Venezuela summit draws few leaders in blow to Maduro

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS | Sat Sep 17, 2016 | 10:06am EDT

Venezuela summit draws few leaders in blow to Maduro

By Girish Gupta and Deisy Buitrago | MARGARITA ISLAND, VENEZUELA

Only a handful of leaders have traveled to a meeting of a large Cold War-era bloc in Venezuela this week, in an embarrassment for the crisis-hit socialist government.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has touted the 17th meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement as one that would "be remembered for centuries," as the unpopular leftist seeks to bolster his international legitimacy.

Yet turnout has paled compared to past meetings, including the previous summit in Iran in 2012, attended by some 35 heads of state.

The half-century old movement formed by nations wanting to avoid aligning with the United States or Soviet Union has dwindled in relevance over the years.

But it appears that heads of states' attendance at the summit in recession-stricken Venezuela is particularly low, perhaps even in single figures, although the government did not respond to a request for a list of attendees.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-nonaligned-idUSKCN11N0FZ

[Marksman_91]

1. Not like those leaders are good role models, anyway

People like Mugabe are the kind of scum attending it. Then again, the same "useful idiots" who defend MaBURRO are probably the same who defend the dictator Mugabe