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John Reimann said: Re: "According to news accounts, Citgo, the Venezuelan oil company donated $500,000.00 to the Trump inauguration fund. It this story is true and if the bribe had led to loosening of sanctions against Venezuela, we might have to accept that it was a good use of Venezuelan money. ken h" This is like defending Chavez's support for the Iranian religious dictatorship. No, no workers movement nor any real workers' leaders should support Trump in any way. It is a fundamental violation of international working class solidarity. * * * * * * Ken Hiebert replies: Starting with Iran Venezuela has every right to enter into commercial and diplomatic relations with Iran. But to the extent that they are lending political support to that government, they are making a mistake. If their commercial and diplomatic relations mean that the PSUV cannot tell their supporters the truth about the political character of the Iranian regime and the struggles inside Iran, they will pay a price in the long term. It would be a shame if Venezuelans came to rely on other sources for information about Iran. Trump Paying a bribe to Trump is not the same as lending political support. Very few people would conclude that the Venezuelan government has a favourable view of Trump and his government. If the payment of a bribe did have the effect of easing sanctions on Venezuela, I would be willing to support it. So far, it does not seem to have had that effect. It looks like half a million dollars wasted. Such a desperate measure suggests that the Venezuelan government has little confidence in the effectiveness of international solidarity. In the short term, maybe they are right. But if instead of spending $500,000.00 on a bribe, they had spent $50,000.00 on bringing potential solidarity activists to Venezuela, I think they would have achieved more. Aside from building solidarity it could have the effect of strengthening the left internationally. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
