by WorldTribune Staff, September 8, 2017
The socialist regime of Venezuela paid $200,000 for an advertisement in The New York Times that claims U.S. President Donald Trump is attempting to “manufacture a political crisis” in Venezuela.
The ad – titled an “Open Letter from the People of Venezuela to the People and Government of the USA – claims that the United States might “be on the verge of an unfair and baseless military intervention,” while Trump’s sanctions will affect Venezuela’s “economy and means to obtain resources for food, healthcare, and production.”
A recent report by the United Nations found that the regime of President Nicolas Maduro had committed “extensive” and widespread repression of rights across Venezuela amid a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that has left millions starving and thousands dead.
“OHCHR’s findings detailed in this report point to an increasingly critical human rights situation since the protests began, with mounting levels of repression of political dissent by national security forces, and increasing stigmatization and persecution of people perceived as opposing the Government of President Maduro,” the report stated.
In a statement provided to Breitbart News, a New York Times spokeswoman confirmed that the advertisement fell in line with the newspaper’s advertising policy:
“We believe that the broad principles of freedom of the press confer on us an obligation to keep our advertising columns open to all points of view. Therefore, The New York Times accepts advertisements in which groups or individuals comment on public or controversial issues. We make no judgments on an advertiser’s arguments, factual assertions or conclusions. We accept advocacy/opinion advertisements regardless of our editorial position on any given subject.”
The statement did not address allegations of human rights abuses or charges that the Maduro regime sustains itself through drug trafficking and money laundering.
According to Venezuelan outlet Runrunes, the Maduro government paid $200,000 for the ad.
Most recently, the Maduro regime pushed closer to a total dictatorship with the creation of an illegal lawmaking body known as the “national constituents assembly,” filled exclusively with pro-government tools.
It is not the first time The New York Times has published ads from the Venezuelan regime. In February, the paper published a full-page open letter by Venezuela’s vice president, Tareck El Aissami, condemning the U.S. Department of the Treasury for sanctioning him as an official “Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker” for his ties to drug organizations.
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