Skip to content
February 8, 2023
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

From Venezuela and made by Venezuelan Chavistas

Primary Menu
  • News
  • Opinion
  • About us
    • About us
    • Who we are – Becoming a Volunteer
    • Editorial guidelines for contributors
    • Our Sources
      • Venezuelan Sources
      • International Sources
    • Contact us
  • Categories
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Security and Defense
    • International
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Europe
      • Oceania
      • US/Canada
    • Latin America and ALBA-TCP
      • South America
      • Central America and the Caribbean (+Mexico)
    • Ideology-Commune-Labor
    • Health-Education-Sport-Culture-Technology
    • Solidarity and Social Movements
    • OT Specials
  • Support Us
Light/Dark Button
YouTube Channel
  • Home
  • News
  • ‘Summit for Democracy’ – the Irony of an Empire in a Glass House
  • International
  • News
  • US/Canada

‘Summit for Democracy’ – the Irony of an Empire in a Glass House

December 15, 2021

The following is a translation of the daily report of the Samuel Robinson Institute for December 13, 2021.

On December 9 and 10, US President Joe Biden chaired a meeting through videoconference, “The Summit for Democracy,” the purpose of which was to “champion” the protection of voting rights and freedom of expression around the world.

The summit took place as the British High Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration’s plea to extradite Julian Assange to the US, to face fabricated espionage charges that could result in a life term and even possible death sentence for Assange.

The US is persecuting Assange for his publishing of the leaks that have revealed the empire’s massive war crimes, crimes against humanity, illegal global espionage, and rampant corruption.

Assange’s plight demonstrates that freedom of expression and independent journalism are being mercilessly attacked by the US.

RELATED CONTENT: US Shouldn’t Be Invited to Summit for Democracy, Let Alone Be its Host

The guests at the summit

 •  Even the US-financed NGO Freedom House classified some of the summit attendees as less democratic than some of those who had been excluded.
•  The territory of Taiwan was invited to the summit while China was excluded. Even in US law, the One China policy considers that Beijing has sovereignty over Taiwan. So the invitation to Taipei instead of Shanghai was an astonishing provocation against China.
•  Ukraine was invited, while Russia was excluded. Since the US-backed coup against an elected government in Kiev in 2014, Ukraine has become synonymous with corruption and murder of journalists.
•  The anti-Chavista operator that the White House recognizes as Venezuela’s “interim president,” Juan Guaidó, was invited. His delegation included Nicaraguan regime-change activist Berta Valle, wife of Félix Maradiaga, another US-financed operator, now detained in Nicaragua; and Cuban instigator Rosa María Payá, daughter of anti-Castro dissident and leader of an ultra-religious movement—now deceased—Oswaldo Payá.

Democracy in the US
A Princeton University study titled “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens” revealed that the political preferences of mass interest groups and average citizens in the US have almost no influence on the policies adopted by the government; on the contrary, when deciding on policies, the interests of economic elites and organized groups are highly correlated with the probability that a certain policy will be adopted.

Congressional disapproval in the US has peaked at 86%, which is 104 times of that in 2011, and public perception of electoral integrity is also low, according to a Harvard University study, taking into consideration the elections that took place between 2012 and 2018. The US ranks 57th out of 165 countries in this respect.

RELATED CONTENT: Russia may Find it Necessary Take Action to Secure its Borders with Ukraine, According to Dan Kovalik (Interview)

The “structural problems that undermine American democracy” include electoral laws and manipulations that favor incumbents (which may explain the consistently low approval ratings), a lack of transparency in campaign finance, and “communities of color experiencing obstacles to register and vote.”

Why it matters
One who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones, goes a popular saying. The US public would certainly be better off if their government focused on cleaning up the mess that they have at home.

The US is trying to make its conception of “democracy” the epicenter of its global alliance against China and Russia, thereby reestablishing an ideological division as part of its new Cold War. This is a way of diverting attention from the economic and strategic motivations behind its global rivalry and also its defeat.

In Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Honduras, the US has intervened over the past decades with anti-democratic tactics, for anti-democratic purposes, all in the name of democracy.

 

 

Featured image: US President Joe Biden presiding over the virtual Summit for Democracy. Photo: Susan Walsh / AP 

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/GMS/SC

Want More?

Don't want to be a victim of the Algorithm?

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER WITH ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VENEZUELA

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Misión Verdad
Website | + posts

Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution

  • Misión Verdad
    #molongui-disabled-link
    Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. File photo.
    January 27, 2023
    Pompeo's Confessions About Trump's Strategy Against Venezuela
  • Misión Verdad
    #molongui-disabled-link
    CITGO logo on a gas station in the US. Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
    January 19, 2023
    Possible Scenarios for CITGO: OFAC 5J License
  • Misión Verdad
    #molongui-disabled-link
    Members of the opposition Unitary Platform meeting with James Story and his team. Photo: @WHAAsstSecty/Twitter.
    January 18, 2023
    The US Agenda for the Gradual Destruction of Dialogue in Venezuela
  • Misión Verdad
    #molongui-disabled-link
    President Nicolás Maduro delivers a report on Venezuela's economy. Photo: Presidential Press.
    January 18, 2023
    President Maduro Presents Venezuela's Economic Outlook Report for 2023
Tags: democracy Imperialism Joe Biden Julian Assange new cold war Summit for Democracy US Hypocrisy US Interventionism

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Continue Reading

Previous Previous post:

Maduro Urges ALBA-TCP to Focus Its Efforts on a Common Economic Agenda

Next Next post:

They’re Killing Him: Assange’s Stroke Reveals the Western Version of the Saudi Bone Saw

Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter

We keep your data private and share your data only with third parties that make this service possible. Read our Privacy Policy.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

NEWS: Most Viewed 72 Hours

Calendar

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

Categories

OPINION: Most Viewed 72 hours

We are on Telegram


Receive our news directly in your cellphone or PC, join us on our TELEGRAM channel: https://t.me/OrinocoTribune1

 

Download TELEGRAM, click the link above and then press the JOIN button.

We are on Discord


Now we are also on Discord you will be able to follow our every move and interact with our team.

Join us by clicking here



All our work is free to use and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

We are on Reddit

If you are more into REDDIT, join our Orinoco Tribune Community.

 

Just click below and then click JOIN
https://www.reddit.com/r/OrinocoTribune/

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Discord
Copyleft, No rights reserved.