THE United States lifted sanctions on a Venezuelan general today who defected to self-declared “interim president” Juan Guaido following last week’s disastrous coup attempt.
At a press conference on Tuesday night, US Vice-President Mike Pence praised former Venezuelan intelligence chief general Manuel Cristopher Figuera for breaking ranks with the Maduro “regime” and rallying “to the support of the Venezuelan constitution and the National Assembly,” which has been defunct since March 2017.
Pence told journalists: “In recognition of his recent actions in support of democracy and the rule of law, I am announcing today that the United States is removing all sanctions on general Manuel Cristopher Figuera, effective immediately.
International solidarity can ensure that Trump and his machine cannot prevail without a level of political and economic cost that he will not want to pay, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
The global left must be unwavering in it is support for Venezuela as Washington increases its aggression, and clear-eyed about the West’s cynical motives for targeting it, says CLAUDIA WEBBE



