Developments in Venezuela Reflected in Iranian Social Media

On Wednesday, a large crowd of people in Venezuela protested against the government of Nicolas Maduro, during which Juan Guaido, the opposition leader, declared himself the interim president of Venezuela. The oil-rich country is facing a deep economic crisis, suffering from severe shortages of food and medicine, with the International Monetary Fund predicting that Venezuela's inflation rate will reach one million percent this year. The unbearable hyperinflation and acute shortages of basic necessities in Venezuelan cities have fueled a mass migration of people to neighboring countries. Following trends on social media indicates that many Iranians, referencing the increasing protests in Iran and the deteriorating economic situation, have compared their own country's situation to that of Venezuela. The almost identical political stances of the leaders of Iran and Venezuela, along with widespread corruption and rampant inflation in both countries, have led many users to view the developments in Venezuela as a mirror of Iran's current and future conditions. On Wednesday, social media users shared images of the protests and violence in Venezuela, warning that 'this could happen in Iran too,' with some even believing that such events 'should' occur in Iran. Political analyst Mehdi Mahdavi Azad tweeted about Venezuela: 'Let’s not see it this way. The main version of the story is this: in a country where everything was for one person, opponents were suppressed, the situation worsened every month, every problem was blamed on America, and there was no prospect for improvement; eventually, the vicious cycle of daily life broke. A change occurred, and a new era began...' Meanwhile, Ahmad Batebi, a human rights activist and former prisoner, tweeted that the reformist movement has delayed fundamental change in Iran compared to Venezuela, stating: 'Venezuela had no reformist to come to the dictator's aid at the last minute and deceive the people with a key and impossible promises. There was no reformism to scare people about ISIS and the disintegration of Venezuela... If this nation had been afflicted with the plague of reformism, it would never have reached the unity of the million-strong field today.' Donald Trump, the President of the United States, immediately after the recent events in Venezuela, announced that he recognizes Juan Guaido, the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, as the interim president of the country. Meanwhile, Russia, Turkey, and Iran have expressed support for Nicolas Maduro, the current president of Venezuela, criticizing what they call 'interference in Venezuela's internal affairs.' In line with this view, a user named Mina Varshoochi warned that 'direct interference in the internal affairs of countries, under any pretext, is condemned. If we are happy today about Trump's recognition of the opposition leader in Venezuela, the day a foreign country intervenes in Iran's internal affairs, we will have to remain silent.' Amir Ebtehaj, another user, expressed a negative view of the protests in Venezuela, writing: 'People in Venezuela took to the streets against poverty and economic chaos and political corruption, but they are already losers. History shows that wherever American imperialism has intervened, dictatorship, war, bloodshed, and executions of opponents have emerged, not a national and democratic government!' However, generally, most Iranians tired of the Islamic Republic have welcomed the events in Venezuela. Pouria Zarati, a journalist outside Iran, wrote: 'The fact that the U.S. government recognized the leader of the Venezuelan opposition as the president of this country was one of the most prominent foreign policy decisions of Trump; official support from the White House for protest movements.' Regarding 'official support from the White House for protest movements,' Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, recently provided explanations during a speech at the American University in Cairo, outlining the U.S. government's policy regarding the Middle East. He criticized the previous U.S. administration, stating: 'When the people of Iran rose up in 2009, the U.S. did nothing.' He promised that 'the Trump administration stands with the people of Iran.' Another user, Sasan Aghaei, a journalist inside Iran, approached the events in Venezuela from another angle, writing: 'Seven years of fighting for freedom; they have done everything to end the leftists' rule, from winning elections to rebellion and military action, but there is still a long way to victory! A warning for history; the leftists steal the government from the people, and reclaiming the country from them costs a fortune, just like the misery of Venezuela.' Davood Zarei, a user who has tweeted multiple times about the developments in Venezuela, sarcastically remarked about the reformist movement: 'It’s strange that in Venezuela they didn’t wait for Maduro to die of old age before starting a revolution.' In the meantime, Javad Deliri, the editor of the Iran newspaper, noted another point on Twitter, stating: 'In the modern media-driven and social media world, only protests or the people's demands or a coup and foreign government intervention do not overthrow or determine; blue ticks also stage coups and play a role (last night, the blue ticks of the Venezuelan president's social media pages on Facebook and Instagram were removed).'