Dear Editor:
There is a critical question that Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong needs to answer urgently and unequivocally for the constituents of his riding. Does he support international law, the precedence of diplomacy and the sovereignty of independent states? The question must sadly be asked because it appears that the leader of his party does not.
Regardless of one’s justified contempt for the criminally despotic Nicolàs Maduro and the despicable human rights record of his regime, the actions of the U.S. in Venezuela are an unambiguous violation of international law. Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter affirms the fundamental principle that states must respect one another’s sovereignty. That principle applies to Venezuela no less than it does to Ukraine. It is for Venezuelans alone to determine the fate of Venezuela. As the New York Times editorial board put it succinctly, “Mr. Trump has not even a fig leaf of legal authority for his attacks on Venezuela.”
It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that this intervention was driven primarily by Venezuela’s petroleum resources. President Trump himself has referred to it as “our oil,” expressly stating at his press conference in Florida that “U.S. oil companies will take control of Venezuela’s state oil operation.” Few observers seriously believe these events would have unfolded in the absence of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. This is not diplomacy; it is coercion. It is mobster behaviour on an international scale. It represents an unapologetic and unbridled embrace of the principle that might makes right.
The implications extend far beyond Venezuela. When a powerful state contemptuously disregards sovereignty in pursuit of resources and political submission, the message is blatant and unmistakable. The signal to Ukraine is clear. The signal to Taiwan is clear. The signal to Denmark, Panama and Canada is clear.
Meanwhile, here in our tariff-battered country, it is deeply troubling to witness Pierre Poilievre unabashedly applaud a U.S. president who represents the greatest external threat to Canadian livelihoods, autonomy, and economic stability in decades.
Trump’s greed and hostility towards America’s neighbours are obvious and concrete, but Poilievre predictably races to praise his shredding of international law. At least the federal Conservative leader has done Canadians the courtesy of once again displaying his feckless admiration for the convicted felon ruling in Washington.
Poilievre might do better to reflect on Trump’s recently issued National Security Strategy, which claims the right of the U.S. to dominate the Americas and reads in part: “After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the western hemisphere.”
It would be helpful if Chong communicated where he stands. His constituents deserve a clear answer – and an honest reckoning with the consequences.
Jonathan Schmidt,
Elora