Debunking all the Anti-Venezuela Talking Points
TYT had a guest who spewed all the tiresome regime change talking points
TYT1 had on guest, Pilar Marrero, a Venezuelan by birth, who lived in the USA since 1986. She claimed that there was a progressive case against the President of Venezuela Nicholas Maduro. I have now watched the entire clip and I will be debunking her claims one by one.
Repression
At 1:05, she claims "Venezuela has become authoritarian and repressive.” She claimed Venezuela was repressive because they brutally cracked down on dissent. That is not true. Proof: here is Juan Guaido swearing himself in as President. He is allowed to move freely while undermining the government.
At 1:15,Pilar Marrero refers to the UN Human Rights Council Chief's letter from last week as proof of the alleged repression. Let's read what Michelle Bachelet’s primary concern was:
Although this pervasive and devastating economic and social crisis began before the imposition of the first economic sanctions in 2017, I am concerned that the recent sanctions on financial transfers related to the sale of Venezuelan oil within the United States may contribute to aggravating the economic crisis, with possible repercussions on people's basic rights and wellbeing.
Pilar Marrero also cited extrajudicial killings in Venezuela as a problem. In 2018, Venezuela had 205 extrajudicial killings. In 2019, it had 37. Although terrible, if the mere presence of extra-judicial killings were enough to authorize a military invasion, USA would be in big trouble. Let's compare Venezuela with the US.
I can't wait to have Venezuela invade the USA for human rights violations!
At 1:23, she accuses President Maduro of killing of opposition leaders. Leopoldo Lopez is well and alive. His wife even admitted that Maduro saved his life from more extreme rightwingers. Juan Guaido is also alive because we witnessed him in this video taken yesterday. So who were the opposition leaders that Maduro has been killing? We don't know. She never specifies.
Cenk asks,"Do you agree with John Bolton that we need to invade?" After a bit of hemming and hawing, at 2:25 Pilar Marrero says, “my moderate, apolitical brother who works at a bank thinks the situation is untenable."
Election Fraud
At 5:32: Pilar says, "Last two elections by Maduro were extremely problematic. I would say straight out fraudulent."
In 2013, the Carter Center called it "consistent, fair and free." As for 2018, Maduro invited observers from anywhere to come and observe the election. Oddly enough, the Opposition requested that the UN not come and monitor the election.
The Venezuelan Opposition
At 5:49, Pilar Marrero says "The opposition is a very broad group of people that go from the left to the moderate right. There are no really hard right in Venezuela."
Oh really?
A member of the opposition tried to bomb the Venezuelan Supreme court with a stolen helicopter
Opposition protesters told black people to "go back to their homeless shelters."
The opposition burned subsidized food for school lunches.
Russia
Of course, Russia was invoked. But, Russia is there because the US tried to overthrow the government recently with its "food aid" stunt.
Negotiations
At 7:25, Pilar Marrero said that progressives needed to push Venezuela into some kind of negotiation. Lucky for her, AMLO offered to mediate. Maduro accepted the negotiation. Guaido rejected it.
Sanctions
Pilar Marrero claimez that the sanctions were very recent and they were not the cause of Venezuela’s economic woes. Data proves her wrong too!
In conclusion, the first 8 minutes were filled with false assertions and lies.
Here is Part 2
The Young Turks: A YouTube news and commentary show that is watched by over one million people.