The Venezuelan government has just barred the leader of the US-backed coup from holding public office. As would be expected, Western governments have been crowing about how this ‘proves’ the inherent authoritarianism of President Nicolás Maduro.
But this is nonsense. After all, these Western governments would hardly tolerate such behavior in their own countries. Clearly, anyone who attempted to overthrow a Western government would be punished immediately – and much more severely. A simple hypothetical comparison reveals the West’s extreme self-interested hypocrisy when it comes to foreign intervention.