US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Friday that the US government is preparing a "series of actions" in the coming days to increase its pressure campaign against the government of Venezuela.
22.09.2018 - Expect US 'Actions' Against Venezuela in Coming Days - Pompeo
Expect US 'Actions' Against Venezuela in Coming Days - Pompeo
"You'll see in the coming days a series of actions that continue to increase the pressure level against the Venezuelan leadership folks, who are working directly against the best interest of the Venezuelan people," Pompeo told the network. "We're determined to ensure that the Venezuelan people get their say."
The administration of US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line against the government of President Nicolas Maduro, who took office promising to continue the legacy of the widely popular Bolivarian leader who preceded him, Hugo Chavez.
In August 2017, Trump issued his first round of sanctions against the country, calling it a "dictatorship." Then again, in May 2018, one day after Maduro again won the office of the presidency in a democratic election, the US imposed another round.
While Maduro has accused the US of engaging in economic warfare and sabotage, the US has at times taken a more active role in undermining the government. After an August 4 assassination attempt against Maduro involving a drone strapped with explosives, Caracas accused the US of backing the perpetrators.
McClatchyDC ✔ @McClatchyDC
The first piece of a psychological plot by the U.S. government to raise suspicion that one of the most powerful men in Venezuela may be a CIA operative was hatched in a seventh floor office of the State Department.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article215251450.html …
McClatchyDC
✔ @McClatchyDC
U.S. government plays games with top Venezuelan officials https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article215251450.html …
1:34 PM - Jul 24, 2018
In July, McClatchy revealed a State Department psychological plot to convince Maduro that a member of his "inner circle" was actually a CIA plant in order to make him distrustful. In the expose, US officials described a conversation on tactics to increase paranoia in the Venezuelan government between Fernando Cutz, at the time a senior member of the National Security Council, and William Brownfield, who previously was the US ambassador to Venezuela. “Think about being strategic,” Brownfield told Cutz, regarding the imposition of sanctions. "Don't just hit everyone because you can. Hit the right people and then maybe get others to just be scared and wonder when they’ll get hit.”
Max Blumenthal ✔ @MaxBlumenthal
https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1039764733266677760
Why would "American officials" divulge this info to the NY Times? To create a pressure cooker effect in Venezuela where paranoia reigns, especially in Maduro's inner circle. Unwittingly or not, the NYT participated in a perception management operation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/americas/donald-trump-venezuela-military-coup.html …
2:36 AM - Sep 12, 2018
In early September, the New York Times revealed that the Trump administration had discussed plans to overthrow Maduro in a violent coup with opposition leaders.
After a 2002 failed coup attempt against the government, then-President Chavez accused the United States of participating in it. America reportedly "gave the nod" to the opposition at the time before they went ahead with the regime change attempt.
September 21, 2018 - U.S. preparing 'actions' in coming days against Venezuela: Pompeo to Fox News
U.S. preparing 'actions' in coming days against Venezuela: Pompeo to Fox News | Reuters
The United States is preparing a “series of actions” in the coming days to increase pressure on the Venezuelan government, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Friday.
“You’ll see in the coming days a series of actions that continue to increase the pressure level against the Venezuelan leadership folks, who are working directly against the best interest of the Venezuelan people,” Pompeo said. “We’re determined to ensure that the Venezuelan people get their say.”
He did not give further details on the nature of the planned actions.
Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has steadily increased sanctions against officials in the leftist government of President Nicolas Maduro, accusing it of stifling democracy by jailing opposition leaders.
Last year, Washington imposed sanctions prohibiting trading new debt and equity issued by the Venezuelan government and its state oil company PDVSA. It has imposed several rounds of sanctions on government officials, including on Maduro.
Venezuela’s economy has collapsed under Maduro, with annual inflation running at 200,000 percent, and staple foods and basic medicine increasingly difficult to obtain, which has led to mass emigration.
Pompeo’s warning comes ahead of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York next week attended by heads of state from around the world. Maduro has not attended the meetings since 2015 and this week said he may not attend the gathering because of concerns about his safety.
In August, two drones exploded over an outdoor rally in Caracas where Maduro was giving a speech, injuring seven soldiers and leading to the arrest of over a dozen suspects, including several military officials. Maduro described it as an assassination attempt.
September 21, 2018 - Venezuelans block streets with cars to protest Gas Shortages in Andes
Venezuelans block streets with cars to protest gas shortage in Andes | Reuters
Dozens of Venezuelans on Friday brought the Andean city of San Cristobal to a standstill by blocking roads with their cars to protest gas shortages that have piled further misery on the OPEC nation’s crisis-weary citizens.
“We have been here since Tuesday night waiting for a delivery truck and it is unacceptable for us to be begging for gasoline in an oil-rich country,” said Maria Auxiliadora Prato, 68, as she cut off one of the city’s main avenues with her car.
National Guard soldiers later made protesters remove their vehicles from the middle of the street, but angry Venezuelans instead used branches, bottles, tires and garbage bags to snarl traffic.
“We have had to take our pillows to the car to be able to sleep during a three-day wait for 40 liters (10.6 gallons) of gas,”
said protester Cesar Mendez, 41, speaking next to a queue of hundreds of cars waiting for gas.
“We do not have money to eat the meat that the president eats,” added a tired-looking Mendez in reference to President Nicolas Maduro’s expensive steak dinner at a “Salt Bae” restaurant in Istanbul this month.
Venezuela, which has the world’s cheapest gasoline, has been plagued by intermittent fuel shortages in recent months as its oil industry struggles with lower production and problematic refineries.
Maduro’s leftist government blamed the shortages on power cuts in nearby Zulia, an oil-producing state that is suffering near-daily blackouts because government-owned power stations lack maintenance and spare parts.
Government critics say inept management of Venezuela’s oil industry, home to the world’s biggest crude reserves, is to blame for the shortages.
“Tachira without gas, thanks to failed communism,” tweeted Tachira opposition legislator Franklyn Duarte.
The government this month also rolled out a new payment system in eight states near the Colombian border, including Tachira where San Cristobal is located, in an attempt to halt widespread smuggling of Venezuela’s gas to Colombia.
Maduro says the payment system will pave the way for charging international prices for fuel - a massive increase given that gas is now almost free - as his government seeks to shore up state coffers amid a hyperinflationary economic meltdown.
The pilot program was designed to provide service stations with wireless devices that use a controversial state-backed identification document to carry out transactions. The document, called the Fatherland Card, is meant to provide subsidies to motorists to help soften the impact of the steep price increases.
Maduro announced on Thursday night that the program would be rolled out in the rest of Venezuela on Monday.
