Islamist World Unites Behind Venezuelan Dictator Maduro

The world’s most high-profile Islamist nations and terrorist organizations – from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Hamas and Hezbollah groups – set aside Sunni and Shiite differences this week to unite behind Nicolás Maduro, ejected from the presidency through the invocation of a Venezuelan constitutional mandate to remove dictators. That Muslim leaders who have previously called each other “terrorists” – Erdogan and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, for example – could agree to back a Latin American despot at a moment where most of the free world has lent its support for legitimate President Juan Guaidó is a testament to decades of diplomatic work by Maduro and dictator Hugo Chávez before him to integrate the Venezuelan socialist dictatorship into the fabric of the Middle East’s anti-American regional leadership. Guaidó took an oath of office Wednesday amid protests that he estimates attracted over 7 million Venezuelans nationwide, calling for an end to the socialist regime. Guaidó was previously president of the federal legislature, the National Assembly. Maduro has refused to step down and used the military to crack down on peaceful dissidents, killing at least 18 at press time. -- MORE...