Bernie Sanders draws criticism for failing to label Nicolás Maduro a 'dictator'
The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is reaching a boiling point.
Following a weekend that saw violent and deadly clashes at the border with Brazil and Colombia, the Maduro regime continues to withhold U.S.-deployed aid from the Venezuelan people. They have detained journalists reporting on the widespread poverty that has decimated the Latin American country and forced over 3 million citizens to flee since 2014.
Even so, Independent Vermont Senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has garnered controversy by failing to label embattled President Nicolás Maduro as a “dictator.”
“I think it’s fair to say that the last election was undemocratic, but there are still Democratic operations taking place in that country. The point is, what I’m calling for right now is internationally supervised fair election,” Sanders commented in a CNN town hall on Monday.
The most recent election held in Venezuela has been met with speculation from the global community including most of South America and the United States which have refused to legitimize Maduro's presidency. He was sworn in on January 10, 2019 for a brand-new six-year term. However, the U.S. has recognized opposition party leader Juan Guaidó as the new interim president of Venezuela.
Scott Bolden, a former chair of the Washington D.C. Democratic Party, told FOX Business’ Trish Regan that Sanders should call Maduro what he truly is.
“The pictures to me are obvious and there needs to be new elections,” Bolden said on Wednesday. “Now he said that, but he doesn't want to call this person a dictator. All the data coming out of there says that he is.”
Maduro has continued the policies brought in by his predecessor Hugo Chávez, who steered the country toward socialism since becoming Venezuela's president in 1999. Many have blamed these policies for the squandering of Venezuela's oil wealth and depleting its once vibrant economy.
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Sanders is a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist whose campaign is based largely on government-funded social welfare programs, similar to the Chávez and Maduro regimes.
"He masquerades as a Democrat and he's a Socialist," Bolden said on “Trish Regan Primetime.” “What convinces me is this blockade of stopping food and resources and water coming into the country. I don't care if you’re a dictator or a Democratic president of your country, starving your people and treating them that way for political purposes, you lose me on that. I cannot support that.”