Exclusive
crackers for Caracas
EMBARRASSING footage has emerged of Diane Abbott claiming elections in crisis-hit Venezuela are better run than in Britain.
The shadow home secretary made the comments after a £3,000 expenses-paid trip to the capital Caracas.
6
In a film posted on YouTube Ms Abbott tells a Venezuelan Solidarity Campaign event that their system is “less liable to fraud and impersonation than the British election process”.
She hails the nation’s use of fingerprinting and receipts for voters. And she says she couldn’t “stress enough” the “very clean and robust” process.
In 2013 Ms Abbott tweeted her support for the election process when Mr Maduro took over from Chavez. She wrote: “A better way is possible.”
Last week Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the United Nations, blasted Maduro’s latest poll win a “sham” and “another step towards dictatorship”.
6
6
6
Smartmatic, the London-based firm that supplied the voting system, has claimed the turnout figures have been inflated.
Labour’s Angela Smith said she was appalled by the “wilful destruction of democratic structures” in Venezuela.
6
6
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said last night: “There should be no surprise that Diane Abbott thinks everything about the regime in Venezuela is better than here in the UK.
“Her, Mr Corbyn and John McDonnell have been raving about its socialist utopia for years, now we see the grim reality.”
Ms Abbott did not respond for comment.
A nation in turmoil
PROTESTS in Caracas have happened almost every day for months.
Critics accuse President Nicolas Maduro of taking the country towards a dictatorship.
But he says his opponents are conspiring with the US to destabilise the country.
He claimed victory after an election on July 30 for a National Assembly to draft a constitution.
But neighbouring countries including Colombia, Mexico and Peru and the US say they do not recognise the results.
Venezuela faces a crippling economic crisis that Maduro says is due to a US-backed conspiracy.
Topics