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Comment by sien | Hacker News Reader

The odds on favourite to be next British Prime Minister is a Chavez / Maduro apologist:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/11...

The former British Labour Party Mayor of London Ken Livingston said the problem in Venezuela was that not enough rich people were murdered:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/03/ken-livings...

An important Australian Trade Union pledged support for Maduro in August this year:

http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/austral...

(updated due to the comment below - thanks for that!)

In Australia there is a group called the Australian - Venezuelan solidarity network:

http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org/

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> The odds on favourite to be next British Prime Minister is a Chavez / Maduro apologist: > https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/11....

Trying to glue the legacy of Venezuela to Corbyn is silly. I am well aware of Corbyn's admiration of Hugo Chavez defying American intervention in Venezuela.

If the various papers in England want to keep up that theme, they should explore Conservative ties to Saudi Arabia and Pinochet's regime.

It's not trying to glue the legacy to Corbyn. It's noting that Corbyn refuses to unequivocally condemn Venezuela and clearly has sympathy even now.

All Corbyn has to do is make a statement like "Yes, I supported Chavez but unfortunately his regime wrecked the Venezuelan Economy and his successor has become a dictator".

End of story. He doesn't and he won't. It is apologising for them when you say 'there is blame on both sides'.

The original poster said that people on left having a lot of sympathy for Venezuela and continuing to support the current regime was rare and not seeing it as a cautionary tale. It's not. A few minutes of searching find various examples around the world. There are considerably more.

Here is another bit of support for them getting upset with Corbyn for not providing more support for Maduro.

http://www.socialist.net/corbyn-ignore-the-hypocrites-and-sa...

> It is apologising for them when you say 'there is blame on both sides'.

Blaming the Venezuelan government and left wing groups for all of the recent violence is too general. In this case there really is blame on both sides.

I was recently reading https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/07/venezuela-maduro-helicopt... , which condemns the Maduro government, wealthy right wing Venezuelans, and outside corporations who really wish Maduro would hurry up and leave so they can start trading in Venezuelans mineral and fossil fuel wealth.

The Conservative papers are totally trying to glue, at least in the minds of UK voters, Venezuela to Corbyn! I remember headlines like 'Corbyn's future plan for the UK: VENEZUELA'

> Chavez / Maduro apologist

There is no "apologism" in the link you posted, which is actually pretty balanced. If anything, it shows how Corbyn's position on Venezuela has evolved. He does not support or apologise for Maduro.

> The former British Labour Party Mayor of London Ken Livingston

Actually Ken Livingstone won the mayoralty as independent; the Labour candidate was Frank Dobson, Livingstone had previously been expelled from the Labour Party. The Party only endorsed him for his second mandate, revoking his expulsion by popular demand. He is currently suspended from the party again, thanks to one of those silly media storms only political hacks care about.

Livingstone was Mayor of London- not Lord Mayor.

The Lord Mayor's a completely different, ceremonial role. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Mayor_of_London

What you are doing is "nutpicking" there.

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