The Trudeau minority government has failed to condemn a coup d'état against a democratically elected progressive leader in Latin America, even as the newly installed regime massacred people in the streets, hunted elected socialist leaders, and expelled accused subversives from the country.
I’m writing, of course, about the Sept. 11, 1973, overthrow of the Allende government in Chile. Despite protests, and repeated NDP motions in Parliament, in the days following the coup, Pierre Trudeau’s government quickly recognized the military junta that became one of the most notorious and murderous dictatorships of the 20th century. (Only after sustained protest did the Liberal government of the day reverse its position of excluding most Chilean refugees, a change in policy that saw thousands fleeing the coup eventually settle here.)
History now repeats itself, and the tragi-farce of Liberal claims to progressive internationalism is exposed again.
Last week’s coup d'état in Bolivia, which forced President Evo Morales into exile in Mexico, saw the installation of self-declared “interim” president Jeanine Áñez, a Christian extremist who has contempt for the country’s secular constitution and is overtly racist towards Bolivia’s Indigenous peoples. Áñez, to take just one example, has referred to the New Year’s celebrations of the Indigenous Aymara nation as “satanic.” She represents a political party whose presidential candidate finished fourth, with less than five per cent of the vote, in the recent elections. Morales’ party has a majority of the representatives in both elected chambers of Bolivia’s legislature.
Despite acknowledging Áñez’s history of anti-Indigenous statements, the Canadian government announced they would support Bolivia’s “interim” regime — on the pretext of helping Áñez in her caretaker role as new elections are organized. (more...)
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| Move over Fidel. Klaus Barbie is claiming paternity from the grave. |
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