 |
Human Rights In Venezuela v. America |
By
Stephen Lendman |
| Both countries are polar opposites when it comes to respecting
the rights of their people and others worldwide. They're constitutional
worlds apart. Venezuela enshrines human rights in its document - approved overwhelmingly in a December 1999 referendum. It "establish(ed) a democratic, participatory and self-reliant, multiethnic and multicultural society in a just, federal and decentralized State that embodies the values of freedom, independence, peace, solidarity, the common good, the nation's territorial integrity, comity and the rule of law for this and future generations." It "guarantees" what Americans can't imagine: the world's most open, free and fair electoral system, "the right to life, work, learning, education, social justice and equality, without discrimination or subordination of any kind; promotes peaceful cooperation among nations and further strengthens Latin American integration in accordance with the principle of nonintervention and national self-determination of the people, the universal and indivisible guarantee of human rights, the democratization of imitational society, nuclear disarmament, ecological balance and environmental resources as the common and inalienable heritage of humanity." It's more than language. It's real. The contrast with America is stark. Endless wars target invented enemies. Police state control undermines fundamental civil and human rights. Dissent is increasingly criminalized. So is exposing government wrongdoing. Democracy is pure fantasy. Deepening social decay threatens the nation's very fabric. Unprecedented wealth disparity created a permanent underclass. Middle class society is being systematically destroyed. Due process and judicial fairness are hollow principles. Torture is official policy. The world's largest gulag is one of its harshest. Dominant media function as though-control police gatekeepers. Government serves its privileged elites alone. Ordinary people are exploited and ignored. Streets are virtual battlegrounds. Killer cops have license to kill with impunity. The Latin American Foundation for Human Rights and Social Development (Fundalatin) is Venezuela's oldest human rights group. Venezuela Analysis spoke to its president, Sister Eugenia Russian. She explained Venezuela "is a state that respects human rights…Our Constitution is broad, open, pluralistic, (and) participatory…" Governance shames what passes for its counterpart in America. China annually publishes a report on US human rights based on documented sources and hard facts. They time its release to coincide with the State Department's annual country reports on human rights omitting any mention of America's own horrific record - the world's worst on a global scale. Documented facts show "self-styled human rights defender" America has a deplorable record it wants concealed - adversely affecting the lives and well-being of millions of people worldwide. Gun violence makes US communities unsafe. So do killer cops murdering hundreds of Blacks and other people of color annually with impunity. CIA torturers indiscriminately brutalize suspects or known innocent victims on unsubstantiated allegations of terrorism - using arbitrary secret indefinite detention, "sleep deprivation, waterboarding, long-term solitary confinement, slamming prisoners against the wall, lashing, death threats and even rectal rehydration' or rectal feeding" along with other barbaric techniques in blatant violation of international law. Big Brother watches everyone in violation of Bill of Rights protections. Equity, justice and respect for rule of law principles are meaningless figures of speech. Washington operates by its own standards - extrajudicially serving its own interests at the expense of others. America discriminates against its least advantage. "Serious racial bias persist(s)…Minority groups and indigenous people are subject to unfairness in environment, election, health care, housing, education and other fields," China's report explained. "Money is the deciding factor in US politics." Ordinary people have no say whatever. Democracy exists in name only. We the people are its rich, well-born and privileged. The world's richest country spurns fundamental rights for most of its people - especially those least advantaged. Income inequality is extreme - homelessness and hunger rampant. Poverty is a growth industry. Deprivation effects growing millions. Women and children's rights aren't protected. "Each year, 2.1 million American women on average (are) assaulted by men. Three females (are) murdered by their partner each day, and four females" die daily from abuse, China reported. Sexual harassment and assaults on female soldiers are rampant. Reporting it to superiors assures recrimination. "Millions of American children (are) homeless. Three children" die daily from abuse. School violence and sex assaults (are) pervasive" as are gun shooting incidents at times killing multiple victims. America never ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women or the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Other treaties and conventions agreed to are breached with impunity. America's human and civil rights records are deplorable. It systematically violates what it claims to support. Millions of victims attest to its barbarity - besides how ruthlessly it treats people worldwide, an unmatched record of savagery on a global scale. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. |
| Donate to Rense.com Support Free And Honest Journalism At Rense.com | Subscribe To RenseRadio! Enormous Online Archives, MP3s, Streaming Audio Files, Highest Quality Live Programs |