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CARACAS. — In the face of violent protests roiling Venezuela, many of Latin America’s leaders have backed the government of President Nicolas Maduro, some have stayed mum and only a few have complained.The region’s few voices of dissent have been conservative leaders — Panama’s Ricardo Martinelli so angered Maduro that the Venezuelan president broke off ties with Panama City — but by and large, those voices have been muted.
“The region has protected itself in the ‘democratic clothing’ of President Maduro, who was elected democratically,” Alberto Pfeifer, a University of Sao Paulo professor and specialist on the region, told AFP. “That is the position of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Organization of American States, the Union of South American Nations and (regional trade bloc) Mercosur,” adds Pfeifer.
Those quickest to back Maduro were Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua — all countries with leftist governments whose heads of state were close with Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.
Bolivian President Evo Morales and Cuba’s Raul Castro even traveled to Caracas on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of Chavez’s death
Carlos Malamud, a senior analyst for Latin America at Spain’s Elcano Royal Institute, told AFP that countries such as Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador “cannot allow the elected government of Venezuela to fall” because they run “the risk of the same medicine being applied to them.”
The anti-government protests in Venezuela, over rampant crime and widespread shortages of basic goods, have so far left 20 people dead. Uruguay — while showing solidarity with Venezuela — has nevertheless defended the right to free expression. — AFP.
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