Venezuela: Resistance or disintegration?

[mabar]

That was a wonderful piece Pierre. You brought together many things under one heading ,Capitalism. This is what, I think, Douglas Reed was explaining in the beginning chapters of The Controversy of Zion. From the French Revolution onwards men of learning noticed that a hidden hand was heading out to destroy Monarchies and Governments with the intention of creating revolution, heading towards world revolution. These men were silenced as they are silenced today. Capitalism is just a blanket cover, I think, for evil. I may be wrong to tie it up this way. It's just what I feel.

I rembembered Mafalda with the issue of capitalism, I grew up with the comic and is still prevailing, at least in latinoamerica Mafalda cartoons: The little girl who challenged a nation

 

[mabar]

Yesterday, Guaidó with the help of the media made believe that he delivered part of the "Humanitarian Aid", but it turns out that this "aid" -- of supplements giving to AVESSOC (a network of health centres including hospitals and dispensaries. AVESSOC ---) was in Caracas since December 2018, according to information from Parte de la ayuda humanitaria se encontraba en Caracas desde diciembre but I wouldn't be surprised if it was part of the supplies that UNICEF delivered to Venezuela in November 2018. Unicef entrega más de 130 toneladas de insumos a Venezuela because it practically sounds like they're the same, though.

In support of the Venezuelan Government's efforts to alleviate the impact of the economic crisis, UNICEF has delivered more than 130 tons of drugs, health supplies and nutrition to 350,000 women and children.

The supplies are part of an agreement with the Government to expand UNICEF's programmes in the country, including through technical cooperation and capacity development.

using deepl.com

Today we made the first delivery of #Humanitarian Aid. 1,700,000 portions to care for our pregnant mothers and malnourished children.

In order to serve the most vulnerable population, we must organize ourselves and open the humanitarian channel.
using deepl.com

...

 

[Hi_Henry]

That was a wonderful piece Pierre. You brought together many things under one heading ,Capitalism. This is what, I think, Douglas Reed was explaining in the beginning chapters of The Controversy of Zion. From the French Revolution onwards men of learning noticed that a hidden hand was heading out to destroy Monarchies and Governments with the intention of creating revolution, heading towards world revolution. These men were silenced as they are silenced today. Capitalism is just a blanket cover, I think, for evil. I may be wrong to tie it up this way. It's just what I feel.

A very good that I recently bought as it was mentioned in a comment on ZH is

A History of Central Banking and the Enslavement of Mankind by Stephen Mitford Goodson

Highly recommend it. The credentials of the writer say it all.

 

[angelburst29]

Some current headlines: Guaido resuming relations with Israel and sent envoys to Rome to get the Pope's support. Russia is offering it's help to facilitate the start of dialogue between Venezuela's government and opposition. Maduro was wise in setting up prior accounts with Russia's Gazprombank for Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA, along with other business interests.

Washington-supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido announced that he is working to restore Caracas' ties with Tel Aviv, a move that could disclose the United States' hidden agenda for the Latino nation.

Tue Feb 12, 2019 - US-Backed Guaido Unveils Pro-Israeli Agenda
Farsnews

Guaido pledged that a formal announcement on re-establishing bilateral ties and opening a new Venezuelan embassy in Israel would come "at the proper time". "First and foremost, we want to resume [Venezuelan-Israeli] relations and then we will inform you about the appointment of the [Venezuelan] Ambassador to Israel, and we do hope that an ambassador will come to us from the Jewish state," Guaido stated.

Caracas broke off diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv under former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in protest against Israel's military campaign against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-2009.

Venezuela's Guaido says he is working to restore ties with Israel
“I am very happy to report that the process of stabilizing relations with Israel is at its height,” Guaido told the mass-circulation Israel Hayom daily in an interview.
https://twitter.com/EnglishFars
US Claims Venezuela Blocked Aid Deliveries at A Crossing That Was Never Open

Photos and video of oil tankers and shipping containers blocking a bridge between Venezuela and Colombia were used as proof Caracas was “blocking” US aid. Left out was the fact that the bridge was never open for traffic.

Russia warns United States against intervention in Venezuela
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against any interference, including military, into Venezuela's internal affairs, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement following a phone call between the two.
[URL='https://twitter.com/EnglishFars/status/1094898939042676736']
US Has Lost All Sense of Shame: Moscow Slams Washington for Coddling Venezuelan Opposition
The US shows no shame in teaching the Venezuelan opposition how to resolve the situation in the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a joint press conference following talks with his Finnish counterpart Timo Soini on Tuesday.

Russia says ready to help Venezuela dialogue, warns U.S. against meddling
Russia said on Tuesday it was ready to facilitate the start of dialogue between Venezuela's government and opposition but warned the United States against intervening in Caracas' internal affairs.

Venezuela's Guaido says humanitarian aid will arrive on Feb 23
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Tuesday that humanitarian aid will enter Venezuela on Feb 23, to bring relief to people struggling with widespread shortages of food and medicine.

Venezuela opposition envoys in Rome to press Guaido's cause
Envoys for Venezuela's self-declared caretaker leader Juan Guaido met Vatican officials and lobbied the Italian government for support on Monday in their quest to keep international pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

~
Exclusive: Venezuela's Maduro seeks OPEC help against U.S. sanctions - letter
Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro has sought OPEC support against U.S. sanctions imposed on his country's oil industry, citing their impact on oil prices and potential risks for other members of the producer group.

Exclusive: Venezuela shifts oil ventures' accounts to Russian bank - document, sources
Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA is telling customers of its joint ventures to deposit oil sales proceeds in an account recently opened at Russia's Gazprombank AO, according to sources and an internal document seen by Reuters on Saturday.

Russia's Gazprombank says Venezuela's PDVSA has not opened new accounts
Russia's Gazprombank said on Sunday that Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA opened accounts with the bank several years ago and has not opened any accounts recently.
[/URL]

 

[seek10]

Where are we today? Capitalism has been erected not only as a norm but as the best economic model. Open any MBA textbook, nowhere you'll find "capitalism" defined as "theft, slavery and wealth extortion".

Proudhon's definition has been replaced by an opposite definition. In the first pages of such textbooks you'll read the fundamental objective of any corporation: "to maximize shareholders' wealth". The capitalists have won, their greedy behavior has become the universal economic motto forced into our brains.

What happened to the common good, the respect of natural resources, the well-being of the employees, the joy of producing beautiful, useful or qualitative products, the satisfaction of the customers, the respect and implementation of positive value, the team spirit, the company as an integrated part of a community? Those points are mostly ignored by capitalism, if addressed they are depicted not as ends but as means to serve the one and only goal: maximizing shareholders' wealth.

In two centuries, what was rightly spotted as a criminal greed-driven behavior has become a political, social and economical ideology, a set of false and destructive beliefs hiding the truth in an attempt to impose upon the world a pathologic, materialistic, individualistic and predatory paradigm.

How do people live if the capitalism(or its influence) is not part of their life. Here is a interesting video that compared organized corporations (loosely calling it capitalism) and unorganized sector( probably mom and pop business model in Western world)

 

[Windmill knight]

More evidence that the economic war on Venezuela was real. Here's an executive summary of a report made by a think-tank called CELAG (translated with DeepL):

The Economic Debates Unit of CELAG has carried out a study in which it demonstrates that the international financial blockade of Venezuela since 2013 is mainly responsible for the economic crisis. This blockade meant the loss of 350,000 million dollars in the production of goods and services between 2013 and 2017, according to one of the scenarios proposed within the macroeconomic model of consistency that was used.

The study underscores the capital importance of financial blockades to strangle a country's economy. External attacks on a nation's economic and productive capacity can end [the economic capacity] in a matter of a few years and, in recent times, they tend to be the prelude to military intervention. In this sense, the authors warn that the supposed humanitarian crisis and the migration of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have their origin in the economic boycott of the United States and its allies. However, the U.S. government justifies an eventual intervention in this alleged humanitarian catastrophe and in the massive emigration that its blockade, precisely, would have created.

In the case of Venezuela, the blockade has been based on the expulsion of the country from international financial markets, preventing it from resorting to the credit market both to renew maturities and to make new placements. In a country integrated into the world as an oil supplier, productive specialization led to a high dependence on imports financed by oil revenues. That is why the financial and commercial boycott of Venezuela has much more serious consequences than in diversified economies.

Since Nicolás Maduro took office in 2013, the Venezuelan public sector ceased to receive net flows that in the five-year period 2008-2012 had amounted to more than 95 billion dollars, that is, some 19 billion dollars annually.

To this must be added the large payments made as a result of the increase in country risk by rating agencies. Despite the fact that Venezuela met its external debt payments on time, agencies such as Standards & Poors or Moody´s placed the country risk above 2,000 points from 2015, with peaks of up to 5,000 and even 6,000 points recently. The reasons given by these qualifiers when evaluating countries are opaque but the tendency is to score well those who favor free market policies and punish the opposite. This is how the Venezuelan debt, despite continuing to be paid steadily, was rated as high probability of default with a rating worse than that of countries at war like Syria.

For this reason, the Venezuelan government had to pay in the five-year period 2013-2017 more than 17,000 million dollars, some 3,300 million dollars annually.

In short, if we add the average annual value of currencies that no longer entered as a result of the blockade (19.2 billion), plus what the country had to pay on average each year corresponding to the foreign debt (3.3 billion), we can conclude that the economy and society suffered an international asphyxiation of 22.5 billion dollars annually as a result of a deliberate international strategy of financial isolation. Evidently, this financial pressure intensified from 2015 with the fall in the price of crude oil.

All the scenarios put forward by the CELAG study show that the economy would have performed better each year if the 22 billion dollars a year had been available. On the contrary, the loss of that amount explains 60% of the economic deterioration. As a consequence of the blockade, losses in the production of goods and services ranged from a range of 350 billion to 260 billion in the period 2013-2017, which means between 12,200 and 13,400 dollars for each Venezuelan. In that five-year period, the country lost between 1.6 and 1.1 Gross Domestic Products.

A country as dependent on imports as Venezuela cannot activate its productive apparatus without foreign currency. The strangulation of foreign financing has meant, in metaphorical terms, a massive bombardment of its factories and industries. If the government of Nicolás Maduro had had the international financing that Mauricio Macri had in his first three years in office, the growth of the Venezuelan GDP would be higher than that of Argentina.

See the full report at: Las consecuencias económicas del boicot a Venezuela

The full report has graphs. Including this one:

"Indexed production of the Venezuelan economy, without and with the international financial blockade"

Red line: Real situation
The other 3 scenarios are variations on what would have happened had the 22.5 billion of "asphyxiation" been used differently, etc.

 

[Alejo]

I saw that one too Windmill Knight,

Notice the trend is still downwards from about 2012 onwards, due to several factors already discussed (lack of diversifying thus needing to import, international prices of oil and so on).

But it would be so much better than it is, without the interference.

 

[angelburst29]

I don't understand "why" legally - Juan Guaido couldn't just be arrested for "impersonating a President"? A proclamation is absurd? It's his "backer's" that blew the announcement out of proportion, by staging "a dramatic public display" that's been played out in the press and video media. Guaido is only a stand-up comedian, being used as a diversion - while his backer's can not move fast enough to get their finger tips on Corporate Bank Accounts, Gold on deposit and a take over of Venezuela's Oil Corporations! It's nothing more then a Bank heist and confiscation of a Countries Wealth - done in broad daylight.

Maduro should have taken appropriate action "within hours" after Guaido proclaimed himself "interim president". Venezuela must have some type of Elite Security Units that could have rounded up and arrested Guaido and other figure heads directly involved and placed them behind bars ... while Maduro set in motion, the issuing of limited or protracted Visas and Sanctions on individuals and Corporate heads, to protect the Countries interests.

Maduro failed to "nip it in the bud" before it got out of control? Now, he's scrambling to hold onto a weak position, while Guaido and friends - systematically take control of Administrative Power, hijack the economy and take over the Country. Maduro didn't act fast enough to get this situation under control and any steps he takes now, will be a tedious and time consuming uphill battle.

Feb. 14, 2019 - Maduro says Venezuelan opposition leaders will be 'brought to justice'
Maduro says Venezuelan opposition leaders will be 'brought to justice'

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the crisis in Venezuela was organized by the United States.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro © EPA-EFE/Cristian Hernández

Venezuelan opposition leaders "have acted against the interests of the Venezuelan people and caused damage to the state," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told Al Mayadeen TV channel on Wednesday.

"Juan Guaido and his supporters will sooner or later be brought to justice and will bear responsibility for an attempt to seize power," Maduro said.

He added that the crisis in Venezuela was organized by the United States. "They [opposition leaders] are puppets who serve the extremist administration of Donald Trump that wants to colonize Venezuela," the Venezuelan president said. "The so-called humanitarian intervention that the US is talking about aims at subduing our country and seizing its natural resources," he noted.

A false flag involving victims is being devised for Venezuela to justify an outside invasion of the Latin American country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters at Thursday’s press briefing.

Feb. 14, 2019 - Diplomat warns false flag brewing under cloak of humanitarian convoy for Venezuela
Diplomat warns false flag brewing under cloak of humanitarian convoy for Venezuela

"A provocation, involving victims, is being put together under the guise of a humanitarian convoy," Zakharova stressed. "They need it just as a pretext to use outside force, and everyone should understand that."

"The possibility of a military intervention is just a red line for all of Latin America and the entire global community in general, which considers itself to be civilized," she emphasized.

"We believe it is imperative to refrain from steps or statements that could trigger an escalation of tensions in Venezuela, in particular, from any appeals to Venezuela’s armed forces fraught with their involvement in a domestic civil standoff," Zakharova went on to say. "We keep repeating that the international community’s task is to promote mutual understanding between various political forces in Venezuela."

The sides are to discuss the current situation in Venezuela, bilateral relations in these conditions and ways to support the foundations of international law using parliamentary tools.

Feb. 15, 2019 - Senior Russian senator to meet with Venezuelan deputy foreign minister on Feb 22
Senior Russian senator to meet with Venezuelan deputy foreign minister on Feb 22

Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev plans to meet with Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Gil on February 22, the Federation Council’s press service said.

"We will discuss the current situation in Venezuela, bilateral relations in these crisis conditions and ways to support the foundations of international law using parliamentary tools," Kosachev told TASS.


Venezuela's Maduro ramps up legal fight against Guaido's challenge
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government stepped up a legal battle against efforts to oust him on Thursday, while the opposition said the international community had pledged more than $100 million in humanitarian aid for the country.

Venezuela opens investigation into opposition-appointed PDVSA directors: prosecutor
Venezuela's chief state prosecutor said on Thursday an investigation had been opened into directors of state-run oil firm PDVSA, and its U.S. refiner Citgo, that the opposition-controlled congress appointed on Wednesday.

Venezuela opposition takes steps to seize oil revenue as Maduro issues threat
Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress named new temporary boards of directors to state-oil firm PDVSA on Wednesday, in an effort to wrest the OPEC nation's oil revenue from increasingly isolated socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela's opposition-run congress names PDVSA, Citgo boards
Venezuela's opposition-run congress named new transitional boards of directors to state oil company PDVSA and its U.S. subsidiaries including refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp on Wednesday.

U.S. to deliver over 200 tons of aid to Venezuelan border
U.S. military aircraft are expected to deliver more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, with the shipment likely to take place on Saturday, a U.S. official said on Friday.

U.S. sanctions five Venezuelans, ratcheting up pressure on Maduro
The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on top Venezuelan security officials and the head of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA as it ratcheted up pressure on embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over an election it says was illegal.

Maduro understands Venezuelans are rejecting him: Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's invitation to a U.S. envoy for talks in Caracas "demonstrates his increasing understanding that the Venezuelan people are rejecting him and his model of governance".

U.S. envoy Abrams met secretly with Venezuela foreign minister: AP report
The U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, met secretly with Venezuela's foreign minister as recently as this week, the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing President Nicolas Maduro and a senior Venezuelan official.

Virgin's Branson plans humanitarian aid concert on Venezuela border
Richard Branson is organizing a concert to raise funds for a humanitarian aid effort for crisis-stricken Venezuela to be held in the Colombian border city of Cucuta next week, the British billionaire said in a video on social media.

 

[mabar]

I don't understand "why" legally - Juan Guaido couldn't just be arrested for "impersonating a President"? A proclamation is absurd? It's his "backer's" that blew the announcement out of proportion, by staging "a dramatic public display" that's been played out in the press and video media. Guaido is only a stand-up comedian, being used as a diversion - while his backer's can not move fast enough to get their finger tips on Corporate Bank Accounts, Gold on deposit and a take over of Venezuela's Oil Corporations! It's nothing more then a Bank heist and confiscation of a Countries Wealth - done in broad daylight.

Maduro should have taken appropriate action "within hours" after Guaido proclaimed himself "interim president". Venezuela must have some type of Elite Security Units that could have rounded up and arrested Guaido and other figure heads directly involved and placed them behind bars ... while Maduro set in motion, the issuing of limited or protracted Visas and Sanctions on individuals and Corporate heads, to protect the Countries interests.

Maduro failed to "nip it in the bud" before it got out of control? Now, he's scrambling to hold onto a weak position, while Guaido and friends - systematically take control of Administrative Power, hijack the economy and take over the Country. Maduro didn't act fast enough to get this situation under control and any steps he takes now, will be a tedious and time consuming uphill battle.

Maduro's goverment did/is doing but, how laws evolve there differs as how we wish and, with many against him (media, sanctions, countries) I guess his goverment is/needs, being observed by the whole world, to take legal actions, if he would not had done it, he would had been overturn long ago.

Venezuela's TSJ Approves Precautionary Measures Against Guaidó

Tarek William Saab says that Guaido's actions have caused detrimental harm to the nation qualifying him for certain measures including a ban from traveling outside the country.

www.telesurenglish.net

 

[mabar]

Stalled humanitarian aid to Venezuela 'is a trap,' says ex-Maduro staffer
...
Temir Porras Ponceleon served as chief of staff to Maduro from 2007 to 2013. He is now a visiting professor at Sciences Po in Paris.
Ponceleon, too, says the aid stuck at the border comes with strings attached. He spoke to The World's Marco Werman about the stalled humanitarian aid.

Temir Porras Ponceleon: This is a trap that the enemies of the government are posing. This is aid that is being sent by the US government and requested by Mr. Guaidó in a way of conveying the idea that the legitimate authority within Venezuela is Juan Guaidó.

Marco Werman: The voices of the opposition in Venezuela are either more numerous or louder than the Maduro supporters. Does Nicolás Maduro think he can survive the calls for him to step down?
The only way we will know if Maduro, if Guaidó, or if any other of the voices of the opposition will survive or play a key role, is if we find a way of democratically solving the problem. We can imagine the crisis getting deeper. Probably the government collapsing, but what about the day after? What about the military of Venezuela? What about the divisions within the military? What I am concerned is, to have a stable and democratic country the day after. And that requires not provoking each other, political dialogue and understanding.

A democratic solution, obviously, is preferable but we've spoken with so many Venezuelan opposition politicians and opposition voices in recent days and they describe a government that's clinging to power using coercion and proceeds from corruption. I mean that is the reality they're living day-to-day. It's hard to argue with that, isn't it?
Do they have a plan to guarantee that this country remains stable and democratic? The day after, do they guarantee that they will not allow, for instance, the US government or the US troops to enter Venezuela? Do they have a plan to deal with the Venezuelan military?

"We can imagine the crisis getting deeper."
Temir Porras Ponceleon, former staffer of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

One of the things that have been said by the opposition very clearly is that there will be new elections. That is part of their plan.
And what guarantees that the departure of Maduro doesn't create a civil war, for instance? The reality of Venezuela is that it is a very polarized country. It is totally unrealistic or irresponsible to think or to assume that there are all the guarantees for Venezuela to be in a peaceful situation. In order to be an election, you have to agree on the terms of that election. When will the election be held? Who can be allowed to run for those elections? And that's exactly the problem — saying there will be elections is assuming that the problem is solved before even addressing it.

You say it's polarized but it's really only polarized if Chavismo is still a legitimate movement. There are so many people who have peeled away from Chavismo.
Absolutely — but wishing for the best is not a strategy. The people who assume that "Shouldn't Mr. Maduro leave," I say, "OK, so who can convince him of that?" Shouldn't the Chavismo, you know, surrender power. Well, why not? But they're not doing it. So, again, this is exactly the problem that needs to be tackled. You have two ways of tackling it: finding a way of getting out of the crisis politically or risk a conflict. That's the part that I believe some of the members of the opposition seem to be missing in this moment.

How worried are you by the prospect of civil conflict of some sort?
Extremely worried. That is why I keep warning about that risk.

Do you think it's likely?
Absolutely, it's highly likely. There are threats coming from the US administration saying, "Mr. Maduro must comply in a peaceful manner or else." There is always a military option on the table. That would be catastrophic for the country. A second way that can happen is also, imagine the millions in the military splitting, you know, between pro-Guaidó, pro-Maduro or pro-whatever. That is an extremely risky situation that can lead the country to a civil conflict instead of overcoming in a peaceful, civilized way the current crisis.

Editor's note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length. Reuters contributed to this report.

 

[angelburst29]

A North Carolina-based air freight company has halted flights to Venezuela following a report by McClatchy linking it to possible arms smuggling...

15.02.2019 - Venezuela Accuses U.S. of Secretly Shipping Arms After Weapons Found on Plane with Possible CIA Ties
Venezuela Accuses U.S. of Secretly Shipping Arms After Weapons Found on Plane with Possible CIA Ties

Published on Feb 13, 2019 (14:36 min.)

The parallels between aspects of the Contra scandal and the current situation in Venezuela are striking, particularly given the recent “outrage” voiced by mainstream media and prominent U.S. politicians over Maduro’s refusal to allow U.S. “humanitarian aid” into the country.

February 13, 2019 - US Air Freight Company that Smuggled Weapons Into Venezuela Linked to CIA “Black Site” Renditions
US Air Freight Company that Smuggled Weapons Into Venezuela Linked to CIA “Black Site” Renditions – Venezuela Media Watch


GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – Two executives at the company that chartered the U.S. plane that was caught smuggling weapons into Venezuela last week have been tied to an air cargo company that aided the CIA in the rendition of alleged terrorists to “black site” centers for interrogation. The troubling revelation comes as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has rejected a U.S. “humanitarian aid” convoy over concerns that it could contain weapons meant to arm the country’s U.S.-backed opposition.

Last Tuesday, Venezuelan authorities announced that 19 rifles, 118 ammo magazines, 90 radios and six iPhones had been smuggled into the country via a U.S. plane that had originated in Miami. The authorities blamed the United States government for the illicit cargo, accusing it of seeking to arm U.S.-funded opposition groups in the country in order to topple the current Maduro-led government.

A subsequent investigation into the plane responsible for the weapons caché conducted by McClatchyDC received very little media attention despite the fact that it uncovered information clearly showing that the plane responsible for the shipment had been making an unusually high number of trips to Venezuela and neighboring Colombia over the past few weeks.

Washington - Venezuelan authorities say a U.S.-owned air freight company delivered a crate of assault weapons earlier this week to the international airport in Valencia to be used in “terrorist actions” against the embattled government of Nicolás Maduro

February 07, 2019 - Venezuela says plane from Miami delivered weapons for use by enemies of Maduro
Venezuela says plane from Miami delivered weapons for use by enemies of Maduro

An air freight company, 21 Air LLC, based in Greensboro, N.C., operates the Boeing 767 aircraft that the Venezuelans allege was used in the arms transfer. The flight originated in Miami on Feb 3.

The Boeing 767 has made dozens of flights between Miami International Airport and destinations in Colombia and Venezuela since Jan. 11, a flight tracking service shows, often returning to Miami for only a few hours before flying again to South America.

The discovery of the weapons occurred Tuesday — two days after the flight landed briefly in Valencia, Venezuela’s third-largest city — as tax authorities and other inspectors conducted a routine inspection of cargo that came off the flight, according to a statement by the Carabobo state governor’s office.

A senior Venezuelan security official, Bolivarian National Guard Gen. Endes Palencia Ortiz, who is the nation’s vice minister of citizen security, said authorities found 19 assault weapons, 118 ammunition cartridges, and 90 military-grade radio antennas, among other items.

“This materiel was destined for criminal groups and terrorist actions in the country, financed by the fascist extreme right and the government of the United States,” Palencia Ortiz was quoted as saying.

The freight company, begun five years ago, operates two cargo planes, a Boeing 747 and a Boeing 767, according to the 21 Air website. The Boeing 767, a 32-year-old aircraft once flown by the now defunct Brazilian carrier Varig, carries the registration N-881-YV and is the aircraft that landed in Valencia on Feb. 3.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through its website. The cellular phone of the company’s chief executive, Michael Mendez, had a recording Thursday afternoon that said it could not accept calls.

An Ottawa-based analyst of unusual ship and plane movements, Steffan Watkins, drew attention to the frequent flights of the 21 Air cargo plane in a series of tweets Thursday.

“All year, they were flying between Philadelphia and Miami and all over the place, but all continental U.S.,” Watkins said in a telephone interview. “Then all of a sudden in January, things changed.”

That’s when the cargo plane began flying to destinations in Colombia and Venezuela on a daily basis, and sometimes multiple times a day, Watkins said. The plane has made close to 40 round-trip flights from Miami International Airport to Caracas and Valencia in Venezuela, and Bogota and Medellin in Colombia since Jan. 11.

The most recent tracking of the aircraft showed it arrived from Medellin into Miami airport after midnight Thursday.

The air cargo company’s website says that the Boeing 767 has a payload capacity of 42 tons.

The aircraft in question has passed through many hands since Varig took delivery of it in 1987. In 2004, it was passed to GE Capital Aviation Services, a leasing company that is part of the General Electric conglomerate, according to an operator history on the planespotters.net website. Tampa Cargo, Avianca Cargo and Dynamic Airways later controlled the aircraft until 21 Air received it in 2014.

The provenance of the alleged weaponry was not apparent. And questions about who the arms shipment was destined for, if the Venezuelan version of events is true, only mounted. Delivery at a commercial airport would indicate that somebody with authority there would have had a hand.

Venezuelan authorities displayed the weaponry that they said was delivered by the 21 Air cargo plane on open-air tables draped in red cloth. Some of the rifles included stands for long-range targeting. The shipment included 15 AR-15 assault weapons, a Micro Draco semi-automatic pistol with a jumbo magazine, a Colt 7.62 rifle and two telescopic sights, the governor’s statement said.

Valencia was a former manufacturing and economic hub before the collapse of the nation’s economy.

Flight records from the tracking site flightradar24.com, monitored by Watkins, indicate that the 21 Air cargo plane flew at least four times to Valencia from Miami and another four times to Caracas from Miami since Jan. 11. In many cases, the flights would head on to Bogota or Medellin before returning to Miami.

If some U.S. entity were attempting to provide arms to a Venezuelan resistance movement, it would be taking a familiar page from the history books.

The CIA operated a dummy airline, known as Air America, from the early 1950s until the mid 1970s for air operations in Southeast Asia, including air-dropping weapons to friendly forces.

More than a decade later, Sandinista soldiers shot down a cargo plane taking weapons to the U.S.-backed contra rebels fighting the Nicaraguan government. A U.S. Marine veteran, Eugene Hasenfus, survived the 1986 crash, and later told reporters that he was working for the CIA, paving the way for his release and return to the United States.

Curiously, one of the figures in the Reagan administration instrumental in delivering support to the contras, former assistant secretary of state Elliott Abrams, was named by President Donald Trump late last month as his special envoy overseeing policy toward Venezuela.

A U.S. military transport plane carrying humanitarian aid meant for Venezuelans landed on Saturday in the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where food and medicine is being stored amid uncertainty over how and where aid will be distributed.

February 16, 2019 - More US aid for Venezuela touches down amid distribution uncertainty
More U.S. aid for Venezuela touches down amid distribution uncertainty


The shipment will be the second arrival of large-scale U.S. and international aid for Venezuelans, many of whom have scant access to food and medicine, since opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in defiance of socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Slideshow (13 Images)
More U.S. aid for Venezuela touches down amid distribution uncertainty

Venezuela denies EU lawmakers entry given 'conspiratorial motives'
Venezuela denied a group of European Parliament deputies entry into the country on Sunday, arguing they had "conspiratorial motives" for flying to Caracas in the throes of a political crisis.

U.S. Senator Rubio warns Venezuela's Maduro not to act against opposition
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, visiting the Colombia-Venezuela border on Sunday, warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of severe consequences if he takes action against the country's opposition leader and self-declared president or U.S. citizens.

 

[goyacobol]

Micro Draco semi-automatic pistol with a jumbo magazine,

Micro Draco is an interesting name choice I think.

Another interesting thing to me is the seemingly innocuous names and places they establish for the training sites for mercenaries that contribute to the control system. Another possible NC connected site is one that I have to drive past in Moyock, NC on our way to visit a niece now named Academi which was formerly a Blackwater company.

It makes me feel ill sometimes...

 

[Voyageur]

It makes me feel ill sometimes...

Yup, it is like a non stop ill feeling when US 'AID' is being delivered somewhere explosive. As stated above, there those round trip flights to Columbia stockpiling AID, and who knows what has been in play for months and months before this.

Speaking of which, I did not really know how long the LIMA Group had been active, and see from May 2018 it was very active. It formed in August 2017. Thus they have had a lot of time to nail down strategy; find a leader, place people and slowly exasperate the conditions (economic et al.) against this new oil and mineral rich country on their list, Venezuela.

• The Lima Group was established on August 8, 2017, to coordinate participating countries’ efforts and apply international pressure on Venezuela.
  
• 
  Canada hosted the third ministerial meeting of the Lima Group in Toronto, Ontario, on October 26, 2017. The sixth meeting of the Lima Group was held in Mexico City on May 14, 2018.
  
• 
  Canada has imposed two rounds of sanctions on members of the Maduro regime.
  
• 
  The Lima Group is committed to applying pressure on Venezuela’s government until the full restoration of democracy in the country is achieved.

 

[angelburst29]

Venezuela's government will stage two concerts on the Colombian border this weekend to compete with a "Live Aid"-style show announced by British billionaire Richard Branson to raise funds for food and medicine for the South American country.

Venezuela stages own concerts in response to Branson's Live Aid show

Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Monday that the government was also planning concerts on Feb. 22 and 23, on the Simon Bolivar bridge connecting the country with Cucuta, with the slogan “nothing for war, hands off Venezuela”.

The government would also hand out food to poor residents of Cucuta this weekend, he said in televised statements - a “cynical” move, according to opposition leader Juan Guaido, given shortages of food in Venezuela.

 

[angelburst29]

Euronews' Anelise Borges travelled to Venezuela to understand what is happening and to interview the man at the centre of the storm, Nicolas Maduro.

15/02/2019 - "It is not possible to have two Presidents in a Country": Nicolas Maduro speaks to Euronews (Transcript - video)
'It is not possible to have two presidents in a country': Nicolas Maduro speaks to Euronews

Anelise Borges: "Mr President, thank you very much for speaking to us here on Euronews. Today yours is a country at a crossroads, a country with two presidents. What exactly is happening in Venezuela?"

Nicolás Maduro: “It is not possible to have two presidents in a country. In Venezuela there is only one president under the constitution elected by popular vote, according to Venezuela’s political institutions. And this president, is this humble worker sitting here, Nicolas Maduro Moros. There is a coup currently taking place; it has failed; we have neutralized it. This was instigated by the US government inside Venezuela. The United States used all its political, diplomatic and economic power to try to install a puppet government in Venezuela, something which is unprecedented in our history.” (Transcript continues.)

Published on Feb 15, 2019 (30:00 min.)


Venezuela shuts border with Caribbean islands ahead of aid efforts
Venezuela on Tuesday shut the maritime border with nearby Dutch Caribbean islands ahead of an opposition effort to bring in humanitarian aid from foreign territories including neighboring Curacao despite the protests of President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuelan troops to remain on border to prevent threats: minister
Venezuela's armed forces will remain stationed along the country's borders to prevent potential territorial violations, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Tuesday

Cuba denies military in Venezuela, charges U.S. readies intervention
Cuba denied on Tuesday it has security forces in Venezuela and charged the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign of lies paving the way for military intervention in the South American country.

Brazil to send aid to Venezuela together with U.S.: spokesman
Brazil will deliver humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border by Feb. 23 together with the United States at the request of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó, presidential spokesman General Otavio Rego Barros said on Tuesday.

Pink Floyd's Waters slams Venezuela border aid concert
Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters slammed an upcoming "Live Aid"-style concert to raise funds for humanitarian aid for Venezuela, calling the event a U.S.-backed effort to tarnish the socialist government in a video circulating on Tuesday. “Do we really want Venezuela to turn in to another Iraq or Syria or Libya? I don’t and neither do the Venezuelan people,” Waters wrote.