[February 23, 2014] Protesters seeking “greater freedoms” are involved violent protests in both the countries of the Ukraine and Venezuela. The socialist leadership of these two very different nations are trying to move their people in an anti-Western direction.
While both are unique in their origins and cultures, there are some common themes in both these movements. The leadership of each is a socialist state that is trying to create a vision for their people that have not been sufficiently compelling to enroll their sympathy or their vote.
Opposition groups say that recent government measures are causing economic problems, and more recently, increased corruption, loss of freedoms, and declining security. The governments blame “right-wing” (read Western) agitation that is fueling the violence. Each also blames the United States for interfering in their state of affairs.
In both cases, the socialist government jailed, at least initially, the opposition’s leaders. Also, the police and military cracked down hard on the protests. These actions simply inflamed the situation further.
The U.S. Secretary of State made several statements about how these governments should not resort to violence; essentially giving the protesters support. He has now been blamed for giving the “green light” to violence.
But this brings to front the question about the United State’s strategy in both these regions. What is our strategy? What is our policy? In short, we have none. This means that the lack of leadership in the U.S. is creating a zone of gray on what we consider acceptable behavior on the altar of national leadership.
Both of these nations’ leadership should have learned some valuable lessons here. And, the U.S. should clear up its strategy in both regions of the world. Expect more leadership failure and expect more people will die.