VENEZUELA’s opposition suffered a defeat on Thursday night as 19 members of the Organisation of American States (OAS) backed a proposal to remove its envoy for political and economic issues.
Although the proposal failed to get the two-thirds majority, or 24 votes, needed to be put on the agenda of the OAS general assembly being held in Lima, Peru, it was a blow for opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
More than half of the organisation’s 35 members voted for the resolution and many others abstained, signalling a growing lack of support in the region for the faction of Venezuela’s opposition led by Juan Guaido. Only four states stood with Mr Guaido’s envoy.
Far-right forces are rising across Latin America and the Caribbean, armed with a common agenda of anti-communism, the culture war, and neoliberal economics, writes VIJAY PRASHAD
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
US baseless accusations of drug trafficking and the outrageous putting of a bounty on a president of a sovereign country do not bode well, reports PABLO MERIGUET



