Why the Media Silence About Trudeauâs Worst Foreign Policy Failure
By Yves Engler – Dec 23, 2021
Imagine if NicolĂĄs Maduroâs vice president quit and called for his government to be disbanded. Or if Venezuelaâs opposition won a landslide in regional elections or if 90% of member states voted against the governmentâs UN credentials. The Canadian media would have splashed this news on front pages, but the shoe was on âour guyâsâ foot so theyâve been silent.
The dominant media has all but ignored the collapse of Canadaâs unprecedented bid to create an international coalition to support a parallel Venezuelan government. Itâs quite a turnaround from when the media published puff piecesabout Ottawaâs central role in Juan GuaidĂłâs rise and CTV Newsâ Don Martin askedforeign minister Chrystia Freeland whether Maduro was âany step closer to being kicked out of office as a result of this meeting today?â
A search of major Canadian media found almost no mention of the following developments over the past month:
â˘Â Two weeks ago Julio Borges resigned as GuaidĂłâs âforeign ministerâ and called for his parallel government to âdisappear completelyâ. That Borges abandoned a sinking ship is embarrassing for the Trudeau government because heâs been close to Canadian officials. Borges met foreign minister Chrystia Freeland on multiple occasions and Canadian officials facilitated a meeting for him with Caribbean community officials. Borges is listed in several press releases on Global Affairs website. In one of them the Canadian-sponsored Lima Group ârecognizes the work that Julio Borges has been doing to restore democracy in Venezuelaâ and said his appointment as GuaidĂłâs âforeign ministerâ âwill result in an increase in international support for the end of the usurpation of the presidency and the beginning of a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela.â Borges is one of three individuals cited in the Canadian Press article âQuiet Canadian diplomacy helped GuaidĂłâs anti-Maduro movement in Venezuelaâ. The January 2019 story details Ottawaâs role in rallying international forces and the Venezuelan opposition behind GuaidĂłâs move to declare himself president in a Caracas park.
â˘Â On December 6 the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognize the credentials of the Maduro government as the legitimate representative of Venezuela. While the US and Canada were previously able to marshal nearly 60 UN member states against Maduro, only 16 of 193 countries voted against Caracas this time.
â˘Â Another story that warranted coverage was the November 21 regional and municipal elections. Maduroâs PSUV party won at least 212 of 335 mayoralties and 19 of 23 governorships. The oppositionâs inability to unite behind joint candidates contributed to their poor showing. So did some opposition figures support forGuaidĂł and devastating international sanctions against their country. Canada adopted four rounds of sanctions against Venezuela and is a leading promoter of GuaidĂł.
Borgesâ resignation is a special blow to Ottawaâs policy and definitely worthy of coverage by any sort of truly independent media. Instead, our corporate-owned newspapers, TV and radio either cheerlead for this countryâs foreign policy or criticize it from the right.
The media has largely gone silent on Venezuela since it became clear Canadaâs campaign to oust the government was a failure. This includes ignoring the withdrawal of Lima from the Lima Group of countries seeking to overthrow Venezuelaâs government. In August a new Peruvian governmentâs foreign minister said, âthe Lima Group must be the most disastrous thing we have done in international politics in the history of PerĂş.â
In fact, the Lima Group has lost other members and is now dormant. Where are the columnists analyzing this demise as yet another blow to Trudeauâs foreign policy? Ottawa founded Lima Group with Peru in 2017 as a structure outside of the Organization of American States largely because that organizationâs members refused to back Washington and Ottawaâs bid to interfere in Venezuelan affairs, which they believed defied the OASâ charter. The media previously reported glowingly about these Trudeau government policies.
But now that the American bull and the Canadian steer have ravaged the South American china shop yet again, thereâs no mention of the destruction caused in Venezuela and elsewhere by the blatant interference in other countriesâ internal affairs. Or even of the failure of a major Trudeau/Freeland foreign policy plank.
Itâs time the media pressed the Liberals to drop their Juan GuaidĂł charade.
Featured image: Juan Guaidó and Justin Trudeau. TWITTER/@JUSTINTRUDEAU
Yves Engler
Yves Engler is Montreal-based writer and political activist. In addition to ten published books, Engler's writings have appeared in the alternative press and in mainstream publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Ecologist.
