Joining other prominent members of the socialist wing of the Democrat party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refused to denounce Nicolas Maduro, the brutal Venezuelan dictator.
The New York representative is so beholden to the concept of socialism that she can’t even find the political courage to denounce a man guilty of crimes against humanity.
Last month, President Trump officially recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as president over Maduro, joining several other countries.
“The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law,” Trump declared. “I will continue to use the full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy.”
Ocasio-Cortez Disagrees?
According to a Washington Free Beacon report, Ocasio-Cortez held a press conference at the opening for her new congressional office in Queens, when a reporter inquired about the situation in Venezuela.
“As a democratic socialist, I’m wondering what are your thoughts on the Venezuelan crisis happening right now and if you would denounce the Maduro regime?” the reporter asked.
Not only would she avoid denouncing Maduro, but her response included a denouncement of a member of the Trump administration.
“Yeah, so, I think that, that this is absolutely a complex issue,” Ocasio-Cortez responded, seemingly implying she could grasp complex issues.
“I think it’s important that, uh, that we approach this very carefully,” she said. “One I am, um, myself just like anyone else who is absolutely concerned with the humanitarian crises that’s happening and I think it’s important that any solution that we have centers the Venezuelan people and centers the democracy of Venezuelan people first.”
Then, she pivoted towards an attack on Elliot Abrams, special envoy to Venezuela.
When asked, Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refused to denounce Venezuelan Dictator Nicolás Maduro. pic.twitter.com/CEDpiSRHhn
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 4, 2019
Can’t denounce a dictator. But CAN denounce an administration official. That is, at its core, anti-American.
“I am very concerned about U.S. interventionism in Venezuela, and I oppose it, especially when we talk about a figure like this U.S. Special Envoy Elliott Abrams here,” Ocasio-Cortez railed.
“I think it’s, he’s pled guilty to several crimes related to Iran-contra and I don’t think that we should be, you know I am generally opposed to U.S. interventionism as a principle, but particularly under this administration and under his leadership I think it’s a profound mistake.”
This is a Brutal Dictator
It shouldn’t be particularly difficult to denounce a man like Maduro, who has a history of extreme homophobia and outright murder at the hands of his regime.
In May of last year, Canada imposed new sanctions on Venezuela and a referral to the International Criminal Court in light of Maduro’s crimes against humanity.
The move was in response to the Organization of American States findings that Maduro was “responsible for dozens of murders, thousands of extra-judicial executions, more than 12,000 cases of arbitrary detentions, more than 290 cases of torture, attacks against the judiciary and a ‘state-sanctioned humanitarian crisis’ affecting hundreds of thousands of people.”
More recently, Maduro blocked humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan people, leading vice president Mike Pence to denounce him as a “tyrant” who “danced as his henchmen burned truckloads of food and medicine, and murdered civilians.”
Ocasio-Cortez Joins Omar and Bernie In Support of Maduro
Ocasio-Cortez joins two other prominent socialists in refusing to denounce Maduro.
Rep. Ilhan Omar went so far as to side with Maduro in claiming President Trump was backing a “coup” in Venezuela. She was also willing to put Abrams on blast, asking his opinion on whether the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador “was a fabulous achievement that happened under [the United States’] watch.”
Abrams responded “No,” to which Omar replied, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.'”
2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has refused to call Maduro, who detained an American citizen and continues to block humanitarian aid from reaching the Venezuelan people, a dictator.
@SenSanders can’t call an actual dictator a dictator.https://t.co/jcHJ0CcJUD
— Rusty Weiss ??? (@rustyweiss74) February 26, 2019
They won’t denounce the man, no matter what crimes he’s committed, because they fundamentally agree with his political platform. That’s a sickness that needs to be excised from the Democrat party.
