By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. June 22, 2017: The Venezuelan Nicholas Maduro government may be trying its hardest to control the media in the South American nation but nationals are using Twitter to make their voices heard.
And many are hopping mad over the decision by several Caribbean governments Monday that helped block a measure at the Organization of American States (OAS) that urged Caracas to reconsider the introduction of a Constitutional National Assembly and end the violence there.
The resolution failed to receive the 23 votes required to pass because several Caribbean and Latin American nations voted against it or abstained.
Among those voting no were the Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis as well as Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Those Caribbean nations abstaining from the vote were Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, Haiti, Suriname, The Dominican Republic and Grenada.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador at the OAS, Sir Ron Sanders, tweeted after the vote on June 19th that the “Caribbean (is) unified at (the) OAS on independence, non imposition by powerful countries and genuine dialogue.”
And he penned a long editorial in the Caribbean News Now on the decision while also criticizing the Secretary General of the OAS.
Reinaldo Garcia, replying to Sander’s abstention on behalf of Antigua & Barbuda at the OAS tweeted: “Abstention no exempt murders responsibility #NoSeasComplice, blood stains ur hands #MaduroAsesino, OAS agreement Venezuela! Ur vote missing!
Hugo Santaromita also slammed Sanders on twitter stating: “It is shameful his complicity with the criminal dictatorship of Venezuela. His abstention in the OAS is aberrant.”
While Antonio Mora tweeted: “People who care about democracy & #HumanRights should boycott countries who can’t condemn #Venezuela dictatorship.”
Eli Oriana directed her anger at Grenada tweeting: “#Grenada Stop supporting Maduro’s dictatorship and deaths in #Venezuela Vote at OAS #NoSeasComplice.” And Irina Espinoza voiced anger at Trinidad and Tobago tweeting: “Shame on you #Trinidad&Tobago So much for the Commonwealth Charter but supporting the bloody dictatorship of Venezuela!@commonwealthsec.”
Meanwhile, Josefina Blanco asked: “What r u doing to stop a civil war in Venezuela? you’ll see lots of refugees fleeing to Colombia, Brasil, Trinidad, Caribbean….”
Miami Herald Columnist, Andrés Oppenheimer, for his part slammed the Caribbean nations’ show of support for the Maduro government noting in his recent column: “Caribbean countries should be ashamed of supporting Venezuela at OAS meeting.”
But speaking on his radio show, ‘Moving Forward’ on 93.5 FM radio in New York, Caribbean Diaspora leader Irwine Clare, Sr., said the move shows “all politics is local.”
“These countries are concerned about the Petro-Caribe deal they have with the Venezuelan government and that clearly is the reason for this action,” he said.
This comes as Venezuela has seen another victim of street protests that began in April.
The latest victim is 17-year-old Fabián Urbina who was killed on Tuesday after police in Venezuela opened fire on protesters there. Over 70 people have been reportedly killed to date in over 80 days of protesting.
