Jeremy Corbyn is coming under pressure yet again to single out Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro for condemnation. In the past, Mr. Corbyn has condemned violence by all sides in the ongoing crisis in the country.
One conservative MP is outraged that the Labour leader has failed to attack the actions of the Maduro regime. 300 people have been killed in rioting and 500 imprisoned on alleged dubious charges. The reason Mr. Corbyn is facing renewed calls for him to condemn Maduro is that the EU awarded the opposition its top human rights prize. Named after Soviet scientist and dissident Sakharov the prize was awarded to political groups opposed to the regime.
600 prisoners political prisoners now languish in Venezuelan prisons and the prize was also awarded to them. Along with the award comes £45,000 which presumably the opposition will use to stage more protests and resistance.
There is no doubting that Nicolas Maduro's government at present seems to be ruling along dictatorial lines. Also, many of the political groupings staging resistance to the regime are correct to do so and are genuine. However, it has been noted that some of the people staging resistance are not exactly angels themselves.
EU calls on governments to condemn Maduro
With the awarding of the Sakharov prize, the European Union has called on world governments to condemn the actions of Nicolas Maduro.
The EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani has labelled Maduro a dictator who has robbed his own people.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein MEPs have called for a boycott of awarding the human rights prize to the Venezuelan opposition. The reason being is that some of the opposition do apparently have dubious records themselves as mentioned in this article.
This would confirm Jeremy Corbyn's assertion that all sides in the ongoing crisis should be condemned.
Corbyn's politics
Jeremy Corbyn is well known for being a left-winger and supporting leftist governments, hence his support for Maduro. Mr. Corbyn has the right to support Satan himself, however, and just because you support someone politically should not make you blind if they do something wrong.
If a government acts like a dictatorship it probably means it is a dictatorship and if that regime is oppressing its people then even supporters of that regime should speak out. Being a good friend to someone also means you should highlight their failings and certainly, Jeremy Corbyn should be no different with Nicolas Maduro.
Nicolas Maduro is rather like Saddam Hussein or Joseph Stalin. Both of them succeeded leaders who had led a revolution. Both turned out to be monsters killing thousands of their own people and imprisoning those who resisted them.
How things will play out historically for the regime in Venezuela remains to be seen.
