“Liberal media”? While that frequently cited meme should be regarded as the red herring it is, the extreme bias of “news” reports from Venezuela reveals the economic and political elite control the mainstream media. Critical context and details are rarely shared in daily stories.

Excluded from coverage is that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was democratically elected with 67 percent of the vote, verified by election integrity experts on the ground. In contrast, Juan Guido, supported by the United States and others, has not been elected to public office.

The United States has imposed economic sanctions against Venezuela since 2014. Banking institutions have been freezing assets. Predictably (and by design), these actions have been causing sustained, economic hardship.

Much has been made of Maduro’s blocking of the bridge from Columbia and used to paint him as a villain for denying medical and food supplies to the population. Conveniently omitted is that the bridge has been blocked for the past two years and Maduro has accepted aid from other countries through different entry points.

Last month, McClatchy News reported a plane based in Greensboro, North Carolina, was found upon inspection at the international airport in Valencia to contain assault weapons. That and the aforementioned sanctions would make Maduro justifiably distrustful of U.S. “humanitarian” motives.

Maduro represents the 99 percent. The 1 percent want to control the country’s oil, natural gas and other resources, and the U.S. corporate media is a more than willing conduit to make that a reality.

Del Leonard, Waterford

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