Members of the Middle Tennessee Democratic Socialists of America refused to say Thursday whether they support America’s policy to back new Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó.
As several news agencies reported this week, U.S. Republican President Donald Trump and other world leaders recognized Guaidó as the new president over President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro is a socialist and the anointed successor of the late Hugo Chávez.
No one at the TNDSA returned The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment Thursday.
As several news agencies have already reported, people in socialist Venezuela are starving. A mass exodus of people from that country has sparked the largest migrant crisis in that region’s modern history.
According to Thursday’s Daily Caller, Democratic New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has thus far not supported Trump’s decision to recognize Maduro.
“Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist, has not previously commented publicly on human rights offenses by the socialist regime in Venezuela,” according to The Daily Caller.
As The Daily Caller went on to say, “thousands have taken to the streets in Venezuela to call for an end to the Maduro regime and a restoration of freedom in their country.”
Ocasio-Cortez said Venezuela’s human rights situation and Trump’s decision to recognize Maduro’s opposition was ‘concerning.’”
“Our office is monitoring it closely. I think that, you know, the humanitarian crisis is extremely concerning but, you know, when we use non-Democratic means to determine leadership, that’s also concerning, as well,” Ocasio-Cortez reportedly told The Daily Caller.
“So, we’re figuring out our response and making sure that we center the people of Venezuela first and foremost.”
Maduro rose to power while jailing and torturing his political opponents and banning protests, according to The Daily Caller.
“Ocasio-Cortez’s middle-of-the-road position has sparked ire from the national Democratic Socialists of America, who have called on her to stand against ‘American imperialism’ and the ‘coup’ in Venezuela,” The Daily Caller reported.
The Middle Tennessee Democratic Socialists of America, according to their website, believe “modern capitalism is a holistic system which inherently creates inequalities, dismantles & destroys communities, isolates individuals & precludes the fulfillment of dreams for millions.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Nicolas Maduro” by Presidencia El Salvado. CCO 1.0.
