Roundup: Coordinating a Venezuela response

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Friday evening, a statement went out from Canada and some twenty-one other allied governments about the situation in Venezuela. This after a couple of weeks of certain Conservative MPs and some of the Elder Pundits of this country having meltdowns that we haven’t issued immediate condemnations of the stolen election or demands that the opposition leader be recognized as the winner by Canada (and Conservatives currently feel motivated on this file because Pierre Poilievre’s wife is originally from Venezuela).

Lo and behold, Canada was working in concert with allies both in the region and abroad to ensure that there is a common voice when it comes to calling on support for democracy and human rights in Venezuela, particularly because Nicholas Maduro has been cracking down on protesters and arresting them, no doubt with the support of his Autocracy Inc. fellows, who have helped the country evade sanctions up to this point. Having coordinated responses with like-minded allies is a very important thing, and should not be underestimated.

And because this is currently an Anne Applebaum fan account, let me point to her most recent book, Autocracy Inc.,which includes a large section on Venezuela, how Chavez turned it into a kleptocracy under the guise of “Bolivarian socialism,” how other autocratic nations have allowed it to evade sanctions regimes (though it seems that China has been a bit burned by the very same kleptocrats that have bankrupted the country), and how the democratic opposition has been building support in that country in spite of the Maduro regime. It’s a great read, and I would highly encourage you to check it out (while we’ve still got some summer left).

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukraine’s air force downed five Russian drones overnight Thursday, while Ukrainian authorities are urging civilians to evacuate from Pokrovsk before Russians arrive in the area. Advances continue in the Kursk region, in the hopes of convincing Putin to start “fair” peace talks. Reporters who have visit the Kursk region under Ukraine’s control finds that there is a trial of destruction in their wake. Here’s a look at how vigilant Ukrainian society has become around allegations of corruption, in this case around reconstruction of the damaged children’s hospital.

Good reads:

  • Gary Anandasangaree says the government will lift the (theoretical) funding caps from residential school search funding for First Nations.
  • The government is mulling whether to include “name and shame” provisions in temporary foreign worker reforms to call out employers who abuse migrants.
  • Citizenship and Immigration says the Americans’ decision to put a four-hour time limit for asylum seekers entering from Canada to find a lawyer is within the rules.
  • The federal government is looking into models for a potential federal emergency relief agency and one model might resemble Germany’s.
  • CBSA is preparing to unveil an app to use facial recognition for people under deportation orders, leading to concerns about privacy and software biases.
  • Disability advocates point out that most people with disability won’t be able to access federal dental care because they can’t get the disability tax credit.
  • There is a lot of speculation as to what a possible future Poilievre government might do with the EV subsidies, but part of that hinges on the US election.
  • Digital researchers say that the bots amplifying Poilievre’s Kirkland Lake visit were “crude” and “amateurish,” and hope this can be a learning experience.
  • Doug Ford’s education minister, Todd Smith, decided to retire from politics after being in that portfolio for a whole ten weeks.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I look at last week’s decision on CBSA’s unconstitutional searches of digital devices at the border, and the government’s stalled bill.

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3 thoughts on “Roundup: Coordinating a Venezuela response”

  1. Speaking of Autocracy Inc does it include a chapter on how Blackrock and other western hedge fund managers have scooped up over nine million hectares and counting of prime agricultural land in Ukraine. Zelensky changed the law in 2020 allowing foreign ownership of land against widespread opposition. A mixture of local oligarchs and foreign hedge funds now control over 28 per cent of Ukraine’s agricultural land known as “the breadbasket of Europe.”

    This is only the start. Ukraine’s crippling debt ensures that western debt financing is going to be tied to austerity and privatization for years to come. Which leads to the ten million question. How much more of eastern Ukraine will Putin chew off before it’s all over? Presumably if he goes right up to the banks of the Dnieper River he will be saving its citizens a lifetime of debt servitude. Leaving the bill to those living in west Ukraine.

  2. An interesting and somewhat different evaluation of Anne Applebaum’s most recent book, towards the bottom of the post. Boot’s Big Grift .

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