Washington – The election for a new constitutional super-body being held in Venezuela under President Nicolas Maduro is a “step toward dictatorship” and the United States will not accept an illegitimate government in Caracas, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Sunday.
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Haley offered Washington’s first official response to Sunday’s ballot as deadly protests rocked Venezuela where voters broadly boycotted the election, which Maduro has vowed would begin a “new era of combat” in the crisis-stricken oil-producing nation.
“Maduro’s sham election is another step toward dictatorship,” Haley said in a message on Twitter. “We won’t accept an illegit govt. The Venezuelan ppl & democracy will prevail.”
Venezuela has been in a tough position for about twenty years now. In 1998, they elected a leader that the US didn’t like, and ever since, the CIA has been surprisingly open about acting to overthrow the regime. The US interest is that Venezuela is sitting on a huge reserve of very “sweet” (easy to refine) petroleum that the USA just loves to consume. And, Venezuela is nearby, so its a short and secure journey to the USA. Venezuela also used to have a large distribution network in the USA, under the brand name CitGo. In 2016, the Russians bought 49.9% of the parent company. The reason the US didn’t like the regime 20 years ago was that it was trending socialist, and was legislating welfare for the poor. Ever since, it’s been what Israelis colloquially call “Deer Balak”. Following this story in detail over the last 20 years has been a real event-fiiled drama tragedy.