Guido? Guaido? Neoliberalism's Sacrificial Lamb Scrambles to Prove Himself Worthy of a Name
Guido? Guaido? Neoliberalism's Sacrificial Lamb Scrambles to Prove Himself Worthy of a Name
“We’ll have announcements from…other places later today, talking about how we anticipate interim president Juan Guido will have the resources he needs to lead the government of Venezuela forward,” Pompeo announced in a press conference, looking somewhat dyspeptic while mangling the name of the man Washington has chosen to lead the Venezuelan people into a shiny, democratic future - minus the actual democracy.
“Guido,” once a racial slur used in the US against Italians, has more recently been reclaimed by reality TV fans to describe tanned, over-muscled hair-gel aficionados of all ethnicities, but no one ever looked at the cast of Jersey Shore and thought, "That's who I want to lead my coup!" Until now.
Even mainstream media
However, it’s important to make your chosen patsy feel needed - loved, even. Hence Bolton’s chummy
Pompeo seems to understand on some gut level that Guaidó isn't going to be around for too long. Why bother learning his name when he's destined for the scrap-heap that has claimed so many others anointed by Washington to lead the Venezuelans out of the frying pan of socialism into the towering inferno of neoliberalism?
Guaidó's first act as self-appointed leader - to apply to the IMF for a loan with the
Still, Pompeo isn’t the only one tongue-tied over the Venezuelan boy wonder. Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez also struggled to get Guaidó’s name out, and he speaks the same language and lives on the same continent.
The speed at which the western hemisphere recognized Guaidó without, apparently, knowing who he is raises a few questions. Did the State Department send out a chain letter to South American governments warning “Forward this to five other countries or Trump will sanction you?”
Not been the only one to say it. This Mario Abdo Benítez, president of #Paraguay, recognizing a man whose surname he doesn't know. Maybe a new influenza? #Venezuela
— Oscar Valadares (@oscarvaladares) January 25, 2019
The US’ support for Venezuelan National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó’s coup may not be as solid as it looks. While Vice President Mike Pence personally gave Guaidó the go-ahead to declare himself president in a phone call earlier this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo apparently doesn’t even know the American puppet’s name, referring to him as “interim president Juan Guido.”
https://t.co/BKCUsTIFbD
