How long will it take the NDP or other leadership candidates to criticize the US war on Venezuela? Pursued under same pretext that Trump initially targeted Canada, criticizing the Donald’s war ought to be easy if the party weren’t so steeped in imperialism.
Donald Trump has recently bombed Venezuelan vessels. He’s also sent B-1 bombers and an aircraft carrier to intimidate that country. The fascistic US president has also empowered the CIA to conduct sabotage operations to overthrow Venezuela’s government.
Concurrently, Trump has threatened to annex Canada and instigated a slew of measures designed to weaken this country’s economy. When Trump initially began targeting Canada he made similarly absurd claims about fentanyl. His claim to be targeting Venezuela over drugs is equally disingenuous.
From a mildly anti-imperialist, Canadian nationalist perspective criticizing Trump’s attacks on Venezuela should be easy. But nearly two months after the US blew up the first ship off the Venezuelan coast it’s crickets from the NDP. I didn’t find a single comment from the party or another leadership candidate about Venezuela even though the Canadian military has likely assisted the US strikes and foreign affairs minister Anita Anand recently posted celebrating Venezuelan coup monger Maria Corina Machado.
Six weeks ago my campaign to lead the NDP released an action alert calling on people to email foreign minister Anita Anand to demand she oppose the US attack against Venezuela. The US attacks on the South American country have also been a top story on CBC’s The National and on the front page of US papers. Still, nothing.
Between 2017 and 2020 the Liberal government pursued an unprecedented campaign to oust Venezuela’s government. While the NDP was somewhat divided, party foreign affairs critic Hélène Laverdière endorsed Juan Guaido’s January 2019 self-declaration as president.
More generally, the NDP has supported imperialism, as I was reminded seeing a recent interview on “How Canada Helped Destroy Libya” about Owen Schalk’s just released Targeting Libya: How Canada Went from Building Public Works to Bombing an Oil-Rich Country and Creating Chaos for Its Citizens. One hundred NDP MPs voted for two resolutions in support of a highly destructive war overseen by a Canadian general. That’s part of Jack Layton’s much lauded legacy.
During the 2021 federal election the NDP explicitly endorsed Canadian participation in the racist Core Group, which has heavily shaped Haitian affairs since US, French and Canadian troops overthrew the country’s elected government in 2004 and instigated a UN occupation force.
In Left, Right: Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada I detail CCF/NDP support for the Korean War, bombing of Serbia, dispossession of Palestinians and NATO.
The unhinged reaction to my leadership campaign from a swath of the ‘socialist’ NDP milieu highlights the Canadian left’s chauvinism. On the Breach, Martin Lukacs and Desmond Cole recently spent 10 minutes maliciously attacking me, completely ignoring my campaign’s platform (which mentions the racist Core Group, Venezuela and imperialism).
From an even more overtly imperialist perspective, Rachel Gilmore has repeatedly attacked me for challenging Canada’s role in Africa and for not prioritizing Jewish sensitivities amidst a live streamed holocaust. After raising “concerns about antisemitism”, she posted, “He’s downplayed the Rwandan genocide. Some of his positions on Russia/Ukraine and on China’s abuse of the Uyghurs suggest it wouldn’t be unfair to worry about a campist bent to his politics.”
Is this really what the self-proclaimed “left” NDP should be doing? Even in parliamentary terms the opposition’s role is to disagree with government, not support it, no matter how anti-human and how opposed to international law the policy is. The exception for self-proclaimed “progressives” is foreign policy.
To have any credibility at all the NDP must denounce Trump’s war on Venezuela.
To assist, donate or learn more about my bid to lead the NDP check out yvesforndpleader.ca
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