Kristian Niemietz

Why we shouldn’t let the left forget its support for Venezuela

If there were a modern remake of the TV series Fawlty Towers, it would probably contain an episode called ‘The Socialists’, in which the one-liner ‘Don’t mention Venezuela!’ would become a running gag.  

Mentioning Venezuela in the presence of a self-described socialist is considered boorish and impolite these days. Yes, a lot of people on the left have said foolish things about Venezuela over the years. But do we have to hold that against them forever? And why does this matter anyway? We live in Britain, not Venezuela.

If ‘Venezuela-mania’ had no domestic policy implications, and if there were no wider lessons to be learned from it, I would sympathise with that sentiment. That is why I am not particularly bothered about, for example, Cuba-romanticism. A lot of people on the left have a soft spot for Cuba, and parade their support for it, but they do not seem to draw any policy conclusions from it.

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