It would have been preposterous to tell Ukrainian demonstrators facing government storm troopers to just grin and bear it without any external solidarity or support. It is just as preposterous to tell Venezuelan demonstrators the same thing.
要面对政府爪牙的乌克兰示威者在没有外部团结或支持的情况下咬牙坚持是荒谬可笑的。要委内瑞拉示威者这样做亦然。在这样的环境下，各国外交部动辄挂碍嘴边的自主原则成了一句空洞的口号。