Unbeknownst to many, Canadian influence in Guyana is long-standing. Those who want their country to be a force for good in the world need to pay more attention to Ottawa’s influence in this small South American nation. We must hold our corporations, politicians and diplomats accountable to the standards we demand inside Canada, at the very least.

A purveyor of violence, the Canadian military is the institutional embodiment of toxic masculinity. A genuine “feminist foreign policy” would seek to rein in—not expand—the CF. The Liberals’ so-called feminist foreign policy is yet another example of this government’s “talking left and acting right” agenda that is an insult to Canadian feminists, as well as all those who believe in a progressive foreign policy.

The Liberals regime change efforts in Nicaragua are part of a broader pro-US, pro-corporate policy in the hemisphere rife with hypocrisy. All those who support the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries must oppose these acts of imperialism against a country that has long been the victim of American interference in Latin America.

The campaign to overthrow Venezuela’s government is unprecedented in Canadian foreign policy history, as is the reaction from civil society groups, many of which campaigned against Canada’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council citing our collaboration with self-decalred interim president Juan Guaidó and other elements of the right wing opposition.

Canadians should take a critical stance towards the Trudeau government’s dubious attempts to oust the Maduro regime, including its failure to condemn Juan Guaidó for his partnership with armed US mercenaries to foment a violent coup within Venezuela. Anything less is an endorsement of generations of failed US-led policies in Latin America.

The following article by Cochabamba-based journalist Fernando Molina, published before the most recent events, describes the political climate, the MAS reactions to its overthrow in November, 2019, and the difficult perspectives it faces, whether it wins or loses the elections. It has been translated from the July-August 2020 issue of the magazine Nueva Sociedad.

Trudeau and Trump’s efforts to stoke a revolt are having an ever-greater impact on the lives of ordinary Venezuelans, 40,000 of whom are estimated to have died between 2017 and 2018 as a result of punitive sanctions. At the same time, Guaidó’s chances of taking power are slimmer today than at any point since he claimed the presidency. Still, the Trudeau government has maintained its support for Washington’s regime change efforts.

The Trudeau government, in concert with the Trump administration and right-wing regional governments throughout Latin America, was instrumental in the 2019 coup against Bolivia’s first Indigenous leader, Evo Morales. What right does Canada have to intervene in Bolivia’s internal affairs? What can we do here to oppose the Trudeau government’s policies in Latin America?

One way to evaluate the seriousness of the Trudeau government’s stated objectives in seeking to oust Venezuela’s elected government is to examine their policies elsewhere in the region. While the Liberals talk about upholding the “rules-based international order,” democracy and human rights in Venezuela, they ignore these lofty ideals in Haiti.

Before the strongest measures were introduced, a study by economists Jeffrey Sachs and Mark Weisbrot found sanctions imposed by the United States were responsible for 40,000 deaths between August 2017 and the end of 2018. Yet Ottawa has not criticized the devastating US sanctions. Quite the opposite. It has egged the bully on.