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President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores - a national assembly deputy celebrate after last Sundays election for his new constituent assembly. Photograph: Nathalie Sayago/EPA

Its hard to pinpoint when democracy died in Venezuela. Its been a long, slow, painful though predictable slide to authoritarianism. Now, though, that slide is bringing the country to anarchy and potential civil war, risking a black hole of a failed state in South America in an oil-rich nation.

Was democracys death knell in 2004 when the then president, Hugo Chvez the founder of the Bolivarian revolution expanded the supreme court by 12 seats, from 20 to 32, in order to pack it with loyalists, so undermining the independence of the judicial system?

Was it in 2015 when the democratic opposition won a two-thirds super majority in the national legislature, only for the pro-government electoral commission to block three legislators from taking their seats under false claims of elections violations?

Was it in 2016, when President Nicols Maduro appointed a loyalist Chavista general, Vladimir Padrino Lpez, to occupy the positions of both defence minister and state tsar for food and the economy, and stipulated that all state ministers should report to the general? (Current or former military officers run 11 of Venezuelas 32 state ministries.)

Or was it in October that year, when the electoral commission indefinitely suspended state and local elections leaving Venezuelans without locally elected officials and blocked a constitutional referendum on the government out of fear the governing party would be defeated?

These slow-motion acts eroded the checks and balances of democratic government and accountability and created a military-controlled government, the likes of which the region has not seen since the dark days of juntas and dictatorships in the 1960s and 70s. Worse, with each action the government closed off crucial channels and mediation, competition, choice and accountability until, in October 2016, it shut down the most fundamental claim to legitimacy: elections.

Even if it somehow survived all those though, theres no doubt that Venezuelan democracy was finished off last Sunday: on 30 July, despite popular opposition and international condemnation, the Maduro government ploughed ahead with an election to choose delegates to write a new constitution violating the constitutional right of citizens to say whether they even wanted a new constitution. And, indeed, a broad majority didnt. In public opinion surveys, 80% of Venezuelans expressed support for their 18-year-old constitution, and 75% opposed the entire effort.

The exercise was a farce, intended to distract the country from its economic and humanitarian crisis. GDP has contracted more than 20% in three years, inflation is raging at over 1,000%, citizens face severe shortages of food and medicine, and more than 100 people have been killed during four months of popular protests.

How a new constitution would solve those problems was never clear. In fact, what the constitution under a government that had shown a singular, anarchistic disregard for any type of institution or rule would look like or accomplish was never clear.

What was clear was that Maduro and his allies intended to use the body to assume total control over the national assembly and the government, and to pursue enemies including its general prosecutor, Luisa Ortega. She is a former Chavista who has become a vocal opponent. In the days leading up to Sundays vote, government officials declared proudly that after the balloting process they would turn to pursuing and prosecuting political opponents.

They wasted no time in doing so. Two days after the vote, police rounded up two leading political opponents: Antonio Ledezma, the former mayor of Caracas; and Leopoldo Lpez, the former mayor of Chacao. They had been under house arrest, but were now returned to military prison.

The international community needs to realise that its been played

Efforts by former presidents in the region and the Vatican to mediate a much-needed consensus have permitted the Maduro government to continue its efforts to consolidate power with a fig leaf of legitimacy. The strategy worked. While the region bet on mediation, the Maduro government killed democracy, but for an unknown end totalitarianism? Chaos? Anomie? Its not clear that even Maduro knew or knows.

The international community needs to realise that its been played. Fortunately, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the European Union have expressed their displeasure with and their refusal to varying degrees to accept the illegal constituent assembly. Now, finally, those countries need to step up. The US has so far avoided the temptation to impose broad economic sanctions on Venezuela, which could have tragic consequences for the population, preferring targeted individual sanctions. The regional community needs to follow that lead and impose sanctions on certifiably corrupt, human-rights-abusing public officials: but also go further by pulling back diplomatic recognition of the government, and tightening the noose around government and corrupt officials assets and bank accounts.

Responding to the accelerating downward spiral in Venezuela requires credible but scaled threats. The past has shown that naive exhortation doesnt work, but nor does the nuclear option of all-out sanctions and an embargo. The US going it alone isnt enough.

The regional failure to act collectively and decisively to threaten costs and present carrots will accelerate the path that Venezuela is on. Its time to step up, collectively and selectively.

Link:
Maduro has stopped torturing democracy in Venezuela by killing it - The Guardian

Ive stayed far away from the new barbarians with their choppers, tank-like cars, home theatres on board, and fridge-shaped super yachts that terrorise sea life. In fact, dolphins escorted us in to Kyparissi, a tiny village on the eastern Peloponnese 60 kms from Sparta, my grandmothers birthplace. German and Spartan; not a bad combination, especially if one thinks democracy is a biological contradiction, which I do. Just look at the Remoaners and youll see what I mean.

Back in the good old days, we Athenians knew how to practise real democracy. All Athenian males over 18, irrespective of wealth or status, had the right to attend the Assembly, which met every nine days and was where they decided how Athens should be run. War, peace, taxes, who remained in power and who was deprived of it were decided by vote. The strength of the system depended on the ferocity with which the Assembly punished anyone who let the side down. Hammond wouldnt have lasted, and Corbyn would have been put to death at the start for high treason.

The system lasted from 508 BC to 322 BC, when the Macedonians ended it. Its magnificence, wisdom and fairness have never been replicated. But Im not here to tell you about democracy, a sham if ever there was one. All one has to do is look at the EU, the most undemocratic institution since the Russian government under Lenin. People actually believe that by paying their taxes to Brussels they will have a say in what the bureaucrats over in that rainy little place decide. It reminds me of the kind of big lie practised by the New York Times, when its own columnists quote a fact invented by its own hacks. (The latest emetic vulgarity is the promotion of freak lifestyles.)

What ruined the greatest democratic experiment ever was the civil war between Athens and Sparta that lasted 27 years, from 431 BC to 404 BC. When I was a child, I rooted for Sparta, a military oligarchy of which both my teachers and family approved. The war was fought because Sparta feared Athenian imperialism and cultural dominance. Does this sound familiar? One could compare Athens to Uncle Sam, except the good uncle exports porn, celebrities, rap music, sci-fi horrors, and other useless mechanisms to keep the masses from thinking.

Athens showed hubris by lording it over islands and states not strong enough to defend themselves, just as America is inviting nemesis by trying to export her corrupted democracy to faraway places such as Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention Syria. Victor Davis Hanson, an American military historian of great wisdom, compared 5th-century Athens to America in the 20th. He also compared the Peloponnesian war to the first world war. Both were needless conflicts that brought about great disasters and change for the worse. Athens suffered terribly from the war against Sparta. Pericles died of the plague that swept the city, which became overcrowded once the Spartans laid siege to its environs. One in four people perished. The splendour that was Athens disappeared, as did its extraordinary achievements never since matched in science, art, philosophy and the art of living.

When I was a child, I lived ancient history and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Leonidas in Thermopylae, with fellow hoplites in Marathon, and with Alexander the Great in chasing the Persians. Those were the first westerners. I never imagined myself as an Egyptian fighting the Hyksos invaders or in combat alongside Sumerians against the Amorites. No siree, we Greeks were the first to share values of justice, the law and humanity; the rest were barbarians, and most of them have remained so. Heroism always took first place. The archers and javelin-throwers who launched their weapons from afar were not held in high esteem because they could kill with little risk to themselves. Eat your heart out, archers at Agincourt and snipers in Iraq. Only those who clashed with swords and spears, defying death and refusing to retreat, were considered honourable. Think of those great men, then spare a thought for the EU bureaucrooks and puke long and hard.

And what about women, you may ask. Well, what about them. We Greeks produced the first and greatest heroine of all time, Helen of Troy. Achilles and Odysseus aside, no figure from that age has won a more worshipful following than Helen. The queen of Sparta became a cult figure and continues to be one. She was Homers finest achievement, at a time when women were viewed in the same way Saudis see women today. The ancient Trojans, watching their sons being slaughtered by the Greeks from the safety of their towers, came upon Helen in her shimmering garments and whispered in awe: Terrible is the likeness of her face to an immortal goddesses. They refused to blame her for the massacre because she was so special. Old Homer sure liked the fairer sex too.

So here we are, back to the present day. Greece is a tiny country living off loans from corrupt bureaucracies and Germany. Clowns are in power and daily face the Acropolis, where giants once stood. I look around me and see nice, hospitable people here in the Peloponnese. Churches are everywhere, which gives me hope. After all, Christianity is the only institution that can save mankind; not Silicon Valley, nor Hollywood. But try telling that to the DC crowd.

See the original post here:
Democracy is dead - Spectator.co.uk

On the last night of 2010, I was at a party in Caracas, Venezuela. Standing on the balcony of a house set high on a hillside, I watched fireworks burst randomly over the metropolis that spread across the valley below. A new year often brings hope of fresh beginnings, but, in that city that year, there were feelings of dread.

The political upheaval brought about by Venezuelas revolutionary populist president, Hugo Chavez, was slipping into economic calamity, political corruption and a wave of street crime. And, as is usual with revolutions gone stale, democratic ideals were being sacrificed so that the regime could cling to power.

One of the other guests at the party, a wry, fatalistic gentleman who had voted for Chavez, told me he now very much regretted his vote.

I was hoping wed get Swedish socialism, he said. Instead, were getting Cuban socialism.

Id like to know how that man and others that I met during my visit are faring now because the difficult situation of 2010 and 2011 has grown exponentially worse in 2017. The current president, Nicolas Maduro, has none of the charisma or cleverness of the now-deceased Chavez, but his impulse to authoritarianism is even deeper. Once a prosperous, relatively stable nation, Venezuela is now broke, thanks to terrible governance and the precipitous drop in oil prices, the countrys primary export commodity. Food and the basic goods necessary for a civilized life are in short supply. Crime is worse than ever. And, rather than taking responsibility for any of this, Maduro simply blames his enemies and uses the crisis as an excuse to censor the media, subvert civil liberties and seize more power.

Under Chavez, elections were still relatively fair. That is no longer the case. In a rigged referendum last weekend, Maduro engineered the election of a compliant constituent assembly that is expected to rewrite the countrys constitution and eliminate the opposition-dominated National Assembly.

Monday, in a White House briefing detailing new U.S. sanctions that are being imposed on Maduros regime, national security advisor H.R. McMaster said, Maduro is not just a bad leader. He is now a dictator.

Street protests that have been raging for months all across Venezuela have become much more violent as Maduro has tightened the screws on what is left of the nations democratic system. Government troops now gun down opposition protesters every day. Tuesday, several leaders of anti-Maduro political parties were arrested.

This deepening tragedy offers lessons for Americans of all political stripes.

For those on the left who cheered the rise of Chavez and turned a blind eye to his dictatorial inclinations and complicity in corruption, one might ask, when will you ever learn? Just as American leftists were dupes for Stalin in the 1930s and 40s, too many dreamy progressives all these years later still allow themselves to become apologists for self-proclaimed saviors of the people who spout egalitarian rhetoric but end up as despots.

For those on the right, Venezuela is not just an example of the failings of socialist revolutions, it is an illustration of what can happen when a crowd-pleasing populist politician attacks the free press, demonizes opponents, proclaims a militant nationalism and creates an alternative version of reality based on self-serving lies. The urge to make heroes out of bombastic demagogues is an affliction that affects people on the right as much as those on the left.

And for American political leaders, as well as the wielders of financial and corporate power, it should be noted that Venezuelas problems began with a failure to address the countrys extreme wealth gap. Until the current troubles reached a crisis point, Caracas was a vibrant, modern city, home to a large, healthy middle class and a very fortunate upper crust of wealthy families. But on the hills surrounding the city a vast barrio of desperately poor people seethed with resentment. Those resentments produced Chavez and, now, Maduro.

The Venezuelan political and economic elite failed to address the inequities and disconnections in their country and now every Venezuelan is being brought low. Growing social disaffection in the United States already helped elect Donald Trump to the presidency and the rips in the seams of our democracy run in every direction. If they are not repaired, Trumps follies may be only the start of the unraveling.

Let Venezuelas agony be a reminder: It can happen anywhere.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter

Read more:
Venezuela's descent into dictatorship shows democracy can be lost - Los Angeles Times

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Aug 1st 2017 7:03PM

The State Department may be looking to remove the promotion of democracy from its mission statement, according to the Washington Post, as part of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's efforts to overhaul the agency.

On Friday, the State Department sent an email to employees with a draft of the agency's statement which did not contain any language regarding the "promotion of democracy".

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Exxon Mobil Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson speaks at a news conference following the Exxon Mobil annual shareholders meeting in Dallas, Texas May 30, 2007. Tillerson told reporters on Wednesday that the construction of the Mackenzie pipeline project in Canada was not viable at current cost levels.

(REUTERS/Mike Stone)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (R) and Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson look on at a signing ceremony in the Black Sea resort of Sochi August 30, 2011. Exxon and Russia's Rosneft signed a deal on Tuesday to develop oil and gas reserves in the Russian Arctic, opening up one of the last unconquered drilling frontiers to the global industry No.1.

(REUTERS/Alexsey Druginyn/RIA Novosti/Pool)

Executives from six major oil companies are sworn in to testify at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the "Consolidation in the Oil and Gas Industry: Raising Prices?" on Capitol Hill in Washington March 14, 2006. The executives are (L-R) Rex Tillerson, Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil Corp., James Mulva, Chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, David O'Reilly, Chairman and CEO of Chevron Corp., Bill Klesse, CEO of Valero Energy Corp., John Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil Company and Ross Pillari, President and CEO of BP America Inc.

(Jason Reed / Reuters)

ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson speaks during the IHS CERAWeek 2015 energy conference in Houston, Texas April 21, 2015.

(REUTERS/Daniel Kramer/File Photo)

Chairman, President and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation Rex Tillerson watches a tee shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club course in Pebble Beach, California, February 6, 2014.

(REUTERS/Michael Fiala)

Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil; John Watson, chairman and CEO of Chevron Corp.; James Mulva, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips; Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co.; and Lamar McKay, president and chairman of BP America Inc.; are sworn in during the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment hearing on their safety practices as oil continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig - operated by BP - exploded last month.

(Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)

ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson speaks during the IHS CERAWeek 2015 energy conference in Houston, Texas April 21, 2015.

(REUTERS/Daniel Kramer/File Photo)

WASHINGTON, DC - May 12: James Mulva, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips; and Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp.; during the Senate Finance hearing on oil and gas tax incentives.

(Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)

Chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation Rex W. Tillerson and Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg attends the United Nations Foundation's global leadership dinner at The Pierre Hotel on November 8, 2011 in New York City.

(Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images)

Rex Tillerson, chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp., left, speaks with Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates Inc., during the 2015 IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, April 21, 2015. CERAWeek 2015, in its 34th year, will provide new insights and critically-important dialogue with decision-makers in the oil and gas, electric power, coal, renewables, and nuclear sectors from around the world.

(Photographer: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Renda St. Clair and Rex Tillerson attend the reopening celebration at Ford's Theatre on February 11, 2009 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Abby Brack/Getty Images)

Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, listens during a meeting at the Department of the Interior September 22, 2010 in Washington, DC. Secretary of the Interior Kenneth L. Salazar hosted Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Gulf Oil Spill National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen (Ret.), representatives from the private sector and others to discus strengthening the containment abilities to deep water oil and gas well blowouts like the recent BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

(Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

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For comparison, the current state department mission statement says:

"The Department's mission is to shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere."

A former official of the Bush Administration, Elliot Abrams told the Washington Post that the removal of the words make a big difference.

He said "That change is a serious mistake that ought to be corrected," "If not, the message being sent will be a great comfort to every dictator in the world."

According to the Post, since taking office, President Trump hasn't made promoting democracy and human rights a high priority.

However, draft statements are still under review and have not been finalized.

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US State Department may remove 'democracy promotion' from mission statement - AOL

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered his department to redefine its mission and issue a new statement of purpose to the world. The draft statements under review right now are similar to the old mission statement, except for one thing any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated.

According to an internal email that went out Friday, which I obtained, the State Departments Executive Steering Committee convened a meeting of leaders to draft new statements on the departments purpose, mission and ambition, as part of the overall reorganization of the State Department and USAID. (The draft statements were being circulated for comment Friday and could change before being finalized.)

The State Departments draft statement on its purpose is: We promote the security, prosperity and interests of the American people globally.

The State Departments draft statement on its mission is: Lead Americas foreign policy through global advocacy, action and assistance to shape a safer, more prosperous world.

The State Departments draft statement on its ambition is: The American people thrive in a peaceful and interconnected world that is free, resilient and prosperous.

Compare that to the State Department Mission Statement that is currently on the books, as laid out in the departments fiscal year 2016 financial report:

The Departments mission is to shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere. This mission is shared with the USAID, ensuring we have a common path forward in partnership as we invest in the shared security and prosperity that will ultimately better prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow.

Former senior State Department officials from both parties told me that eliminating just and democratic from the State Departments list of desired outcomes is neither accidental nor inconsequential.

The only significant difference is the deletion of justice and democracy, said Elliott Abrams, who served as deputy national security adviser for global democracy strategy during the George W. Bush administration. We used to want a just and democratic word, and now apparently we dont.

The mission statement is important because it sends a signal about American priorities and intentions to foreign governments and people around the world, said Abrams, who was considered by Tillerson for the job of deputy secretary of state but rejected by President Trump.

That change is a serious mistake that ought to be corrected, he said. If not, the message being sent will be a great comfort to every dictator in the world.

Tom Malinowski, who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor for the Obama administration, said the new proposed mission statement brings U.S. foreign policy into closer alignment with that of some of Americas chief adversaries, including Russia.

Its a worldview similar to that of Putin, who also thinks that great powers should focus exclusively on self protection and enrichment, rather than promoting democracy, he said. By removing all reference to universal values and the common good it removes any reason for people outside the United States to support our foreign policy. That said, I appreciate the honesty with which Tillerson projects his cynicism.

Malinowski also predicted that the change, if it becomes permanent, would sow confusion throughout the ranks of the State Departments civil and foreign service because hundreds of State Department officials work on congressionally funded programs every day that are meant to promote democracy and justice abroad.

Adding to the confusion, Trump occasionally trumpets democracy promotion, for example when it comes to Cuba or Venezuela. But in his inauguration speech, Trump made clear that democracy promotion would not be a feature of his foreign policy.

We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow, Trump said.

The changes in the State Department mission statement may not seem very significant viewed in isolation. But Tillerson has made several statements and decisions that indicate he plans to lower the priority of democracy and human rights in U.S. foreign policy.

In his first speech to his State Department employees, he said promoting American values creates obstacles to pursuing Americas national security interests. In March, he broke tradition by declining to appear personally to unveil the State Departments annual human rights report.

In another example, the State Department will soon eliminate thehumanrights.gov website and move its content to an alternative web address, state.gov/j/drl, a State Department official told me.

Its just so gratuitous. What efficiency is achieved or money is saved by taking something that is prominent on the internet and hiding it? said Malinowski. The consequence is that its the 9,456th signal sent by the administration that they dont care about promoting American values.

The State Department declined to comment.

Read more:
Washington Post: Justice and democracy on the ropes - Concord Monitor