(LifeSiteNews) – People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier said that while he is not sad to see Venezuela’s “communist dictator” Nicolas Maduro taken down, it should have been the people of the nation that deposed him, not the “imperialist” U.S. government.
In a statement posted to X on January 4, Bernier, a Libertarian, noted that his message will not “please the hardcore partisans on either side,” but he wanted it to be known nonetheless.
“I have zero sympathy for the communist dictator Maduro, who — along with his predecessor Chavez — destroyed his country’s economy and forced millions into exile. I won’t shed a tear if this regime is finally collapsing,” he wrote.
“However, that change of regime was the responsibility of Venezuelans themselves. I cannot support the Americans for once again militarily intervening in a country that posed no threat to them, and for having illegally kidnapped its president and his wife.”
Bernier, who is no stranger to controversy and who in the past has shown support for U.S. President Donald Trump, said that in his view, the United States at times “act(s), as they have for decades, like imperialist bullies who believe they have the right to do whatever they want, anywhere in the world.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, on January 3, U.S. special forces captured Maduro and flew him out of Venezuela in a sophisticated military operation. Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, was captured as well, and both were taken to New York, where they have been charged with drug trafficking.
While Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre celebrated Maduro’s capture, New Democratic Party interim leader Don Davies condemned actions by the Trump administration.
Prime Minister Mark Carney did not disagree with Maduro’s ousting, noting that the Canadian government never recognized him as president after the 2018 elections.
As for Bernier, his message went on about the “dozens of US foreign interventions since WWII — invasions, coups, wars, bombings, assassinations — have nearly all had devastating long-term consequences and been responsible for the deaths of millions of innocents.”
“Despite overwhelming US military superiority, they’ve also often led to defeats and humiliations, from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Who knows where the Americans ‘running Venezuela,’ a huge country of 30 million, will lead to?”
Bernier was not entirely negative about the situation, noting how “credit” should be given to Trump, whom he said showed “far more restraint than his predecessors” for “not having started any major war so far and at least trying to limit civilian casualties when attacking other countries like Iran and Venezuela now.”
According to Bernier, Trump’s actions in Venezuela were not about ending “drug trafficking or restoring democracy” but about “controlling Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, as Trump himself admits.”
“Trump understands better than his predecessors that the world is becoming multipolar and that American military and financial hegemony is waning. He accepts that the U.S. can no longer intervene everywhere with impunity but is reasserting the Monroe Doctrine to maintain control over the Americas,” Bernier noted.
“This explains his aggressive policy toward Venezuela, the financial bailout of Argentina, and his outrageous stance on taking over Canada and Greenland.”
