Venezuela

[cptmarginal]

Unintentional humor from the Reuters staff...

August 5, 2018 / 12:45 PM / Updated 4 hours ago

Blast scattering soldiers makes Venezuela's Maduro look vulnerable: analysts

Alexandra Ulmer

CARACAS (Reuters) - Deeply unpopular Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro looked keen to project himself as fully in charge of the crisis-ridden military, long a powerbroker, when he addressed its National Guard on Saturday.

One of the main avenues in the capital Caracas was sealed off, commemorative videos for the National Guard’s 81st anniversary flashed on a big screen, and a suited Maduro with a yellow, blue and red presidential sash spoke surrounded by the military’s top brass.

But just when the leftist leader was wrapping up by vowing OPEC member Venezuela’s stricken economy would recover, his wife Cilia Flores scanned the sky, seemingly alarmed.

She recoiled, the camera shook, the state TV broadcast’s audio was cut, and the camera abruptly panned out to hundreds of soldiers in sharp formation. But the image of martial lockstep was quickly shattered, as scores of soldiers scurried away before the live transmission ended and switched to reruns about the South American country’s car census.

At least one explosion rocked the event and the government said it was a failed assassination attempt involving drones carrying explosives.

The incident did not appear to generate any wave of spontaneous support from traditional government backers, many of whom are reeling from hyperinflation, frequent water and power cuts, and food shortages.

“This incident does make Maduro appear vulnerable but the truth remains that his circle has the power to crack down on enemies because they still control all the levers of power,” said Raul Gallegos, associate director with the consultancy Control Risks.

“Whatever frailty comes across is compensated by the excuse Maduro now has to crack down on his internal enemies real or perceived.”

The government blamed Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and residents of the U.S. state of Florida for the attack. Colombia’s Foreign Ministry in response said it “emphatically rejected” Maduro’s accusations.

The Information Ministry did not respond to a request for details.

“The stampede of the military personnel, broadcast live, leaves the armed forces and the military top brass looking very bad,” said Hebert Garcia Plaza, a former general and member of Maduro’s government who fled the country.

Venezuelan cartoonist EDO published a drawing showing terrified soldiers fleeing under the tagline “Run Forrest, the Empire is invading us!”, in allusion to the film ‘Forrest Gump’ where Tom Hanks’ character jogs across the United States.

Open calls for military intervention have grown after massive anti-government protests last year failed to unseat Maduro and he was re-elected in a May vote widely decried as a sham.

Scores of soldiers have been detained on accusations of conspiring against Maduro or deserting, as they too sometimes struggle to eat three square meals a day.

Last year, a rogue Venezuelan police officer hijacked a helicopter and fired at government buildings in what he said was an action against a dictator. The officer was hunted down and killed by Venezuelan forces.

But in public, the top brass remains fiercely loyal to Maduro, a 55-year-old former bus driver and union leader who unlike his predecessor Hugo Chavez does not hail from the military.

As the economic crisis has worsened and his popularity has slipped, Maduro has handed the military sway over the lucrative mining, oil, and food import sectors to help keep his grip on power.

A little-known group called the “National Movement of Soldiers in T-shirts” claimed responsibility for Saturday’s explosion. The group, which describes itself as uniting members of “the resistance” to Maduro, said it had planned to fly two drones but that snipers shot them down.

Maduro can take some solace in that a half-dozen bodyguards dashed on stage to cover him with bulletproof panels. A voice was heard saying “let’s go, my leader” right before he was rushed away.

“That drone was coming for me but there was a shield of love,” Maduro said on Saturday night. “I am sure I will live for many more years.”

[seemslikeadream]

Brazil: judge shuts border to Venezuelan migrants fleeing hunger and hardship

Judge says entry of immigrants suspended until conditions for ‘humanitarian reception’ are created – activists called it ‘absurd’

Dom PhillipsLast modified on Mon 6 Aug 2018 20.30 EDT
A judge in Brazil has blocked Venezuelans from entering the border state of Roraima as local authorities harden their stance against the flood of migrants fleeing hunger and hardship in their home country.

Judge Helder Barreto said he had suspended the entry of Venezuelan immigrants until the conditions for a “humanitarian reception” are created but activists working with migrants attacked it as “absurd”.

Sister Telma Lage from the non-profit Migration and Human Rights Institute, which helps vulnerable migrants in Roraima’s capital Boa Vista, said the judge had overstepped his authority.

“[Venezuelans] are entering Brazil and seeking refuge because of the vulnerable situation they find themselves in,” she said. “What we fear is the lack of options for those near to the border.”


Since 2015, more than 56,000 Venezuelans have sought refuge or residency in Brazil amid continuing political turmoil and economic collapse in their home country.

But the flood of migrants has severely stretched health and education services in the poor state of Roraima.

“There is no point in welcoming Venezuelan immigrants if they are going to be subjected to equal or more degrading conditions here,” said Judge Barreto.

Suely Campos, the Roraima state governor, welcomed the ruling and blamed the federal government for a “total” lack of support. “It’s us who are dealing with a social tragedy on our frontiers,” Campos said in a statement.

Campos first requested Brazil’s supreme court to close the border, in a lawsuit which also asked the government to refund $49m her administration said it had spent on refugees.

On 1 August, she raised the stakes with a state decree ordering Venezuelans to show passports before accessing health and security services and directing police to deport any migrants who committed crimes.

The state said health attendances had increased 6,500% last year alone and crimes had increased 132% since 2015, and increase which it attributed to migrants.

But Sister Lage said that most migrants do not have passports so the decree effectively excluded migrants from receiving heathcare.

Prosecutors and Brazil’s Public Defence Office went to court to try and overturn the decree, arguing that immigrants entering Brazil in Roraima were in a situation of “extreme vulnerability” and that effectively banning them from accessing health services would create the risk of epidemics – especially as Roraima is currently battling a measles outbreak.

On Sunday, Judge Barreto agreed to suspend the decree’s clauses on passports and deportation but also closed the border to Venezuelans – a request neither the Public Defence Office nor federal prosecutors had requested. They now plan to appeal.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... n-migrants

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Brian Winter
‏
Momentum gathering around some kind of US military action in Venezuela: Rubio, as well as some in DC bureaucracy openly discussing now. A friend with high-level DC contacts told me recently “I’m afraid they’re gonna do something crazy.”

Marco Rubio says there is a “very strong” argument to be made for considering a military option in Venezuela.

Marco Rubio no descartó la opción militar de EEUU en Venezuela: "Las circunstancias han cambiado"
https://www.infobae.com/america/venezue ... -cambiado/

MARCO RUBIO: U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTION COULD SOLVE VENEZUELAN CRISIS
https://www.newsweek.com/marco-rubio-us ... la-1101123

Evo To Rubio: US is The Real Global Threat, Not Venezuela
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0006.html

[seemslikeadream]

US officials secretly met with Venezuelan military officers plotting a coup against Maduro
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/08/politics ... index.html

[seemslikeadream]

Swiss regulator censures Gazprombank after Panama Papers

Bank banned from taking new private clients over failings on money laundering checks

Max Seddon in Moscow and Ralph Atkins in Zuric
FEBRUARY 1, 2018
Swiss authorities have reprimanded Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest bank, over “serious shortcomings in anti-money laundering processes” related to the Panama Papers.

Finma, Switzerland’s financial regulator, said Gazprombank’s Swiss branch “failed to carry out adequate economic background clarifications into business relationships and transactions with increased money laundering risks”.

Gazprombank Switzerland was banned from taking on new private clients.

Gazprombank is Kremlin-controlled but is not majority-owned by state gas monopoly Gazprom. It courted controversy in 2016 when leaked documents in the Panama Papers, a trove of documents leaked from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, detailed its relationship with Sergei Roldugin, a cellist and childhood friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The documents tied Mr Roldugin to a $2bn offshore network despite having no obvious source of such income. Mr Putin later admitted that the documents were genuine but claimed Mr Roldugin had used the money to buy expensive musical instruments and move them to Russia.

In 2014, according to the Panama Papers, an offshore company tied to Mr Roldugin opened an account at Gazprombank Switzerland and denied any ties to a politically exposed person. The company estimated its initial deposit at the equivalent of about €5.6m, with more expected to come later.

The bank’s organisation and risk management and control functions have shown serious shortcomings in the prevention of money laundering

Finma
Finma revealed on Thursday it had carried out “in-depth” investigations at 20 Swiss banks following publication of the Panama papers. As well as its action against Gazprombank, others had been told to tighten anti-money laundering procedures, Finma said, without giving details.

The Swiss supervisor found that from 2006 to 2016, Gazprombank Switzerland kept insufficient records of its transactions and relationships, failed to report suspicious activity to Swiss money laundering authorities and often did not validate documentation it obtained from clients.

“The bank’s organisation and risk management and control functions have therefore shown serious shortcomings in the prevention of money laundering,” Finma said. An external regulator would oversee improvement measures.

Gazprombank Switzerland said it accepted Finma’s decision, which it pointed out partly covered a period before it bought the bank in 2009.

The bank said it had overhauled its compliance framework after the Panama Papers were published and made changes to its organisation and risk management in accordance with Swiss law.

A person close to Gazprombank said the Swiss bank’s private clients made up less than 1 per cent of its business, adding that Finma had not fined it, limited its core corporate lending business or taken action against any bank executives.

Separately, Finma ordered PKB PrivatBank, a small bank in Lugano in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, to pay compensation of SFr1.3m ($1.4m) following breaches in money laundering regulations linked to Brazil’s Petrobras corruption scandal.

In response, PKB said the events “took place several years ago”. It added: “For PKB, whose trust was abused by a deceitful employee, this case represents a first as the bank has always adhered to the highest standards of conduct.”
https://www.ft.com/content/c3911ac0-076 ... 0ad2d7c5b5

PDVSA ex-executive admits taking bribes in guilty plea in U.S. court

CARACAS (Reuters) - A former finance executive of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA accepted $17 million in bribes as part of a broad embezzlement scheme, U.S. federal prosecutors said on Wednesday, in a case that implicates a French oil firm and a Russian bank.

The former executive, Abraham Ortega, admitted to taking the bribes as part of a guilty plea to one count of attempting to launder $12 million of the illegal payments, the U.S. Attorneys’ Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement.

The case comes amid growing U.S. investigations into the troubled OPEC nation’s public officials, and may lead to new revelations about the role of foreign firms in graft probes that until now have mainly focused on Venezuelan nationals.

“Ortega admitted that he and his co-defendant laundered $12 million through a sophisticated false-investment scheme,” reads the statement, which describes a “billion-dollar international scheme to launder funds embezzled from PDVSA.”

PDVSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Ortega accepted $5 million from a French oil company and from a Russian bank, according to the statement, which did not name either company.

Prosecutors said that in exchange, Ortega helped companies gain “priority status” to loan money to joint ventures in which they were partners with PDVSA.

That was beneficial to those companies because PDVSA had agreed to speed up the flow of cash coming out of the joint ventures, which had slowed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, if the companies made the loans, the statement said.

PDVSA in 2013 said it had signed a deal with Russia’s Gazprombank for $1 billion in financing for a joint venture between the two companies called Petrozamora.

Gazprombank did not respond to an email seeking comment.

In 2014, then-Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramirez announced a $420 million loan from Anglo-French oil company Perenco to boost output at the Petrowarao joint venture.

Perenco declined to comment.

Khashoggi probe will exonerate leader: Alwaleed
Ortega obtained $12 million through a PDVSA embezzlement scheme built around the country’s exchange control system, which for years has allowed well-connected public officials to buy subsidized dollars and resell them at a huge profit.

More than a dozen people have pleaded guilty as part of a broad Justice Department investigation into bribery at PDVSA that became public in 2015 with the arrest of U.S.-based contractors Roberto Rincon and Abraham Shiera.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro has described the U.S. investigations as politically motivated, and accuses Washington of seeking to undermine his government through financial sanctions.

Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Leslie Adler
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vene ... SKCN1N639G

Russia Says It Wasn't Part Of Venezuelan Graft Scheme
Kenneth Rapoza
Senior Contributor
Markets

A Gazprombank logo seen displayed on a smart phone. Russia says it is not breaking U.S. sanctions and funneling money into Venezuela. (Photo by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
It's surely in Russia's interest that Venezuela can keep its lights on. Russian oil firm Rosneft is a key backer of PdVSA, the state-controlled oil firm that hangs like a loose tooth in Latin America's biggest basket case economy. But on Friday, the bank of Russian gas firm Gazprom says there was no dark money schemes being employed to prop up the struggling nation run by the Socialists United of Venezuela.

Gazprombank was reacting to a Halloween Day announcement from a U.S. court that the bank was involved in bribery schemes that helped both them and the beleaguered oil firm PdVSA.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Southern District of Florida said Abraham Ortega, former executive director of financial planning for PdVSA, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for granting preferences to a Russian bank and a French oil company. Ortega said he received $3 million in bribes for helping the French and $2 million for helping the Russians. Ortega also acknowledged involvement in the withdrawal scheme of $1.2 billion from PdVSA and receiving another $12 million in bribes for participating in a corruption scheme related to lending and a foreign exchange contract of a Venezuelan company.

Anglo-French oil company Perenco and Russian financial firm Gazprombank were identified as the source of the bribe money, someone with knowledge of the case told Reuters reporter Alexandra Ulmer on Nov. 1. The court never named the companies mentioned by Ortega.


The Russians for sure have their hands in Venezuelan oil.

Largely at the invite of the Venezuelan government, PdVSA and Gazprombrank created a joint venture in 2012 called Petrozamora. Gazprom says that Florida court materials mention a scheme that was between PdVSA and a foreign joint venture created around 2007, the press service of Gazprombank said on Friday. The company said that in 2013 the bank "structured debt financing of capital investments and operating expenses of Petrozamora JV on market terms, without any preferences from the Venezuelan side."

Like all things Russians, Gazprombank owns a subsidiary set up to handle the South American JV called GPB Global Resources. It owns 40% of Petrozamora, according to Russian press reports. In April 2015, the National Assembly of Venezuela allowed the Venezuelan company to purchase four fields in the area of Lake Maracaibo. In 2016, Gazprombank sold 83% of GPB Global Resources for $248.4 million, but it is unclear who that buyer was.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/ ... 4c25c41f61

WARNING FAUXNEWS ARTICLE

Trump amps up Venezuelan crackdown, sanctions gold exports with executive order

Hollie McKay19 hours ago
White House targets Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua

National Security Adviser John Bolton brands the countries a 'troika of tyranny' while announcing new sanctions over human rights violations and political oppression.

President Trump is continuing to put pressure on the government of Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro, introducing a new round of sanctions designed to further rattle the embattled South American country’s oil exports.

Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton revealed that the president signed an executive order on Thursday to prohibit anyone in the U.S. from doing business with entities and individuals involved with “corrupt and deceptive” gold dealings from Venezuela, declaring that the Maduro regime “has used this sector as a bastion to finance illicit activities, to fill its coffers, and to support criminal groups.”

Bolton made the revelations late last week while addressing a crowd of mostly Cuban-Americans and other Hispanics at the Freedom Tower in Miami, Florida – the place where Cuban refugees were embraced in the 1960s in the aftermath of Fidel Castro’s revolt.

Over the past three years, more than 2 million Venezuelans have fled the country – creating a mass migration crisis that has threatened to destabilize Latin America. Food and medicine are said to be increasingly scarce across the country, with the UN calling it one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The new sanctions only add to the already thick slate of restrictions – of which 70 Venezuelan individuals and entities, including the president and his wife, are banned from traveling to the U.S. or doing business with Americans or American companies.

The ailing nation this year turned to gold as a means of invigorating its fast-falling currency and moving away from oil dependency. Maduro declared war on illegal mining across the country, but his critics contend that the government continues to garner the rewards of the illicit gold trade.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro demonstrates his Salt Bae sprinkling technique during a press conference at the Miraflores Presidential Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. Maduro demonstrated the technique after speaking about the invitation to the famed Nusr-Et steakhouse in Istanbul when he stopped over briefly in Turkey on the way home from a trip to China to raise badly needed investment. Videos of Maduro feasting on a steak is drawing fury from opponents of the embattled socialist leader. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro demonstrates his Salt Bae sprinkling technique during a press conference at the Miraflores Presidential Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. Maduro demonstrated the technique after speaking about the invitation to the famed Nusr-Et steakhouse in Istanbul when he stopped over briefly in Turkey on the way home from a trip to China to raise badly needed investment. Videos of Maduro feasting on a steak is drawing fury from opponents of the embattled socialist leader. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
In apprehension of U.S. regulations, in the first nine months of the year Venezuela exported some $900 million worth of gold through Turkey. Maduro has since responded publicly to the sanctions announcement, calling them “crazy” and “schizophrenic” in a televised statement. He stressed that Venezuela would not bow to U.S. imperialism, and insisted that a colossal mining project planned for 2019 would go ahead – financed by both public and private sectors – and generate $5 billion annually.

Maduro has consistently denied being at the root of any economic woes in Venezuela and instead blamed U.S.-backed adversaries and opposition leaders for waging fiscal wars and plotting to assassinate him.

VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER LAMENTS "GENOCIDE" IN HIS COUNTRY, REVEALS HIS ESCAPE FROM DETAINMENT

QUESTIONS ARISE OVER POLITICS, MOTIVATION OF CARAVAN ORGANIZERS

Bolton also emphasized that the new clampdown was part of a larger promise to punish and isolate Latin America’s “troika of tyranny” – pointing the finger at Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua – for disruptive and hostile behavior in the region. Bolton accused Cuba of supporting Maduro’s reign of terror in Venezuela and said that “within days” the State Department would also be adding more than two dozen Cuban organizations to a ban list given their ties to the country’s military and intelligence wings.

The Trump administration has endeavored to take a much harder line against the Cuban government and scale back some of Obama’s 2014 policies after restoring diplomatic relations.

Moreover, Bolton took aim at Nicaragua’s left-leaning leader Daniel Ortega for persecuting political opponents, vowing that the government “will feel the full weight of America’s robust sanctions regime.”



Meanwhile, the White House has shored up relations with right-sided regional leaders, including the governments of Colombia, Chile and the newly-elected President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Bolton insisted that the United States would “stand with the freedom fighters” and lauded the “like-minded” Bolsonaro – despite condemnation over his controversial remarks concerning women and minorities – as an important partner in the quest to “advance the rule of law.”

“Had a very good conversation with the newly elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who won his race by a substantial margin,” Trump tweeted Monday. “We agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else! Excellent call, wished him congrats!”

Hollie McKay has a been a Fox News Digital staff reporter since 2007. She has extensively reported from war zones including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Burma and investigates global conflicts, war crimes and terrorism around the world. Follow her on twitter and Instagram @holliesmckay
https://www.foxnews.com/world/trump-amp ... tive-order

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Venezuela's Maduro cuts off U.S. relations after Trump backs opposition leader Juan Guaidó
Maduro said his government was breaking relations with the United States and gave diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave the country.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/tru ... nt-n961771

Trump leaves 'military option' on the table for Venezuela, which he calls as threatening as North Korea
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-l ... ela-2019-1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0lT3lR6Fs0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9TytNU6hsg

The Latest: Colombia's president urges Maduro to step aside
https://www.ksl.com/article/46474347/th ... ize-guaido

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poBZsisWhi0

Trump’s move on Venezuela is ‘setting off possible civil war’ in oil-rich country, WikiLeaks warns
https://www.rt.com/news/449541-wikileak ... civil-war/

Six dead as Venezuela braces for massive rival protests
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/0 ... venezuela/

[seemslikeadream]

CNN: The US will not evacuate diplomats from Venezuela due to the fact that the president recognized by the United States has not asked them to

They're guarded by marines, and if Maduro launches an attack on an embassy its an attack on America and he's really screwed

Juan Guaido addresses a crowd of supporters on Wednesday. Photo: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself the country's interim president during a massive opposition rally in Caracas Wednesday as tens of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Driving the news: The move led President Trump to announce that he had officially recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader.

National Assembly head Juan Guaidó speaks during the opposition rally. Photo: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

Juan Guaidó declares himself the country's interim president during the opposition rally. Photo: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

One Venezuelan soldier fires tear gas at demonstrators while another takes a picture. Photo: Rayner Pena/picture alliance via Getty Images

Soldiers stand ready during the protests. Photo: Rayner Pena/picture alliance via Getty Images

Venezuelan opposition demonstrators set a van on fire during the protest. Photo: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images

A man walks by a car that was vandalized in Caracas. Photo: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

https://www.axios.com/venezuela-photos- ... ab9eb.html

[seemslikeadream]

‘YANKEE, GO HOME,’ VENEZUELA BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S SUPPORT FOR MADURO’S OPPONENTS AS PROTESTS ROCK CARACAS
BY JASON LEMON ON 1/23/19 AT 9:29 AM

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez hit back after her Washington counterpart, Vice President Mike Pence, voiced the Trump administration’s full support on Tuesday for the South American country’s political opposition led by Juan Guaido.

“Yankee, go home,” Rodriguez said during a news conference, Reuters reported. She also referred to the political opposition as the “extreme right,” calling their plans “perverse” and a danger to “stability and peace.”

Guaido, who is the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, has led the political opposition in denouncing President Nicolás Maduro as a “usurper” and calling for a legitimate government transition. Maduro was inaugurated to a second term earlier this month after winning re-election last year in polls that were widely condemned by the international community.

GettyImages-962109974
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (center), his wife, Cilia Flores (right), and then Constituent Assembly President Delcy Rodriguez (left) arrive at the congress for the presidential inauguration ceremony, in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 24, 2018. The Trump administration voiced full support on Tuesday for the country’s political opposition led by Juan Guaido.
FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Since taking power in 2013, the leader has overseen the worst economic crisis in Venezuela’s modern history, with inflation passing 1 million percent. As a result of endemic financial concerns, soaring crime and widespread corruption, millions of Venezuelans have fled their country as refugees, primarily to nearby Latin American nations such as Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.

Although the National Assembly, the Venezuelan Congress, is controlled by the political opposition led by Guaido, the Supreme Court backs Maduro and has ruled that legislation from the legislative body is not valid. But earlier in January, the Organization of American States voted not to recognize Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, approving a resolution put forward by the U.S., Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru. Paraguay then moved to cut diplomatic ties with Venezuela altogether, with other Latin American nations signaling they would make similar moves or reduce their ties.

On Tuesday, Pence voiced the Trump administration’s full support for Guaido and the Venezuelan National Assembly as they launched nationwide anti-Maduro marches.

“Hola, I’m Mike Pence,” the vice president said in a video message, using a few Spanish words. “Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power,” he said, adding that Venezuela’s National Assembly was the “last vestige of democracy” in the country.

RELATED STORIES
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GettyImages-1085378482
Venezuela’s National Assembly President Juan Guaido greets supporters during an open meeting in the Caricuao neighborhood in southwest Caracas, Venezuela, on January 19. Guaido has led the political opposition in denouncing President Nicolas Maduro and calling for a legitimate government transition.
FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Later on Tuesday, a 16-year-old was reported shot and killed during an anti-Maduro rally. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are expected to take to the streets throughout the country on Wednesday, according to the BBC. Maduro’s socialist party is also planning countermarches in support of his government.

Ahead of the demonstrations on Monday, Guaido implored members of the military serving Maduro’s government not to stop the movement with violence. “We’re not asking you to stage a coup d’état, we’re not asking you to shoot. We’re asking you not to shoot at us,” he said.
https://www.newsweek.com/yankee-go-home ... ts-1301718

Pompeo urges Maduro to step aside & Venezuelan military to help 'restore democracy'
https://www.rt.com/news/449536-pompeo-m ... rt-change/

Venezuela Detains National Guard Members Accused of Turning on Maduro
Protesters gathered in front of a National Guard installation in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday after security forces surrounded it.
Credit

Protesters gathered in front of a National Guard installation in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday after security forces surrounded it.CreditCreditYuri Cortez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By Ana Vanessa Herrero
Jan. 21, 2019


CARACAS, Venezuela — Members of the Venezuelan National Guard were detained in the capital early Monday, the military said, after online videos showed a group of soldiers pledging allegiance to an opposition leader seeking to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

The soldiers’ apparent defiance at a military installation in the western Caracas neighborhood of Cotiza occurred days after opposition leaders offered amnesty to members of the armed forces who turned their backs on the government and helped establish a transitional government that would convene fair elections.

The opposition leaders have called for nationwide demonstrations on Wednesday, which they hope will show that their bid to replace Mr. Maduro has widespread support.

The United States and several governments in the region have backed the opposition’s plan, but leaders of the movement acknowledge that getting the armed forces to flip will be the toughest hurdle.

“We need to appeal to their conscience and create incentives for them,” said Juan Andrés Mejía, an opposition lawmaker.

But creating incentives may not be enough if members of the military fear that any sign of disloyalty may carry face harsh consequences. On Monday, 27 people were detained after security forces surrounded the military installation, according to Diosdado Cabello, president of the Constituent Assembly, a legislative body packed with Maduro loyalists.

The service members who had participated in the uprising had been “neutralized, defeated and captured in record time,” Mr. Cabello said. He added in a series of messages posted on Twitter that the men were “confessing details” and that they had turned on the government after being offered “villas and castles.”

Venezuela’s military said the rebellious soldiers had stockpiled weapons. “These subjects will face the full weight of the law,” it said in a statement.

Neighbors reported hearing clashes at the military installation as nearby residents banged pots and pans, apparently in a show of support for the mutinous troops.

Diplomats and security analysts in Venezuela said they found the soldiers’ actions on Monday morning puzzling. Some said the government may have staged a small act of defiance to justify taking extreme security measures ahead of Wednesday’s protests — and perhaps as a warning to any military groups that may be mulling switching sides.

Their skepticism was based on the hapless plan that the soldiers supposedly set in motion and the speed with which the government issued a detailed statement claiming that the plot had been quickly quashed.
Juan Guaidó, the recently installed president of the National Assembly, at a rally in Caracas last week.
Credit
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters


Image
Juan Guaidó, the recently installed president of the National Assembly, at a rally in Caracas last week.CreditCarlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
Whatever the case, the events added to the tension palpable in the capital before the planned protests.

“What happened this morning is very dangerous for the opposition,” said Rocío San Miguel, a security analyst with deep knowledge of the country’s armed forces. “The government will use it to its favor.”

Ms. San Miguel said rank-and-file soldiers had been defecting from their bases in large numbers in recent weeks. Their salaries have become increasingly worthless amid soaring inflation.

Juan Guaidó, the recently installed president of the National Assembly who is leading the effort to establish a transitional government, called the soldiers’ actions “a show of the generalized feeling” in the armed forces after Mr. Maduro was sworn in for a second term, on Jan. 10.

His re-election in May was widely condemned as rigged, and the United States and several Latin American governments have said they do not consider him a legitimately elected leader.
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“Our troops know that the chain of command is broken due to the usurpation of the presidency,” Mr. Guaidó wrote on Twitter on Monday. “We don’t want the security forces to split apart or clash, we want them to stand united on the side of the people, the Constitution and against the usurpation.”

The country’s Supreme Court, which is packed with Maduro loyalists, issued a ruling late Monday morning that called the current leaders of the National Assembly illegitimate.

The court warned that recent laws passed by the assembly, including one granting amnesty to members of the security forces who turn on the government, are unconstitutional.

The ruling appeared unlikely to have any practical effect. The court and members of the National Assembly have not recognized the legitimacy of each other’s actions since the court sought to assume the powers of the lawmaking body in March 2017.

Mr. Maduro first came to power in a snap vote after the death in 2013 of President Hugo Chávez, who anointed him as his successor. Over the years, Mr. Maduro has tightened his grip on power, and unrest within the armed forces has grown. Dozens of Venezuelan military officers have been detained in recent months on suspicion of plotting coups.

As residents in the area of the uprising awoke to the sound of clashes, many took to the streets to support the rebelling troops, according to videos posted online. Seeking to keep protests from growing, security officers fired tear gas, according to residents.

The beginning of Mr. Maduro’s new term drew an international outcry that has left the Venezuelan government more isolated than ever before. It also invigorated the opposition, which had appeared rudderless and largely ineffectual since a wave of protests in 2017 was crushed by the security forces.

Opposition leaders have convened town-hall-style meetings across Venezuela to build support for their vision of a transitional government. Those meetings have been attended by thousands of people. Some have been held in poor districts that have traditionally been bedrocks of support for Mr. Maduro’s party.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/worl ... guard.html

[seemslikeadream]

Leah McElrath
‏

@leahmcelrath
1h1 hour ago

I mean, I guess Trump could do a “national emergency,” a government shutdown, and a proxy war in Venezuela all at once. Sure, why not.https://twitter.com/leahmcelrath

Olga Lautman
‏

@olgaNYC1211

Yeah checking Russian news and they told their embassy workers to follow instructions from Maduro only.


Russia blames US for intervening in Venezuela. Will be interesting to see if they step in to save Maduro who they have supported both militarily and economically.




Just to show how Russian propaganda works.
The violent scary scenes are from Russian media and the people demanding a change scenes are the reality in Venezuela. Lol think Putin is scared to give his people any ideas




https://twitter.com/olgaNYC1211

ELINT News
‏

@ELINTNews

#UPDATE: Unknown plane from Russia has arrived in Venezuela
https://twitter.com/ELINTNews

TicToc by Bloomberg
‏
Verified account

@tictoc
8h8 hours ago

VENEZUELA: Protesters burn a statue of ex-president Hugo Chávez. Demonstrations against current president Nicolas Maduro and the socialist government are taking place across the country
https://twitter.com/tictoc

Trump Pressed Aides on Venezuela Invasion, U.S. Official Says

July 3, 2018, 11:42 PM CDT Updated on July 4, 2018, 7:59 PM CDT

Bogota, Colombia (AP) -- As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Donald Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela threatening regional security, why can't the U.S. just simply invade the troubled country?

The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, both of whom have since left the administration. This account of the previously undisclosed conversation comes from a senior administration official familiar with what was said.

In an exchange that lasted around five minutes, McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship, according to the official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

But Trump pushed back. Although he gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, he pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.

The idea, despite his aides' best attempts to shoot it down, would nonetheless persist in the president's head.

The next day, Aug. 11, Trump alarmed friends and foes alike with talk of a "military option" to remove Maduro from power. The public remarks were initially dismissed in U.S. policy circles as the sort of martial bluster people have come to expect from the reality TV star turned commander in chief.

But shortly afterward, he raised the issue with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, according to the U.S. official. Two high-ranking Colombian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing Trump confirmed the report.

Then in September, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump discussed it again, this time at greater length, in a private dinner with leaders from four Latin American allies that included Santos, the same three people said and Politico reported in February.

The U.S. official said Trump was specifically briefed not to raise the issue and told it wouldn't play well, but the first thing the president said at the dinner was, "My staff told me not to say this." Trump then went around asking each leader if they were sure they didn't want a military solution, according to the official, who added that each leader told Trump in clear terms they were sure.

Eventually, McMaster would pull aside the president and walk him through the dangers of an invasion, the official said.

Taken together, the behind-the-scenes talks, the extent and details of which have not been previously reported, highlight how Venezuela's political and economic crisis has received top attention under Trump in a way that was unimaginable in the Obama administration. But critics say it also underscores how his "America First" foreign policy at times can seem outright reckless, providing ammunition to America's adversaries.

The White House declined to comment on the private conversations. But a National Security Council spokesman reiterated that the U.S. will consider all options at its disposal to help restore Venezuela's democracy and bring stability. Under Trump's leadership, the U.S., Canada and European Union have levied sanctions on dozens of top Venezuelan officials, including Maduro himself, over allegations of corruption, drug trafficking and human rights abuses. The U.S. has also distributed more than $30 million to help Venezuela's neighbors absorb an influx of more than 1 million migrants who have fled the country.

Trump's bellicose talk provided the unpopular leader with an immediate if short-lived boost as he was trying to escape blame for widespread food shortages and hyperinflation. Within days of the president's talk of a military option, Maduro filled the streets of Caracas with loyalists to condemn "Emperor" Trump's belligerence, ordered up nationwide military exercises and threatened with arrest opponents he said were plotting his overthrow with the U.S.

On Wednesday, Maduro cited the AP's article to reaffirm his long-standing claim that the U.S. has military designs on Venezuela and its vast oil reserves. At a military promotion ceremony in Caracas, he called on troops to remain vigilant, criticizing what he called the "supremacist and criminal vision of those who govern the U.S."

"A military intervention on the part of the U.S. empire will never be a solution to Venezuela's problems," he said.

Even some of the staunchest U.S. allies were begrudgingly forced to side with Maduro in condemning Trump's saber rattling. Santos, a big backer of U.S. attempts to isolate Maduro, said an invasion would have zero support in the region. The Mercosur trade bloc, which includes Brazil and Argentina, issued a statement saying "the only acceptable means of promoting democracy are dialogue and diplomacy" and repudiating "any option that implies the use of force."

But among Venezuela's beleaguered opposition movement, hostility to the idea of a military intervention has slowly eased.

A few weeks after Trump's public comments, Harvard economics professor Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan planning minister, wrote a syndicated column titled "D Day Venezuela," in which he called for a "coalition of the willing" made up of regional powers and the U.S. to step in and support militarily a government appointed by the opposition-led national assembly.

Mark Feierstein, who oversaw Latin America on the National Security Council during the Obama administration, said that strident U.S. action on Venezuela, however commendable, won't loosen Maduro's grip on power if it's not accompanied by pressure from the streets. However, he thinks Venezuelans have largely been demoralized after a crackdown on protests last year triggered dozens of deaths, and the threat of more repression has forced dozens of opposition leaders into exile.

"People inside and outside the administration know they can ignore plenty of what Trump says," Feierstein, who is now a senior adviser at the Albright Stonebridge Group, said of Trump's talk of military invasion of Venezuela. "The concern is that it raised expectations among Venezuelans, many of whom are waiting for an external actor to save them."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... a-invasion

Benghazi on purpose?

[seemslikeadream]

The Latest: Venezuelan soldiers on air to back Maduro

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

10:05 a.m.

Military commanders across Venezuela are taking to the airwaves to vow loyalty to embattled President Nicolas Maduro.

Major General Victor Palacio said Thursday he categorically rejected any acts threatening stability in Venezuela.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido a day earlier spoke to masses of supporters crowding the streets of Caracas that he’s assuming the presidency.

He called for new elections to restore democracy and appealed to members of the military to reject what he called Maduro’s dictatorship.

Palacio is one of several generals who have been appearing on state TV, standing before dozens of soldiers in a show of military support.

Major General Manuel Gregorio Bernal also backed Maduro, saying the president represents an independent country in the face of imperialist aggression.

___

9:25 a.m.

Venezuela’s closest ally says it backs socialist President Nicolas Maduro against what it calls a “coup d’etat” to impose “a servile government under orders from the United States.”

Cuba’s foreign ministry says Cuba “expresses its unwavering solidarity with the government of the constitutional president Nicolas Maduro Moros.”

Cuba has sent Venezuela tens of thousands of workers, from doctors to intelligence officials, to support former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Maduro, his successor.

In return, the economically struggling island receives tens of thousands of barrels a day in heavily subsidized oil.

Anti-Maduro National Assembly President Juan Guaido asserts that he’s Venezuela’s interim president under the constitution.

___

9:00 a.m.

A Venezuelan monitoring group says at least a dozen people have been killed by gunfire in a wave of anti-government unrest rocking Venezuela, where a young opposition leader and socialist President Nicolas Maduro both claim to be chief of state. .

Coordinator Marco Ponce with the non-profit Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict gave the death toll and names of those reported slain to the Associated Press on Thursday.

Seven deaths had been reported earlier.

For a third consecutive night, there were reports of looting in poor neighborhoods in Caracas and clashes between protesters and state security forces.

Amnesty International is calling on Maduro to uphold demonstrators’ rights and immediately remove any military or police offers involved in repression.

The troubled South American nation has plunged into a new chapter of uncertainty following Wednesday’s mass protests and competing claims to the presidency.

___

8:50 a.m.

The German government is backing the opposition-led National Assembly in Venezuela, while calling for “free and credible elections” in the country.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Thursday on Twitter that “the people of Venezuela are bravely working for a free future for their country.”

Seibert said “this now requires a political process that results in free and credible elections.”

He added that “the democratically elected National Assembly should have a special role here.”

___

8:20 a.m.

The U.N. chief has called for dialogue and says violence or escalation should be avoided after the United States, many Latin American countries and others recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s president.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was asked to comment about Venezuela at the World Economic Forum after many of its closest neighbors issued the rebuff to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a day earlier.

Guterres said simply: “It is absolutely essential to have dialogue, to avoid violence and to avoid escalation.” He did not elaborate.

___

7:50 a.m.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is holding talks on Venezuela with Latin American leaders in the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Sanchez’s office also said the leader has scheduled a phone call with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, a long-time socialist, says Nicolas Maduro’s government is illegitimate but declined to follow other world leaders in endorsing Guaido.

“We don’t know how, but we are going to procure free and fair elections in Venezuela,” Borrell has told reporters on Thursday.

Spain was among European countries that until earlier this week was promoting an international mediation between Maduro’s administration and the opposition. But Borrell says now that “the situation has changed radically.”

He also said the government’s top priority was to ensure the safety of more than 200,000 Spaniards living in Venezuela.

___

7:30 a.m.

French President Emmanuel Macron says that the May 2018 election of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was “illegitimate” and saluted the bravery of Venezuelans who are demanding freedom.

In a tweet on Thursday in French and Spanish, Macron added his own voice to the European Union’s declared support for the restoration of democracy.

Macron said that he “salutes the courage of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans marching for their liberty.”

The EU is calling for the launch of a political process in Venezuela that would lead to fresh elections after opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed the presidency amid anti-government protests.

___

7:20 a.m.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey opposes coup attempts wherever they may occur.

Erdogan, who did not directly reference Venezuela, made the comments at a military academy Thursday hours after he spoke with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

Earlier, Erdogan’s spokesman said that the Turkish leader told Maduro in a phone call: “My brother Maduro! Stay strong, we are by your side.”

Erdogan said: “As a country that believes in democracy, as a president who believes in democracy ... where ever in the world there is a coup attempt, we stand against them all without distinction.”

He added: “Everyone has to respect the result of the ballot boxes.”

Erdogan, whom critics accuse of increasingly autocratic tendencies, survived a coup attempt in 2016.

___

7:10 a.m.

Ecuador’s foreign minister says his country opposes possible military action in Venezuela against President Nicolas Maduro’s government, insisting it would have “mostly negative impacts.”

Ecuador has joined many fellow Latin American countries, the United States and others that have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s president in the face of Venezuela’s political and economic crisis under Maduro.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Ecuador would disagree with the military option.

Valencia was asked to comment Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said “options are on the table” a day earlier in response to a question whether the U.S. was contemplating military action in Venezuela.

Valencia said: “I wouldn’t think that it would be a way out of the situation. You have to give the Venezuelan people the opportunity to decide by themselves.”

Ecuador said in October it has granted visas to 90,000 Venezuelans fleeing their country.

___

7 a.m.

Syria has condemned what it describes as “flagrant intervention” by the U.S. in Venezuela’s internal affairs.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the American backing of the opposition’s claim to the presidency in Venezuela constitutes a “violation of international laws and norms.”

The ministry says Damascus renews its “full solidarity with the leadership and people of the Venezuelan Republic in preserving the country’s sovereignty and foiling the American administration’s hostile plans.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is a strong ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Maduro visited Syria as foreign minister in 2011, months after the Arab country’s conflict began. Assad visited Venezuela in 2010.

A large Syrian community lives in Venezuela.

___

6:50 a.m.

The Kremlin has dismissed the political crisis in Venezuela as an attempted coup and expressed concern over suggestions of possible foreign military intervention.

Russia is a key ally of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in for his second term in office earlier this month. Maduro’s rival Juan Gauido on Wednesday declared himself interim president before masses of demonstrators in Caracas.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday dismissed Gauido’s announcement an “attempt to usurp power” which violates international law. He also said the Kremlin was concerned about statements “from foreign nations” ″which do not rule out foreign intervention.”

Asked if Russia would be willing to grant asylum to Maduro, Peskov said that Maduro is the legitimate leader.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement issued earlier on Thursday said that the crisis in Venezuela “has reached a dangerous point” and called on the international community to mediate between the government and the opposition.

___

6:45 a.m.

Portugal’s foreign minister is calling for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to “understand that his time has come to an end,” after opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed the country’s presidency.

Augusto Santos Silva told the Portuguese news agency LUSA, in comments published by daily Observador, that Maduro “cannot ignore the will of the people.”

Portugal has previously taken a careful approach to events in Venezuela, wary of doing anything that might cause problems for the large Portuguese community there.

Santos Silva appealed for a peaceful end to the standoff and called for free elections.

___

6:30 a.m.

The European Union is calling for the launch of a political process in Venezuela that would lead to fresh elections after opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed the presidency amid anti-government protests.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherni said in a statement Thursday that the voice of Venezuelans calling for democracy “cannot be ignored.”

Mogherini says that “the EU strongly calls for the start of an immediate political process leading to free and credible elections, in conformity with the constitutional order.”

She says the EU backs Venezuela’s national assembly and that its powers should be restored and respected.

Mogherini is calling for the safety and rights of lawmakers and Guaido to be protected, and says the 28-nation EU stands ready to help support a return to democracy and the rule of law.

___

6:05 a.m.

China is calling on the United States to stay out of Venezuela’s current political crisis and says it opposes all outside intervention in the South American country.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday that all parties to the conflict should “remain rational and level-headed and seek a political resolution on the Venezuelan issue through peaceful dialogue within the framework of the Venezuelan Constitution.”

Hua said China “opposes external intervention in Venezuela. We hope that the international community will jointly create favorable conditions for this.”

She said: “We hope that Venezuela and the United States can respect and treat each other on an equal footing, and deal with their relations based on non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.”

Over the last decade, China has given Venezuela $65 billion in loans, cash and investment. Venezuela owes more than $20 billion.

China’s only hope of being repaid appears to lie in Venezuela ramping up oil production, although low petroleum prices and the country’s crashing economy appear to bode poorly for such an outcome.

___

5:35 a.m.

Iran has denounced events in Venezuela, saying the opposition’s claim there that it holds the presidency is a “coup” and an attempt to take over power unlawfully.

In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters on Thursday that the “Islamic Republic of Iran supports the government and people of Venezuela against any sort of foreign intervention and any illegitimate and illegal action such as attempt to make a coup d’etat.”

His remarks were carried by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Ghasemi also condemned what he said is an open and illegal intervention in Venezuela by the U.S. and added hopes that the Venezuelan people will overcome their political rifts and problems through peaceful and legal means.

Tehran has long been an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

___

5:10 a.m.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom says “the people’s right to peacefully demonstrate and freely choose its leaders must be respected” in Venezuela after sometimes violent rallies in the wake of opposition leader Juan Guaido claiming the presidency.

Wallstrom has tweeted that “all violence and the excessive use of force are unacceptable. Democracy must be restored.”

Her Danish counterpart Anders Samuelsen says Denmark “will always support legitimate elected democratic institutions — not least the parliamentary assembly including @jguaido Juan Guaido.”

The opposition leader had declared himself interim president before a mass of demonstrators in Caracas, saying the “dictatorship” of socialist President Nicolas Maduro should end.

Violence flared again Wednesday across Venezuela, and at least seven deaths were reported in the escalating confrontation with Maduro, who has been increasingly criticized by many nations. Russia, Turkey and other nations support Maduro.

___

4 a.m.

Russian officials and senior lawmakers have reacted angrily to opposition protests in Venezuela that support opposition leader Juan Guaido’s claim to the presidency.

Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information committee at the Federation Council, on Thursday called Guaido’s declaration “an attempted coup” backed by the U.S.

Russia has been propping up incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, who took office for a second term earlier this month, with arms deliveries and loans. Maduro visited Moscow in December, seeking Russia’s political support and financial support.

“It’s impossible to imagine that this was spontaneous,” Pushkov said on state-owned Rossiya 24 television station, referring to the opposition protests. “That was a pre-planned action, and it was certainly coordinated by the United States.”

President Donald Trump has promised to use the “full weight” of U.S. economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela’s democracy.

Pushkov warned that the showdown between Maduro and Guaido “could lead to a civil conflict, even civil war.”

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Federation Council’s foreign affairs committee, in a Facebook post on Thursday accused the U.S. of “inciting protests” in Venezuela.

___

3:50 a.m.

A senior official says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Venezuela’s embattled president, Nicolas Maduro, to voice his support after the leader of a united opposition claimed to hold the interim presidency.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted early Thursday that Erdogan told Maduro: ”‘My brother Maduro! Stay strong, we are by your side.’”

Kalin added that Turkey, under Erdogan’s leadership, would “maintain its principled stance against coup attempts.”

Juan Guaido declared himself interim president before a mass of demonstrators in Caracas on Wednesday. The U.S., Canada and another dozen mostly Latin American countries quickly announced that they supported Guaido’s claim to the presidency.

Turkey has cultivated close economic and political ties with Maduro. During a visit to Venezuela in December, Erdogan criticized U.S. sanctions on the crisis-ridden country.

___

1 a.m.

Australia is considering recognizing the rival claimant to Venezuela’s presidency after the United States and many Latin American did so.

Congress leader Juan Guaido has declared himself interim president and said it was the only way to end President Nicolas Maduro’s “dictatorship.”

After the U.S. and others announced their support for Guaido, Maduro fired back late Wednesday by breaking relations with the U.S. and ordering its diplomats to leave. Washington says it will ignore the order.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Thursday that her government is considering recognizing Guaido as president.

She told reporters in Sydney that Australia was concerned about what the “clearly deteriorating political, economic and security and humanitarian situation in Venezuela and it is having significant effects across the Latin American region.”

___

12:15 a.m.

Venezuelans are heading into uncharted political waters, with the young leader of a newly united and combative opposition claiming the presidency and socialist President Nicolas Maduro digging in for a fight with the Trump administration.

Violence flared again Wednesday during big protests across Venezuela, and at least seven deaths were reported in the escalating confrontation with Maduro, who has been increasingly criticized by many nations.

Congress leader Juan Guaido turned up the heat by declaring himself interim president before a mass of demonstrators in Caracas. He said it is the only way to end Maduro’s “dictatorship.”

The U.S., Canada and many Latin American countries quickly announced support for Guaido.

Maduro fired back by breaking relations with the U.S. and ordering its diplomats out. Washington says it will ignore the order.
https://apnews.com/91d4ee82bffc4f5e92c2 ... _medium=AP

[seemslikeadream]

cross posting because I still believe in one subject one thread


there was a time when it was just a polite courtesy to have only one thread on a topic and if there was a dupe everyone here would ask for the threads to be combined but that politeness is over and now we have dueling threads on the same subject because different points of view are NO LONGER TOLERATED and we must have separate threads. I am cross posting from conniption's thread because I still feel all information about a subject should be in one thread and of course I am choosing the thread that was created first

I have no problem with conniption .....everyone should be allowed to post here without the worry of being personally attacked


I regret this recent upending of the way things were done here in the past...not being able to discuss differences in one thread ...this would be a very boring place if everyone agreed about everything .....that's not the way it was ever meant to be

MoA
(embedded links)

January 23, 2019
Venezuela - U.S. Again Tries Regime Change Which Is Again Likely To Fail

The U.S. has been intervening in oil-rich Venezuela since at least the early 2000. Several U.S. backed attempts to oust the elected socialist government, first under Chavez and then under Maduro, failed. But the economic sanctions by the U.S. and its lackeys have made the life for business and the people in Venezuela more difficult. With access to international financial markets cut off, the government did its best to work around the sanctions. It, for example, bartered gold for food from Turkey. But the Bank of England, which is custodian of some of Venezuela's gold, has now practically confiscated it.

The Trump administration is launching another attempt to kick the elected government led by President Maduro out of office. Today the usually hapless opposition in Venezuela is set to launch another period of street riots against the government. It calls on the military to take over:

Opposition leaders are also urging Venezuela's powerful armed forces to withdraw their support for Maduro. And they are taking their campaign abroad by lobbying foreign governments to cut diplomatic and economic ties with Caracas.

On Tuesday, U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence said that Washington would support any effort by the opposition to form a provisional government to replace Maduro. Addressing average Venezuelans, Pence added: "We stand with you and we will stay with you until democracy is restored."

President Trump is now expected to recognize the opposition leader in the National Congress Juan Guaidó, who does not have a majority in the country, as the nations president.


bigger

But the National Congress no longer has legal power. In 2017 that role was taken over by the elected Constitutional Assembly, which supports the Venezuelan government. The Venezuelan Supreme Court ratified the change. That Guaidó may be called president by Trump does not make him such.

Juan Guaidó, the self declared 'opposition leader', is just a telegenic stand in for the right wing leader Leopold Lopez, who in 2014 was jailed after inciting violent protests during which several people died. Lopez, now under house arrest, is a Princeton and Harvard educated son of the political and financial nobility of Venezuela, which lost its position when the people elected a socialist government. Lopez is the man the U.S. wants to put in charge even while he is much disliked. A U.S. diplomatic cable, published by Wikileaks, remarks that he "is often described as arrogant, vindictive, and power-hungry".

The poor were the winner of the socialist changes. The socialists, first under President Hugo Chavez and now under Nicolas Maduro, used the profits from oil exports to build housing for the poor and to generally lower their plight. These masses will be called upon to protect their government and gains.

The military, which the U.S. already secretly tried to instigate stage a coup, is unlikely to do so. It does well under the socialists and has no interest in changing that. The U.S. also tried to incite Brazil and Columbia to invade their neighbor. But neither country is capable of doing such. The U.S. itself is also unlikely to invade. At the United Nation Venezuela has Russia's and China's support.

Like in 2017 we can expect several weeks of violent protests in Caracas, during which tens or hundreds of police and protester may die. There will also be a lot of howling from the U.S. aligned media. But unless there is some massive change in the political and power configuration, the demonstrations are likely to petter out.

Has the Trump administration a consistent game plan to achieve such a change in the balance of power? I for one doubt that.

Posted by b on January 23, 2019

comments

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/01/v ... -fail.html

caucus 99 percent

Coup in Progress in Venezuela? TRNN Live

Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 01/23/2019

Is the US Orchestrating a coup in Venezuela?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... Xo3iE-fB94
The Real News Network
Streamed live 3 hours ago

...

1 of many comments:



https://caucus99percent.com/content/cou ... -trnn-live

[seemslikeadream]

Retired Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser says he doesn’t see a good reason to use the military to oust Maduro.

Alex WardJan 24, 2019, 3:50pm EST

Retired Air Force Gen. Douglas M. Fraser, speaking as the head of US Southern Command on January 14, 2010, in Miami.
Angel Valentin/Getty Images
President Donald Trump once openly considered a “military option” to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — and now that the US has officially called on Maduro to step down amid massive protests against his rule, Trump says that option is back on the table.

But according to a former top US military official, it probably shouldn’t be. The Pentagon’s former top official in charge of overseeing South American operations says there is no “good reason” for the US military to intervene in Venezuela right now.

The country is currently in the grip of a potentially explosive political standoff between two men who both claim to be the legitimate president of Venezuela: Maduro, who was reelected president in May 2018; and opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

Guaidó claims the 2018 election was rigged and that he, as the head of the National Assembly (the country’s legislative body), is now the rightful president according to the country’s constitution.

On Wednesday, Trump officially recognized Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president and called Maduro’s claim to the presidency “illegitimate.” But Maduro has responded with defiance and has so far shown no sign of stepping down anytime soon.

That led reporters soon afterward to ask Trump if he might send US troops into Venezuela to remove Maduro from power. “We’re not considering anything,” Trump responded, “but all options are on the table.”

But retired Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, who from June 2009 to November 2012 led US Southern Command — the part of the Defense Department responsible for overseeing Central and South America and the Caribbean — told me that US military intervention is the wrong course of action right now.

“I don’t see a good reason for the military to be employed in this situation,” he said.

Here’s why he thinks that, and why the Trump administration should prioritize other options instead.

Why a military option isn’t a good idea right now

Maduro still has control and the backing of major institutions in his country — including the military. On Thursday, Venezuela’s armed forces said they support their Maduro and will stop any coup attempts against him.

That means that any US military action aimed at toppling Maduro would likely be met with stiff resistance from the 515,000-strong Venezuelan military.

What’s more, even if the US military did succeed in toppling Maduro, the country would almost certainly be in a much worse state after even the most limited war — and Venezuela is already suffering from a dire humanitarian catastrophe caused by an economic collapse over the past several years.

That could pressure the US military to stay in the country long enough to stabilize it — potentially leading to yet another open-ended US military commitment abroad. (See: the Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan.)

Instead, Fraser said, the US would be better off working with regional allies and partners to alleviate some of the suffering in and around Venezuela. Most of the country lives in poverty and lacks access to even the most basic things needed for survival. That has led millions to flee to Colombia and other nearby countries to escape the misery.

Fraser did acknowledge that the US military should still look into what it would take to invade Venezuela just in case Trump does call for such a plan. “It might be worthwhile to just understand what the implications and requirements would be,” he told me. “That’s only prudent planning in case the president decides that’s an option he wants.”

But he doesn’t think Trump should choose that option anytime soon. “I don’t see the benefit of a direct military engagement,” he told me.

So for now, perhaps Trump should take that option off the table.
https://www.vox.com/2019/1/24/18196171/ ... aser-table

[seemslikeadream]

Mike Pompeo appoints Elliott Abrams as special envoy on Venezuela. Abrams is known for his central role in Reagan era policy in Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Greg
‏
sure, why not. Elliot Abrams. It's like history is getting a do-over. First the air-traffic controllers win, then US's Latin American coups fail. Next thing, there will be a president named Allende in Chile.

Exclusive: Kremlin-linked contractors help guard Venezuela's Maduro - sources
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Private military contractors who do secret missions for Russia flew into Venezuela in the past few days to beef up security for President Nicolas Maduro in the face of U.S.-backed opposition protests, according to two people close to them.

A third source close to the Russian contractors also told Reuters there was a contingent of them in Venezuela, but could not say when they arrived or what their role was.

Russia, which has backed Maduro's socialist government to the tune of billions of dollars, this week promised to stand by him after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself president with Washington's endorsement.

It was the latest international crisis to split the global superpowers, with the United States and Europe backing Guaido, and Russia and China urging non-interference.

Yevgeny Shabayev, leader of a local chapter of a paramilitary group of Cossacks with ties to Russian military contractors, said he had heard the number of Russian contractors in Venezuela may be about 400.

But the other sources spoke of small groups.

Russia's Defence Ministry and Venezuela's Information Ministry did not respond to requests for comment about the contractors. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We have no such information."

The contractors are associated with the so-called Wagner group whose members, mostly ex-service personnel, fought clandestinely in support of Russian forces in Syria and Ukraine, according to Reuters interviews with dozens of contractors, their friends and relatives.

A person believed to work for the Wagner group did not respond to a message asking for information.

Citing contacts in a Russian state security structure, Shabayev said the contingent flew to Venezuela at the start of this week, a day or two before opposition protests started.

CUBA CONNECTION?

He said they set off in two chartered aircraft for Havana, Cuba, from where they transferred onto regular commercial flights to Venezuela. The Cuban government, a close ally of Venezuela's ruling socialists for the last two decades, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The contractors' task in Venezuela was to protect Maduro from any attempt by opposition sympathizers in his own security forces to detain him, Shabayev said.

"Our people are there directly for his protection," he said.

Venezuelan authorities said they had put down an attempted revolt on Monday by rogue military officers about a kilometer from the presidential palace in Caracas.

Maduro, the 56-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez, only takes to the streets in carefully-controlled situations, since crowds have barracked him in the past.

One of the two anonymous Russian sources, who is close to the Wagner group and fought in foreign conflicts where it was active, said the contractors first arrived in advance of the May 2018 presidential election, but another group arrived "recently."

Asked if the deployment was linked to protecting Maduro, the source said: "It's directly connected." The contractors flew to Venezuela not from Moscow but from third countries where they were conducting missions, he added.

The third source, who is close to the private military contractors, said there was a contingent in Venezuela but he could not provide further details.

"They did not arrive in a big crowd," he said.

Publicly-available flight-tracking data has shown a number of Russian government aircraft landing in or near Venezuela over past weeks, though there was no evidence the flights were connected to military contractors.

A Russian Ilyushin-96 flew into Havana late on Wednesday after starting its journey in Moscow and flying via Senegal and Paraguay, the data showed.

The aircraft, a civilian jet, is owned by a division of the Russian presidential administration, according to a publicly-available procurement contract relating to the plane.

Between Dec. 10 and Dec. 14 last year, an Antonov-124 heavy cargo aircraft, and an Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft, carried out flights between Russia and Caracas, flight-tracking data showed. Another Ilyushin-76 was in Caracas from Dec. 12 to Dec. 21 last year. All three aircraft belong to the Russian air force, according to the tracking data.

(Additional reporting by Rinat Sagdiev in Moscow, Brian Ellsworth in Caracas and Sarah Marsh in Havana; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/ ... ssion=true

U.S. diplomats hunker down in Venezuela amid standoff with Maduro

John HudsonCARACAS, Venezuela —

January 25 at 11:21 AM
Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela hunkered down to await the consequences of disobeying an order by President Nicolás Maduro to exit the country by Saturday afternoon — an act of defiance that the socialist government has suggested could lead to electricity and gas cuts at the U.S. compound.

The State Department ordered the departure of a number of non-emergency employees and their families, while keeping others in place, following a decision by the Trump administration and a host of other nations on Wednesday to recognize Juan Guaidó, the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, as Venezuela’s rightful president. Guaidó on Wednesday declared Maduro a usurper for staging fraudulent elections last year and proclaimed himself the socialist nation’s rightful interim ruler.

A convoy of official vehicles with tinted windows sped away early Friday from the heavily fortified embassy compound under the watchful eyes of Venezuelan security forces. The State Department did not disclose how many officials were exiting the country, but in Washington, U.S. officials said there are no plans to completely close the embassy, indicating that some senior staff would remain against Maduro’s order to depart by around 4:17 p.m. local time on Saturday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he expected the rights of those diplomats who remain will be protected.

“It is literally a 24/7 moment-by-moment exercise to evaluate risk to the people who work for me in the State Department,” he said. “And we’ll get this right. We will make sure that we protect our folks on the ground and take all appropriate measures to ensure that they’re protected.”

At the same time, the United States and other nations sought to cut off the Maduro government’s already fragile sources of funding, including a move aimed at putting Citgo — the U.S.-based oil company wholly owned by Venezuela’s state energy giant — in the hands of Guaidó’s opposition. The Bank of England, meanwhile, declined to allow Maduro’s government to repatriate $1.2 billion worth of gold, Bloomberg News reported.

Venezuela's Maduro cuts ties with U.S. after Trump backs rival Guaidó


Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself interim president on Jan. 23, while Nicolas Maduro broke relations with the United States. (Reuters)

In Washington, Pompeo announced Elliott Abrams, an assistant secretary of state under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, will be a special envoy to Venezuela. A prominent conservative, Abrams, who pleaded guilty in 1991 to charges related to the Iran-contra affair but was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush, said he relished tackling the situation in Venezuela.

“This crisis in Venezuela is deep and difficult and dangerous,” he said, “and I can’t wait to get there.”

A U.S. Embassy staffer in Caracas who spoke on the condition of anonymity said some personnel had left the country on Friday using commercial flights, and others were slated to leave Saturday and Sunday. Some personnel — he could not say how many — would remain.

The embassy had stockpiles of food and water, he said, but only because that is the norm in a country facing severe shortages of basic goods. Threats of cutting power and water, he said, were ironic.

“It’s a sick joke, because those are the conditions that many Venezuelans have to live in every day,” he said.

Perhaps sensing his slipping position, Maduro offered to personally meet with Guaidó, “whenever he wants, wherever he wants. If I have to climb [a mountain] at 3 a.m. to dialogue, I will do it.”

The U.S. moves have left Maduro facing a delicate series of decisions on how to manage the presence of the U.S. personnel remaining in Caracas. At a Friday news conference, he repeated his demand they leave. “Let’s wait for the 72 hours,” to pass, he said.

He sought to personally blame President Trump for the showdown.

“I love the United States,” he said. “I broke political and diplomatic relations with the government of Trump. But I did not break relations with the United States. If they want to buy oil, we’ll sell them oil. If they don’t, we’ll sell elsewhere.”

Maduro said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “assured me of support for Venezuela, more wheat, more investment in the oil sector, more investment in gas, more investment in telecommunications and more investment in military investments.” On Friday, Reuters reported that roughly 400 Kremlin-linked forces were in Venezuela to aid in Maduro’s protection.

Bill Brownfield, a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, suggested three main options for Maduro on Saturday.

Least likely, he said, was to order the military to force its way into the U.S. Embassy, provoking a direct confrontation with Washington. Slightly more probable, he said, is to quietly encourage pro-government supporters to do the work for him.

Maduro “withdraws all security . . . they come over the gates. What they probably would do is to destroy, or at least to strip, every one of the outer buildings,” he said. “I doubt a mob could get into the building itself.”

Most likely, though, is that Maduro “settles down for a siege” of the compound and doesn’t allow anyone in or out “until they are ready to go home.”

A memo from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas obtained by The Washington Post warned that the “political and security situations are unpredictable and constantly changing” for the 124 Americans, including 46 family members, under its authority as of Thursday night. The memo also noted an estimated 47,500 U.S. citizens — the majority of whom are dual-nationals — are in the country.

In Caracas, the opposition began outlining its plan to undermine Maduro’s authority.

Speaking to a cheering throng in Plaza Bolivar, Guaidó said the opposition was already preparing names to replace the board at Citgo — a move that could lead Venezuela to halt oil sales to the United States, as well as payments on company bonds. That, in turn, could trigger attempted seizures by bondholders and the Russians, who hold a lien on 49 percent of the company.

The loyalties of the military remain key to Maduro’s ability to survive the most serious challenge to his authority since he became president in 2013. Maduro’s generals and inner circle have publicly pledged allegiance to him, but opposition officials said they were in talks with other military officers. Guaidó on Friday seemed to speak to the rank and file.

“I want to insist to our military family,” he said, that it is time to put yourselves on “the side of the constitution.”

As Maduro’s forces staged further raids on dissidents’ homes overnight, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday condemned the escalating violence and called for investigations into a mounting death toll.

In a statement, Bachelet said credible sources have reported that at least 20 people were fatally shot Tuesday and Wednesday by security forces or members of pro-government armed groups. Many others were wounded. She denounced the arrests of 350 people during the protests that unfolded this week.

“I am extremely concerned that the situation in Venezuela may rapidly spiral out of control with catastrophic consequences,” Bachelet said.

Faiola reported from Rio de Janeiro and Hudson from Washington. Rachelle Krygier in Miami, Andreina Elena Aponte in Caracas, Anton Troianovski in Moscow and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/th ... 4db0246b18

[seemslikeadream]

FauxNews is telling trump what to do in Venezuela

WORLD
Published 5 hours ago
Trump right to recognize Juan Guaidó, not Maduro, as Venezuela's president

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jon-har ... -president

Venezuela suspends deadline for U.S. diplomats

Bryan Bender01/26/2019 06:09 PM EST

Nicolas Maduro
President Nicolas Maduro broke diplomatic relations with the United Sates on Wednesday and had given embassy personnel three days to leave the country. | Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo
Venezuela’s government has backtracked on an order that gave U.S. Embassy personnel 72 hours to leave the country.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said that it is now negotiating the establishment of a U.S. Interests Office in Venezuela and will allow U.S. Embassy personnel to remain in the country while talks take place.

The statement said that talks about an interest section will have a 30-day limit and if no agreement is reached embassy personnel will then have to leave the country.

President Nicolas Maduro broke diplomatic relations with the United Sates on Wednesday and had given embassy personnel three days to leave the country. But the Trump administration had refused to obey his directive, arguing that Maduro is no longer Venezuela’s legitimate president.

The new decision by Venezuela’s government puts off a potential conflict between both countries.

Earlier Saturday, the United States urged all nations Saturday to end Venezuela’s “nightmare” and support opposition leader Juan Guaido while Russia accused the Trump administration of attempting “to engineer a coup d’etat” against Maduro — a reflection of the world’s deep divisions over the crisis in the South American country.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council at a meeting called by Washington that it’s beyond time to back the Venezuelan people as they try to free themselves from what he called Maduro’s “illegitimate mafia state” and support Guaido. The young opposition leader has declared himself the country’s interim president, arguing that Maduro’s re-election was fraudulent.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/ ... ts-1128609

US special envoy for Venezuela has long, controversial history in Latin America

Elliott Abrams, seen here in 2011, will be responsible for leading the US effort in Venezuela, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
(CNN)The Trump administration's new special envoy on the Venezuelan political crisis is well known in Latin American circles -- from his guilty plea for withholding information about the Iran-Contra affair to his attempt to discredit accounts of the massacre of nearly 1,000 people by a US-trained military battalion in El Salvador.

Elliott Abrams, a neoconservative Republican insider, was named by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week to direct all aspects of the American campaign to replace Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Abrams, described by Pompeo as a "seasoned, principled and tough-minded foreign policy veteran," accompanied the secretary of state Saturday to urge the United Nations Security Council to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
How Venezuela spiraled downward into chaos
"This crisis in Venezuela is deep and difficult and dangerous, and I can't wait to get to work on it," Abrams said after his appointment on Friday, noting that he left the State Department 30 years ago this week.

Pompeo warmly welcomed him back, saying Abrams' "passion for the rights and liberties of all peoples makes him a perfect fit and valuable and timely addition" to the State Department team.

Not all Latin American observers agree.

"Elliott Abrams, like his neo-conservative colleague John Bolton, believes in using US power to overthrow regimes Washington doesn't like, not negotiate with them," said William LeoGrande, an American University professor who specializes in Latin American politics and US foreign policy, referring to Trump's hawkish national security adviser.

"He is the wrong person for the job of Venezuelan envoy, because as long as the military remains loyal to Maduro, the only way out of the Venezuelan crisis is some sort negotiated settlement."

LeoGrande said Cuba could play a key role in reaching a negotiated settlement in Venezuela but both Abrams and Bolton have a long history of vilifying Cuba.

Abrams points to Bannon as the reason he was nixed for State job
"Abrams, as assistant secretary of state for Latin America under George H.W. Bush, opposed allowing Cuba to join the US-sponsored talks between Angola and southern Africa in the late 1980s, delaying the end of the war in Angola by years," he said.

Abrams' controversial past in the region included his downplaying of human rights abuses by Central American governments close to the United States while serving at the State Department under President Ronald Reagan.

One instance involved the largest mass killing in recent Latin American history: the December 1981 massacre of nearly 1,000 men, women and children in the Salvadoran village of El Mozote by US-trained and -equipped military units.
First on CNN: Trump nixes Elliott Abrams for State Department job
A Human Rights Watch report on the massacre said that Abrams at Senate hearings "artfully distorted several issues in order to discredit the public accounts of the massacre," insisted the numbers of reported victims were "implausible" and "lavished praise" on the military battalion behind the mass killings.
In 1991, facing a multi-count felony indictment, Abrams agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts for withholding information to Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. He was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours of community service, and later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
The worst scandal of the Reagan administration, Iran-Contra involved the funding of anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua.

The secret operation was directed by the National Security Council's Oliver North and used the proceeds from weapon sales to Iran to fund the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua -- despite a congressional ban on such funding.
Friday, Pompeo called the resolution of the Venezuelan crisis "a global challenge."

"Elliott will have responsibility for all things related to our efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela," he said. "There are multiple dimensions to how we hope to assist the Venezuelans in achieving democracy there, and he will be responsible for leading that effort."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/26/americas ... index.html

Venezuelan U.S. defense attache breaks with Maduro as diplomats leave

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s top military envoy to the United States defected from the government of President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, as the South American nation said the two countries had scaled back their diplomatic missions to skeleton staff.

The diplomatic friction and defection was triggered by U.S. recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Washington, Canada and most Latin American nations said Maduro’s second-term election win was fraudulent.

“Today I speak to the people of Venezuela, and especially to my brothers in the armed forces of the nation, to recognize President Juan Guaido as the only legitimate president,” Colonel Jose Luis Silva said in a video recorded at the embassy in Washington, seated at a desk alongside the Venezuelan flag.

Silva told Reuters in Washington that one consular official in Houston and one in another U.S. city also recognized Guaido, but that he was the only diplomat in Washington he knew of who had taken the step. Reuters was not able to independently confirm other defectors.

Venezuelan Colonel Jose Luis Silva, Venezuela’s Military Attache at its Washington embassy to the United States, is interviewed by Reuters after announcing that he is defecting from the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
“The top brass of the military and the executive branch are holding the armed forces hostage. There are many, many who are unhappy,” Silva said. “My message to the armed forces is, ‘Don’t mistreat your people.’ We were given arms to defend the sovereignty of our nation. They never, never trained us to say, ‘This is for you to attack your people, to defend the current government in power.”

While small rebellions against Maduro have broken out in Venezuela’s armed forces in recent months, there has been no large scale military uprising against him.

Guaido welcomed Silva in a message on Twitter and encouraged others to follow his example. In a tweet, Venezuela’s Defense Ministry called Silva a coward, posting a picture of him emblazoned with the word “traitor” across it in red capital letters.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis called the defection an example of the principle “that the role of the military is to protect constitutional order, not to sustain dictators and repress its own people. Encourage others to do the same.”

A 72-hour deadline issued by Maduro for U.S. embassy personnel to leave Caracas expired on Saturday, after the embattled socialist leader broke off bilateral relations on Wednesday.

Some U.S. embassy staff left Caracas on Friday, and Venezuela was withdrawing staff from Washington on Saturday, Venezuela’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Venezuelan Colonel Jose Luis Silva, Venezuela’s Military Attache at its Washington embassy to the United States, is interviewed by Reuters after announcing that he is defecting from the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
However, Maduro softened his demand that all U.S. embassy staff withdraw by Saturday.

Instead, the two countries will seek an agreement to replace the embassies with “Interest Offices” in their respective capitals within 30 days, the statement said. For decades, diplomacy between Cuba and the United States was represented by an interest section.

If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, the remaining diplomatic staff will have to leave and the missions will close.

Pompeo to the UN: 'no more games' on Venezuela
(We would) “maintain an Interests Office, with minimum personnel, and office of representation of interests as functioned in Cuba. That is true diplomacy,” Maduro said in a live broadcast with Venezuelan youth.

“We don’t want to be a North American colony,” he sang during the broadcast, during which he also pounded conga drums.

For now, the remaining staff can only carry out their activities within the diplomatic missions, the statement said.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the embassy in Caracas.

Reporting by Angus Berwick in Caracas; Additional reporting by Arlene Eiras in Washington; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel and David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Daniel Wallis and Sandra Maler
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vene ... ce=twitter

[seemslikeadream]

Donald Trump's 'Axis of Evil': Pompeo, Bolton & Abrams

January 28th, 2019
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on countries to “pick a side” on Venezuela, urging them to back opposition leader Juan Guaido in a Saturday speech at the UN Security Council in New York.

“Now, it is time for every other nation to pick a side. No more delays, no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem,” Pompeo told the Security Council.

Russia accused Washington of plotting a coup attempt and had tried to stop the meeting requested by the United States. “Venezuela does not represent a threat to peace and security. If anything does represent a threat to peace, it is the shameless and aggressive action of the United States and their allies aimed at the ouster of the legitimately elected president of Venezuela,” Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the UN Council.


On Friday, neoconservative Elliott Abrams was appointed U.S. special envoy for Venezuela.

“Elliott will be a true asset to our mission to help the Venezuelan people fully restore democracy and prosperity to their country,” Mr. Pompeo said, according to Reuters.

“It’s very nice to be back. This crisis in Venezuela is deep and difficult and dangerous,” Abrams said Friday. “And I can’t wait to get to work on it.”

Abrams is known as the “Assistant Secretary of Dirty Wars,” a title he earned during his stints with the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations:

In 1993, after a UN truth commission which examined 22,000 atrocities that occurred during the twelve-year civil war in El Salvador, attributed 85 percent of the abuses to the Reagan-assisted right-wing military and its death-squad allies, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights Abrams said: “The administration’s record on El Salvador is one of fabulous achievement.”

Abrams organized the illegal, covert financing of Contra rebels in Nicaragua behind the back of Congress, which had cut off funding.

Abrams lied to Congress twice about his role with the Contras. He pleaded guilty to both counts in 1991 but was pardoned by George HW Bush.

Abrams, a decade later, while working as special Middle East adviser to former president George W Bush, Abrams was an enthusiastic advocate of the disastrous Iraq invasion.

Abrams was in the Bush White House at the time of the abortive coup in 2002 against the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Abrams helped lead the US effort to stage a coup to overturn the results of the 2006 Palestinian elections, complete with murder and torture.

Also on Friday, a Wall Street Journal report confirmed suspicions that opposition leader Juan Guaido’s move to declare himself “interim president” of Venezuela this week was highly coordinated with the Trump White House and Republican lawmakers.

Guaido’s move and U.S. President Donald Trump’s rapid endorsement were quickly decried as a dangerous intervention—or the beginnings of a coup d’etat—which progressives argued would dramatically worsen the country’s economic and political crisis. As Common Dreams reported, over 70 academics and experts signed an open letter demanding that the U.S. “cease encouraging violence by pushing for violent, extralegal regime change.”

Top Photo | This composite image shows left to right Elliot Abrahams, Mike Pompeo, and John Bolton. Mintpress News Image | AP

Source | Common Dreams
https://www.mintpressnews.com/venezuela ... ms/254289/

U.S. considers putting Cuba on terror list over island’s support of Venezuela’s Maduro

The Trump administration is considering returning Cuba to the list of countries that sponsor terrorism if its government and military continue to support Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, a source with knowledge of the deliberations told el Nuevo Herald.

”What Cubans are doing in Venezuela is unacceptable,” a senior administration official said. “And the United States is evaluating options to address that behavior.”

The Obama administration removed Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism in 2015 — one of the island government’s demands for agreeing to reestablish diplomatic relations. But the Trump administration has increasingly highlighted Cuba’s role in Venezuela and threatened Havana with increased sanctions.

The official said Cuban intelligence operatives in Venezuela have been a “fundamental” factor in the continued support of Maduro by senior Venezuelan armed forces officers.

The United States and several other countries no longer recognize Maduro as president because he was reelected in balloting marred by allegations of fraud. Instead, the U.S. supports National Assembly President Juan Guaidó, who took an oath as interim president on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino and other members of the military high command pledged their support to Maduro in a televised statement.

“The Cubans are executing a strategy to keep the military from second-guessing their support to Maduro,” said the official. “The only thing that is preventing the generals from supporting President Guaidó is the surveillance Cubans are doing. What is keeping Maduro going is Cuba’s logistical support.”

In his first public appearance after he was sworn in, Guaidó urged the Cuban government to stop interfering in Venezuelan affairs.

“It’s time for Cuba to get out of the armed forces. It’s time for the Cubans to leave decision-making jobs,” Guaidó said. “Cuban brothers: You are welcome to stay in this country. But only outside the armed forces and decision-making jobs.”

After Guaidó was briefly arrested last week, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton complained that “such acts of intimidation by Maduro’s Cuban-sponsored secret police... represent a grave assault on the rule of law in Venezuela.”

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also referred to the Cuban role in Venezuela during a speech Thursday, saying that Maduro had “bought” the loyalty of the largely corrupt generals.

“They are also loyal, by the way, because the Cubans are spying on them. The Cuban intelligence agencies quickly pick up on any of these military officers that are being disloyal or expressing doubts and those guys are arrested,” Rubio said. “There has been a massive purge of Venezuelan military officers over the last two years … And it wasn’t because of corruption … It was because the Cubans caught them and reported them.”

Although Venezuelan military officers and politicians who broke with the Maduro regime have reported the presence of Cuban military and security agents in Venezuela, the number is unknown. Retired Venezuelan Gen. Antonio Rivero told el Nuevo Herald in 2015 that nearly 20,000 Cubans were in Venezuela carrying out training “as militias, as combatants.”

The dismissal of secret police chief Gustavo González López last year was seen as a maneuver by Cuban intelligence to tighten its control over the department. The National Bolivarian Armed Forces confirmed last year that elite Cuban troops known as Black Wasps had taken part in military maneuvers on the border with Colombia.

The Cuban government’s refusal so far to extradite Colombian guerrillas — in Havana for currently suspended negotiations — may also give the White House cause to consider returning Cuba to the terrorist list. After last week’s car bombing in Bogota blamed on the National Liberation Army guerrillas, the Colombian government demanded the extraditions. Cuba and Norway, also part of the negotiations, refused and said they were following the required protocols.

The Cuban government was on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism from 1982 until 2015, when the Obama administration ruled the island was no longer supporting terrorist organizations. The Trump administration is also considering other sanctions on Cuba, including allowing Cuban exiles to file suits in U.S. courts against companies now “trafficking” on properties seized by the Castro regime after 1959.

Returning Cuba to the list could be “disastrous” for the Cuban economy because it would scare away desperately needed foreign investments, already very small, said Baruch College Prof. Ted Henken.

But others say that would have little effect on the island.

“Putting Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of international terrorism would not have a major practical impact on Cuba because almost all the financial sanctions that such a designation entails are already in place under the broader Cuban embargo,” said American University professor William LeoGrande. “However, Cuba would take it as a great insult, and it would certainly have an extremely negative effect on state-to-state cooperation on issues of mutual interest.”

It’s not clear if the threat of a new sanction would be enough to force a change by the government in Cuba, where the economy has largely depended on oil subsidies from Venezuela.

A Cuban government statement Wednesday condemned “energetically the attempt to impose, through a coup d’etat, a puppet government at the service of the United States” in Venezuela. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez added Thursday that Cuba’s support for “Nicolás Maduro and the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution is and will be steadfast.”

But in private, the Cuban government is likely to be evaluating the situation in Venezuela, said LeoGrande.

“The Cuban government certainly recognizes that Maduro’s situation is dire and the worst outcome for Cuba would be complete regime collapse through civil violence or external military intervention. Regime collapse would probably mean an immediate end to Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba — a blow to an already fragile economy,” he said.

“Cuba would be willing to help find a negotiated political solution to the Venezuelan crisis — like it did in Angola and Colombia — but only if both Maduro and the opposition are willing to seek such a solution,” LeoGrande added. “At the moment, neither side seems willing to accept any compromise. As a result, the Cubans are essentially stuck with Maduro, even as the chances for his survival diminish.”
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation ... 86505.html