MSJ: Don’t interfere in Venezuela’s business

POLITICAL leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah has described as "unfortunate" the division which exists in Caricom regarding the re-election of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. He said this division was due to pressure from the United States.

Speaking at a media conference yesterday, Abdulah said the party, which had sent a representative to witness Maduro’s inauguration last week, would not support any interference in the affairs of TT's South American neighbour. “We stand for the principle of respect for the sovereignty of each country so therefore each country has the right to determine how they should develop.”

“We also stand for the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of another country so that one country should not seek to interfere in the internal affairs of another country,” Abdulah said.

He said the division in Caricom was due to pressure from the US even though that country was presently gripped with an investigation regarding the 2016 electoral victory of President Trump and supposed interference by Russia.

“It is very unfortunate that there is a division in Caricom on this issue but that is because of US pressure but the US must take the beam out of its own eye with respect to how it deals with other regimes.”

“Some people in the US are making a lot of noise about Russian interference in the US elections in 2016 but the Americans have been interfering in other people's internal affairs...by way of supporting coup attempts, economic destabilisation, military intervention in this hemisphere and elsewhere for more than 100 years. So the Americans have absolutely no moral authority to lecture anybody about respect for sovereignty.

“With the sanctions against Venezuela, they are trying to bring about regime change and they are putting pressure on Caribbean governments and other governments in the region to break ties with Venezuela and that is wrong. Each country has the right to have diplomatic and economic relations with another sovereign state,” he said.

Abdulah also described UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s statement that the Rowley government has adopted an “ostrich-like approach to the gathering storm in neighbouring Venezuela”, as her, “singing from the playbook of the US government.” He said the Caricom region should be a “zone of peace” and not allow itself to be drawn into international conflict.