Tarek Saab was a speaker at the Lebanese Diaspore Energy (LDE) conference in Beirut. Saab is originally Lebanese, and he is a staunch Chavista and now supports Maduro. His official role is “Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo)” which means “Defender of the People”. This position entails the following:

Inspection of any premises of any state organ or institution, with a view to the protection of human rights.

Presenting recommendations on draft laws or regulations relating to human rights.

Promoting signature, ratification, awareness and application of treaties and conventions relating to human rights.

Protecting individuals against arbitrary abuses of power.

Facilitating resolution of conflicts in relation to human rights.

requiring compulsory production by any person or institution of any documents relevant to its functions.

requiring compulsory production by any person or institution of any documents relevant to its functions. Taking urgent action to avert violations of human rights;

ensuring the proper operation of public services, and the conservation and protection of the environment.

ensuring the proper operation of public services, and the conservation and protection of the environment. Ensuring the human rights of indigenous peoples, and ensuring individual rights and freedoms

Looks amazing, right? That a person of Lebanese origin, dubbed “The Revolution’s Poet” by Hugo Chavez, rose to such prominence in Venezuela. Wrong.

Rima Koumaira and Sarah Wa are the women seen in the video below at the LDE 2017 conference yesterday. They were then escorted out of the venue. They have become national heroes for the opposition in Venezuela, with the topic “Libano” trending on Twitter in Venezuela most of the day.

Saab has a track record of supporting Maduro over the people’s wishes, meaning the “people’s defender” is actually the defender of a regime supported by less than 20% of the people. That makes Trump look popular in America with his 37% approval rating…

Even Saab’s own son, speaks out against him publicly, like in this video posted on YouTube (it’s in Spanish though, with no subtitles)

Background on the Severe Crisis in Venezuela

It started in December 2015. The opposition won exactly two thirds of the seats in parliament, enough to kick Maduro out. Maduro controls the Supreme Court though, which invalidated 3 opposition deputies, making Maduro’s removal impossible. The alternative process, according to Venezuela’s constitution, is to get 20% of the people to sign a petition in order to be able to hold a referendum. However, the Venezuelan regime and the Supreme Court did everything to stop anything that the national assembly and opposition wanted to do. Eventually, Maduro decided to illegally revoke all the powers and rights of the parliament…

This happened a month ago, and since then protests have been happening in Venezuela, with many being murdered by the Maduro government…

Pedro Yammine Crushed by Government Truck

A 22 year-old young man of Lebanese origin was crushed by an armored vehicle almost at the same time as Saab was speaking about “human rights” in Beirut. At a time when the Venezuelan people have lost an average of 7 kilos of their total weight because of malnutrition, food shortages and a severe economic crisis that has things like milk costing several hundred US dollars…

Pedro’s ribs have been shattered, and he is in very critical condition. His mother hopes he will pull through and survive this vicious attack with intent to murder… Stuff we saw Mubarak do, ISIS do and all the other definitely not “defenders of the people” do around the world.

It was wrong to host Saab

It’s wrong to invite Saab to speak about freedom and rights, when he is siding with the regime starving, murdering and arbitrarily imprisoning its own people, many of whom are originally Lebanese too, like Pedro.

I get that we like to boast about Lebanese people getting to high positions abroad, but when it’s people like Saab and Michel Tamer (who appointed an all-male, all-white cabinet after conspiring against impeached president Russef) it is not something to be proud of, but ashamed of, and we should condemn and distance ourselves, not invite them as speaker.

Instead, we should worry about our Lebanese brothers and sisters starving to death under the iron fist of Maduro.

I also get that Lebanon’s government loves Chavez because he stood with Lebanon when Israel savagely attacked us in 2006, and sent aid and support. But, Chavez is dead, and Maduro is definitely not Chavez and we owe him nothing on the ethical and moral level. We owe the Venezuelan people our support, and the least we could do is not host their oppressor on our own dime to, out of all things, talk about freedom and respecting human rights. For shame.

Heeeee, w yalla! Maduro tla3 la barra!!!

We Are With You, the Lebanese Government Doesn’t Represent Us

To the brave Venezuelan people who have been suffering for years in conditions that can only be described as inhumane, we stand with you. Our government does not represent us, and even though it’s not always as violent as Maduro’s regime, it is also out to get us and never defends us or our rights.

To the Lebanese-Venezuelans, don’t worry, the overwhelming majority of the Lebanese people are with you, not with Maduro like our government. Our thoughts are with Pedro Yammine and all the victims of Maduro’s violence.

We wish you the best of luck, and hope you stay safe and are successful in getting rid of the vile, disgusting Maduro and his goons. We look forward to seeing a free Venezuela, not ruled by narco-dictators that order trucks to crush one of our own: a Lebanese young man who calls Venezuela his home too.

I will quote Simon Bolivar here, who Maduro and his goons say they take inspiration from:

“Cursed is the soldier who turns the guns of the Republic on its people”.

- Simon Bolivar

So, I apologize on the behalf of our government for this grave insult to the brave Venezuelan people standing up for what’s right. I apologize to Pedro’s parents, who I think are originally from my hometown, for letting a symbol of the regime that ran over their son, speak at a conference which our own President was attending.

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! 💛💙❤️

Heartfelt thank you to @Peter_Khayat for helping me pen this down. Good luck bro, and be safe ❤