Jeremy Corbyn under pressure to condemn Venezuela
The Labour leader is urged to break his silence but a shadow cabinet member dismisses the row as "trolling of the worst sort".
Wednesday 2 August 2017 14:08, UK
Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure from some of his own MPs to break his silence on the violence engulfing Venezuela and personally condemn President Nicolas Maduro.
As fears over civil unrest and instability in the country grow, the Foreign Office said it had withdrawn the families of its embassy staff and warned Britons that they should consider leaving too.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has accused Mr Maduro of behaving like the "dictator of an evil regime" after he cracked down on anti-government protests following a widely disputed vote.
The Trump administration also imposed financial sanctions on Mr Maduro in the wake of Sunday's election, which gave the ruling socialist party virtually unlimited power.
The Labour Party issued a statement in the aftermath of the poll, with Labour's shadow foreign minister Liz McInnes urging "the government of Venezuela to recognise its responsibilities to protect human rights, free speech and the rule of law".
The statement also said Mr Maduro must "respond personally to the legitimate concerns of the international community about the increasingly authoritarian nature of his rule and the growing hardship facing his people".
But continuing turmoil in the country - including the - have piled pressure on Mr Corbyn to personally speak out.
Labour MP Angela Smith, who has reportedly joined a new all-party parliamentary group on Venezuela, said: "I think Corbyn needs to condemn the actions of the Venezuelan regime, which are a very serious threat to democracy in that country."
Graham Jones, another Labour MP and chairman of the group, told The Times: "I believe everybody in the Labour Party should condemn the Venezuelan regime because the first duty of any state is to look after its citizens.
"Venezuela has failed."
In the past, Mr Corbyn has expressed support for Venezuela's socialist state, praising Mr Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez.
As a backbencher, he attended a 2013 vigil following the death of Mr Chavez, calling him an "inspiration to all of us fighting back against austerity and neo-liberal economics in Europe".
Mr Corbyn later supported a parliamentary motion congratulating Mr Maduro on his election victory via "transparent and fair" elections, and called for closer ties between Caracas and London.
It also urged then-prime minister David Cameron to invite Mr Maduro to visit the UK at the earliest opportunity.
With the Labour leader away on holiday, Labour referred back to its statement issued earlier in the week.
The spokeswoman for Mr Corbyn said: "The Labour Party's statement on Monday made clear our position on the importance of the respect for the rule of law and human rights.
"We're watching the situation and developments in Venezuela closely."
The row was seized upon by the Conservative Party, with Europe Minister Alan Duncan calling Mr Corbyn's silence "astonishing".
"When the world is condemning Venezuela and its government we don't hear a squeak from the leader of the opposition here in the UK, who for 20 years or more has said he's a great friend of Venezuela, that the socialist regime there is the perfect example of what a government should be," he told Sky News.
A member of the shadow cabinet defended Mr Corbyn, telling Sky News that "Labour has dealt with this issue, we've put out a statement."
"This is just silly season and it's a politically motivated attack on Jeremy," the person said.
"This is trolling of the worst sort."
And Andy McDonald, Labour's shadow transport secretary, also sought to play down the controversy.
Asked about whether Mr Corbyn would personally condemn the regime, he said: "It's an important issue but quite frankly when I go around my constituency it's not the first thing people ask me about.
"What's going on is unacceptable, we've said so, and the Labour Party made it abundantly clear that's the position."
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said it was now advising "against all but essential travel to the remaining areas of Venezuela, due to ongoing unrest and instability".
"You should consider leaving the country by normal commercial means. There's a risk of significant disruption to transport links in and out of the country."