When Washington decides Democracy is dangerous: stoking opposition in Venezuela and Syria

by Ramiro S. Fúnez

Part 2 - Syrian & Venezuelan opposition both blindly unquestioned by Western media

Not a day goes by when corporate news outlets don’t echo the indictments of Venezuelan and Syrian opposition members who claim their governments are “authoritarian regimes.”

Not only do these publications intentionally ignore the fact that the Venezuelan and Syrian governments were legitimately chosen to lead their nations in internationally recognized elections; they also unquestionably uphold the political positions of the opposition groups as the general sentiment of the entire country, failing to mention that a majority of citizens oppose their violence.

In Venezuela, for example, Maduro fairly defeated opposition leader Henrique Capriles during the 2013 presidential election, which U.S. election observer Daniel Kovalik described as “transparent, inherently reliable, well-run and thoroughly audited.” Almost 80 percent of the country’s population participated. Moreover, a May 2017 survey, conducted by Monitor Pais and published by polling firm Hinterlaces, revealed that almost two-thirds of Venezuelans reject opposition protest violence.

And in Syria, Assad resoundingly defeated presidential candidate Hassan al-Nouri during the 2014 presidential election, which several international observers also confirmed was transparent and legitimate. The Baathist leader received 88.7 percent of votes. Over 73 percent of the country’s population participated, along with millions of Syrian refugees around the world.

A poll conducted a year later by ORB International found that 47 percent of Syrians believed that Assad had a positive influence in Syria, compared to 35 percent for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and 26 percent for the Syrian Opposition Coalition, according to analyst Stephen Gowans.

The FSA is a Syrian militant group that claims to be the “armed wing” of the country’s Western-backed opposition. It was formed in 2011 by renegade members of the Syrian Arab Army. The FSA has frequently been accused of supporting Daesh and other Wahhabi terrorist groups.

Yet Venezuelan and Syrian opposition claims that these elections and poll results were “rigged” are uncritically regurgitated by mainstream media, serving the interests of their imperialist overlords in the Global North who seek regime change.

Source, links:

http://www.mintpressnews.com/washington-democracy-dangerous-opposition-venezuela-syria/230771/

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