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BBC presenter Evan Davis was baffled when Derby North MP Chris Williamson claimed that the United States was a key player in creating the chaos that took over Venezuela since elections were held on 30 July. Several members of the UK Labour party, including leader Jeremy Corbyn, had previously praised the regime as a successful socialist model. But appearing on Newsnight, Williamson failed to discuss the reasons behind Corbyn's lack of condemnation of the ruling Maduro regime and tried to blame the United States for the violent protests taking place all over Venezuela.

BBC/Getty Labour Chris Williamson said the United States has been "funding" Maduro opposition for years

Williamson said that the United States had a "shady record" in South America and had been "funding opposition groups" for years." "The United States has a very shady record, going back many decades, of interfering in Latin America right back to Chile. President Nixon said he was going to make the economy scream." BBC host Evan Davis was doubtful about his attempt to hold the US responsible for the current situation: "So your response to seeing opposition leaders bundled up in the night and taken away, arrested, is to condemn the United States?" Williamson said that conditions in Venezuela had changed over the years and the socialist regime has "made mistakes" but still failed to condemn the brutal crackdown on protesters.