'The Nation' Backs Repression in Venezuela

The Nation‘s Stephen Cohen has penned a lengthy criticism of the Venezuelan opposition, now subject to the brutal repression of Hugo Chávez’s successor, President Nicolás Maduro, as well as the violence perpetrated by left-wing colectivo vigilantes. The essence of the charge against the opposition is that it represents–among others–the Venezuelan elite. 

In Cohen’s words: “…these protests have far more to do with returning economic and political elites to power than with their downfall.” Cohen backs the Maduro regime to the hilt, and argues that the answer is a Venezuela “…more socialist, more democratic, in short, more radical” (original emphasis).

It is not the only democratic movement that The Nation opposes. As PJ Media’s Ron Radosh noted recently, the Nation is also backing the wrong side in the Ukraine crisis. Cohen proclaimed late last year that the U.S. is supporting “anti-democratic action” in Ukraine, ignoring the repressive behavior of the Yanukovych regime, and justifying Russian interference while pouring scorn on American intervention. 

“There is no ‘the Ukrainian people,'” Cohen insisted, a view with which Putin-backed separatists might agree. Every Russian sin is excused by equation with the policies of the U.S., resentment of which trumpets all other moral concerns for The Nation.