Before Jeremy Corbyn addresses another “Venezuela Solidarity” event, he may want to consider the latest events in the town of Sinamaica in the Venezuelan border region of Guajira.
At one time a pro-Chavez, pro-regime stronghold, the region has lately suffered, like much of the rest of Venezuela, from desperate shortages of food, water and electricity. Residents of the town noticed trucks full of rice, sugar, flour, bread and cooking oil, unhindered by the National Guard, crossing into neighboring Colombia. (Translation here.)
In addition, according to one resident, Venezuela’s army has killed 40 young men in the region, accusing them of being smugglers and profiteers.
Residents of the town had enough. According to the report by journalist Milagros Socorro, first they raided the trucks; then they attacked the town hall of the Bolivarian-controlled Municipality of La Guajira.
They went to the town square carrying four portraits they found in the now scorched offices: Mayor Herbert Chacón, Governor Francisco Arias Cárdenas, President Nicolás Maduro, and Hugo Chávez. A bonfire was lit.
Socorro tweeted:
24) En la #Guajira venezolana pasaron de chavistas radicales a ser los primeros en quemar el retrato de Chávez en plaza pública.
— Milagros Socorro (@MilagrosSocorro) August 5, 2015
In the Venezuelan #Guajira people went from radical chavistas to be the first to burn Chavez’s portrait in a public square.
