MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Venezuela suspended indefinitely: “Without democracy, you can't be part of Mercosur”
Mercosur foreign ministers meeting on Saturday in Brazil suspended Venezuela indefinitely for failing to uphold democratic norms amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent in the country. The bloc previously suspended Venezuela in December for failing to uphold commitments it made when it joined the group in 2012. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules“The suspension will have little practical effect....”
Aug 06th, 2017 - 03:07 am - Link - Report abuse +2But when the toy countries offer up the appearance of no-risk courage and oratorical decisiveness, it's such good and comforting theatre.
The moral high ground: it has worked so well on North Korea, too.
Ah democracy...
Aug 06th, 2017 - 10:22 am - Link - Report abuse -1The Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) has reaffirmed its opposition to the United Kingdom in relation to the control of the disputed Falkland Island. 10.11.2014 (BA Herald).
Falklands – 1833 Usurpations & UN Resolutions:
https://www.academia.edu/21721198/Falklands_1833_Usurpation_and_UN_Resolutions
Yes, democracy.
We see that the US is still buying shiploads of Venezuelan crude. A quite large percentage of US refinery feedstock comes from VZ and it's keeping US consumer prices moderate. The Trump government doesn't want to upset that balance. The US teacher unions rely on profits from petroleum company stocks to feed their retirements. The Chinese would be quite happy for US buyers to be forced to boycott VZ crude. They have already been negotiating with the Maduro government on the possibility of buying more VZ oil. And the Chinese have been upgrading their capacity for effective refining of the heavy, sludgy VZ crude. Meanwhile, Venezuela burns.
Aug 06th, 2017 - 05:14 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Honestly Brit Bob I feel like you could turn an article about steak into something about the Falklands
Aug 06th, 2017 - 08:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Venezuela was shoved into Mercosur through the backdoor by CFK as repayment for Chavez illegally funding both Kirchner campaigns and buying up a huge part of Argentina's debt. Venezuela never really was a legitimate member.
Aug 07th, 2017 - 09:26 am - Link - Report abuse +3Brit Bob.
Aug 07th, 2017 - 09:27 am - Link - Report abuse +4You are beginning to sound a bit like Kipper/Hepatia.
I think we have got the message you are trying to convey.
So what does the omniscient Marti Llazo suggest Argentina, Brazil, United States, EU do about the situation in Venezuela?
Aug 08th, 2017 - 12:55 am - Link - Report abuse -3It is so easy to shove acrid, sarcasm filled critiques at anyone and anything from an imagined stage, but how about proposals and solutions? I guess that would mean actual calorie expending processes being activated.
TTT
Aug 08th, 2017 - 08:35 am - Link - Report abuse +1What do you think is the solution in Venezuela ?
Does Maduro not realise how delusional he sounds when he says things like: “Nobody will kick us out of Mercosur, even if they take illegal measures as they have done”? So what if it's illegal (and it's not)? If the other members agree you are out, then you are out. He can't force them to trade with Venezuela.
Aug 08th, 2017 - 03:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Clyde15, seconded. And to all those people who think it's funny to respond to Kipatia, or post random '25 years...' comments: it was funny, the first few times. It's not funny the 20th or 100th time.
@Trollboy
The answer should be obvious to you as you behave the same way yourself. Marti is no more interested in proposing solutions to Venezuela's problems than you are in proposing solutions to Britain's.
As long as most of the military in VZ are content to support Maduro - in exchange for privileged status - the possibility of reinstating democracy in VZ is non-existent. Kicking VZ out of Mercosul will have no practical effect whatsoever...other, stronger, more effective action to bring VZ to its knees might intimidate Maduro, or even make the military turn on him - in order to try to save their own butts - but not without hurting the population even further...knowing Maduro, and that total power is his goal, and that the people are just pawns in his game, when does this end ? presuming of course, that the solution has to come from within....
Aug 08th, 2017 - 05:49 pm - Link - Report abuse +1If leaders the likes of Margaret Thatcher or Norman Schwarzkopf were still with us, I am quite certain that they could assemble a coalition and execute a plan to remove Maduro.
Aug 08th, 2017 - 06:03 pm - Link - Report abuse +1In the meantime, the timid democracies, bereft of courage and leadership, bite their nails and watch as China and Russia compete for their next major satellite sponsorship, as VZ turns into Cuba v2.0
I already have announced that I will unilaterally lay off the British. There have been plenty of topics about how bad Britain is doing against the EU in the talks but I have refrained from trolling.
Aug 08th, 2017 - 11:21 pm - Link - Report abuse +1As for what I think of Venezuela, I think it is obvious that when you put all your eggs in one basket, eventually the basket will break and then you have no plan B. So the eggs have nowhere to go but down to meet their shattering end. That is the reality.
Marti, you've just nailed it. Venezuela already is Cuba 2.0.(and it has been for at least 3 yrs) It is a clear example of a country that has voted for a little taste of the left in the past, without ever thinking in advance on how bad things would end up.
Aug 09th, 2017 - 03:26 pm - Link - Report abuse +1@Trollboy
Aug 09th, 2017 - 05:37 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Oh, is that why you haven't been posting much? But you don't have any solutions either.
As Jack said, kicking them out of Mercosur or condemnations from other governments will have no effect, but stronger measures will cause the people to suffer even more. It's difficult to find a solution, and hard to justify intervening when the problem is a solely internal one, even if the US public were in the mood to play world police. I don't think it's any of the UK's business in any case.
The US never managed to get Castro out of Cuba either, I'm sure they have no desire to embarrass themselves with a Bay of Pigs 2.0.
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