April 15, 2018

When the Wall Street Journal starts shedding crocodile tears over the plight of the Venezuelan people, it’s time to watch out for the next war.

The WSJ ran an article April 6 detailing the plight of Venezuelans who can’t get appropriate medical care. Something must be done, cries the Journal, to rescue these poor people!

But when the voice of big money says, “Something must be done!” to the White House and the Pentagon, that something often involves economic blockade, regime change, destruction of infrastructure and mass murder.

The article ominously appeared just a week before Donald Trump is set to attend the Organization of American States Summit in Peru on April 13. OAS organizers have been trying to exclude Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Their goal is to mobilize the Latin American states against Venezuela.

What’s revealing about this media alarm for a “humanitarian crisis” is that the WSJ’s usual approach is to put profits above people, even in words.

Wall Street doesn’t cry about the Yemenis killed by Saudi Arabia — with U.S. military help. It doesn’t sob about the million-plus Iraqis killed and many more displaced by the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation. It doesn’t report the plight of Hondurans suffering from the militarist regime foisted on them in 2009 with U.S. support.

It is reasonable to doubt that suddenly the WSJ is putting people first. Is Wall Street really worrying about the lack of health care in Venezuela — while it promotes dismantling health care for the poor in the U.S.? Is Wall Street worrying about nutrition in Caracas when its government dismantles the food-stamp program here?

We say “B.S.”

We offer a simple suggestion to solve the alleged humanitarian crisis in Venezuela: U.S. hands off the Bolivarian Revolution!

End all sanctions on Venezuela. End the blockade of the country’s trade. Restore Venezuela’s access to international banks. Stop mobilizing reactionary regimes in Colombia, Argentina and Brazil against Venezuela. Stop conspiring with right-wing oligarchs and pro-fascist gangs. Stop trying to provoke a military coup, like the one that kidnapped then President Hugo Chávez 16 years ago on April 11 — until the Venezuelan people forced his release.

Those are actions that would go a long way toward improving the everyday life of all working-class Venezuelans.