Venezuela - U.S. Again Tries Regime Change...

[Elvis]

Daily hair-pulling moments courtesy BBC, when they say stuff like, "opposition continues to try to oust the dictator Maduro, while fifty countries back Juan Guaido, who has declared himself president."



So the guy who won 67% of the vote is the "dictator," and the guy who "declared himself president" is the 'legitimate democratic' leader?


I know, it's not really funny. It's just so outrageous, and no one who will counter it is allowed on BBC air (or NPR for that matter).

Another hilarious quip was from an NPR commentator: "...this will have to be a democratic—uh, primarily democratic process."

They know damn well the coup is not democratic.

[RocketMan]

Truly frightening scenes at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington.

Mint Press News Twitter has some terrifying footage of opposition goons hammering down the door, shot from the inside. And the US is flouting international law in not protecting the embassy personnel.

Between this and how Assange was treated in the Ecuadorian embassy, perhaps we are witnessing the voiding of diplomatic practice stemming from, what, the Middle Ages?

[Elvis]

Also, see Maddow's latest? The US must take action in Venezuela, because RUSSIA!

[stickdog99]

Also, see Maddow's latest? The US must take action in Venezuela, because RUSSIA!

Just wow. So glad I never watch shit that either. Talk about channeling legitimate dissent toward evil. That outdoes Pelosi.

[PufPuf93]

Also, see Maddow's latest? The US must take action in Venezuela, because RUSSIA!

Just wow. So glad I never watch shit that either. Talk about channeling legitimate dissent toward evil. That outdoes Pelosi.

I used to like Maddow, now she makes me gag and I hardly ever watch MSNBC (or TV "news" in general). Yesterday I tried to post a video clip of Maddow warmongering regards Venezuela but for some reason could not get the clip to post and play.

[stickdog99]

Also, see Maddow's latest? The US must take action in Venezuela, because RUSSIA!

Just wow. So glad I never watch shit that either. Talk about channeling legitimate dissent toward evil. That outdoes Pelosi.

I used to like Maddow, now she makes me gag and I hardly ever watch MSNBC (or TV "news" in general). Yesterday I tried to post a video clip of Maddow warmongering regards Venezuela but for some reason could not get the clip to post and play.

The thing that is most disgusting about Maddow to me is that, unlike most of her fellow talking heads, she is intelligent enough to know exactly what she is doing.

[RocketMan]

Also, see Maddow's latest? The US must take action in Venezuela, because RUSSIA!

Just wow. So glad I never watch shit that either. Talk about channeling legitimate dissent toward evil. That outdoes Pelosi.

I used to like Maddow, now she makes me gag and I hardly ever watch MSNBC (or TV "news" in general). Yesterday I tried to post a video clip of Maddow warmongering regards Venezuela but for some reason could not get the clip to post and play.

The thing that is most disgusting about Maddow to me is that, unlike most of her fellow talking heads, she is intelligent enough to know exactly what she is doing.

Yep, before this whole Trump craziness, she actually wrote a book mildly critical of US imperial overreach and had a coherent discussion about it with Glenn Greenwald. The halcyon days...

She is indeed guilty of the worst sort of moral turpitude. Somewhere in there she knows better.

She's like the talk show host in V for Vendetta.

[RocketMan]

Those pricks at The Guardian are at it again...

This is just crass propaganda with no pretenses of being otherwise.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... r-zambrano

Opposition politicians battling to bring down Venezuela’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro, have vowed to continue their struggle after the detention of one of their movement’s key figures signalled the start of a major crackdown.

Edgar Zambrano, the vice-president of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament, was seized by intelligence agents on Wednesday night, and at least nine other lawmakers members are also facing detention on charges relating to last week’s failed uprising.

The politicians – all supporters of Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader spearheading the push to topple Maduro – are alleged to have committed a litany of offences including treason, conspiracy, instigating insurrection and civil rebellion.

Juan Andrés Mejía, one of the targeted deputies, told the Guardian the group would not be cowed by Maduro’s “absolutely illegal and unconstitutional” counterattack.

I would laugh if I weren't crying so hard. So let me get this straight. A clique of reactionaries colludes (tee hee) with the US to initiate a coup d'état against the legitimate government of a country which was elected with a larger percentage of the population voting than the US president. Said country arrests putschists (who DON'T DENY that they attempted a coup!!) on charges of treason and it's called A CRACKDOWN. Duly elected president is branded "strongman". I can't even.

It's reported as if a government moving to arrest those that attempted to overthrow it illegally and against the wishes of the majority of the population is a terrifying abuse of power. It's "unconstitutional" for a government to resist a foreign-backed coup. This with a straight face. Well, maybe the side of the mouth twitching a little.

[Elvis]

^^^ That relates to this:

Listening to an NPR report on Venezuela by the execrable John Otis, I heard this:

TIS: One of the demonstrators, Amilcar Miranda, is an agricultural technician. He says the lawmakers are getting what they deserve for supporting an illegal coup. The exodus of lawmakers has further hollowed out Venezuela's National Assembly, the only branch of government controlled by the opposition. Even before they fled, Maduro had ignored its laws and stripped the body most of its powers.

This is the entrance to the National Assembly building, and we're not going to be able to get in because it's blocked off by riot police with shields that - forming a big line here, blocking off all the journalists.

One of the lawmakers entering the building is Renzo Prieto. He spent four years in prison for protesting against Maduro. Prieto tells me that he and his colleagues remain undeterred.

RENZO PRIETO: (Speaking Spanish.)

OTIS: He says, "unfortunately, the tyrant keeps abusing power, but we will keep up the fight."

John Otis, NPR News, Caracas.

"He spent four years in prison for protesting against Maduro." That's it? You're not leaving out any important details are you, John Otis?

Led by Lorent Gómez Saleh, Gabriel Valles, Ronny Navarro, Gerardo Carrero and Renzo Prieto, all currently under arrest and facing trial, the plan sought to take advantage of the rightwing street violence known as the “Barricades” that was unleashed last year. The group allegedly planned to bomb a series of government, public and private buildings, as well as murder a string of political activists associated with the country’s Bolivarian Revolution. The plot was aimed at ousting the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro and was reportedly being planned with the help of Colombian paramilitaries.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11355

You may recall Carrero from the 2003 coup. Chavez was gracious and didn't jail him, now he's plotting violent overthrow.

Maduro is perhaps too gracious as well; last year he released these jackals:

Seventy-nine prisoners who were being held for alleged crimes related to political violence, most of which occurred during the anti-government protests of 2014 and 2017, have been granted “procedural benefits” and released by Venezuelan authorities this past weekend.

According to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the so-called “Christian” and “socialist” measure is “a solid, firm attempt for the reconciliation and coming together of all of Venezuelans and to say no to violence.”
. . .

Amongst the high profile prisoners released is the ex-mayor of the western city of San Cristobal and prominent member of the ultra-right Popular Will party, Daniel Ceballos, ex-Defence Minister and retired general Raul Baduel, renegade military leader Angel Vivas, Popular Will Deputies Gilber Caro and Renzo Prieto, and First Justice Deputy Wilmer Azuaje. So far prominent right-wing leader Leopoldo Lopez, who was sentenced to thirteen years nine months imprisonment in 2015 for his role in the previous year’s violent anti-government protests, has not been named.
. . .

The majority of those released were involved in the 2014 and 2017 opposition street protests which demanded the ousting of the elected Maduro government and regularly featured violent tactics, including deadly roadblocks, firebombing of public institutions, and assassinations of Chavistas or those perceived to be government supporters. The prisoners were facing trial or had already been convicted for crimes including owning illegal firearms, disturbing the peace, illegal use of military uniforms, conspiracy, rebellion, and/or treason. Maduro has claimed that those released are “not murderers” but were rather charged with more minor offenses.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13854

Fuck NPR.

[conniption]

The GrayZone



From coup leaders to con artists: Juan Guaidó’s gang exposed for massive humanitarian aid fraud

An explosive new report reveals how Guaidó representatives in Colombia embezzled $125,000 meant for humanitarian aid, suckering deserting soldiers and blowing the aid money on luxury goods.

By Dan Cohen
June 17, 2019

A new investigation has exposed members of Venezuelan coup leader Juan Guaidó’s inner circle for embezzling tens of thousands of dollars designated for humanitarian aid and spending it on luxury goods and lavish accommodations for themselves. Guaidó had been aware of the fraud for weeks and stubbornly defended his cohorts until a leak from Colombian intelligence forced him to acknowledge the scandal.

The scandal unfolded this February, when Venezuelan opposition figures and their supporters descended upon the border town of Cúcuta, Colombia for what was billed as a Live Aid concert to raise millions of dollars for humanitarian aid for Venezuelans suffering the effects of an economic crisis.

The operation was supposed to have climaxed with a Live Aid concert hosted by billionaire Virgin Group founder Richard Branson while trucks full of US aid blasted across the Venezuelan border. Instead, as Branson gathered his performers on stage for a cringeworthy rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” opposition hooligans set fire to the truckloads of aid with molotov cocktails as they failed to reach the border.

Now, a report by the staunchly anti-Maduro PanAm Post editor-in-chief Orlando Avendaño has revealed a shocking scheme of fraud and embezzlement behind the aid imbroglio. According to Avendaño, Guaidó’s lieutenants embezzled huge sums of money that had been promised to Venezuelan soldiers who deserted their positions and snuck across to the Colombian side at Guaidó’s urging.

The cash that was used to entice desperate soldiers and would-be mercenaries to defect became a slush fund for the US-backed coup leader and his gaggle, who spent it lavishly on hotels, expensive dinners, nightclubs and designer clothes. As Guaidó’s gang lived the high life, he covered for their fraud, keeping his lips sealed until it was exposed through a leak by the Colombian intelligence services.

At a press conference on June 17, Guaidó attempted to downplay his responsibility and redirect public anger back towards Maduro. “The government does not manage [public] resources because we are in the process of transition,” he said. “The dictatorship has begun a process of disinformation.”

But then the defecting Venezuelan soldiers announced plans for a press conference where they pledged to provide even more evidence of fraud.

Constructing an interventionist sham show

It was apparent upon Branson’s announcement of the February 23rd aid concert that the event had little to do with providing relief to hungry Venezuelans. It was a transparent propaganda stunt engineered to destabilize the Maduro government and achieve a long-standing US foreign policy goal.

As Father Sergei San Miguel, a Colombian government-affiliated priest responsible for guiding the deserting Venezuelan soldiers told me in Cúcuta, the successful entrance of the meager amount of supplies into Venezuela was intended to demonstrate Maduro’s loss of sovereignty in front of the global stage and foment an uprising across the country that would finally depose him.

Branson pledged that his event would rustle up 100 million dollars for humanitarian aid. But organizers had omitted how and to whom the funds would be distributed. On February 28th, Venezuela Aid Live organizers announced they had raised just 2.5 million dollars – a tiny fraction of the sum they had promised and likely less than the cost of staging a massive production on one week’s notice.


Richard Branson singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” with performers at his Live Aid concert in Colombia

The weekend of the concert offered a preview of this month’s corruption revelations, with several embarrassing incidents involving Guaidó’s confidantes. Early in the morning of February 23, Popular Will party members Freddy Superlano and his cousin and assistant Carlos José Salinas were found unconscious in a motel in Cúcuta. According to police reports, the two had been drugged with scopolamine and robbed by women, presumably prostitutes, they met in the red-light district. After the women made an early morning dash from the motel room, staff found the two men unconscious and called police. Salinas died shortly after being hospitalized.

Days later, another top Venezuelan opposition figure, Lorent Saleh, was arrested in Cúcuta after he allegedly attempted to sexually abuse two women. He was released after figures close to Guaidó mediated with Colombian authorities. Saleh – a recipient of funds from the US government under the guise of “democracy promotion” – had previously been deported by Colombia to Venezuela after plotting terrorist attacks and assassinations in the latter country.

continues: https://thegrayzone.com/2019/06/17/from ... aid-fraud/

[JackRiddler]

CORRECTION: Back in February I called this an attempt to start a new US war of aggression against Venezuela, to overthrow a democratically elected government, and to install a death-squad regime even worse than the ones in Colombia and other so-called allies. Well, that was all true. But it turns out it was also a scam to pickpocket a couple of million off Richard Branson to pay for hookers and high times in Bogota.

[Spiro C. Thiery]

Food Shipment Destined For Venezuela Seized Due to US Blockade
Published 7 August 2019

The ship was seized in the Panama canal according to the Venezuela government.

Venezuela’s Vice president Delcy Rodriguez denounced Wednesday that a ship containing 25 thousand tons of soy-made products has been seized in the Panama Canal due to the U.S. blockade while calling on the United Nations to take action against the "serious aggression" that impede Venezuela "right to food".

"Venezuela denounces before the world that a boat that holds 25 thousand tons of tons of soy, for food production in our country, has been seized in the Panama Canal, due to the criminal blockade imposed by Donald Trump," the vice president said in a tweet.

"Venezuela calls on the UN to stop this serious aggression by DonaldTrump's govt against our country, which constitutes a massive violation of the human rights of the entire Venezuelan people, by attempting to impede their right to food."

In a subsequent tweet, the Venezuelan senior official explained that the owner of the vessel carrying the merchandise of food was informed by the insurance company that it was prevented from moving that cargo to Venezuela.

The shipment seizure comes just days after Trump signed an executive order Monday that imposes a near-total blockade on government assets in that country, which includes an embargo against food suppliers, among other basic inputs. This is the first time in 30 years that Washington has taken such an action against a sovereign country.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Food-Shipment-Destined-For-Venezuela-Seized-Due-to-US-Blockade-20190807-0012.html

[cptmarginal]

There has been so much going on with Venezuela that it can be hard to keep up.

Just putting this here, though I probably won't watch the whole thing. (I'll read the transcript)

[cptmarginal]

Venezuela says eight killed in foiled 'invasion by sea'

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol says 'mercenary terrorists' launched attack from Colombia.

9 hours ago

Venezuela's government has said it foiled a marine incursion by "terrorist mercenaries" who attempted to enter the country on speedboats from neighbouring Colombia, adding security forces killed eight of the fighters.

The group landed early on Sunday on a beach in the port city of La Guaira, about 20 miles (32km) from the capital Caracas, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said in a televised address.

"They tried to carry out an invasion by sea, a group of terrorist mercenaries from Colombia, in order to commit terrorist acts in the country, murdering leaders of the revolutionary government," he said.

Socialist Party leader Diosdado Cabello said eight people were killed and two were detained.

"We have deactivated an attempted incursion of our territory, thanks to intelligence efforts," Cabello told reporters.

President Nicolas Maduro frequently accuses political adversaries of attempting to overthrow his administration with the support of the United States, which has promised to force him from office through sanctions that have crippled the OPEC nations' oil exports.

Critics of the governing Socialist Party often dismiss such accusations as stunts used as an excuse to detain opponents of the government.

Maduro has overseen a six-year economic crisis that has left many citizens unable to obtain basic food and medicine and forced nearly five million people to emigrate.

Tough sanctions

The US and more than 50 other countries disavowed Maduro after his disputed 2018 election, which they say was rigged, and instead have recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nation's legitimate interim leader.

But Maduro retains the backing of the country's armed forces as well as countries including China and Russia, which have harshly criticised the US sanctions.

The US has led a campaign to remove Maduro, increasing pressure in recent weeks by indicting the socialist leader as a drug trafficker and offering a $15m reward for his arrest.

The US has also increased sanctions, cutting off Venezuela's oil sector to choke Maduro from a key source of hard cash.

In addition to that pressure, Maduro's government has faced several small-scale military threats, including an attempt to assassinate Maduro with a drone and Guaido's call for a military uprising, which was joined by few soldiers.

Maduro and his allies say the Trump administration is determined to end Venezuela's socialist government to exploit the South American nation's vast underground oil reserves.

I love how mainstream media outlets bend over backwards to frame everything against Maduro. Many dismiss such accusations of assassination attempts as just stunts! And Maduro is a pariah, only retaining the backing of the military. Guaido's opposition is small-scale, unrelated to the American efforts. They grudgingly mention the drone incident at the end.

Anyway these recent, related events are certainly also worth mentioning:

Alleged Nicolas Maduro co-conspirator is in US custody: Report

Cliver Alcala, an outspoken critic of Maduro for years, has been charged over alleged 'narcoterrorist conspiracy'.

27 Mar 2020

Alcala was being flown on a chartered plane to the US from Barranquilla, Colombia, after waiving an extradition hearing and agreeing to collaborate with prosecutors [US Department of Justice via AP]

A retired Venezuelan army general indicted alongside Nicolas Maduro has surrendered in Colombia and is being taken by Drug Enforcement Administration agents to New York for arraignment, four people familiar with the situation told the Associated Press on Friday.

Cliver Alcala has been an outspoken critic of the Venezuelan president for years. But he was charged on Thursday with allegedly running a "narcoterrorist conspiracy" with Maduro, socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello and another retired army general. United States prosecutors allege they sent 250 metric tonnes of cocaine a year to the US and turned the Venezuelan state into a platform for violent cartels and Colombian rebels.

The US Justice Department had offered a $10 million reward for Alcala's arrest.

Alcala was being flown on a chartered plane to the US from Barranquilla, Colombia, after waiving an extradition hearing and agreeing to collaborate with prosecutors, said the four people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss actions that had not yet been made public.

Alcala has been living in the coastal city since fleeing Venezuela in 2018 after the discovery of a conspiracy that he was secretly leading in hopes of ousting Maduro.

After being indicted on Thursday, Alcala shocked many by claiming responsibility for a stockpile of US-made assault weapons and military equipment seized on a highway in Colombia for what he said was a planned incursion into Venezuela to remove Maduro.

Without offering evidence, he said he had a contract with opposition leader Juan Guaido and his "American advisers" to purchase the weapons.

"We had everything ready," Alcala said in a video published on social media. "But circumstances that have plagued us throughout this fight against the regime generated leaks from the very heart of the opposition, the part that wants to coexist with Maduro."

The confusing remarks from someone who was among Maduro's loudest critics were seized on by Venezuela's socialist leader, who accused the DEA of being behind a plan by Alcala to assassinate him and other political leaders.

According to the indictment, Alcala in 2008, when a trusted aide to then-President Hugo Chavez, was given additional duties to coordinate drug shipments with corrupt elements of the Venezuelan military and guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the US listed as a terrorist group.

The DEA did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Nicole Navas, a Justice Department spokesperson, declined to comment.

Moments before his surrender, Alcala published a video on social media bidding farewell to his family.

"I face the responsibilities for my actions with the truth," he said.

[JackRiddler]

.

Alcala story really interesting!

Okay, this is really incomplete reporting from DN! today - a lot of what who when where missing.

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/5/4/headlines

Venezuela Says It Foiled Coup Attempt by “Mercenary Terrorists”
MAY 04, 2020

The Venezuelan government is claiming it has foiled a coup attempt after 10 armed men landed in a boat in a port city near Caracas. Venezuelan authorities killed eight of the men, whom they described as “mercenary terrorists.” Two men were captured. A former U.S. Green Beret claimed the attack was part of a wider attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government.

In other news from Venezuela, at least 46 prisoners have died in a riot that began after prisoners reportedly attempted to escape an overcrowded prison. Amnesty International is calling for an investigation into the deaths and prison authorities’ “lethal response” to the unrest.

Telesur coverage of raid.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ven ... -0002.html

Regarding the prison riot, no story there.

What source to trust?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/ ... 12923.html

Dozens killed in Venezuela prison riot
Opposition lawmaker says the riot followed a ban on inmates' family members bringing them food during visitation.

2 May 2020
Human rights organisations say prisons in Venezuela are badly overcrowded and violent [File: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters]
Human rights organisations say prisons in Venezuela are badly overcrowded and violent [File: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters]
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5 days ago
A prison riot in the western Venezuelan state of Portuguesa has left at least 46 people dead and 60 injured, according to a rights group and an opposition lawmaker.

Beatriz Giron, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons which advocates for inmates' rights, said 46 bodies had been identified after the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary.

More:
Returning Venezuelans face 'nightmare' coronavirus quarantine
Venezuela petrol crisis worsens as US orders supply cuts
'Nothing left': Venezuelans head home amid coronavirus pandemic
The country's prisons minister, Iris Varela, told local newspaper Ultimas Noticias on Friday that the incident resulted from an escape attempt and that the prison director had been shot and wounded. She did not give a death toll, and Venezuela's information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Maria Beatriz Martinez, an opposition lawmaker from Portuguesa, said the riot followed a ban on inmates' family members bringing them food during visitation, which is common in Venezuelan prisons.

The visitation restrictions are part of the country's effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons.

To date, Venezuela has confirmed 335 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths associated with COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the pathogen.

A once-wealthy oil nation, Venezuela is gripped by a deepening political and economic crisis. Street violence is common in the nation that has had nearly 5 million residents flee in recent years as public services crumble.

Venezuela has roughly 30 prisons and 500 jails that can hold an estimated 110,000 inmates. Human rights officials say the prisons are violent and badly overcrowded, with gangs that traffic weapons and drugs in control.

According to the human rights group Venezuelan Prison Observatory, the Guanare prison was built to hold 750 inmates but is jammed beyond capacity with 2,500 inmates.

A similar riot occurred a year ago in a nearby jail also in the state of Portuguese, where 29 inmates died at a police jail that housed several hundred detainees. Violence broke out when armed inmates objected to officers entering the jail.