Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party have been attacked by the Conservatives and others for their silence regarding the regime of Nicolas Maduro, where crack-downs, arrests and torture seem to be the name of the game as Maduro tries to silence opposition.
Protesters have been met with riot police and deadly force as they have taken to the streets to demonstrate against Maduro's autocratic rule. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has accused Maduro of acting like an evil dictator in his actions.
When Corbyn was a backbencher he met with Maduro's predecessor Chavez welcoming the ultra-left government.
Corbyn said Chavez and his revolution for the ordinary folk of Venezuela offered hope against the austerity of Europe.
Now Corbyn is labour leader there seems to be a stony silence from him in condemning Maduro who succeeded Chavez. The Labour party has said all criticism of Corbyn is politically motivated and he will make a statement speaking out against the actions of Maduro at a time of his choosing.
Saddam lookalike Maduro
Many observers have noticed an eery similarity in looks between Nicolas Maduro and the late Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Saddam ruled his people with an iron fist taking power in 1979 before being overthrown in 2003. In that time Saddam became public enemy number one to the West as he invaded Kuwait which led to a deadly war.
Saddam survived the US and coalition onslaught to liberate Kuwait and held out in defiance of the US and UN sanctions. Using weapons of mass destruction as a possible excuse Blair and Bush invaded Iraq quickly winning the war before marching on Baghdad.
Saddam took to the countryside to hide where a growing resistance to Allied rule of Iraq was growing.
Saddam was found in a hole in the ground before being put on trial for crimes against humanity by the Iraqis themselves. He was subsequently hung and buried in his home town but that did not stop the Iraqi resistance to Allied occupation.
Iraq gained home rule but the insurgency against western forces and the US backed Baghdad government continues to this day with the likes of Islamic State.
As the US bears down hard on Venezuela with sanctions it cannot have gone unnoticed in Washington that Maduro resembles the ex Iraqi leader. Whether Maduro will last long enough to ape his Middle Eastern lookalike will remain an unknown.
US meddling in Latin America
The Labour party is correct in its assertion that the US has meddled in South America, Central America and the Carribean. Particularly if those leaders happen to have been far left leaders like Fidel Castro who defied the US for decades.
When Cuban forces allegedly landed on Grenada in the 80's to overthrow a democratically elected government the US under Ronald Reagan went in. Likewise in Chile, the CIA was behind the overthrowing of a left wing government putting in place a right wing one instead under Pinochet.
The US in many ways has worked hard to ensure regime change to governments it did not like particularly if they had a left wing agenda.
The same seems to be happening with the government of Nicolas Maduro who like Saddam and Castro before him is being defiant to the Trump administration.
