'Zionism behind this': After disputed election result, Maduro blames Jews for Venezuelan crises

As Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Maduro faces intense protests, he has found a new bunch of people to blame: Jews.

Echoing extremists’ conspiracy theories, Maduro has said the Jews control the international media and are driving the movement against him.

In the run-up to the last month’s vote in Venezuelan, it was expected that the Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzales would win. The vote was marked by widespread voter suppression and instances of violence by Maduro's forces. The election had already taken place amid crackdown by Maduro on his Opposition and threats of a “bloodbath” in case he lost.

Following the election, while the Maduro-controlled election authority declared him the winner, the Opposition and much of the international community disputed the result and said Gonzalez had won. The Maduro’s regime has not shown paper tallies of votes cast for independent verification of the result. Along with this, considering Maduro has a history of manipulating elections, as he also won a sham election in 2018, the international community has rejected the result and have called for transparency.

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Now, after suppressing voters and cracking down on opponents and critics, as the international community indicts him for electoral fraud, he has turned to antisemitism to make his case. In a press conference, he said that “far-right” and “international zionist” forces were working against him.

‘Zionist powers behind this coup’

Maduro, who unleased his regime’s forces on the protestors agitating against what’s deemed as a stolen election, accused the Jews of funding his rivals and driving the narrative against him.

In a speech late last week, Maduro said Venezuela’s “extremist right” was “financed” and “supported by international Zionism”, according to The Jerusalem Post.

“All the communication power of Zionism, who controls all social networks, the satellites, and all the power behind this coup d’état,” said Maduro.

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Zionism refers to the ideology of political Judaism. It is under the ideology that the State of Israel was formed where Jews, after systemic persecution of centuries in Europe and the Middle East, found a homeland where they say they historically originate from.

Maduro continues to rule Venezuela even as the Opposition holds demonstrations against his rule. After days of hiding owing to threats to her life from Maduro’s regime, Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has now started leading protest marches against Maduro's rule . She remains the most popular leader in the country and, as part of the regime’s crackdown on Opposition, she was barred from contesting the elections. Her supporters were also jailed and criminal cases were slapped on them.

Maduro has ruled Venezuela with an iron fist since 2013. Over the decade, he has presided over the economic ruin of the country. The crisis in the country is such that more than 7 million people have fled the country as food and other essentials either scarce or unaffordable for them. Such conditions have arisen despite Venezuela having the largest known oil reserves in the world but the corruption of Maduro’s regime has been such that the country’s GDP has fallen by up to 80 per cent since he came to power.

Ahead of the election, a Gallup survey found that as many as 68 per cent Venezuelans struggled to find food and the condition is so dire that even 59 per cent of the richest 20 per cent say said they were unable to afford food because of inflation.