After a decade of silence and an apologetic attitude towards the countries of the Bolivarian alliance (ALBA), the international community finally protested attacks against freedom of the press in Ecuador, forcing the Ecuadorian president to back off.

For years the Organization of American States and countries of the region have been enablers and thus passive accomplices of the anti-democratic wave that has penetrated Latin America. Under the pretext of helping the poor and the disenfranchised, Bolivarian regimes led by Venezuela and including Nicaragua, Cuba, Ecuador and Bolivia have violated civil, political and human rights, freedom of the press and judicial autonomy.

Finally, the OAS Inter-American Court of Human Rights challenged an Ecuadorian Supreme Court decision upholding President Rafael Correa’s lawsuit against a leading opposition newspaper. The charge against the newspaper was based on an opinion article calling Correa a dictator and accusing him of giving troops permission to fire on a hospital full of people during the September, 2010 police uprising.

The defendants were sentenced to three years in prison and also fined. However, after the Inter American Court challenged the Ecuadorian ruling, international pressure was unleashed. Papers protesting the verdict included the New York Times, the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle and other international publications.

This case shows how effective international pressure can be if important voices speak up.

In all of the Bolivarian Alliance counties there are and have been myriad examples of human rights abuses. In countries like Venezuela there is now political violence aimed at undermining the candidacy of the head of the political opposition, Mr. Henrique Capriles Radonski. A few days ago, Chavez opened fire on Capriles Radonski’s supporters, wounding the son of a congressman who happens to be a disenchanted former supporter of Chavez. Capriles Radonski is also the victim of virulent anti-Semitism, a campaign instigated by Chavez. In Venezuela there are political prisoners including judges who are incarcerated for rendering verdicts the President disapproves, who continue to languish in Chavez’s jails because nobody has demanded their liberty. (See our article on this subject here )

Even the U.S Government continues to apply its policy of not upsetting these countries in order not to exacerbate their anti-Americanism, which by the way, will never change under these regimes. The current U.S. Administration needs to understand that the Bolivarian regimes are no different than the Iranian or Syrian regimes in so far as their policies are repressive, inflexible, and consistently violate the human rights and press freedoms of their own citizens.

To speak up on behalf of the human rights of these populations is the right thing to do. Looking the other way and trying to appease these regimes will only embolden them to continue with more abuses.

Latin America does not occupy the minds of too many people in America or in Europe. The Chinese and the Russians are glad to see this happen. Both have been the main supporters of the arch- repressive Assad regime in Syria and are now delighted to see Western indifference towards the Western Hemisphere. When the Bolivarian regimes become stronger and more oppressive (this is a very likely situation since Chavez or his successors will probably refuse to give up their power and a civil war will possibly ensue), both powers will be there to publicly defend them while the U.S, its Western allies, and Latin American democracies will continue to watch the carnage afraid of interfering in their internal affairs.

The Syrian example speaks for itself. The Syrian people stand now alone, helpless and asking for some assistance from the West. The West hesitates while the Russians are actively arming Assad.

We cannot help but see a similar future in our own backyard.

Source: TheAmericasReport.com