Venezuela: Resistance or disintegration?

[Galaxia2002]

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has ordered on Monday another 60-percent increase in minimum wages amid ongoing crisis, which would benefit government workers and the military, media reported.

Venezuela's President Orders 60% Increase in Minimum Wages Amid Crisis
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201705011053169590-venezuela-maduro-minimum-wages/

According to the BBC, the least-paid workers would receive now about 200,000 bolivars, which is $20,000 in accordance with official exchange rate and $50 at black market rate, apart of food substances.

This is the third increase of minimal wages since the beginning of the year.

$20,000 !!!! We are millionaire and didn't know!! ;D . No kidding, the wages are near to 80 dollars/ month because you can buy nothing to the official exchange rate, but at the black market rate. We need an increase of at least 500% to have a comparable minimum wage as our neighbor country colombia, for example, but the hyperinflation will override that increase :(. By the way, workers have not received yet the last salary increase.

 

[angelburst29]

Creating a distorted image of the humanitarian crisis is the starting point. Painting a picture of a country on the verge of collapse is the alibi.

The coup plot against Venezuela has already been written and presented. On March 2, 2017, during the first round of OAS talks, Shannon K. O’Neil (Latin America director of the Council on Foreign Relations, CFR) presented the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a portfolio of actions and measures to be taken by the United States if it wanted to remove Chavismo from political power in Venezuela.

Who Is Behind Washington’s Coup Plot in Venezuela?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/who-is-behind-washingtons-coup-plot-in-venezuela/5587851

Origin and Key Players of CFR

The Council on Foreign Relations, or CFR, is a think tank founded in 1921 with money from the Rockefeller Foundation. It is aimed at creating a group of experts to shape U.S. foreign policy and its leadership positions, including the president and the State Department, which does not act for its own reasons but rather according to the interests of these lobbyists.

Since it was created, the council, which is made up of 4,500 members, has placed a number of senior officials in positions to implement CFR strategy.
These include Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, responsible for the war in Vietnam, Yugoslavia and Iraq respectively, and in the case of Powell, a major player in the April 2002 coup.

Moreover, an honorary member and ex-vice president of the think tank was David Rockefeller, the former owner of Standard Oil Company who has great interests and influence in Venezuela. His penetration in the country’s national political life reached such a point that he was one of the sponsors of the Punto Fijo pact that gave rise to the Fourth Republic.

Corporations That Finance the CFR and Use It as a Political Platform

Corporations born from the dissolution of Standard Oil also finance the CFR, namely Chevron and Exxon Mobil. The former was involved in financing the sanctions against Venezuela and the latter wants to create conflict between Guyana and Venezuela in order to take advantage of the large oil reserves in Essequibo.

Among CFR’s financiers is Citibank, which last year blocked the accounts of the Central Bank of Venezuela and the Bank of Venezuela, affecting the country’s ability to import essential goods. The financial corporation JP Morgan is responsible for using financial aggression as an excuse to declare Venezuela in default of payments in November 2016, using manipulative maneuvers to affect Venezuela’s financial credibility.

Both banks aimed to hurt Venezuela’s ability to attract investment and loans that would stabilize its economy. The most aggressive players of the financial and economic coup against Venezuela are part of CFR. These same players are now responsible for designing the agenda of the political coup — in the same way that Colin Powell, a CFR member, devised and armed the 2002 coup against Chavez when he was George W. Bush’s secretary of state. Now, just like then, the MUD (today called Democratic Coordinator) only responds to a political line designed by these large, factual powers — the real power that governs the United States.

For this reason, O’Neil is no more than a delegate of the royal leaders of this private organization. He is in charge of presenting to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate the actions that must be taken to change the political course of Venezuela, using unconventional war tactics, as outlined by the interests of the great economic powers represented by CFR.

The audience begins by reporting, without solid and reliable figures, that the Venezuelan population currently lives on par or worse conditions than the citizens of Bangladesh, Republic of Congo and Mozambique, countries brought to extreme misery by private and irregular wars which sought to plunder their natural resources.

Creating a (media-distorted) image of the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is the starting point for the rest of the plan. Painting a picture of a country on the verge of collapse is the alibi.

During the presentation, O’Neil said that the PDVSA is on the brink of default, omitting that the state oil company has continued to pay its external debt payments in honor of its international commitments. Before proposing these options to the U.S. government, the CFR delegate says that Venezuela is strategic for U.S. interests in the hemisphere, and that a hypothetical collapse in oil production would hurt the U.S. (because it would increase prices), while also affirming — without any proof — that the incursions of the Zetas and Sinaloa drug cartels in Venezuela poses a threat to the region.

The Coup Plot

The CFR proposes three major political actions for the U.S. to execute a coup in Venezuela in the immediate future. Options that, because of the political and financial weight embodied in CFR, are already in full operation (and running for months). Indeed the CFR have directed the anti-Chavista leadership to strictly follow this coup manual.

1. CFR proposes to continue sanctions on “human rights violators, narco-traffickers and corrupt officials” to increase pressure on the Venezuelan government. Anti-Chavez leaders, following that script, have backed these actions and the false positive in question, since there is no evidence linking Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami to international drug trafficking. Even leaders like Freddy Guevara have gone to Washington directly to “demand” that the sanctions be extended, under the support of the anti-Venezuelan lobby led by Marco Rubio.

2. The United States must take a tougher stance within the OAS to implement the Democratic Charter against Venezuela, co-opting countries in the Caribbean and Central America to support this initiative, which in recent OAS (illegal) sessions have resisted supporting. Marco Rubio’s threat against Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador was not an isolated action, but a coordinated maneuver led by the State Department to increase pressure against Venezuela’s international alliances.

The CFR also proposes that the Treasury Department convinces China to withdraw its support for Venezuela to increase political and economic pressure on the country and the government. The MUD has been a stellar actor in this part of the script, using Luis Almagro to demand the Democratic Charter be applied against Venezuela. The latest statement from the U.S. State Department on the march convened by the MUD on April 19, aims not only to harden its stance toward Venezuela to increase pressure from the OAS (trying to bring together the largest number of allies with this critique), but legitimizes, with premeditation, violent and lamentable acts that could occur in the march. Clinging to false narratives such as the use of “collectives” to suppress demonstrations and “tortures” carried out by Venezuelan state security forces, the State Department proposes calling April 19 a turning point to escalate the siege against Venezuela and expand sanctions against the country, making them more aggressive and direct.

3. The CFR states that the United States should work together with Colombia, Brazil, Guyana and Caribbean countries to prepare for a possible “refugee increase,” channeling resources to various NGOs and U.N. organizations from the United States Department of Agriculture State. But beyond this warning of an intervention in Venezuela, there is a real political operation in place: the NGO funded by the same Department of State, Human Rights Watch (HRW), published today, April 18, 2017, a report on how the “humanitarian crisis” has spread to Brazil. Based on specific testimonies and by magnifying immigration data, HRW took the opportunity to call on the governments of the region (with special emphasis on Brazil) to put pressure on the Venezuelan government, as required by the strategy proposed by CFR. Luis Florido, leader of Popular Voluntad, is currently touring Brazil and Colombia to try to reactivate the diplomatic siege against Venezuela from border countries.

The U.S. think tank also requires that these countries under the leadership of the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) organize a financial guardianship plan for Venezuela, that hides Russian and Chinese investments in strategic areas of the country. In recent days, Julio Borges has used his role in parliament and as a political spokesperson to continue the message that propagates the false narrative of the “humanitarian crisis” in Venezuela. It is the same strategy outlined by the CFR, arguing that the United States should increase its level of involvement in the internal affairs of Venezuela from the State Department, now headed by Rex Tillerson, linked to oil company Exxon Mobil (he was its general manager since 2007 until he took over this public position), a CFR financier.

These ongoing actions, while unveiling the geopolitical urgency in the coup strategy against Venezuela (affiliated with the latest statements by U.S. Southern Command Chief Admiral Kurt Tidd on the need to displace China and Russia as allies of Latin America), also reflects how they have delegated the generation of violence, programmed chaos and diplomatic procedures (in the best of cases and exclusive use of Luis Florido) to their intermediaries in Venezuela, specifically, the leaders of the radical parties of anti-Chavism. These actions led by the United States (and corporations that manage its foreign policy) lead toward one final aim: intervention by financial and preventive military means.

How to Justify Intervention

The evidence presented by President Nicolas Maduro links leaders of Primero Justicia with financing vandalism against public institutions (the case of the TSJ in Chacao). What, beyond this specific case, reveals the very probable promotion of para-criminal, irregular and mercenary (allied and politically directed) factors to escalate and encourage violence in order to legitimize the position of the State Department.

The badly named MUD is a private embassy that works on the basis of the great economic interests of these factual powers, which are vital for its strategy to advance. Whether these strategies can keep pace with this global moment will depend on what their supporters can do on the ground. Given the resources of financial and political warfare applied by these powers (financial blockade, international diplomatic siege, programmed attack on PDVSA payments, etc.) and State Department maneuvers, are on their account, generating all the conditions of Pressure, siege and financing needed by its operators in Venezuela for the much-announced breakpoint that does not finish arriving.

And that it is necessary that it arrives for those who financed and designed this agenda.

Despite the tactics of the financial and political war (financial blockade, international diplomatic siege, programmed attack on PDVSA payments, etc.) and the maneuvers of the State Department, made on its behalf, to generate all the conditions of pressure, siege and investment needed by their Venezuelan operatives, the highly anticipated breaking point in Venezuela has still not arrived.

But for those who financed and designed the agenda against Venezuela, it is important this point come as soon as possible.

 

[Andrian]

I hear what you are saying msante, but I still don't understand what you think the options are for the people of Venezouela at the moment, or what do you think Maduro should do that he is not doing, or what he does that he shouldn't. Maybe we can come up with some ideas and sent a letter to Maduro, not as representatives of the forum or sott, but as individuals who wish to see Venezouela prosper for her people?

I guess one can call Erdogan a tyrannical dictator, putting in jail daily people who oppose his policies too, in his attempt to clean his country of those external and internal harmful influences. It is also the same reason Putin is viewed as such by most of the world, but he did clean quite well, and look at Russia now.

I also understand that poverty and hunger can turn people away from noble causes and make them want to end the situation they are in by whatever means, but again, we come back to the question: what is the alternative for them?

I like your idea Alana, i have something in my mind, it may sound little realistic, but i thought of, why Maduro doesn't expose the culprits who are creating all this chaos and all this mess in Venezuela, or better say why doesn't he exposes to the Venezuelan people through state owned media the traitors of the country and for whom they are working for, that is the US, the bloody Empire of Chaos, it may be too late at this point, but what else he can do, i'm afraid that Maduro sooner than later will meet the same fate of the ex president of Ukraine, Yanukovich.

 

[Joe]

I hear what you are saying msante, but I still don't understand what you think the options are for the people of Venezouela at the moment, or what do you think Maduro should do that he is not doing, or what he does that he shouldn't. Maybe we can come up with some ideas and sent a letter to Maduro, not as representatives of the forum or sott, but as individuals who wish to see Venezouela prosper for her people?

I guess one can call Erdogan a tyrannical dictator, putting in jail daily people who oppose his policies too, in his attempt to clean his country of those external and internal harmful influences. It is also the same reason Putin is viewed as such by most of the world, but he did clean quite well, and look at Russia now.

I also understand that poverty and hunger can turn people away from noble causes and make them want to end the situation they are in by whatever means, but again, we come back to the question: what is the alternative for them?

I think responses here have pretty much covered the main problems. The socialist fiscal policies of Chavez (continued by Maduro) were idealist and in that sense ultimately unsuited to the modern world dominated by international trade and dirty tricks. Chavez and Maduro appear to have failed to fully understand the forces that opposed them and take the necessary steps to secure Venezuela's economy from the ebb and flow of the international economy (in particular their exposure to falling oil prices, which includes the manipulation of oil prices) and general attacks by international finance. In fact, it seems they set it up (via massive oil dependency and nationalization of companies) for failure. At this point, Maduro seems to be desperately trying to manage the situation by appealing to the same naive idealism that created the problem in the first place. I think a type of internally-applied 'shock doctrine' might be necessary to retool the economy and place it on a footing that would be more able to withstand the dangers that will always confront it. Maybe a few pages from the Russia play book (which is similar to Venezuela from an oil wealth pov) would be appropriate.

 

[Alana]

I hear what you are saying msante, but I still don't understand what you think the options are for the people of Venezouela at the moment, or what do you think Maduro should do that he is not doing, or what he does that he shouldn't. Maybe we can come up with some ideas and sent a letter to Maduro, not as representatives of the forum or sott, but as individuals who wish to see Venezouela prosper for her people?

I guess one can call Erdogan a tyrannical dictator, putting in jail daily people who oppose his policies too, in his attempt to clean his country of those external and internal harmful influences. It is also the same reason Putin is viewed as such by most of the world, but he did clean quite well, and look at Russia now.

I also understand that poverty and hunger can turn people away from noble causes and make them want to end the situation they are in by whatever means, but again, we come back to the question: what is the alternative for them?

I think responses here have pretty much covered the main problems. The socialist fiscal policies of Chavez (continued by Maduro) were idealist and in that sense ultimately unsuited to the modern world dominated by international trade and dirty tricks. Chavez and Maduro appear to have failed to fully understand the forces that opposed them and take the necessary steps to secure Venezuela's economy from the ebb and flow of the international economy (in particular their exposure to falling oil prices, which includes the manipulation of oil prices) and general attacks by international finance. In fact, it seems they set it up (via massive oil dependency and nationalization of companies) for failure. At this point, Maduro seems to be desperately trying to manage the situation by appealing to the same naive idealism that created the problem in the first place. I think a type of internally-applied 'shock doctrine' might be necessary to retool the economy and place it on a footing that would be more able to withstand the dangers that will always confront it. Maybe a few pages from the Russia play book (which is similar to Venezuela from an oil wealth pov) would be appropriate.

Agreed. The way I see it is that the people of Venezuela should help the current government improve, not side with the opposition. If Maduro is not open to this type of feedback, then yes, eventually the situation will deteriote even more and the opposition will come to power, but is that a better alternative to the people from what they have now? To me it looks like they don't have an alternative, it's either Maduro/his government or the opposition. Or is there one?

 

[Joe]

Agreed. The way I see it is that the people of Venezuela should help the current government improve, not side with the opposition. If Maduro is not open to this type of feedback, then yes, eventually the situation will deteriote even more and the opposition will come to power, but is that a better alternative to the people from what they have now? To me it looks like they don't have an alternative, it's either Maduro/his government or the opposition. Or is there one?

Don't think there is one. Many Venezuelans remember the conditions that prevailed before Chavez under the opposition. It's really a catch 22 for them. For now most still seem to be willing to stick with Maduro and hope things improve rather than go back to the "devil they know".

 

[msante]

I hear what you are saying msante, but I still don't understand what you think the options are for the people of Venezouela at the moment, or what do you think Maduro should do that he is not doing, or what he does that he shouldn't. Maybe we can come up with some ideas and sent a letter to Maduro, not as representatives of the forum or sott, but as individuals who wish to see Venezouela prosper for her people?

I guess one can call Erdogan a tyrannical dictator, putting in jail daily people who oppose his policies too, in his attempt to clean his country of those external and internal harmful influences. It is also the same reason Putin is viewed as such by most of the world, but he did clean quite well, and look at Russia now.

I also understand that poverty and hunger can turn people away from noble causes and make them want to end the situation they are in by whatever means, but again, we come back to the question: what is the alternative for them?

I think responses here have pretty much covered the main problems. The socialist fiscal policies of Chavez (continued by Maduro) were idealist and in that sense ultimately unsuited to the modern world dominated by international trade and dirty tricks. Chavez and Maduro appear to have failed to fully understand the forces that opposed them and take the necessary steps to secure Venezuela's economy from the ebb and flow of the international economy (in particular their exposure to falling oil prices, which includes the manipulation of oil prices) and general attacks by international finance. In fact, it seems they set it up (via massive oil dependency and nationalization of companies) for failure. At this point, Maduro seems to be desperately trying to manage the situation by appealing to the same naive idealism that created the problem in the first place. I think a type of internally-applied 'shock doctrine' might be necessary to retool the economy and place it on a footing that would be more able to withstand the dangers that will always confront it. Maybe a few pages from the Russia play book (which is similar to Venezuela from an oil wealth pov) would be appropriate.

I'd like to think that this is possible yet, but as far as I can see (maybe I am a little slanted here) I can not be too optimistic now. IMO Maduro already passed the point of no return. Maybe the "shock" at this point will comes from a scandalous fall of "Revolution". This shock would be not only for Maduro but for the people too. I think that LA peoples need yet many of them (the shoks). We, as society, are childish and our leaders, in their way, also they are. They tend to became a kind of saviors for people quickly. IMO to endure this kind of veneration require a strenght and awareness that I could not see in LA leaders until now.

Agreed. The way I see it is that the people of Venezuela should help the current government improve, not side with the opposition. If Maduro is not open to this type of feedback, then yes, eventually the situation will deteriote even more and the opposition will come to power, but is that a better alternative to the people from what they have now? To me it looks like they don't have an alternative, it's either Maduro/his government or the opposition. Or is there one?

I would love that that happen, Alana, but as I say above, I don't think that the Venezuelan people will go to make that deep change in their perception of problems and available options for Venezuela. In any case I hope to be wrong...

 

[Navigator]

Very good analysis, pretty much what the LATAM group has discussed in depth. It is indeed a complex multifaceted problem. My point of view is that what we are seeing right now is a downwards spiral as the society of Venezuela is indeed hurting. It is evident that the economy is on the brink of collapse, that the government is swimming in debt and that the attacks come from various fronts: the country has been barred from Mercosur, the OAE and internally the local oligarchs are squeezing the currency by controlling the imports, on which Venezuela relies so much for her food. And Maduro is not the brightest guy to lead in these troubling times.

The rise in the oil prices in the mid 2000s and Chávez 's coming to power gave Venezuela its miracle, tackling poverty effectively and giving her power to drive the region away from the US sphere. At the same time, the miracle encouraged the public expression of deep-rooted anti-american sentiments that are actually justifiably present across LATAM. The thing is that going full frontal against the empire is bad strategy even if you have a good hand, relying on oil exclusively was bad strategy as well (although Chavez tried to be less dependant, with no success).

So later when the oil prices dropped in 2015, the battle between factions became bitterly harsh. There are indeed globalist jackals on the run inside the country, and the regime change playbook is being played one more time. Maduro and the government is not prepared for this level of intensity, as it keeps fumbling and resorting to extreme measures, like dissolving the Congress. No chance for any type of reconciliation or diplomacy or agreements, it is now an all-or-nothing war. Presidential elections are set for October 2018, but God knows if that will ever happen, as both sides desperately try to force their hand with moves and counter-moves, the first trying every legal trick to maintain power, the other to provoke a reaction from the people to support their infatuation with ousting Maduro at all cost.

It seems inevitable to think at this point that a catastrophe is about to happen, and I think that the globalists will make an example out of Venezuela to send shockwaves to the region discouraging any sort of progressive thoughts among the people.

 

[mabar]

It seems inevitable to think at this point that a catastrophe is about to happen, and I think that the globalists will make an example out of Venezuela to send shockwaves to the region discouraging any sort of progressive thoughts among the people.

Perhaps they are living the catastrophe right now and it just can increase, unfortunately. I was hearing the other day what Pope Francis mentioned, about the opposition being divided ... Capriles is the one who do not want the meeting, according to the video...

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edit: info

 

[angelburst29]

One month ago, when discussing the latest "explosive" turn in Venezuela's political situation, we predicted that the worst case for president Nicolas Maduro who has so far managed to keep the army on his side even as Venezuela faces now daily violent and in some cases deadly protests, would be the start of the local army turning on the regime, and defecting to join the protesters. Overnight, according to Thor Halvorsen of the Human Rights Foundation, this "inflection point" appears to have arrived when he observed in a Tweet that "the military in parts of Venezuela has begun to defect. They are now marching *with* the protesters. Dozens of soldiers are under arrest."

The Inflection Point: Venezuela's Military Begins To Defect, March With Protesters (Video)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-07/inflection-point-venezuelas-military-begins-defect-march-protesters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPZAep3G_tU (1:04 min.)

Touching on this topic, overnight the NYT mused why have Venezuela's "powerful political and military elites stuck by President Nicolás Maduro", noting that "the country would seem to be a prime candidate for something scholars call an “elite fracture,” in which enough powerful officials break away to force a change in leadership."

“The fact that it hasn’t happened in the last two years is the biggest puzzle of all,” said Steven Levitsky, a Harvard University political scientist. “If it happens next week, all of us will say, ‘Yeah, it was bound to happen.’”

The NYT further notes that the government has been preparing its defenses since 2002. That year, amid major protests, Hugo Chávez, Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, ordered the military to impose order.

It instead removed him in a coup that was quickly reversed. After that, Mr. Chávez packed the military with allies. The military also gained vast patronage streams, which some local officials say include control over gold mining.

The impossibility of fully predicting how the military might decide in another crisis, along with growing unrest that could again test it, has left the government nervous.

All that may now be changing. In March, a video spread on social media showing three lieutenants who said they no longer recognized Mr. Maduro’s authority. The next month, they turned up in Colombia, where they requested asylum. The Venezuelan government has publicly demanded their return, which Mr. Levitsky called “pretty clear evidence that the government is worried about some sort of conspiracy” within the ranks.

The latest open army defections threaten to further splinter what until recently was a united front among the "elites" supporting the crumbling Maduro regime.

Meanwhile, as the death toll from the recent protests approaches 40, women banged on pans and some stripped off their shirts on Saturday protesting Venezuela's government in an event the opposition billed as a "women's march against repression."

As they marched, local media carried a video showing people toppling a statue of the late President Hugo Chavez the day before in the western state of Zulia, the Associated Press reported. The local media reported that students destroyed the statue as they vented their anger with the food shortages, inflation and spiraling crime that have come to define life here.

"Several young men could be seen bashing the statue that depicted the socialist hero standing in a saluting pose, as onlookers hurled insults as the late president."

Describing the women's protest, AP writes that thousands of women took over streets in major cities all around the South American country.

Wearing the white shirts of the opponents of country's increasingly embattled government, the women sang the national anthem and chanted, "Who are we? Venezuela! What do we want? Freedom!"

Some sported makeshift gear to protect against tear gas and rubber bullets. Others marched topless. One woman came in her wedding dress.

Meanwhile, as has been the case almost every day for the past five weeks, police in riot gear again took control of major roads in the capital city. Clashes between police and protesters have left some three dozen dead in the past month.

And as has also been the recurring case, on Friday Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez denounced the protest movement, and said opposition "terrorists" were attempting a kind of nonconventional warfare.

For now, the protest movement, which has drawn masses of people into the street nearly every day since March, shows no sign of slowing. On Saturday, some of the women marchers approached soldiers in riot gear to offer them white roses and invite them to join the cause. "What will you tell your kids later on?" one woman asked.

As Reuters reported earlier in the week, embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday announced the creation of a new popular assembly which demonstrators decried as a power grab aimed at sidelining the National Assembly. Borges responded by calling on Venezuelans to rebel.

According to Bloomberg, on a call with the president of Peru, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the deteriorating situation in Venezuela. A statement from the White House's Office of the Press Secretary said Trump underscored to President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski that "the United States will work together with Peru in seeking to improve democratic institutions and help the people of Venezuela." The administration added that it is monitoring Venezuelan instability, and believes there is a strong need to bring weeks of anti-government protests in the country's capital Caracas to a quick and peaceful conclusion.

“We are deeply concerned about the Maduro government’s violent crackdown on protestors in Venezuela. President Maduro’s disregard for the fundamental rights of his own people has heightened the political and economic crisis in the country,” said Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in a statement. “The Maduro regime must respect Venezuela’s constitution and the voice of its people. We are particularly concerned that the government is failing to provide basic food and medical needs to the Venezuelan people,” Haley said.

H.R. McMaster, U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, met on Friday with Julio Borges, the president of Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly, about the civil unrest which has been near-daily for five weeks, the White House said on Saturday.

Finally, assuring that daily protests are only set to escalate further, on Saturday Borges, the leader of the left-wing party in Venezuela called for open rebellion as well as Maduro's resignation, while rejecting any "dialogue" with the administration.

 

[angelburst29]

Three South American countries are preparing to hold a large military drill near Venezuela later this year (November). The involvement of the U.S. military in the drill has raised concerns about the U.S.’ true intentions in the area, as it has already worked to covertly destabilize Venezuela’s economy.

Tensions Rise As US Announces Military Drills Near Embattled Venezuela
http://www.mintpressnews.com/tensions-rise-as-us-announces-military-drills-near-embattled-venezuela/227596/

May 9, 2017 - CHILE — The involvement of the U.S. military in an upcoming multilateral military drill in South America has raised concerns over potential ulterior motives on the part of the U.S. The drill, dubbed “Operation: America United,” will involve the installation of a temporary military base on the triple border shared by the drill’s other participating nations: Peru, Brazil and Colombia.

According to Theofilo de Oliveira, the top general of the Brazilian Armed Forces, the U.S. military will carry out the drill along with the three Latin American nations this November over a period of ten days. The Brazilian military has asserted that the objective of the exercise is to “ develop greater knowledge, share experiences and develop mutual trust.” Brazilian government officials have strongly denied rumors that the exercise will lead to the establishment of a multinational military base in the Amazon.

The U.S. was invited to participate by Brazil’s unelected president Michel Temer, who has notably boosted Brazilian military spending by 36 percent while simultaneously freezing public spending for two decades through a controversial constitutional amendment.

A friendly relationship with Brazil’s military is key for the U.S.’ strategic interest in South America. As Hector Luis Saint Pierre – coordinator of international security, defense and strategy at the Brazilian Association of International Relations – told the BBC: “Brazil is a strategic partner for the doctrine of the military. If the United States has a good relationship with the Brazilian navy, it is easier to spread its message among the military in the region.”

Pierre pointed out that the drill is of particular interest to the U.S., as it presents an opportunity to focus on the political situation in Venezuela.
According to Telesur, President Donald Trump has already met with the presidents of Peru and Colombia to discuss the U.S.’ interest in Venezuela.

As MintPress has previously reported, Venezuela has been the target of ongoing economic warfare as the U.S. continues to disrupt the leftist government first brought to power by the late Hugo Chávez. While Nicolás Maduro – Chávez’s successor – certainly bears some of the blame for Venezuela’s current situation, the U.S. has worked to covertly devastate the Venezuelan economy through a combination of sanctions and oil price manipulation.

With its cash reserves quickly dwindling as a result, Maduro’s embattled government will likely go bankrupt at some point in the next several months, as nearly 70 percent of its remaining reserves must be used to pay back interest on loans from foreign governments. When “Operation: America United” begins, the situation in Venezuela is highly likely to be much more dire and Maduro’s government on the verge of collapse.

In addition, the U.S. has funneled millions to Venezuelan opposition parties since the failed U.S.-led coup against Chávez in 2002, having spent an estimated $50 to $60 million since Chávez’s election on bolstering the country’s right wing. Now, that figure is set to grow substantially as the U.S. Senate is set to vote on a bill that would funnel millions more to the Venezuelan opposition, as well as unnamed non-government organizations.

The bill, titled the “Venezuela Humanitarian Assistance and Defense of Democratic Governance Act,” seeks to offer $10 million in “humanitarian assistance” to Venezuela and another $10 million for “democracy promotion.”

As the bill itself points out, the U.S. is extremely interested in the financial situation in Venezuela, particularly due to U.S. concerns that Russia may gain control of Venezuelan oil infrastructure if the Maduro government ends up declaring bankruptcy.

Within the text of the bill, concerns are raised regarding Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA and its transactions with Rosneft, a Russian state-owned oil company. As TeleSur noted: “fearful that PDVSA could default on its $4- and $5-billion dollar loans from Rosneft, regardless of Venezuela’s steadfast debt repayments, the bill warned that Rosneft could come into control of PDVSA’s U.S. subsidiary, CITGO Petroleum Corporation, which ‘controls critical energy infrastructure in 19 States in the United States.’” Seeing as Russia has already seized Venezuelan oil for unpaid bills despite their political alliance, this fear is not unfounded.

While the U.S. has held drills in South America in the past with little fanfare, the timing and location of the new drill, as well as the nations involved in it, have raised speculation about the U.S.’ current objectives in South America.

Given the U.S. fear of Venezuelan oil becoming the property of the Russian government, as well as the U.S.’ documented history of overthrowing and undermining leftist governments in Venezuela, “Operation: American United” may be less of a drill and more of what its name implies – a way to bring Venezuela, along with other South American nations, back into the fold of U.S. influence.

 

[Alejo]

Thank you angelburst29,

It does seem extremely convenient and the name as straight forward as it gets. So far in the region there's Bolivia and Venezuela as the last remaining players standing in the way of US hegemony. It should be an interesting November.

The government in Venezuela has recently called for a national constitutional assembly to reform the laws of the country, something that the opposition has outright denied to participate in. Which is expected as they don't seem to care much for the future of Venezuela as much as they care about being opposed to anything maduro says, does or proposes.

Horrible stories keep coming out of the protests in Caracas, which again. Partly government oppression, partly unruly and violent protesters.

Just yesterday Venezuela denounced once again the invasion in their political affairs by Colombia, something that I do not doubt. All in all, things do not look good for the bolivarian revolution and all it represented.

Military drills and movement of equipment as well as personnel would come in handy should Venezuela decide to "cross a red line" and provide justification to the jackals abroad. These red lines of course never get crossed but the perception of it is easily created by the intelligence agencies as it happened in Syria.

 

[angelburst29]

Thousands of elderly Venezuelans clashed Friday with police on the way to the office of the nation’s ombudsman in Caracas, in a new wave of protests against the government, media reported.

Marching 'Grandparents' Clash With Police in Venezuela
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201705131053569550-grandparents-police-clashes-venezuela/

Venezuelan opposition called the "Grandparents March" to pile pressure on the government of President Nicolas Maduro as the country struggles with a deepening economic crisis.

The elderly, some accompanied by their grandchildren, ran into lines of riot police as they reached the capital’s main road, the CNN news channel reported.

Crowds of angry octogenarians pushed against the plastic shields of heavily-geared police officers who responded with pepper spray, according to the outlet.

Last week, anti-Maduro opposition called on women to take to the streets to protest against the government who they accuse of mismanagement.

Authorities estimate 39 people have lost their lives since demonstrations began in early April.

Venezuelan Ambassador to Spain Mario Isea Bohorquez was not taken hostage by protesters in Madrid, the spokesman of the Spanish government, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, said Friday.

Spain Denies Allegations of Venezuelan Ambassador's 'Kidnapping' in Madrid
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705131053569110-spain-venezuela-ambassador-kidnapping/

Late on Thursday, a Venezuelan embassy's cultural center in Madrid hosting a pro-government event was surrounded by hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, blaming him for the country’s years-long economic and political crisis. Isea, who was inside the building, said the embassy staff and guests of the event were stuck inside because of the protesters, calling the situation "kidnapping."

"The ambassador has not been taken hostage," de Vigo told reporters, noting that Spanish police would have ensured that the ambassador’s safe exit if he expressed a desire to leave the building during the demonstration.

De Vigo added that the Spanish Foreign Ministry stayed in contact with the Venezuelan embassy during the protest, and the police was ensuring safety of all people inside the cultural center.

 

[angelburst29]

The presidential order published by the Gaceta Oficial government newspaper said that the Venezuelan government prolonged the economic emergency for 60 days since May 13.

Venezuelan Government Prolongs Economic Emergency for 7th Time
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201705171053683023-venezuela-prolongs-economic-emergency/

The Venezuelan government prolonged the economic emergency for 60 days since May 13, the presidential order published by the Gaceta Oficial government newspaper said on Wednesday.

This is the seventh prolongation of the economic emergency originally introduced on January 15, 2016.

Head of the Foro Penal non-governmental organization Alfredo Romero said that a total of over 2,300 people were detained in Venezuela since the start of the opposition protests in April.

Total of Over 2,000 People Detained In Venezuela Since Protests Begin
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201705171053683332-thousands-venezuelans-detained-protests/

A total of over 2,300 people were detained in Venezuela since the start of the opposition protests in April, head of the Foro Penal (Penal Forum) non-governmental organization Alfredo Romero said.

"2371 detained over protests since April 1, 2017. 730 remain in detention," Romero wrote on Twitter late on Tuesday.

In late April, the Foro Penal estimated the number of the detainees as some 1,600.

The opposition protests started in early April, sparked by the decision of the country’s Supreme Court to curb the powers of the National Assembly, currently controlled by the opposition. Despite the decision having been reversed almost immediately, the opposition took to the streets, demanding the resignation of the judges and a snap election. According to the latest data, a total of 43 people have been killed in result of the protests.

One of the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition Henrique Capriles said that another man has died in result of the opposition protests.

Total Number of People Killed in Protests in Venezuela Rises to 43
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201705171053682214-venezuela-people-killed-protests/

"I deeply regret to inform you that Diego Arellano, 31, shot in our San Antonio de los Altos [a town in the state of Miranda], has died," Capriles, who is the governor of Miranda, wrote on Twitter late on Tuesday.

The number of people killed over the past 24 hours in result of the protests has therefore reached four.

 

[angelburst29]

Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations Rafael Ramirez says that the United States is misinterpreting the situation in Venezuela as posing a threat to international peace and security, but as a domestic matter it should not be on the UN Security Council’s agenda.

US Tries to Interfere in Venezuelan Affairs Through UN Security Council - Envoy
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201705181053717337-usa-venezuela-interference-unsc/

The United States is misinterpreting the situation in Venezuela as posing a threat to international peace and security, but as a domestic matter it should not be on the UN Security Council’s agenda, Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations Rafael Ramirez told reporters.

"We reject the flagrant intention of the United States to bring the Venezuelan situation as an issue in the Security Council. We are out of the Security Council agenda because we will never be a threat to peace and security at international or regional level," Ramirez said on Wednesday. "They [United States] tries every time to interfere in our domestic issues."

Earlier on Wednesday, the UN Security Council held a closed meeting at the request of the United States on the recent developments in Venezuela.

Ramirez explained that all members of the Security Council had a chance to express their point of view, but there were no calls to continue the consideration on the issue within the framework of the Security Council.

The ambassador acknowledged Venezuela is facing a multitude of problems, but he emphasized they are an internal economic and not a political issue. Ramirez added that the government in Caracas is actively working to resolve them.

The opposition protests started in Venezuela in early April, sparked by the decision of the country’s Supreme Court to curb the powers of the National Assembly.

Despite the decision having been reversed almost immediately, the opposition took to the streets, demanding the resignation of the judges and a snap election. More than 40 people have been killed in result of the protests, according to reports.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has added more individuals to its Venezuela sanctions list.

US Adds 8 Individuals to Venezuela Sanctions List
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201705191053759534-usa-sanctions-venezuela/

Eight individuals who are all members of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice were added to the US Treasury Department's Venezuela sanctions list, a press release from the Office of Foreign Assets Control said.

"The designated officials, members of Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia or TSJ), are responsible for a number of judicial rulings in the past year that have usurped the authority of Venezuela's democratically-elected legislature, the National Assembly, including by allowing the Executive Branch to rule through emergency decree, thereby restricting the rights and thwarting the will of the Venezuelan people," the release stated on Thursday.

The release noted that the eight people were responsible for writing or defending all of the decisions that limited the ability of Venezuela’s National Assembly to do its constitutional duties.

The United States is calling on Venezuela to allow the democratically elected National Assembly to carry out its work, the release added.

One of the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition claims that his passport was annulled when he was at the Maiquetia airport, ready to travel to the United Nations office in New York to report human rights violations.

Venezuela Opposition Leader Says His Passport Annulled to Block Trip to UN
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201705181053757361-venezuela-opposition-passport-annuled/

Henrique Capriles, one of the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition, said Thursday his passport was annulled when he was at the Maiquetia airport, ready to travel to the United Nations office in New York to report human rights violations during mass anti-government protests in Venezuela.

"I was informed that my passport was annulled, it was stolen, that's how I call this move, so I could not leave [the country] to attend the meeting with UN high commissioner for human rights," Capriles said in a video message published in his Twitter blog.

The opposition leader stressed the passport was valid until 2020.

Over 40 people have been killed during protests that have been sweeping across Venezuela since April 4. Opposition activists accuse the country's President Nicolas Maduro of mismanagement that has led to a deep economic crisis in the country and call for an early election.

A passer-by was killed at a protest against Venezuela’s government of President Nicolas Maduro in the western state of Tachiram.

Anti-Government Protests Claim Another Life in Venezuela
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201705181053721015-venezuela-protests-dead/

A passer-by was killed Wednesday at a protest against Venezuela’s government of President Nicolas Maduro in the western state of Tachiram, local media reported.

Manuel Castellanos was allegedly shot in the back by government troops who were firing at protesters in the town of Tucape, El Nacional newspaper said.

The 30-year-old was not taking part in the demonstration, the paper noted, but was going about his business when he was struck. He reportedly died shortly after being taken to a health center.

This death has brought to 44 the number of people killed in Venezuela since the start of protests in early April. Opposition activists accuse President Maduro of mismanagement that has led to a deep economic crisis in the country and call for an early election.