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Joe BidenCongratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
 

Jose Garcia

(2,552 posts)
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 08:35 PM Feb 2019

'He is not going to be the nominee': Dems slam Sanders over Maduro stance

Florida Democrats are denouncing Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for refusing to call Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro a dictator — a politically explosive issue in the nation’s biggest swing state.

Sanders also would not say whether he considered Venezuela’s assembly leader, Juan Guaidó, as the nation’s interim president, which is the position of the United States and a majority of Latin American countries European countries.

Both of Sanders’ positions play into the hands of President Trump and the GOP, say Democrats. The president just held a rally in Miami on Monday to denounce Maduro and socialism, an appeal to the state’s growing block of Venezuelan voters who've flocked to the state as Maduro brutally cracked down on dissent while the economy cratered.

More: https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/02/21/bernie-sanders-venezuela-maduro-1179636?__twitter_impression=true

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
31 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
'He is not going to be the nominee': Dems slam Sanders over Maduro stance (Original Post) Jose Garcia Feb 2019 OP
Maduro is a dictator. CrossingTheRubicon Feb 2019 #1
SMH Eliot Rosewater Feb 2019 #2
I've always said that Sanders is just misguided. But one has to wonder if he's more than that. Garrett78 Feb 2019 #3
I don't know that it's bad to disagree with Trump. Honeycombe8 Feb 2019 #4
Sorry but that is just partisan thinking. Trumpocalypse Feb 2019 #8
+1 Power 2 the People Feb 2019 #27
Sanders Has a Soft Spot for Latin American Strongmen LongtimeAZDem Feb 2019 #5
Bernie likes left-wing strongmen as much as Trump likes right-wing ones. IluvPitties Feb 2019 #11
Bernie was right about the fact that Castro transformed the country rusty fender Feb 2019 #24
Interesting, since San Juan Mayor is co-chair of his campaign. vsrazdem Feb 2019 #6
San Juan is in Puerto Rico, not Venezuela Jose Garcia Feb 2019 #15
What was the point of that! I am stating that San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mayor does not have a problem vsrazdem Feb 2019 #16
It will be hard to be the nominee without doing well in Florida Gothmog Feb 2019 #7
Okay, that does it...Bernie's campaign is officially over!! That sure didn't last long!! InAbLuEsTaTe Feb 2019 #9
+1! Devil Child Feb 2019 #12
Yup, no more fuckin' unnecessary wars!! That's why Bernie is such a wise politician InAbLuEsTaTe Feb 2019 #13
For someone who's anti-war, namahage Feb 2019 #17
Should we reserve the title "dictator" for people like Bashir al Assad? CrossingTheRubicon Feb 2019 #29
Call Assad whatever you want, it's a mostly free country last I checked Devil Child Feb 2019 #30
Maduro has destroyed Venezuela. IluvPitties Feb 2019 #10
Didn't Trump declare at a meeting right after the election that he wanted Venezuela's oil? Karadeniz Feb 2019 #14
The US already buys most of Venezuela's oil Jose Garcia Feb 2019 #19
Oh FFS, I don't think anything you wrote is true. You might want to apply for a job doing PR for okaawhatever Feb 2019 #23
The US refines the vast majority of Venezuelan oil. joshcryer Feb 2019 #25
He called for no coup and fair elections. dogman Feb 2019 #18
So he is admitted the the last election wasn't fair? Jose Garcia Feb 2019 #21
What claims do Floridians have? dogman Feb 2019 #22
And we've admitted we want their oil. Hassin Bin Sober Feb 2019 #26
Is this a litmus test? Politicub Feb 2019 #20
+1! n/t Devil Child Feb 2019 #28
They are rignt. He is not going to be the nominee lunamagica Feb 2019 #31
 

CrossingTheRubicon

(731 posts)
1. Maduro is a dictator.
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 08:37 PM
Feb 2019

Any Democratic nominee should be clear on this point.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Garrett78

(10,721 posts)
3. I've always said that Sanders is just misguided. But one has to wonder if he's more than that.
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 08:45 PM
Feb 2019

Anyway, he's done after New Hampshire. The talk of him being a serious contender because of donations or name recognition polls is just plain ignorant.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
4. I don't know that it's bad to disagree with Trump.
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 08:49 PM
Feb 2019

Did he refuse to even say that Maduro is a dictator? Or did he refuse to declare Guaido the real President?

This is an odd turn of events. Democrats want Democratic candidates to back Trump's position in foreign policy.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Trumpocalypse

(6,143 posts)
8. Sorry but that is just partisan thinking.
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:38 PM
Feb 2019

Just because Trump says the sky is blue doesn’t mean we have to say that it isn’t. We blast the right when they do this. Madura is a dictator. That is a fact. We shouldn’t deny a fact just because of Trump. Doing so makes us just as bad as Republicans.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

LongtimeAZDem

(4,494 posts)
5. Sanders Has a Soft Spot for Latin American Strongmen
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:12 PM
Feb 2019
This isn’t the first time Sanders has chosen to tiptoe around Latin America’s despotic leftist regimes. In the ’80s, Sanders traveled to Nicaragua. Upon his return, he repeatedly defended the Sandinistas and their leader, Daniel Ortega. (Michael Moynihan offers an excellent overview of Sanders and Nicaragua here.) Sanders’ enthusiasm for both Ortega and the Castro regime in Cuba came back to haunt him during the 2016 presidential campaign. Three years ago, during a primary debate against Hillary Clinton hosted by Univision and the Washington Post in Miami, Sanders was shown a video shot in 1985 while he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in which he spoke about Nicaragua and enthusiastically described how Fidel Castro had “totally transformed” Cuban society, providing education and health care. After Univision anchor María Elena Salinas followed up, Sanders acknowledged Cuba as an “authoritarian, undemocratic country” but then proceeded to praise the Castro regime, again, for its “advances in health care”


Sanders Has a Soft Spot for Latin American Strongmen
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

IluvPitties

(3,181 posts)
11. Bernie likes left-wing strongmen as much as Trump likes right-wing ones.
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:58 PM
Feb 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

rusty fender

(3,428 posts)
24. Bernie was right about the fact that Castro transformed the country
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 02:48 PM
Feb 2019

Of course Castro’s transformation of Cuban society has been a mixed bag. I’m no longer a fan of Bernie, but I think it is unfair to say that Bernie approves of the authoritarian/violent aspect of so-called ‘leftist’ regimes.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

vsrazdem

(2,176 posts)
6. Interesting, since San Juan Mayor is co-chair of his campaign.
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:20 PM
Feb 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Jose Garcia

(2,552 posts)
15. San Juan is in Puerto Rico, not Venezuela
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 11:05 PM
Feb 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

vsrazdem

(2,176 posts)
16. What was the point of that! I am stating that San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mayor does not have a problem
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 11:45 PM
Feb 2019

with Bernie Sanders, and Florida has a large Puerto Rican population, so I thought the article seemed a little strange. I am fully aware of where san Juan Puerto Rico is, I have been there. No reason to be insulting.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Gothmog

(144,005 posts)
7. It will be hard to be the nominee without doing well in Florida
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:25 PM
Feb 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

InAbLuEsTaTe

(24,110 posts)
9. Okay, that does it...Bernie's campaign is officially over!! That sure didn't last long!!
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:50 PM
Feb 2019

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Devil Child

(2,728 posts)
12. +1!
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:59 PM
Feb 2019

Thanks for the chuckle!

I’m thankful he hasn’t jumped on the dictator label background. Embracing that definition brings us one step closer to war in Venezuela which I refuse to support.

Look forward to the threads condemning Sen, Sanders for hypocrisy if he ever refers to Maduro as a dictator.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

InAbLuEsTaTe

(24,110 posts)
13. Yup, no more fuckin' unnecessary wars!! That's why Bernie is such a wise politician
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 10:20 PM
Feb 2019

and one of the most popular among the declared candidates. It's, in part, because Bernie can be trusted with our foreign policy and not involve us in endless wars. Bernie was one of the few who were smart enough not to fall for The Shrub's bullshit by voting for the IWR... no surprise he got that one right. We can't afford another horrific mistake like that again!!


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

namahage

(1,157 posts)
17. For someone who's anti-war,
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 12:21 AM
Feb 2019

he sure does love having their instruments built in his state:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-loves-this-dollar1-trillion-war-machine

It will be particularly interesting to see those who support this as a jobs measure for the people of Vermont reconcile this with their vitriol for Joe Biden supporting financial company legislation, which arguably provides jobs for the people of his home state of Delaware.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

CrossingTheRubicon

(731 posts)
29. Should we reserve the title "dictator" for people like Bashir al Assad?
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 03:08 PM
Feb 2019

Maduro is a dictator. His election was a sham. He's stolen the country blind. And he clings to power by force.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Devil Child

(2,728 posts)
30. Call Assad whatever you want, it's a mostly free country last I checked
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 03:12 PM
Feb 2019

If you want to effect change in foreign nations feel free to do so. I don't want my government in the business of military intervention and regime change.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

IluvPitties

(3,181 posts)
10. Maduro has destroyed Venezuela.
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 09:57 PM
Feb 2019

This is not a left vs right thing. Evil dictators are evil dictators no matter their political stance. We have an evil, Nazi-wannabe in the White House right now and Venezuela has a walking turd called Nicolás Maduro who is starving his own people.

F**k them both, and whoever stands behind them.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Karadeniz

(22,280 posts)
14. Didn't Trump declare at a meeting right after the election that he wanted Venezuela's oil?
Thu Feb 21, 2019, 10:33 PM
Feb 2019

There have been several oversight analyses (UN) that
showed much improvement in affordable housing, nutrition and other areas. Maduro asked the UN to monitor the election, but the US blocked it. Chavez bought machines with a paper trail so it might have been easy to refute the subsequent allegations of fraud. Venezuela's economy hasn't been helped by the US getting everyone to impose sanctions. The US has been waging a p.r. campaign against the govt.that it's deliberately responsible for abusing the people, and so Venezuela needs humanitarian aid. Elliott Abrams is made our envoy to Colombia, the same Abrams who used USAID boxes to Central America to transport arms there and train rebels to overthrow their govts: Iran Contra. If I were in Venezuela, I'd be a bit worried to have Abrams next door and the US offering humanitarian aid.The US media has almost without of exception been parroting the Trump line, not explaining how Venezuela got where it is or why we're not recognizing a legitimately elected government. If we wanted to help, we could...without using our standard playbook for violent regime change. But, as Trump signaled shortly after his election, he wants the oil he likewise wanted from Iraq. We replaced another legitimate president with Pinochet, hardly a humanitarian success story. I hope we don't help the Venezuelan people by condemning them to a Pinochet.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

okaawhatever

(9,453 posts)
23. Oh FFS, I don't think anything you wrote is true. You might want to apply for a job doing PR for
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 11:41 AM
Feb 2019

the Maduro regime.


Stay on point:
Maduro did not hold legitimate elections.
He doesn't have a legitimate STJ.
He created his own bogus congress when the opposition won a supermajority.
He's been ruling by decree for years, illegally, I might add.
He barely won his first election, even with Chavez' endorsement.
Within months of taking office his popularity was rated between 20-30%.
He had to make up new rules to put an end to the recall campaign.
He's been looting the treasury and stockpiling gold in Turkey so the legitimate owners of the assets, the VZ people, can't get them.





If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
25. The US refines the vast majority of Venezuelan oil.
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 02:52 PM
Feb 2019

Venezuela would do well to let the US oil giants in and let them develop it. Or at least, they would have done well to have done that 10 years ago. Now with the Saudi's manipulating oil prices to the ground, it's a lost cause.

A decade of potential Venezuelan growth lost to populist rhetoric and waste. Million dollar projects just blown to the wind.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

dogman

(6,073 posts)
18. He called for no coup and fair elections.
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 01:38 AM
Feb 2019

Why should Floridians pick their government? Look what they have done here.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Jose Garcia

(2,552 posts)
21. So he is admitted the the last election wasn't fair?
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 10:46 AM
Feb 2019

If so, what legitimate claim to the Presidency does Muduro have?

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

dogman

(6,073 posts)
22. What claims do Floridians have?
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 11:06 AM
Feb 2019

What claims do the T-Rump administration have? Yes, Bernie is calling for fair elections for the people of Venezuela.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,272 posts)
26. And we've admitted we want their oil.
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 02:56 PM
Feb 2019

Maybe we should stay the fuck out of their business.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Politicub

(12,163 posts)
20. Is this a litmus test?
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 10:40 AM
Feb 2019

It isn’t for me. Arguing about it is playing into the president’s tiny hands.

For all intents and purposes, Maduro behaves as a dictator would. I don’t care if Bernie calls him that or not. What I don’t want is the U.S. to get entangled in Venezuela’s affairs beyond humanitarian aid delivered through the U.N.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

lunamagica

(9,967 posts)
31. They are rignt. He is not going to be the nominee
Fri Feb 22, 2019, 03:14 PM
Feb 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
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