronted Abrams about his conviction for lying to Congress and false statements he made about the infamous El Mozote massacre.
But the exchange only hinted at the scope of Abrams’ mendacious style. While in the Reagan administration, Abrams wove such particular lies into a tapestry of propaganda that prefigured Trumpism in its contempt for facts, gaslighting of critics, evasion of evidence, and tolerance of brutality.
More:
https://www.alternet.org/2019/03/elliott-abrams-bloody-lies-why-the-duplicity-of-trumps-venezuela-envoy-should-terrify-us/?utm_source=push_notifications
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