Why Venezuela's Neighbors Keep Quiet
For anyone following Venezuela's slow-motion crackup, U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement of targeted sanctions is proof that what's bad can always get worse. Citing the "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela," the White House declared a "National Emergency" and blocked the U.S. "property and interests in property" of several higher-ups in the so-called Bolivarian Republic for alleged acts of corruption, violence, human rights violations or to "undermine democracy."
The targeting of Venezuelan officials stands in blunt contrast to the tiptoe diplomacy that the rest of Latin America has always deployed in its dealings with the rogue Andean neighbor. Take the March 6 emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Caracas by the Union of South American Nations.
The ministers' mission -- to "depolarize Venezuela," according to Ernesto Samper, secretary general of Unasur -- was a noble one. But don't hold your breath. The daylong parley's most proactive contribution: the creation of a regional network to improve food distribution to Venezuelan consumers.
Unasur called an emergency meeting a year ago in an attempt to build a bridge between the Palacio Miraflores and the opposition. The truce didn't last, and now Maduro has answered renewed protests with the Bolivarian boot and sometimes deadly force.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-venezuelas-neighbors-keep-quiet-150008008.html
Interesting observations in this article regarding South American leaders who suffered torture and imprisonment in their own countries not speaking up against the incarceration of Maduro's political adversaries.
