‘What kind of a dictatorship is this?’ Max Blumenthal on Venezuela cops protecting coup leader

US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaido, came to Caracas seeking to be arrested, but the provocation failed and he ended up being guarded by police from an angry mob, investigative journalist Max Blumenthal told RT.

“It’s ironic to see government security forces actually protecting Guaido, a figure who is calling for the government to be toppled and attempting to fragment the security services from within,” Blumenthal, editor of the Grayzone Project, said, commenting on the video recently uploaded to social media.

The clip showed people in the working-class neighborhood of El Valle in Caracas hurling insults and trying to make their way to a black SUV, which was reportedly transporting Guaido to a rally. Only the police officers, loyal to President Nicolas Maduro, were there to protect the opposition figure.

“It’s also ironic because we constantly hear about Venezuela as some kind of ruthless Communist dictatorship. But here you have a situation that will certainly not be tolerated in the US or other countries, like Russia, China or Germany… What kind of dictatorship is this? Well, apparently it’s not a very effective one,” the journalist said.

The choice of “El Valle where Maduro’s base is” for the opposition gathering was no coincidence, as Guaido came there “because the US wanted him to get arrested to create a provocation,” Blumenthal said. The opposition leader wasn’t visible in the video, but he said that “the rally actually did take place. Guaido got out of his armored car and very few people attended it.”

The “pathetic” rally had a reverse effect and actually showed “how irrelevant Guaido is becoming,” the journalist pointed out. Despite a dire economic situation and constant blackouts, he “mustered very small numbers in the streets so far. Most people are staying at home,” Blumenthal said, adding that it’s the heavy US backing which is actually “harming the opposition’s cause.”

President Maduro is, of course, not without blame, as “mistakes were made by the government… but now they’re in a position when the US is trying to prevent them from getting out of the hyperinflation… and preventing them from importing food and medicine,” the journalist explained.

The harsh sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on Venezuela constitute “financial terrorism and it’s an attack on everyone, regardless of their political affiliation. I think Venezuelans recognized that,” and therefore have no desire to back Washington’s man, Guaido, Blumenthal believes.

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