We have very clearly seen that the heroic people of Venezuela and their revolutionary government, under Comandante Chavez and now democratically elected President Maduro, are extremely capable of dealing with all kinds of internal counter-revolutionary sabotage. We must immediately increase our effort to explain to the people in the advanced industrial countries that shortages of goods, food, medicine, and basic necessities are the result of inhuman, brutal and heavy imperialist sanctions and blockade.

Since the attempted U.S. coup against Venezuela on January 23, backed by the Lima Group of which the Justin Trudeau government is an active member, Canada’s corporate media have joined in a chorus of hate and disinformation against the Bolivarian Revolution, with the criticism focusing on Nicolás Maduro, the country’s constitutionally elected president. At the same time, a debate has arisen among workers, trade unionists, and social and political activists.

As part of their effort to overthrow Nicolas Maduro’s government, Ottawa has funded and promoted a slew of groups and individuals critical of human rights in Venezuela. And a recent report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights gave a boost to Canada’s faltering coup bid in that South American country. Overseen by former social democratic Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, the report paints Venezuelan security forces as extremely violent and the government as politically repressive.

Venezuelan authorities have opened a new criminal investigation against self-declared “Interim President” Juan Guaido for his role in the “humanitarian aid” corruption scandal unveiled over the weekend. Attorney General Tarek William Saab named Guaido as the accused “mastermind” behind the crimes, arguing that the opposition leader “personally directed the corruption mafia.” The investigation will focus on accusations of money laundering, corruption, and criminal association, and will be led by two public prosecutors.

I wrote on June 14 about Reuters burying a study by economists Jeffrey Sachs and Mark Weisbrot that links US-imposed economic sanctions on Venezuela in August 2017 to an estimated 40,000 deaths by the end of 2018. The study is the clearest evidence of the devastating impact US policy is having on the people of Venezuela. Below is a list of English-language outlets that, according to the Nexis news database, mentioned the study as of June 17. They are overwhelmingly non-US outlets.

Ten years ago, Ottawa tacitly supported the Honduran military’s removal of elected president Manuel Zelaya. During the past decade Canada has strongly allied itself to those backing the coup who continue to rule the Central American country. It was not until almost every country in the hemisphere denounced the June 28, 2009, coup that Ottawa finally did so but Canada did not explicitly call for Zelaya’s return to power.

Recently Global Affairs Canada tendered a contract for an individual to coordinate its bid to oust President Nicolás Maduro. Canadian taxpayers are paying a hardline pro-corporate, pro-Washington, former diplomat hundreds of thousands of dollars to coordinate the Liberal government’s bid to oust Venezuela’s government. Surely, there is someone in the House of Commons willing to inquire about Canada’s Elliot Abrams?

After the 2013 election of President Nicolás Maduro following the death of Hugo Chávez, the United States supported the all too often violent opposition protests against the legal election, resulting in a pretext for President Obama’s Venezuela legislation in 2014, designed to sanction individuals in the Bolivarian Republic as a lever of economic punishment with the goal of creating hurdles for Chavista political officials and a section of the state.

Recently, the Canadian Embassy in Havana closed its Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship section. Now, most Cubans wanting to visit Canada or get work or study permits will have to travel to a Canadian embassy in another country to submit their documents. In some cases Cubans will have to travel to another country at least twice to submit information to enter Canada. The draconian measure has already undercut cultural exchange and family visits.

Not only has Canada financed and otherwise supported opposition parties in Venezuela, Ottawa has allied itself with some of its most anti-democratic, hardline elements. While the Liberal government has openly backed Voluntad Popular’s bid to seize power since January, Ottawa has supported the electorally marginal party for years. Venezuelans require a vibrant opposition that challenges the government. They don’t need Canada to boost an electorally marginal party that drives the country into increasing conflict.