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Author Topic: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History  (Read 61634 times)

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #50 on: February 23, 2019, 10:27:24 AM »
"For the record Venezuela is no less democratic socialist, no less a working Democracy with checks and balances operating under the Rule of Law as those in the bottom left of your graph ... Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, or Singapore. "

OMG. OMG. OMG.

Venezuela is a dictatorship (a lame one at that though).
(sigh)

Quote
The reason they do not have food but have zillion percent inflation is their "21st century socialism". When the government regulates prices below the cost of production and people have no incentive to work, the result is a shortage and inflation.

Unfortunate for you the Venezuelan Government does not regulate prices.

Quote
I am amazed. We tried this in Eastern Europe (also in Russia and China and Cuba and N.Korea) with the same results everywhere but people still do not learn.

Unfortunately for you Venezuela is not the USSR,China, Cuba or North Korea.

Quote
I am sorry to disturb your dilusions, I promise I won't do it anymore.


Ah huh?

Quote
Have you lived in a country like me, you wouldn't need those history lessons because you would have first hand experience. I promise to leave your thread to you and your brave fight against the Empire. viva la revolucion!

I was thinking of my own experiences earlier today. I lived in a Gerrymandered State which for 27 years during the first half of my life elected a Government Party that was lucky to get 30% of the popular vote.  Eventually street marches were banned, protests were banned, and in at every election cycle the Premier and Govt ministers would trot out the usual rhetoric of "Reds under the Bed" and that "the Unions would be the death of us all."

Journalists and political activists or people who just could not stomach the lack of freedoms and the corruption any more were forced to move interstate or go overseas. Illegal Casinos and Brothels thrived thanks to the support of the Corrupt Police force who acted with immunity at all kinds of levels. Police Special Branch had a dossier on every "political threat" to the ruling Government of the day and they proceeded to use that for blackmail, threats and discrediting sources via the complicit news media who would willingly (or from threats) turn blind eye to the decades of fraud, corruption, graft and injustices going on. Or they framed them for crimes they never committed and got them thrown in Prison for years. Where their criminal accomplices would keep them in line or murder them if they were a real threat to the Power running the Parliament and the Police Force.

Money for special favours was delivered regularly to Government Ministers in "brown paper bags" to be put in a desk draw until they needed it for some other deal.

Are you talking about  these kinds of "history lessons"?
It went on for 27 years. My State was the laughing tock of the rest of the nation who both thought we were totally dumb halfwits and living 20 years ago in the past at least!

The Federal Government did nothing. The other States did nothing. No one in Europe or the USA was calling for a regime change despite what was patently obvious - ruled by an undemocratic Mafia network.

By the time it fell due to first a Media expose and people who literally risked their lives to be whistle blowers several of the Ministers and Police leadership ended up in Prison. The Premier almost did too but even the Jury at his criminal trial was able to be corrupted so he got off. It took more than a decade to clean out the garbage that had accumulated and I am referring to "people" in responsible positions in the Judiciary, the Police, Business, the Media, and the Public Service.

My father was one of those IDIOTS who kept voting for this Government every single election. He and millions of others should have, imho, also been Imprisoned too for at least a Year for being rank assholes, gullible fools, and callous morons. Sound familiar?

Oh where was that? Queensland Australia the late 1950s to August 1988.

They called it The Police State! Those with money did really really well under this Regime.

So if Chavez and Maduro are "dictators" then I will tell you this. They are the most incompetent Dictators ever to be put on the earth. They cannot even do the most simplest obvious things that a Dictator would put in place.

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #51 on: February 23, 2019, 10:46:53 AM »
"For the record Venezuela is no less democratic socialist, no less a working Democracy with checks and balances operating under the Rule of Law as those in the bottom left of your graph ... Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, or Singapore. "

OMG. OMG. OMG.

Venezuela is a dictatorship (a lame one at that though).
(sigh)

Quote
The reason they do not have food but have zillion percent inflation is their "21st century socialism". When the government regulates prices below the cost of production and people have no incentive to work, the result is a shortage and inflation.

Unfortunate for you the Venezuelan Government does not regulate prices.

Quote
I am amazed. We tried this in Eastern Europe (also in Russia and China and Cuba and N.Korea) with the same results everywhere but people still do not learn.

Unfortunately for you Venezuela is not the USSR,China, Cuba or North Korea.

Quote
I am sorry to disturb your dilusions, I promise I won't do it anymore.


Ah huh?

Quote
Have you lived in a country like me, you wouldn't need those history lessons because you would have first hand experience. I promise to leave your thread to you and your brave fight against the Empire. viva la revolucion!

I was thinking of my own experiences earlier today. I lived in a Gerrymandered State which for 27 years during the first half of my life elected a Government Party that was lucky to get 30% of the popular vote.  Eventually street marches were banned, protests were banned, and in at every election cycle the Premier and Govt ministers would trot out the usual rhetoric of "Reds under the Bed" and that "the Unions would be the death of us all."

Journalists and political activists or people who just could not stomach the lack of freedoms and the corruption any more were forced to move interstate or go overseas. Illegal Casinos and Brothels thrived thanks to the support of the Corrupt Police force who acted with immunity at all kinds of levels. Abortion was illegal, Federal funding of Hospitals and other services was misappropriated/misused to "balance the books", racism was rampant, oppression of Gays was brutal, children would get threatened beaten the shit out of by Police and dropped on the outskirts of cities to find their way home. Women pulled over by Police in traffic stops and teens girls were raped and still nothing was done, one of the most celebrated paedophiles was the PR face of the Police Department and the nephew of the Police Commissioner who ended up in Prison .. actually they both did - but more than a decade too late!

Police Special Branch had a dossier on every "political threat" to the ruling Government of the day and they proceeded to use that for blackmail, threats and discrediting sources via the complicit news media who would willingly (or from threats) turn blind eye to the decades of fraud, corruption, graft and injustices going on. Or they framed them for crimes they never committed and got them thrown in Prison for years. Where their criminal accomplices would keep them in line or murder them if they were a real threat to the Power running the Parliament and the Police Force.

Money for special favours was delivered regularly to Government Ministers in "brown paper bags" to be put in a desk draw until they needed it for some other deal.

Are you talking about  these kinds of "history lessons"?
It went on for 27 years. My State was the laughing tock of the rest of the nation who both thought we were totally dumb halfwits and living 20 years ago in the past at least!

The Federal Government did nothing. The other States did nothing. The Courts did nothing. No one in Europe or the USA was calling for Sanctions or Regime change or for a proper Democracy then despite what was patently obvious - ruled by an undemocratic criminal Mafia network of Politicians and Business people.

By the time it fell due to first a Media expose and people who literally risked their lives to be whistle blowers several of the Ministers and Police leadership ended up in Prison. The Premier almost did too but even the Jury at his criminal trial was able to be corrupted so he got off. It took more than a decade to clean out the garbage that had accumulated and I am referring to "people" in responsible positions in the Judiciary, the Police, Business, the Media, and the Public Service.

My father was one of those IDIOTS who kept voting for this Government every single election. He and millions of others should have, imho, also been Imprisoned too for at least a Year for being rank assholes, gullible fools, and callous morons. Sound familiar?

Oh where was that? Queensland Australia the late 1950s to August 1988.

They called it The Police State! Those with money did really really well under this Regime.

So if Chavez and Maduro are "dictators" then I will tell you this. They are the most incompetent Dictators ever to be put on the earth. They cannot even do the most simplest obvious things that a Dictator would put in place. They are amateurs!

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #52 on: February 23, 2019, 10:52:22 AM »
‘People who hate Maduro often need humanitarian aid the least’ – Max Blumenthal

The fake figure of "3 million refugees" who have left are both white and rich.

Investigating Venezuela's 'humanitarian crisis': Max Blumenthal tours a supermarket in Caracas




Could Max Blumenthal be lying? Is his video a Fake News event?

Is Max Blumenthal a Totalitarian Communist flunky who has sold his soul to Lenin?

Or does he simply love shopping? :)

OMG OMG OMG there is toilet paper, napkins, toothbrushes and toothpaste, wine and beer, fruit and vegs, cheese and milk in Caracas Venezuela after all.

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #53 on: February 23, 2019, 11:03:52 AM »
Bias and black humour alert, this is from Lee Camp and RT

Everyone has fallen for the lies about Venezuela


There are three things that seem to provoke the ornery United States into overthrowing or bringing down a foreign government, no matter how many innocent civilians may die in the process.

1. Being socialist.

Pretty self-explanatory. If you don’t have the same economic system as we do, we treat it like you have candy and we’re not allowed to have any, so we slip razor blades in yours and tell everyone your candy kills people.

2. Dropping the US dollar.

Iraq dropped the dollar. We invaded.

Syria dropped the dollar. We invaded.

Iran dropped the dollar. We want to invade.

Libya planned to drop the dollar. We invaded.

Pakistan dropped the dollar in trade with China, and the US added them to the list of countries violating religious freedom. (I guess you could argue they did indeed violate our religion: The dollar.)

Basically, we do NOT take kindly to countries dropping the dollar.

In unrelated news, Venezuela dropped the dollar.

3. Having oil or other natural resources the US needs.

In case you were curious, Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the known world. (But we haven’t checked northern Wyoming yet, because it’s a long, cold drive with nary a 7-11.)

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/452176-venezuela-resources-us-lies/

China, Russia, Turkey, India and many others are also establishing other bilateral arrangements already and setting up alt avenues including selling their US Bonds and buying up Gold stocks as they prepare to dump the USD and prepare for what comes next.

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #54 on: February 24, 2019, 04:16:28 AM »
"For the record Venezuela is no less democratic socialist, no less a working Democracy with checks and balances operating under the Rule of Law as those in the bottom left of your graph ... Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, or Singapore. "

OMG. OMG. OMG.

Venezuela is a dictatorship (a lame one at that though).
(sigh)



Are you talking about  these kinds of "history lessons"?
It went on for 27 years. My State was the laughing stock of the rest of the nation who both thought we were totally dumb halfwits and living 20 years ago in the past at least!


What's the Moral of the Story of My History Lesson?

It's about corruption, fraud, manipulated elections. It's about Government lies and collusion by the media and business classes. It's about "conditioning" of the populace and "scare mongering" deceptions.

It's about gaslighting individuals, activist groups, Unions and whole nations by misusing "words and labels" to push the emotional buttons of those who do not have a clue what is really going on in their own society or those of others - but insist on living in the past and assuming they must be right about today too.

It's about how the majority in a society fail to recognise what is right in front of their faces because they are not directly impacted by the frauds, the lies, the corruption or the abuse or the lack of rights and freedoms other citizens systemically suffer from.

It's not about what might be or not happening in Venezuela - the history lesson is instead about what IS happening now in the USA and in the compliant Western sphere for decades.

And how the majority are kept in state of conditioned ignorance, delusions and complacency by Political leaders, Government Offcials, and especially the Media ... as reflected in the comments by El Cid and Sterks above.

It's about how the majority cannot tell the difference between what might have happened in the USSR / North Korea systems and what is the reality in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba as well as in Iran, Syria and Russia today and many other places.

JUst use the right TRIGGER WORDS and the desired effect is created in people's minds. Objective Facts and the whole Truth do not ever play a role when people choose what they want to beloieve.

There is another recent worse example of what happened in Queensland in the 2018 Malayasian Elections. A Party that had held power as the Government since Independence in the late 1950s was finally toppled. Despite the Gerrymandered electoral system, despite Government control and coercion of the Media and despite all the black mail, the bribes, the corruption, the frauds, threats and abuse and jailing of "dissidents" and non-stop abuse of human rights by the police and secret services to protect those in the Ruling Party Regime

Quote
In an unprecedented victory, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, which had been the country's federal Opposition prior to the election, won a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat together with the Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN), with both PH and WARISAN cumulatively securing 121 seats.

The election heralded the first regime change in Malaysia's history, as the erstwhile ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had enjoyed an uninterrupted reign over the country since Malaya's independence in 1957, was voted out of power

Following the election, Prime Minister Mahathir secured a royal pardon for the jailed PH Leader, Anwar Ibrahim, and has indicated that he would give way to the latter within the next few years. Meanwhile, Najib resigned as BN's chairman on 12 May and was succeeded as the Leader of the Opposition by his party colleague, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Investigations within Malaysia into the Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, which had been halted during Najib's tenure, were resumed in the aftermath of the election, resulting in several ongoing criminal indictments against the former Prime Minister.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Malaysian_general_election

If you are not aware of what went own in Malaysia in the most recent decade you would be wise to learn about it in detail!

To summarize Mahathir had led the establishment Party for decades and is a former Prime Minister who resigned years ago due to age. He's now in his 90s!!! He came back to lead the Opposition, in cooperation with Anwar Ibrahim his former Deputy in BN who he had jailed twice (or is it 3 times) on trumped charges of Sodomy. Mahathir, Ibrahim (still in jail at that time) and many others formed a coalition to oust the corrupt Government party - to RESTORE DEMOCRACY and get rid of the CORRUPTION across SOCIETY, GOVT AGENCIES,  and in the MEDIA - with the help of a mass movement of the people - despite the manipulations of the electoral processes in place.

How is that for a History Lesson? :)

The key difference I can see between what's happened in Malaysia for 60 years and what's being happening in the USA (and especially it's corrosive manipulative dishonest influence in the western democracies) is that in the USA they have TWO corrupt fraudulent lying Political Parties who run the Governments there.... and the majority of the population are either actively complicit in that or complacent. 

Rules to have a successful happy life:

Rule #1 - Never believe proven habitual liars.

No matter how convincing their next Lie may sound to you.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2019, 04:22:01 AM by Lurk »

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #55 on: February 24, 2019, 04:25:04 AM »
"For the record Venezuela is no less democratic socialist, no less a working Democracy with checks and balances operating under the Rule of Law as those in the bottom left of your graph ... Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, or Singapore. "

OMG. OMG. OMG.

Venezuela is a dictatorship (a lame one at that though).
(sigh)



Are you talking about  these kinds of "history lessons"?
It went on for 27 years. My State was the laughing stock of the rest of the nation who both thought we were totally dumb halfwits and living 20 years ago in the past at least!


What's the Moral of the Story of My History Lesson?

It's about corruption, fraud, manipulated elections. It's about Government lies and collusion by the media and business classes. It's about "conditioning" of the populace and "scare mongering" deceptions.

It's about gaslighting individuals, activist groups, Unions and whole nations by misusing "words and labels" to push the emotional buttons of those who do not have a clue what is really going on in their own society or those of others - but insist on living in the past and assuming they must be right about today too.

It's about how the majority in a society fail to recognise what is right in front of their faces because they are not directly impacted by the frauds, the lies, the corruption or the abuse or the lack of rights and freedoms other citizens systemically suffer from.

It's not about what might be or not happening in Venezuela - the history lesson is instead about what IS happening now in the USA and in the compliant Western sphere for decades.

And how the majority are kept in state of conditioned ignorance, delusions and complacency by Political leaders, Government Offcials, and especially the Media ... as reflected in the comments by El Cid and Sterks above.

It's about how the majority cannot tell the difference between what might have happened in the USSR / North Korea systems and what is the reality in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba as well as in Iran, Syria and Russia today and many other places.

JUst use the right TRIGGER WORDS and the desired effect is created in people's minds. Objective Facts and the whole Truth do not ever play a role when people choose what they want to beloieve.

There is another recent worse example of what happened in Queensland in the 2018 Malayasian Elections. A Party that had held power as the Government since Independence in the late 1950s was finally toppled. Despite the Gerrymandered electoral system, despite Government control and coercion of the Media and despite all the black mail, the bribes, the corruption, the frauds, threats and abuse and jailing of "dissidents" and non-stop abuse of human rights by the police and secret services to protect those in the Ruling Party Regime

Quote
In an unprecedented victory, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, which had been the country's federal Opposition prior to the election, won a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat together with the Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN), with both PH and WARISAN cumulatively securing 121 seats.

The election heralded the first regime change in Malaysia's history, as the erstwhile ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had enjoyed an uninterrupted reign over the country since Malaya's independence in 1957, was voted out of power

Following the election, Prime Minister Mahathir secured a royal pardon for the jailed PH Leader, Anwar Ibrahim, and has indicated that he would give way to the latter within the next few years. Meanwhile, Najib resigned as BN's chairman on 12 May and was succeeded as the Leader of the Opposition by his party colleague, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Investigations within Malaysia into the Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, which had been halted during Najib's tenure, were resumed in the aftermath of the election, resulting in several ongoing criminal indictments against the former Prime Minister.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Malaysian_general_election

If you are not aware of what went own in Malaysia in the most recent decade you would be wise to learn about it in detail!

To summarize Mahathir had led the establishment Party for decades and is a former Prime Minister who resigned years ago due to age. He's now in his 90s!!! He came back to lead the Opposition, in cooperation with Anwar Ibrahim his former Deputy in BN who he had jailed twice (or is it 3 times) on trumped charges of Sodomy. Mahathir, Ibrahim (still in jail at that time) and many others formed a coalition to oust the corrupt Government party - to RESTORE DEMOCRACY and get rid of the CORRUPTION across SOCIETY, GOVT AGENCIES,  and in the MEDIA - with the help of a mass movement of the people - despite the manipulations of the electoral processes in place.

The EU and the United States of America; neither Obama, Trump, or Sec Clinton, not Bolton, Pompeo, Abrams, McCain, or Graham SAVED the poor downtrodden people of Malaysia from their Corrupt Undemocratic Regime or fix their Fraudulent Election System.

They did not place any sanctions or trade embargoes upon Malaysian Government, didn't stop them exporting computers and electronic to the USA to sell, and this despite everything they knew about that Corruption, Human Rights Abuses, the Govt control of the Media, and the Anti-Democratic Anti-Freedom reality there.

How is that for a History Lesson? :)

The key difference I can see between what's happened in Malaysia for 60 years and what's being happening in the USA (and especially it's corrosive manipulative dishonest influence in the western democracies) is that in the USA they have TWO corrupt fraudulent lying Political Parties who run the Governments there.... and the majority of the population are either actively complicit in that or complacent. 

Rules to have a successful happy life:

Rule #1 - Never believe Narcissists who are already proven to be habitual liars.

No matter how convincing their next Lie may sound to you. Because narcissistic habitual Liars know how to push your emotional buttons in order to manipulate YOU into believing them again!
« Last Edit: February 24, 2019, 04:31:16 AM by Lurk »

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #56 on: February 24, 2019, 04:33:20 AM »
"For the record Venezuela is no less democratic socialist, no less a working Democracy with checks and balances operating under the Rule of Law as those in the bottom left of your graph ... Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, or Singapore. "

OMG. OMG. OMG.

Venezuela is a dictatorship (a lame one at that though).
(sigh)



Are you talking about  these kinds of "history lessons"?
It went on for 27 years. My State was the laughing stock of the rest of the nation who both thought we were totally dumb halfwits and living 20 years ago in the past at least!


What's the Moral of the Story of My History Lesson?

It's about corruption, fraud, manipulated elections. It's about Government lies and collusion by the media and business classes. It's about "conditioning" of the populace and "scare mongering" deceptions.

It's about gaslighting individuals, activist groups, Unions and whole nations by misusing "words and labels" to push the emotional buttons of those who do not have a clue what is really going on in their own society or those of others - but insist on living in the past and assuming they must be right about today too.

It's about how the majority in a society fail to recognise what is right in front of their faces because they are not directly impacted by the frauds, the lies, the corruption or the abuse or the lack of rights and freedoms other citizens systemically suffer from.

It's not about what might be or not happening in Venezuela - the history lesson is instead about what IS happening now in the USA and in the compliant Western sphere for decades.

And how the majority are kept in state of conditioned ignorance, delusions and complacency by Political leaders, Government Offcials, and especially the Media ... as reflected in the comments by El Cid and Sterks above.

It's about how the majority cannot tell the difference between what might have happened in the USSR / North Korea systems and what is the reality in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba as well as in Iran, Syria and Russia today and many other places.

JUst use the right TRIGGER WORDS and the desired effect is created in people's minds. Objective Facts and the whole Truth do not ever play a role when people choose what they want to beloieve.

There is another recent worse example of what happened in Queensland in the 2018 Malayasian Elections. A Party that had held power as the Government since Independence in the late 1950s was finally toppled. Despite the Gerrymandered electoral system, despite Government control and coercion of the Media and despite all the black mail, the bribes, the corruption, the frauds, threats and abuse and jailing of "dissidents" and non-stop abuse of human rights by the police and secret services to protect those in the Ruling Party Regime

Quote
In an unprecedented victory, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, which had been the country's federal Opposition prior to the election, won a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat together with the Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN), with both PH and WARISAN cumulatively securing 121 seats.

The election heralded the first regime change in Malaysia's history, as the erstwhile ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had enjoyed an uninterrupted reign over the country since Malaya's independence in 1957, was voted out of power

Following the election, Prime Minister Mahathir secured a royal pardon for the jailed PH Leader, Anwar Ibrahim, and has indicated that he would give way to the latter within the next few years. Meanwhile, Najib resigned as BN's chairman on 12 May and was succeeded as the Leader of the Opposition by his party colleague, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Investigations within Malaysia into the Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, which had been halted during Najib's tenure, were resumed in the aftermath of the election, resulting in several ongoing criminal indictments against the former Prime Minister.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Malaysian_general_election

If you are not aware of what went own in Malaysia in the most recent decade you would be wise to learn about it in detail!

To summarize Mahathir had led the establishment Party for decades and is a former Prime Minister who resigned years ago due to age. He's now in his 90s!!! He came back to lead the Opposition, in cooperation with Anwar Ibrahim his former Deputy in BN who he had jailed twice (or is it 3 times) on trumped charges of Sodomy. Mahathir, Ibrahim (still in jail at that time) and many others formed a coalition to oust the corrupt Government party - to RESTORE DEMOCRACY and get rid of the CORRUPTION across SOCIETY, GOVT AGENCIES,  and in the MEDIA - with the help of a mass movement of the people - despite the manipulations of the electoral processes in place.

The EU and the United States of America; neither Obama, Trump, or Sec Clinton, not Bolton, Pompeo, Abrams, McCain, or Graham SAVED the poor downtrodden people of Malaysia from their Corrupt Undemocratic Regime or fix their Fraudulent Election System.

They did not place any sanctions or trade embargoes upon Malaysian Government, didn't stop them exporting computers and electronic to the USA to sell, and this despite everything they knew about that Corruption, Human Rights Abuses, the Govt control of the Media, and the Anti-Democratic Anti-Freedom reality there.

How is that for a History Lesson? :)

The key difference I can see between what's happened in Malaysia for 60 years and what's being happening in the USA (and especially it's corrosive manipulative dishonest influence in the western democracies) is that in the USA they have TWO corrupt fraudulent lying Political Parties who run the Governments there .... while the majority of the population are either actively complicit in that or complacent.

Rules to have a successful happy life:

Rule #1 - Never believe Narcissists who are already proven to be habitual liars.

No matter how convincing their next Lie may sound to you. Because narcissistic habitual Liars know how to push your emotional buttons in order to manipulate YOU into believing them again!

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #57 on: February 24, 2019, 05:20:51 AM »
The key difference I can see between what's happened in Malaysia for 60 years and what's being happening in the USA (and especially it's corrosive manipulative dishonest influence in the western democracies) is that in the USA they have TWO corrupt fraudulent lying Political Parties who run the Governments there .... while the majority of the population are either actively complicit in that or complacent.

What the average person in the West does not want to face or learn about is that what happened in Malaysia in 2018, and what happened in Queensland in 1988, is a reflection of what happened in Venezuela in 1998 when Chavistas came to power in massive popular revolt with a coalition of political parties and activists against the Corrupt Ruling Classes, those 200 Families who owned 99% of the country and who had ruled Venezuela with a tight fist for centuries -- with the non-stop backing and support of the United States of America and her people.

Those mega wealthy 200 families, some of whom now live in Miami, Spain etc while grossly exaggerating their situation as "refugees" have wanted thing sot go back to the corrupt system they controlled before .. and so does the USA power brokers too. Both the majority of Democrats and Trump's GOP.

That there are some "electoral" problems today is not in fact the end of the world as we know it. Every nation faces these kinds of problems - jeez one only needs to look at the Gerrymandered corrupt fraudulent political system in the USA to see that.

Some continue to foolishly and ignorantly believe that it's because Venezuela has a "socialist democratic" government that the "economy' has collapsed. That's total BS. The economic system has collapsed after a decade of oppressive sanctions and interference by the 200 families and the USA whereby now Venezuela can no longer sell it's oil or refined petroleum products to the world.

The nation has had it's LEGITIMATE INCOME cut off by the USA's global threats and it's abuse of power over other nations in who they are "allowed" by the TPTB to buy their Oil from.

So how long do you think Saudi Arabia could maintain a functioning economy or Government if the whole world stopped buying it Oi exports? Immediately it would be under severe stress and with the next decade the country would be a basket case no different than Venezuela is today.

The question now comes is the misuse of the word "socialist" a bona fide excuse to strangle the death out of an entire nation?

People really need to get their heads screwed on better and stop CONFLATING the word Socialist in the USSR title with "socialist" in Venezuela and everywhere else. From Cuba to Sweden that word is NOT EQUIVALENT to North Korea, China, or the USSR!

Those people really need to stop believing all the lies put out by Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Pompeo, Clinton, Pelosi and by Canada and the EU and US Client RW States in the Americas, by the MSM but especially all the wild claims by the mega rich Venezuelan ex-pats in Miami and that lying filthy rich scumbag Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez!

Yes, those people really need to get their historical facts rights before saying a word and stop believing everything liars keep telling them is true when it is not the whole story. :)

OK so now this thread has been removed from the Recent Posts section on the home page, I will go back and pick out a few of the better references to this Venezuelan situation that were earlier posted to other threads. I think it would be helpful .. at least to those people willing to look at such material with an open mind and capable of still thinking objectively about it all.

Fat chance that for many. But we do what we can, don't we? :)

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #58 on: February 24, 2019, 06:05:09 AM »
Frankly I do not care what happens in or to Venezuela btw. It's none of my business let alone my responsibility to fix.

The key issue for me is not Venezuela itself but that this issue again presents another opportunity for millions of people in and out of the USA to finally face up to and shake off their Conditioning.

It's an opportunity for people to re-evaluate, to drop their many Cultural Myths and personal Beliefs that are no longer sustainable in present time.

That those myths and beliefs they have lived their entire lives accepting as Tuisms are now far less sustainable than even BAU on this planet is Sustainable. 

Events like Venezuela then is another opportunity  for people to confront themselves and change how they think about everything now. The more who do this the better for everyone. The sooner genuine systemic changes can begin to be put in place to solve the looming global catastrophe that is AGW/CC.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2019, 04:02:02 AM by Lurk »

ASILurker

  • Guest
Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #59 on: February 24, 2019, 08:15:48 AM »
Reposts from other threads

Quote
Venezuela kicks out ‘interventionist’ team of European MPs coming to meet with Guaido
Published time: 18 Feb, 2019

 A six-member European delegation that sought to meet with self-proclaimed Venezuelan ‘interim president’ Juan Guaido is being expelled from Venezuela after being accused by Caracas of coming with “conspiratorial purposes.”

European MPs arrived in Venezuela on Sunday and were supposed to stay until Tuesday to carry out a series of meetings, including with Guaido, the leader of the opposition recognized by a number of European governments as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.
Read More: https://www.rt.com/news/451702-venezuela-delegation-mep-expelled/

The Real News Network
Published on 15 Feb 2019



Some people could be thinking, things would have better under a Hillary Clinton Democratic Party Presidency? Well think again - it's the same System in charge that's running things, including your News.
Quote
Jul 27th 2016 Clinton Emails Reveal Direct US Sabotage of Venezuela
As US Secretary of State - in the Obama Administration, Hillary Clinton led a team committed to delegitimizing the politics of the late Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution.
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/12104

See original documentation at Wikileaks :)

CNN June 1, 2016 Venezuela's Maduro backs Sanders
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/01/politics/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-nicolas-maduro-venezuela/

Reuters June 1, 2016 / 12:02 PM / 3 years ago
Venezuela's Maduro rooting for 'revolutionary friend' Sanders in U.S. campaign
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-idUSKCN0YN32Q

Then there is the Libertarian Neoliberal Right Wing Tea Party Corporate Oligarch Funded Fanatics who are always at it no matter who is the President.
 
10/12/17 Trump must deal knockout sanctions to Maduro regime
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/355213-trump-must-deal-knockout-sanction-to-maduro-regime

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #60 on: February 24, 2019, 08:22:36 AM »
Repost of a Commentary and History Review by (ex-UK MP) George Galloway about Venezuela



A warning for America and for American Mothers everywhere by George Galloway

Quote
"Chavez supporters in Venezuela millions of them are armed. Does anybody imagine that they're just going to disappear at the first whiff of American grapeshot or do you think that in resisting Venezuela will quickly become an inferno in which blood and misery will proliferate?

That's what Donald Trump and John Bolton and Elliott Abrams the convicted criminal now in charge of the Venezuela file a convicted criminal, a man who was deeply involved with the cutting of throats of church people, of teachers, of medical workers all over Central America and who was convicted as a criminal - he wouldn't even be allowed into the United States if he were not already a US citizen.

The Gangsters that are gathered on the Potomac are threatening to open the gates of hell. Not just in Venezuela but throughout Latin America and even inside America itself.

So think carefully mothers of America. Are you ready for your son to die for John Bolton for Elliott Abrams for Donald J Trump? Think carefully the tragedy that is unfolding and has been for some years. The economic warfare, naked economic warfare in the form of sanctions, embargo, and quarantine, has already caused massive and widespread misery for the ordinary people of Venezuela.

And when these Criminals Cry their Crocodile Tears about suffering poverty hunger in Venezuela just remind yourself it was them The Crocodiles who caused it. It's them who have brought the Venezuelan economy to its knees through economic warfare through sanctions.

Something else you may not know ... George Galloway on Venezuela

Quote
"Now the Fake/Bogus President of Venezuela, he's just announced that he's thinking of opening an embassy where - well in Jerusalem of course! In occupied Jerusalem in Israel.

One of the first countries to afford the Imposter recognition and just by coincidence hundreds of Israeli soldiers arrived today in neighbouring Brazil with its long border and it's jungle between it and Venezuela.

Brazil led by a fascist Bolsanaro was one of the first to give recognition to this impostor the guy in the street in Caracas. The first thing he does is bring in the Israelis."


And because it is highly relevant to the subject matter at hand - Donald Trump and Venezuela -  let's note this: Solving Climate Change means changing 'The System' because nothing changes when nothing changes.

 
Quoting George again:
Quote
"So everybody has to pick a side here. Everybody has to decide are you with the rich Venezuelans or are you with the poor? Are you with the black Venezuelans or are you with those with gold teeth living in expensive exile (in Miami)?  Where do you stand?

I know I stand. It's not the most difficult question I've ever asked myself. They want to destroy the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela because they cannot bear riches and wealth being under the control of a government. An elected government, repeatedly elected government!

Chavez and Maduro have won more elections than any other politicians on the entire planet!

Elections that were judged by Jimmy Carter no less [in 2012 and before then] who won a Nobel Prize for observing other people's elections as pristine, as the best in the world.

They can't stand it the imperialists, the colonialists.  How dare these poor southerners from Latin America repeatedly elect a government that acts for the poor and acts against the interests of the rich and powerful? I don't want you to think that I have no criticisms of Nicolas Maduro and of the Venezuelan government I do but some of you won't like what those criticisms are.

I criticized both Chavez and Maduro for leaving the economy overwhelmingly in the private sector. If you own the economy you can own the politics or you can successfully use your ownership of the economy to make life impossible for the elected government.

[As happens in the United States of America]

And that's what's happening here. They describe them as a socialist country. It's not a socialist country - France is more of a socialist country than Venezuela. There's more industry economy in the hands of the state in France than there is in Venezuela.

Venezuela has a socialist government yes, but it doesn't have a socialist economy. And it should have made much more progress in taking into public hands the commanding heights of the economy and taking away the threat of the richest Venezuelans holding them to ransom, sabotage, subversion, and economic wrecking.

My second complaint is equally controversial: there is a real problem of criminality and lawlessness in Venezuela in a way that there simply isn't in Cuba, one of the safest places in the world. If you're a revolution you have to apply revolutionary tactics against criminals organized criminals or merely street thugs robbers and murderers.

Venezuela is not repressive it isn't repressive enough to the criminal classes that it should have dealt with long ago
.

[As has not happened in the United States of America either.]

And thirdly I have real criticisms of corruption in certain elements in Venezuela. It is not possible to be a socialist government and to allow corruption to flourish underneath you. This demands revolutionary rigour to root out corruption and to deal in the most serious possible way with the corrupt elements that are poisoning the well in your society.

[ As has not happened in the United States of America either. How do you think Donald Trump got elected? Sheer Luck? ] 

Now I've been saying this for some time and it hurts me to have to say it again but I tell you this if you are asking me to choose between Donald Trump, John Bolton and Eliot Abrams or whoever is nobody knows their names who run the European Parliament, or whoever is that's running the European Union,  or Teresa May or Jeremy Hunt, if you ask me to choose between them and Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro ... well that's another question that isn't difficult to answer

....  I stand with the Venezuelan Revolution, I stand with its leader President Nicolas Maduro who will be the President of Venezuela until the people of Venezuela vote him out."

Where do you stand?

Do you stand with Trump, Bolton, Pompeo and Abrams?

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #61 on: February 24, 2019, 08:26:55 AM »






Thom Hartmann Program
Published on 24 Jan 2019
Quote
@ 6:02 mins It would be a fascinating thought experiment or maybe a science fiction novel to wonder what would have happened if after the election here in the November of 2016 had the European Union said:

 "Well you know Hillary Clinton got three million more votes. We're gonna recognize her as the legitimately elected President United States. We're not going to talk to Trump."

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #62 on: February 24, 2019, 08:31:57 AM »
30 min report on Venezuela by ABC TV Australia way back in March 2017 ... many interesting anecdotes about the already dire situation back then. Generally it is pro-Opposition and anti-Maduro on other occasions Venezuelans call for a Pox on both their Houses.


ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #63 on: February 24, 2019, 08:33:08 AM »

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #64 on: February 24, 2019, 08:36:07 AM »
Democracy Now!
Published on 25 Jan 2019




Moderate Rebels
Published on 1 Feb 2019

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with Aline Piva, who lives and teaches in Caracas, Venezuela and explains what's really going on in the country, with a US-led coup attempt to install the right-wing opposition. We discuss the economic warfare and US sanctions on Venezuela, the daily life and problems, coup leader Juan Guaidó and the opposition's neoliberal politics, and the geopolitics of regime change against Nicolás Maduro.


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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #65 on: February 24, 2019, 08:38:14 AM »
Repost - George Galloway
Published on 27 Jan 2019




Quote
09:04
now before they dropped the bombs of
course they dropped the narrative and
this narrative about the supposed basket
case of Venezuela the bankruptcy of
socialism as if Venezuela was a
socialist country which it isn't
this has
been being dropped now for years under
Chavez and Maduro they have softened up
I can only speak for the British public
but I've just been with some people who
ought to know better who imagined that
Maduro has been deficient in some way in
the economic problems that now beset
Venezuela but in truth Venezuela is in
economic trouble because of American
sanctions sabotage
and the American
drive to keep the oil price down

precisely to cause problems for
Venezuela Russia and Iran am I not right


10:14
you're absolutely right and I want to
get into that in a second but getting to
the earlier point of the statements you
were making the history of how media is
involved in international relations this
is going to be a very interesting case
study hopefully in a saner world

possibly in a Chinese university in 30
years time when they look at how the
West manipulates its audience -- in the
Vietnam War the film reels because it
was film in those days that were coming
back stateside to be processed showed a
war that was far uglier than the
establishment wanted people to imagine

by 1990 the establishment realized that
televised images don't always go in
their favor

and so the Gulf War of 1990 managed it
was now live TV satellite TV no need for
the film reels to be processed in the
Iraq war of 2003
it was much the same I
could say that about 1999 in Yugoslavia
but that was being ignored because
Monica Lewinsky was of course in the
news
while Tony Blair quietly made a
speech at the University of Chicago
saying that you help people by killing
people
this perverse thesis that many
just accept is true without questioning
the logic of it now
though we've taken
it a step further the the powers that be
saw how during the Syria crisis the
power of individuals on social media
challenging the official narrative could
actually make waves people saying - hold
on I don't think what you're saying is
right' hold on someone on the ground has
sent me this evidence which contradicts
what you've got via satellite from the
Holiday Inn or Marriott Hotel in Beirut
from someone who's never even set foot
in Syria -- gideon wise to that they've
realized that you've got to control the
social media narrative
and so you had
the phenomenon speaking of this guy who
on why either the fake president of
venezuela he had the blue checkmark on
twitter was tweeting images of him
swearing himself in as president in the
middle of the street.

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #66 on: February 24, 2019, 08:42:53 AM »
Repost - January 24, 2019

Tick, tick, tick ... all the boxes are ticked ... are you ready?

Quote
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has refused to pull diplomats from Caracas, arguing the government that severed diplomatic ties with the US is not legitimate and threatening ‘appropriate actions’ if anyone is endangered.

“We call on the Venezuelan military and security forces to continue protecting the welfare and well-being of all Venezuelan citizens, as well as US and other foreign citizens in Venezuela,” Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday evening, adding the US “will take appropriate action to hold accountable anyone who endangers the safety and security of our mission and its personnel.”

    U.S. will conduct diplomatic relations with #Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido. U.S. does not recognize the #Maduro regime. U.S. does not consider former president Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations. https://t.co/DBS4GiGEWIpic.twitter.com/gQZJuS1xfn
    — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 24, 2019

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro declared all US diplomats persona non grata on Wednesday, after Washington recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s president. Guaido, however, said he wanted the US diplomats to stay, setting the stage for a potential diplomatic incident.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the US “handpicking” of a government in Caracas perfectly illustrates the true Western sentiments toward international law, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of states.

----------

Quote
Venezuelan army disavows self-proclaimed leader, will defend national sovereignty – defense minister 

 The Venezuelan military will not accept a president imposed by “dark interests,” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said after Washington and a number of its allies recognized a lawmaker as the new leader in Caracas.

The army will continue to defend the constitution and national sovereignty, Padrino said on Wednesday afternoon, hours after opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido was proclaimed interim president by the National Assembly, in a direct challenge to President Nicolas Maduro.

The US quickly recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, with the Organization of American States (OAS) following Washington’s lead. Canada and France have also recognized Guaido, while Mexico has declined to do so “for now.”

Maduro responded to the US announcement by cutting diplomatic ties with Washington and giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave Venezuela.
----------

Gosh and I wonder who was putting the pressure on Guaido to declare himself President of Venezuela? Who could it have been?

Mmmmm so Russia is bad because it was alleged to be "interfering" in US politics? Ermmmmmmm. OK then.  A 'tad' hypocritical but we are all used to that. :)

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #67 on: February 24, 2019, 08:47:42 AM »
Repost - January 24, 2019

Quote
John Wight
 Scour the history books and you will struggle to find an act of imperialism more brazen than US President Donald Trump’s de-recognition of Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s president.

In a scathing denouncement of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, famed US Civil War General (and later president) Ulysses S Grant told a reporter, “We had no claim on Mexico. Texas had no claim beyond the Nueces River, and yet we pushed on to the Rio Grande and crossed it. I am always ashamed of my country when I think of that invasion.”

The Mexican-American War was a war of plunder and conquest on the part of a US ruling class for whom every country south of the Rio Grande was then, as if by divine right, deemed subservient to Washington. From then to now the US has regarded Latin America as a wholly owned subsidiary, its primary function to serve Washington’s economic interests.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/449554-trumps-coronation-guaido-venezuela/



Quote
    Mr. Maduro will not just roll over and accept this. The question now is: who is going to be on his side and who is going to be on Mr. Guaido’s side and how ugly will things get...

“There is a great danger that this could lead to a civil war,” former US diplomat Jim Jatras told RT. “If the military splits, or the police, we could have very serious violence in this country.”

“Millions of Venezuelans rose out of poverty during the Bolivarian revolution. They are not going to accept the imposition of the US- chosen new president,” Brian Becker from the anti-war ANSWER Coalition told RT, warning that if civil war erupts it will be a “bloodbath.”

Analysts have called Trump’s recognition of the leader of the National Assembly a blatant interference into the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.

Trump recognizes US-backed head of Venezuela’s opposition Juan Guaido as country’s interim president

“There has been a project which the US government started .... to restore US influence and to promote the most right-wing governments,” Becker explained, noting that Venezuela’s pro-Washington neighbors might be used to fuel the coup in Caracas.
https://www.rt.com/news/449556-venezuela-civil-war-threat/

Quote
US might pull regional strings to topple Maduro through military invasion – Max Blumenthal
Published time: 24 Jan, 2019

“What should be concerning is the prospect of a military invasion, possibly from Colombia – or covert action from Colombia [or] Brazil – with the US standing behind, kind of pulling the strings,” the award-winning American author and investigative journalist told RT, after US President Donald Trump and a number of Latin American government recognized Guaido's claims to power.

“I see no indication that the military will heed the calls of [US Vice President] Mike Pence,” he noted. “The military is absolutely loyal to the government of Venezuela.”

“There is also a peoples' militia that is supportive of the government, that has not been activated, and that I think would be the scenario that would provoke mass bloodshed,” Blumenthal added.

“The opposition mostly uses homemade arms. It does have some rifles, but they have not been armed the way the opposition in Syria was,” the journalist said, noting that Guaido’s followers are not ready to take on the government on their own.

For now, Blumenthal explained, Trump's recognition of Guaido fulfilled the opposition's demands, but their claim to power has not yet succeeded “beyond a symbolic level.”

https://www.rt.com/news/449560-venezuela-us-coup-blumenthal/

So who cares if there is a multi-year civil war bloodbath in Venezuela so long as the USA is in charge and is calling the shots from Washington DC?

Worked a treat in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Libya, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Panama, Cuba, Pakistan and Yemen. :)

What could possibly go wrong when all these American 'geniuses' (sic make that Psychopaths) in the room.

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #68 on: February 24, 2019, 08:55:44 AM »
Repost - 24 Jan, 2019
Quote
Act of gangsterism against Venezuela: Trump, Pence, Pompeo star in the Pirates of the Caribbean
by George Galloway Published time: 24 Jan, 2019

 You could scour the bowels of US imperial crimes, from the Mexican-American War to the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam, and you won’t find a more brazen cynical act gangsterism than that which is now underway against oil-rich Venezuela.

Not since Hitler justified blitzing Poland by claiming it had encroached on the frontier into Nazi Germany has a more blatant set of falsehoods been adduced as a pretext for conflict.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/449597-venezuela-maduro-us-trump/

Has it really come to this? I'm afraid so yes. Get used to it. 





RT
Published on 25 Jan 2019
‘What’s happening in Venezuela is unbelievable, open attempt for coup’ – ex-Ecuadorian president
Washington’s reckless push for regime change in Venezuela, where the US actively supports a person who “ignores all laws,” might set a dangerous precedent, former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa told RT.


Quote
Maduro, like Chavez, won't sellout Venezuelans oil fields to western corporate oil giants like Exxon, Shell & Halliburton that's why the terrorist states of America has levied crippling economic sanctions and embargoes on the country for 20 plus years now since Hugo Chavez.

Multiple international/USA/CIA led directed coups to kill and overthrow Chavez failed and once again who is advocating for regime change? Pompeo former CIA director. Maduro just ditched the Petro dollar just like Iran and Libya did (barely weeks before Ghadaffi was invaded by NATO) to ease the economic sanctions and that's the sole reason why Maduro's a "fully fledged dictator" now and needs to be toppled NOW. Can't wait ... the "people" are suffering terribly, ahem.

It's next to impossible to keep up to speed when one only relies on the MSM / US Media to find out what's happening in the world and more importantly why. The kinds of Trade and Financial embargoes/barriers have been erected against Venezuela as they were against Morsi in Egypt and as they were against Chile when Allende was still in power.

They screw the people, make life impossible, some take to the streets protesting and then the US western Media circus gets going blaming it all on the current President/Government they want toppled asap. It's in the Manual folks. Seriously it is in a Manual.

RT America
Published on 24 Jan 2019



The Trump admins treatment of Venezuela is further proof that the last thing Trump is a Putin/Russia stooge or a "traitor". But of course no one will say that in the US MSM who will keep saying he is and that he keeps doing things that are Pro-Russia when in fact he does not.

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #69 on: February 24, 2019, 09:01:35 AM »
Repost -  January 25, 2019

— Muammar Gaddafi initiated a movement to REFUSE THE DOLLAR AND THE EURO
— On February 2006, SYRIA DROPPED THE DOLLAR as its primary hard currency.

— Jan. 4, it was reported that Pakistan was DITCHING THE DOLLAR in its trade with China, and that same day, the US placed it on the watch list for religious freedom violations.

— Iran finally switched FROM THE DOLLAR to the euro.

So why is the US meddling and wanting to cause a civil war and overthrow Maduro as Venezuelan President?

BECAUSE MADURO WANTS TO DUMP THE DOLLAR!!!

The government of Venezuela has confirmed that it is ceasing the sales of its vast oil reverse in the US Dollar.
The move will help the oil rich South American country dodge the unilateral SANCTIONS recently passed by the US. US sanctions and threats of military action against Venezuela have been roundly condemned by both Russia and China.

http://theduran.com/confirmed-venezuela-dumps-dollar-good/

Venezuela had began trading oil in Euros.

A similar move was made by the Iraqi government in the year 2000!

This is not news. It's not unique. These were the subject matter up for discussion between Putin and Maduro when they met recently. Currency exchanges and Trade and getting around the bs sanctions of the US Oligarchs.

Boy and people complain about BDS against Israel? Shit BDS is amateur night compared to what the USA has been doing and ramping up progressively though Bush, Obama and now Trump.

It's in the Manual how to proceed when someone goes against The Empire. Next comes the "terrorist" attacks/shootings on civilian protesters  which will be blamed on "Venezuelan military personal" friendly to Maduro.

As per Maidan Square, Kiev, Ukraine and of course Syria.

Like I said it is in a Manual.

Venezuela's Economy is a complete mess because the USA and others are blocking and undermining Venezuela's ability to continue selling its OIL in the Open Free Market.

The same would happen to every other country with such punitive and unjust Sanctions and Blockades. It's not about free and fair elections. It's not about the freedom of the people. It's 100% all about Money and Control and the Abuse of US Power. They Lie.

It's in the Manual.

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #70 on: February 24, 2019, 09:04:24 AM »
Repost

So you are saying it's all about the money and not about spreading democracy? I'm shocked! ;)

Btw, Venezuela tried to opt out of fiat money at all and made their own cryptocurrency.

Link >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_(cryptocurrency)

Yes the Petro etc. but that is very problematic atm, it would only be a longer term option once other nations officially began using crypto systems. That's still a ways off. I think. I suspect besides the likes of XRP that's getting traction with many major banks only once China ticks off on crypto officially will much happen.



I think this is the 4th Opposition leader the US has backed in to take over in a Coup Attempt since 1998.

4th time lucky maybe. 

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #71 on: February 24, 2019, 09:06:26 AM »
Repost January 25, 2019

Quote
Congresswoman who fixed Democratic primary for Clinton now ‘fixing’ democracy in Venezuela

Wasserman Schultz may hold a personal grudge against Putin. She had to resign as the Chair of the Democratic National Committee after leaked documents revealed how it was playing on the side of Hillary Clinton and against Bernie Sanders in 2016. The leak is widely attributed to Russia by American politicians and media.

The irony of Wasserman Schultz now being on the frontline of bringing democracy to Venezuela didn’t go unnoticed by Jill Stein, the head of the Green Party.

    Incredible: a video about bringing democracy to Venezuela, starring the person who rigged the 2016 DNC primary & ripped off millions of American voters. Hey Debbie Wasserman Schultz, how about you fix elections in Broward County, Florida before trying to "help" other countries? https://t.co/Yep6QhWIw5
    — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) January 25, 2019

Stein is one of a handful of American politicians, who has publicly rejected American interference in Venezuela, saying it would be a greed-motivated disaster similar to those the US brought to Libya, Syria, Yemen, Honduras and Ukraine.

    The Democrats are backing Trump on regime change in Venezuela, just like they backed disasters in Afghanistan, Iraq, Honduras, Libya, Syria, Ukraine & Yemen. When it comes to regime change, the two parties of War & Wall Street are still marching in lockstep. https://t.co/Yep6QhWIw5
    — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) January 25, 2019

But who cares? Americans were told already that Stein is just a Putin tool stealing votes from Clinton and working for RT. Those were smears, but ‘alternative facts’ are not an invention of the Trump administration.

Opposing Washington’s regime change is a dangerous cause. Say a word of doubt, and you’ll find yourself in a virtual concentration camp for Putin puppets, Assad apologists and Maduro mouthpieces.

    Yesterday, @RoKhanna became the first (and I believe only) member of Congress to question the wisdom of Trump's decree of who rules Venezuela, so he's instantly smeared as - you'll never guess - a Russian asset by CNN contributor @michaeldweiss. Don't call it McCarthyism! pic.twitter.com/TAPxb4kZ3d
    — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 24, 2019

    Oh my god, it's the retweet police! Politicians must only ever retweet guys like Casey, who works for a fake "progressive" think tank funded by Gulf dictatorships and Walmart https://t.co/0p91gfKyds
    — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 24, 2019

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/449686-debbie-schultz-fixing-venezuela/

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #72 on: February 24, 2019, 09:09:19 AM »
Repost - January 26, 2019

Not The Onion:

The Trump administration has announced that Elliott Abrams, who was convicted over the Iran-Contra scandal in which the Ronald Reagan administration secretly funded paramilitary groups in Nicaragua, will lead the US’s efforts to press for democracy in Venezuela.

Link >> https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/venezuela-latest-elliott-abrams-trump-pompeo-maduro-juan-guaido-a8747306.html

"....... will lead the US’s efforts to press for democracy in Venezuela."

ROFL ... every picture tells a story. ;)

... core members of the PNAC including Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, Elliot Abrams, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Zoellick, and ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

They're all Psychos these fellows. And I am not kidding I really really mean it. Bat shit crazy psychopaths. Should all be locked up imho.

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #73 on: February 24, 2019, 09:11:28 AM »
Repost - January 27, 2019

NO nation can maintain an economy that has been under attack by the USA for more than a decade, two decades in fact!

Copy from SEPT 2018

Quote
Merida, September 17, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro returned to Caracas Monday upon concluding a four-day visit to the People’s Republic of China, which saw the two countries sign twenty-eight bilateral agreements, including a new US $5 billion Chinese loan and joint plans for a fourth satellite, in addition to strengthening political ties.

The visit to China was the fourth by Maduro since taking office in 2013, and included top-level meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the State Council’s Investigations Centre, the National Assembly, as well as a tour of late PRC founder Mao Zedong’s mausoleum.

The trip comes as Caracas faces a hostile international environment with mounting pressure from neighboring right-wing governments, talk of a US “military intervention,” as well as the continuing economic impact from US-led financial sanctions against the country.

Speaking from Beijing, Maduro qualified the visit as “a great success” and expressed that he was “very optimistic” about its results. [...]

Maduro has recently looked to strengthen relations with Asian, European, and Middle Eastern partners to secure fresh credit lines for Venezuela’s beleaguered economy amid a US-sponsored financial embargo that prohibits US firms from lending.

“I have had to overcome economic sanction measures by the US and Europe, who persecute Venezuelan bank accounts, kidnap billions of dollars in international accounts and block commerce,” Maduro told Chinese state TV.

US $5bn for oil industry

Amongst the announcements was a new US $5 billion loan to boost Venezuela’s oil industry, which has suffered from falling production, international court action, and a wide reaching anti-corruption probe.

The new loan reaffirms China as Venezuela’s main creditor and follows on the heels of a previous pledge of financial assistance by the Chinese Development Bank in July. [...]

As part of the agreements, Venezuela’s state-run oil firm PDVSA will cede 9.9 percent of its shares in the mixed Venezuelan-Chinese oil firm SINOVENSA to the Chinese state-owned National Petroleum Consortium (CNPC), which previously owned 40 percent of the company. SINOVENSA produces 130,000 barrels of oil a day in the Orinoco Oil Belt.

Despite being signed between two state-owned oil giants, the agreement has once again provoked concerns from some analysts that Caracas is undertaking a “privatisation” of the country’s petroleum industry.

[ See? They can't win can they - nationalized oil industry system is bad, privatised international conglomerates from Russia and China also bad ]

New Silk Road project

In other announcements, Venezuela will now join China’s ambitious New Silk Road commercial plan which is allegedly worth US $900 billion.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14056


As is typical of the USA they do not care less about "democracy and freedom" all they care about is pushing their own economic interests and curtailing the opportunities of nations like China and Russia they "deem" as economic threats to their Global Hegemony.  Brazil was another threat .. (part of BRICS) look what happened there in the political realm the last few years? This is how they implement their control at any cost.

Quote
Though China is Venezuela's top lender, Russia has also been a long-standing ally of Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez with business ranging from oil and loans to military hardware.

Of late, Moscow has become Venezuela’s lender of last resort, with the government and Rosneft handing Venezuela at least $17 billion in loans and credit lines since 2006, according to Reuters calculations.

Below is data on Russia's involvement with Venezuela.
Sovereign debt

In November 2017, Russia agreed to restructure Venezuelan sovereign debt of $3.15 billion, with repayments lasting 10 years.

Russia and Venezuela have a joint venture bank, Evrofinance Mosnarbank, Russia's 91th biggest by assets. The Venezuelan National Development Fund (Fonden) controls a 49.99 percent stake in the bank.

Russia's Gazprombank, where the state-controlled gas producer Gazprom is a shareholder, and the state bank VTB each own a 25 percent stake in Evrofinance.

Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer and one of the largest globally, operates in Venezuela and has also issued loans to PDVSA, backed by oil supplies.

According to Rosneft, PDVSA paid $500 million debt during the third quarter of last year, with the outstanding obligations standing at $3.1 billion then.

Rosneft also holds a 49.9 percent stake in U.S. refiner Citgo for a 2016 loan of about $1.5 billion. The remaining 50.1 percent stake is being held by PDVSA but is collateralized under the 2020 bond issue.

Reuters reported in 2017 that Rosneft was in talks with PDVSA to swap its Citgo collateral for oilfield stakes and a fuel supply deal.
Russian oil companies

Rosneft, whose chief executive Igor Sechin is a frequent visitor to Venezuela, has stakes in a number of oil projects in the country. Total oil production from those projects was 8 million tons in 2017, or 161,000 barrels per day.

Rosneft is involved in the following projects:

- Junin 6: PDVSA holds a 60 percent stake, the rest is controlled by a joint venture of Rosneft and Gazpromneft, the oil arm of Gazprom. Rosneft holds 80 percent in that JV, Gazpromneft controls 20 percent.

- Petromonagas: Rosneft owns 40 percent.

- Petroperija: Rosneft owns 40 percent.

- Petrovictoria: Rosneft owns 40 percent.

- Petromiranda: Rosneft owns 32 percent.

- Boqueron: Rosneft owns 26.67 percent.


Military

The first credit line for gun purchases was signed in Moscow in 2006 by Chavez and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Since then, similar agreements have allowed Venezuela to buy Kalashnikov rifles, Sukhoi planes, tanks and other military equipment.

Last month, the Nezavisimaya daily newspaper cited unnamed sources saying Russia wanted to deploy strategic aircraft at a Venezuelan airbase in the Caribbean Sea south-east of the United States.

In December last year, two Russian strategic bomber aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons landed in Venezuela.

 https://themoscowtimes.com/news/guns-oil-and-loans-whats-at-stake-for-russia-venezuela-64284

Isn't it obvious what's been going in Venezuela for years now and why it is the nation is in economic and political turmoil is because of sanctions, trade embargoes upon Venezuela by the USA and it's Client States.

No one is allowed to trade, do financial deals, obtain long term loans, purchase military equipment or arms or have co-investments with Russia or China. Especially in Oil and Gas.

It's not a question of whether to interfere or not ... that is the status quo already.
That's why Venezuela is a basket case to begin with. Had the USA dealt with Venezuela fairly and equitably their economy would be BOOMING and there would be no protests going on at all and people would not be starving there!!!

This is so obvious but the marketing system via the western media makes it seem it never happened that way.

The ONLY DICTATOR involved in Venezuela since Chavez was elected has been the United States of America .... DICTATING what US citizens, corporations and other nations and their Corporations and Banks cannot do in Venezuela.

It's all in the Manual ... it's USA Corporate Empire Control:101

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #74 on: February 24, 2019, 09:15:20 AM »
Repost - January 29, 2019

Summary on Venezuela by Jimmy, Mike Prysner and Abby Martin 25 mins

Includes old footage of Trump saying the US should have demanded 50% of Libya's Oil for the expenses and help in getting rid of Qaddafi. The Libyans the protesters would have loved the US for doing this and agreed to pay.

@15:26 Jimmy:
"So if you're if you were wondering what's happening in Venezuela you're being hood winked again by the (Neocons) the Neoliberals and the Bankers and people like this [points to Trump] who think it's our right to go into a sovereign country and steal their natural resources [and/or to exclude their resources & exports from global markets - like with China, Russia, Iran] as long as we make a deal with some of the people there. So that's what's, that's what's happening, and so please stop watching MSNBC and CNN if you want to know what's going on about this stuff."



In Caracas:
"Right now Juan Guaido is speaking in the east of the city among supporters. Called once again calling on the military to overthrow Maduro as well as making other announcements. Meanwhile
life continues as normal in most parts of the city. Businesses are open, people are buying things, people are going about their business without any real interruptions although, you know as
if nothing had happened the past three days despite the violence that we've seen the past few nights."




Who could know outside of Venezuela what might be going on there?

See more text extracts here:
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,2204.msg187501.html#msg187501 

Quote
Abby Martin :
"What's really happening is a US-backed coup, an illegal criminal coup, imposed by the Trump
administration and this is absolutely proven to be a fact dressed in constitutional garb, they're using the Constitution. These are the same people who just tried to blow up Maduro on stage during a live televised press conference (address) just weeks ago."


Abby & Jimmy:
  "So they're doing it again. It's pretty disturbing. Just because Russia-backed Maduro! Even the New York Times had the audacity to Gaslight us and say: 'Russia alleges that this is a US-backed coup.' It's like, no, that's the reality. This is not a Russian talking point.

  "My whole thing is I thought they they've convinced me that Trump is a Russian puppet. So Trump is FOR the overthrow and Russia's AGAINST it! How could he be a puppet? What? So either way you're a Russian on this one, either way. If you're going with Trump you're a Putin Puppet because he's a Putin Puppet. If you go with Russia you're a Russia Puppet.

  "You're right but this is this is um that is what's going on. This is what's happening okay. This is another siege of an oil-rich nation that the Neoliberal establishment wanted to take over. That's it."

@11:00 "Yeah and I did want to say one more thing about the journalists claim that journalists are being jailed. I mean we investigated that ourselves actually there's video on Empire Files about it ..... So if people are concerned about press freedom in Venezuela you got to be very wary of the opposition here."



@13:00
"And if people are concerned about democracy in Venezuela you should be supporting the fact that they have free and fair elections that have been validated by hundreds of international observers. It was the opposition that asked the UN to not come and observe the elections because they we're working with Trump. Trump (The US establishment Regime) begged the opposition to not run because then, when you don't run in the elections, then you can discredit them and say 'Look we can't run in the elections and Maduro just ran unopposed and he's a dictator.'

That didn't work because an opposition member actually ended up running. So Trump (the US establishment Regime)  tried to re-strategize here. Now we have to look at this in the context of obviously the U.S.'s role in regime change in Venezuela for a long time.

Obama exacerbated that he called Venezuela a unique national security threat and 2015 slapped I think six or seven sanctions on them. Trump on the other hand is reinstalling the Monroe Doctrine from the Reagan era. I mean Trump just appointed Elliott Abrams (PNAC founding Neocon) this is the guy who oversaw death squads in El Salvador & Nicaragua (Iran Contra Affair - GHW Bush I pardoned him)

Trump slaps 63 new sanctions on Venezuela. John Bolton's rhetoric about 'the trick of
tyranny' and then we've come to find out in Corporate media that Washington Post (Besos owned) just wrote an article basically laying out first of all Gaslight - you know so it's not a coup it's it's democratic and constitutional - but then in the same article they talk about how Trump's cabinet tried to first they try to do this they try to convince the Venezuelan people that Maduro wasn't legitimate

When that didn't work they were just waiting for someone like Juan Guaido to carry out the final stages of the coup. It's actually laid out in the Washington Post it's very fascinating how they just admitted it - and you know we already know that they would not have done this without the green light from Trump (the US establishment Regime) because they need the legitimacy and backing of the US government and it's proxy regime change fronts the Organization of American States the Lima Group - all of those entities to really carry this out."



ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #75 on: February 24, 2019, 09:19:29 AM »
Repost
Quote


Definitely there is immense discontent dissatisfaction with the leadership of Donald Trump.

Definitely there is immense discontent dissatisfaction with the leadership of Theresa May.

Definitely there is immense discontent dissatisfaction with the leadership of Emmanuel Macron.

Definitely there is immense discontent dissatisfaction with the leadership of Angela Merkel.

Definitely there is immense discontent dissatisfaction with the leadership of Justin Trudeau.

Definitely there is immense discontent dissatisfaction with the leadership of Scott Morrison.

Definitely there was immense discontent dissatisfaction with the leadership and Government of
Ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak whose Government Party lost the last election in Malayasia - after being in control for 60 years. Voted out in a 2018 election and then Razak was subsequently arrested and charged for Fraud, Theft and Embezzlement no less.

There's no Coup de tête happening in any of those nations - even with a Corrupt Government in power and an Idiot like Donald Trump as President.

So what makes Venezuela oh so so special or different?
--- --- ---

Quote
The key issue for me is not Venezuela itself but that this issue again presents another opportunity for millions of people in and out of the USA to finally face up to and shake off their Conditioning.

It's an opportunity for people to re-evaluate, to drop their many Cultural Myths and personal Beliefs that are no longer sustainable in present time.

That those myths and beliefs they have lived their entire lives accepting as Tuisms are now far less sustainable than even BAU on this planet is Sustainable.

Events like Venezuela then is another opportunity  for people to confront themselves and change how they think about everything now. The more who do this the better for everyone. The sooner genuine systemic changes can begin to be put in place to solve the looming global catastrophe that is AGW/CC.

Rob Dekker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #76 on: February 24, 2019, 09:26:58 AM »
Venezuelans vow to carry on protests as clashes turn deadly

At least two killed in violent protests as President Maduro severs diplomatic ties with Colombia over Guaido support.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/venezuelans-vow-carry-protests-clashes-turn-deadly-190224063529686.html



Venezuela’s Food Crisis Reaches a Breaking Point

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/venezuelas-food-crisis-reaches-a-breaking-point



More than three million Venezuelans have fled the country in the years since the crisis began, and those who remain have seen their quality of life deteriorate to previously unthinkable levels.

<snip, please take the neoliberal/neocon war machine propaganda elsewhere, Rob; N.>

I love you, Neven, but that was basic "freedom of speech". Please allow comments on the ASIF even if you don't fully agree with them. And asking for UN-supervised elections is not "propaganda".
« Last Edit: February 24, 2019, 11:26:37 AM by Rob Dekker »
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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #77 on: February 24, 2019, 10:08:39 AM »
Up-to-Date via RT's aggregator news service
Quote

‘PR stunt to justify intervention in Venezuela’: Experts slam US regime change ‘gangsterism’
Published time: 23 Feb, 2019

“This is an attempt to set out a pretext for some kind of intervention,” political analyst and journalist John Wight told RT. “The Red Cross and all the other international aid agencies are refusing to touch this because they know that this is a Trojan horse, deployed to try to foment the kind of scenes we're seeing at the border.”

While Mallinson stressed that the US-led ‘humanitarian’ intervention might be aimed at keeping the country “as much as possible away from Russia and China,” Wight slammed the American policies as a pure form of “gangsterism.”

“Does anybody really think that Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton Elliott Abrams care one bit about the welfare of the Venezuelan people?” he wondered, rhetorically. “These are thugs in tailored suits whose views are far closer to Al Capone than to Thomas Jefferson.”

https://www.rt.com/news/452274-venezuela-us-intervention-gangsterism/


Quote
Red Cross denounces unsanctioned use of its emblems to smuggle US aid to Venezuela
Published time: 23 Feb, 2019

    We’ve learned that there are some people not affiliated w/ @cruzrojacol & @CruzRojaVe wearing Red Cross emblems at Colombia-#Venezuela & Brazil-Ven border.
    We urge them to stop doing this. They might mean well but they risk jeopardizing our neutrality, impartiality & independence
    — IFRC Intl. Federation #RedCross #RedCrescent (@Federation) February 23, 2019

https://www.rt.com/news/452272-red-cross-emblems-venezuela-aid/


Quote
Venezuelan government condemns US-orchestrated ‘propaganda show’ at Colombian border
Published time: 23 Feb, 201

“From the propaganda show organized at the border, the governments of the United States and Colombia have violated practically all the principles and purposes of the UN Charter,” Arreaza tweeted on Saturday. “The world community observes them and will take appropriate action within the UN.”
https://www.rt.com/news/452263-venezuela-border-propaganda-show/

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #78 on: February 24, 2019, 10:17:05 AM »

More than three million Venezuelans have fled the country in the years since the crisis began, and those who remain have seen their quality of life deteriorate to previously unthinkable levels.


Rob do you happen to have a legitimate credible source for that figure of 3 million - in years?

Over how many years? Show me the figures that make up this 3 million please.

Maybe they really meant:  "More than three million 'filthy rich white' Venezuelans who were by BIRTH part of / related to the former ruling class and former undemocratic corrupt regimes' have fled the country..."

I do not for sure myself, which is why I am asking. Maybe Bellingcat knows?

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #79 on: February 24, 2019, 11:09:40 AM »
 Who burnt the truck? Venezuelan FM says ‘false flag expert’ Pompeo should look among his ‘agents’
Published time: 24 Feb, 2019

 Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has challenged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo amid border clashes over US aid. He lashed at Pompeo and his 'hitmen' saying they were searching for the pretext for war.

"The CIA expert in false flag operations, Pompeo, thinks he can fool the world with a truck set ablaze by his own agents in Colombia," Arreaza tweeted on Saturday in response to recent clashes along the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

https://www.rt.com/news/452285-jorge-arreaza-comments-clashes/

Get that into you Pompeo lol

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #80 on: February 24, 2019, 11:10:48 AM »
Venezuela crisis: Deadly border clashes as Maduro blocks aid

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47346253



Yet there are some claiming nothing is wrong in Venezuela, and if it is, it's all the US's fault anyway.
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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #81 on: February 24, 2019, 11:20:58 AM »
    The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters.
    — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 23, 2019

While the tweet received praise from accounts favoring regime change, and drew some mockery from conservatives, there has been a veritable avalanche of disappointment from the Vermont senator’s sympathizers – as well as journalists and celebrities opposed to the regime change operation.

    Bernie, are you f-ing kidding me! if you buy the Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Rubio line, “humanitarian intervention” and collude in the destruction of Venezuela, you cannot be credible candidate for President of the USA. Or, maybe you can, maybe you’re the perfect stooge for the 1 %.
    — Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) February 23, 2019

    Imagine being Bernie Sanders and thinking Mike Pence, John Bolton, and Elliott Abrams are innocently committed to alleviating the humanitarian plight of the Venezuelan people, and that the “food and medicine” they’re sending has no ulterior motive. Have you lost your mind???
    — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 23, 2019

    you know better than to endorse a stunt led by war criminals who have snuck weapons in aid shipments in the past. This stance will not make democrats like you more and will only lose you support from socialists
    — Abby Martin (@AbbyMartin) February 23, 2019

    A sad commentary on US politics that the country’s most prominent self-proclaimed socialist feels compelled to feed into an interventionist narrative crafted by the Trump administration.
    — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 23, 2019

    This is an incredibly disappointing response from you, Bernie. Don’t play into the hands of warmongers like Elliot Abrams and Donald Trump. You should know better than this.
    — The Humanist Report🌹 (@HumanistReport) February 23, 2019

    Bad tweet, wrong position. 0/10
    — Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) February 23, 2019

    Do better Bernie. Also, do your homework. Venezuela has been accepting aid. In November they accepted $9 million in health and nutritional aid from the UN. What Trump is offering is “not humanitarian aid” according to the Red Cross. https://t.co/IDDVgZwuJb
    — Naomi Schiller (@naomischiller) February 23, 2019

    Senator, even NPR and the Wall Street Journal have said that this humanitarian aid mission is a front for the opposition. If the U.S. wants to aid the Venezuelan people, the best way to do that is to lift the sanctions.
    — Brandon Jonely 🌹 (@Aldowyn) February 23, 2019

    Bernie, you lose supporters by the million every time you repeat the LIES of the MSM, #Trump & his three amigo's. Plenty of aid IS getting into Venezuela via the Red Cross. Only USA's invasion-disguised-as-aid is being refused entry. The only violence is due to USA's illegal acts
    — Interim Emperor of Venezuela (@Ian_Flaming) February 23, 2019

Rob Dekker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #82 on: February 24, 2019, 11:36:20 AM »
    The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters.
    — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 23, 2019

Yes, and Bernie is right about that.

Quote
While the tweet received praise from accounts favoring regime change, and drew some mockery from conservatives, there has been a veritable avalanche of disappointment from the Vermont senator’s sympathizers – as well as journalists and celebrities opposed to the regime change operation.

    Bernie, are you f-ing kidding me! if you buy the Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Rubio line, “humanitarian intervention” and collude in the destruction of Venezuela, you cannot be credible candidate for President of the USA. Or, maybe you can, maybe you’re the perfect stooge for the 1 %.
    — Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) February 23, 2019

Let's see.

A rich white man defends an authoritarian regime facing a revolt from its own repressed and impoverished people—while campaigning AGAINST humanitarian aid!

And note that he is doing this on the day the regime shot and killed indigenous protestors.

Think about which side you are on, Lurk.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2019, 11:42:58 AM by Rob Dekker »
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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #83 on: February 24, 2019, 12:09:24 PM »
During a concert last Friday in Barcelona, Roger Waters Slams Syria's White Helmets: 'A Fake Organization Fronting for Terrorists'

https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/roger-waters-slams-fake-white-helmets-as-a-terrorist-front-1.6007488

The White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense, have saved over 80,000 lives since it began operations in 2012, according to aid organization reports. The NGO was established that year after a Syrian Air Force attack on Syrian civilians. Within two years it became a national center for civil defense activities. The group, nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, boasts 3,300 volunteers operating over 110 centers around Syria. A documentary about their work won the 2017 Academy Award for best documentary short.
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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #84 on: February 24, 2019, 12:35:36 PM »
Yet there are some claiming nothing is wrong in Venezuela, and if it is, it's all the US's fault anyway.

There are hundreds of place around the world where the same or even worse things are happening, that get zero attention. That's because those places don't have resources that are worth stealing. Venezuela needs to be left alone, sanctions need to be lifted, and neolib/neocon war machine propaganda needs to be fought at every step. So, stop spreading it here, Rob. 98% of the media and internet landscape is already on your side.
The enemy is within
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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #85 on: February 24, 2019, 03:33:07 PM »
Democracy doesn't work because someone wins the election over others.

Democracy works because the losers accept the declared result no matter what.

The smarter ones who have lost then immediately regroup to develop a better platform, better polices, better outreach to Voters, and better strategies to be elected next time round. If they cannot do that they do not deserve to win next time! No matter how bad the current Govt might be.

This is what the Opposition had faced for years almost decades in Malaysia. The whole system was rigged against them but they found a way to win anyway. They got the people on their side to beat The Corrupt System on it's own terms.

They forged a very strong (temporary) Coalition of disparate political groups with the single goal of getting rid of the corrupt Government in Power and to fix the Laws underpinning all the corruption and lack of Democracy.

One day the Venezuelan Opposition might be that smart and talented and worthy of being elected into Power. One day the American people might be that smart and talented and serious about fixing the shit fight they live under. 

ASILurker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #86 on: February 24, 2019, 03:40:05 PM »
Side-bar commentary:

Democracy doesn't work because someone wins the election over others.

Democracy works because the losers accept the declared result no matter what.

The smarter ones who have lost then immediately regroup to develop a better platform, better polices, better outreach to Voters, and better strategies to be elected next time round. If they cannot do that they do not deserve to win next time! No matter how bad the current Govt might be.

This is what the Opposition had faced for years almost decades in Malaysia. The whole system was rigged against them but they found a way to win anyway. They got the people on their side to beat The Corrupt System on it's own terms.

They forged a very strong (temporary) Coalition of disparate political groups with the single goal of getting rid of the corrupt Government in Power and to fix the Laws underpinning all the corruption and lack of Democracy.

One day the Venezuelan Opposition might be that smart and talented and worthy of being elected into Power. One day the American people might be that smart and talented and serious about fixing the shit fight they live under. 

But for Americia I seriously, honestly cannot see that ever happening. It will either implode first and need to be rescued by the international community with a Peace Keeping Force and an appointed Govt like Iraq got; or it will lose big time in a disastrous war and end up like Germany or Japan in 1945.

Doing what it is doing now to Venezuela is just one more step towards such an end for the USA.

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #87 on: February 24, 2019, 03:53:02 PM »


Basically, we do NOT take kindly to countries dropping the dollar.

In unrelated news, Venezuela dropped the dollar.

3. Having oil or other natural resources the US needs.
. . .
China, Russia, Turkey, India and many others are also establishing other bilateral arrangements already and setting up alt avenues including selling their US Bonds and buying up Gold stocks as they prepare to dump the USD and prepare for what comes next.

Strong correlation between a state dropping the dollar and being attacked, yes.
I'm skeptical that the link is *directly* causal.
I think a given state drops the dollar mostly when relations with the US (and global capitalism) become fraught.  This is a defensive move against perceived threat.

By pressuring much of the world over Iran sanctions (which nobody else favors) Dolt 45 is incentivizing the whole world to adopt ways around US monetary hegemony.  There are areas of heavy-handedness beyond Iran, of course.  That just strikes me as the most egregious at the moment.

I really don't think the US will attack nations just because they drop the dollar for trade.  It's just a very small factor in the calculation for waging war.

The dollar being the currency of international trade is in the interest of the US.  It's only bad for the rest of the world when the US fails to act as an honest steward of economic stability and fairness in the world.  Idiots like Rump are why we aren't going to be able to have nice things.

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #88 on: February 24, 2019, 04:06:01 PM »
Yet there are some claiming nothing is wrong in Venezuela,

Are you able to quote even one person claiming that Rob? How about 2 or 3 important people making such claims? I know of none. Even Maduro does not make such ludicrous claims as that. 

Quote
and if it is, it's all the US's fault anyway.

Probably because it primarily is. Venezuela cannot sell it's Oil Resources because of the actions of the USA alone - long long before Maduro's re-election in May last year.

How many Venezuelan refugees have been in those "caravans" heading to the US border to be blocked there by Trump and his Military and ICE agents and walls? Any numbers on that? 

It wouldn't take long for the USA to implode into political and civil strife, 50% unemployment, mass poverty, lawlessness, murders, and starvation if it was blockaded from selling all of it it's exports long enough.

Maybe that's a good strategy? You could all blame Trump and get him kicked out of Office and Hillary Clinton could take his place by unilaterally declaring herself as President, by taking the Oath of Office on her front lawn and then declaring Martial Law across the land and calling out the National Guard.

The world should do this to help save your floundering democracy and freedoms Rob. You agree that Trump and his whole Administration is extremely dangerous and unfit for Office don't you? If not why not Rob?

Let the world help you by placing immediate trade and financial sanctions on the USA and especially upon everyone in the Trump Administration and the Military and the Arms Dealers and their enablers in Congress.

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #89 on: February 24, 2019, 04:35:24 PM »
RUPTLY Live scenes from the Simon Bolivar Bridge at the Venezuela-Colombia border, where opposition supporters are attempting to break the troops’ cordon to deliver US aid into Venezuela for a second day. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has stated that the aid is a US plot to disguise an intervention.

https://www.rt.com/on-air/452307-venezuela-colombia-border-crisis/

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #90 on: February 25, 2019, 02:36:04 AM »
As the title suggests Venezuela History is on topic in this thread. To properly and fairly understand today one needs to first understand yesterday and the multitude steps leading up to today.


Quote
Venezuela, April 2002: Coup or Popular Rebellion? The Myth of a United Venezuela
Barry Cannon First published: 21 June 2004
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0261-3050.2004.00109.x

Abstract

This article assesses the merits of opposing National Assembly reports into the coup against President Chávez of Venezuela in April 2002. Looking at the historical context and the content of the reports, it argues that the two opposing accounts reflect a class division that has always existed in Venezuela but has been officially denied. It concludes that a possible exit from the stalemate could be that the opposition accept the reality of this class division and therefore the Chávez government as a legitimate representative of the popular classes. This, however, is unlikely in the present circumstances.
PDF https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.0261-3050.2004.00109.x


Quote
The Cha´vez phenomenon: Political change in Venezuela
Ronald D Sylvia & Constantine P Danopoulos
Pages 63-76 | Published online: 25 Aug 2010
Download citation https://doi.org/10.1080/713701367 (Access req. for full article)

This article focuses on the advent and governing style of, and issues facing colonel-turned politician Hugo Cha´vez since he became president of Venezuela in 1998 with 58% of the vote.

The article begins with a brief account of the nature of the country's political environment that emerged in 1958, following the demise of the Perez Jimenez dictatorship. Aided by phenomenal increases in oil prices, Venezuela's political elites reached a pact that governed the country for nearly four decades. Huge increases in education, health and other social services constituted the hallmark of Venezuela's 'subsidised democracy'.

Pervasive corruption, a decrease in oil revenues and two abortive coups in 1992 challenged the foundations of subsidised democracy. The election of Cha´vez in 1998 sealed the fate of the 1958 pact.

Cha´vez's charisma, anti-colonial/Bolivarist rhetoric, and increasing levels of poverty form the basis of his support among the poor and dissatisfied middle classes.

The articles then turns its attention to Cha´vez's governing style and the problems he faces as he labours to turn around the country's stagnant economy. Populist initiatives aimed at wealth redistribution, land reform and a more multidimensional and Third World-orientated foreign policy form the main tenets of the Cha´vez regime. These, coupled with anti-business rhetoric, over-dependence on oil revenues and opposition from Venezuela's political and economic elites, have polarised the country and threaten its political stability.

The brief overthrow of Cha´vez in April 2002, ongoing daily demonstrations, and divisions within the army and society have brought the country to the brink of civil war. (@2010)

Quote
Against the comedy of civil society
Posthegemony, media and the 2002 coup d'état in Venezuela
Juan Antonio Hernández
Pages 137-145 | Published online: 03 Aug 2010
Download citation https://doi.org/10.1080/13569320420001866532
(access req. see image extract below)

Since the rebellion of 27th February 1989 the multitude have acquired a particular form of visibility within the discourses of the public sphere in Venezuela ..... the middle class representing itself as 'Civil Society' places the multitude on the side of the barbaric.

What "rebellion" in Feb. 1989? Huh? What was that all about? Must have missed it while the Berlin Wall was collapsing. A decade later Chavez was the new President of Venezuela. How did that happen? Gosh don't know anything about that, or I don't remember, or FOX/CNN forgot to tell me. :)
« Last Edit: February 25, 2019, 04:09:00 AM by Lurk »

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #91 on: February 25, 2019, 03:08:45 AM »


Basically, we do NOT take kindly to countries dropping the dollar.

In unrelated news, Venezuela dropped the dollar.

3. Having oil or other natural resources the US needs.
. . .
China, Russia, Turkey, India and many others are also establishing other bilateral arrangements already and setting up alt avenues including selling their US Bonds and buying up Gold stocks as they prepare to dump the USD and prepare for what comes next.

Strong correlation between a state dropping the dollar and being attacked, yes.
I'm skeptical that the link is *directly* causal.
I think a given state drops the dollar mostly when relations with the US (and global capitalism) become fraught.  This is a defensive move against perceived threat.

By pressuring much of the world over Iran sanctions (which nobody else favors) Dolt 45 is incentivizing the whole world to adopt ways around US monetary hegemony.  There are areas of heavy-handedness beyond Iran, of course.  That just strikes me as the most egregious at the moment.

I really don't think the US will attack nations just because they drop the dollar for trade.  It's just a very small factor in the calculation for waging war.

The dollar being the currency of international trade is in the interest of the US.  It's only bad for the rest of the world when the US fails to act as an honest steward of economic stability and fairness in the world.  Idiots like Rump are why we aren't going to be able to have nice things.

I suspect maybe you're not quite putting yourself in the shoes of the TPTB here. Not an easy thing to do, one's mind could snap trying that. My view is that dropping the dollar is a Red line. It's overt publicly known proof that the hegemony has lost control and influence over the disgruntled target for punitive actions. In this sense it becomes less about the target and more about sustaining BAU. Like with the a Mafia Don they don't take out a lieutenant for the seriousness of their acts/error but as a warning to others to never resist the authority of the Don.

Words like ‘gangsterism’ are not being used to inflame the situation but because they are appropriate and correctly describe the current situation of what is happening in reality.
https://www.rt.com/news/452274-venezuela-us-intervention-gangsterism/

Furthermore I suspect the drivers are not so much that the USA can get it's grubby hands on the Oil wealthy and business opportunities but that Russia and China do not, and that they end up losing the Billion$ they have invested there. In this sense one truly needs to be able walk in the TPTB shoes to be totally empathetic to their mindset and realise they are quite happy to let the whole house burn down rather than allow Russia or China to have a seat at the dining room table.

And, it doesn't matter how much it costs and it doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks about that.  You mentioned Trump - it is my view (unprovable) that had Hillary won we would be at precisely the same place today. She'd be crowing about freedom and democracy, the poor suffering peoples in Venezuela too and giving the very same orders as Trump is. I think that is self-evident and would obviously be the case had she won.

imho Chavez and especially Maduro are rank amateurs in geopolitics and the nature of the USA. They are and have been ill advised - even if they were listening to anyone else bar themselves. They cannot imagine to lengths the US would go to or the Opposition to destroy the nation in order to "win". Why? Because they simply do not cannot think like Power broker Psychopaths think. Neither properly planned ahead of the Game. They needed a Russian naval and air force bases in Venezuela over 3 years ago in preparation for what was coming. When Trump was elected Maduro did nothing. He should have run the election in late 2018 and spent that time setting things up. They should have been taking info to the UNSC and bring multiple Court actions against the USA, and the Corporations/Banks too. Should have found alt oil industry spare parts, had China oil companies all over the place and another source for the additives needed to pump and refine their extra thick oil.

But people tend to be "hopeful" and never really expect the worse. As we should know already about people's "feelings" about climate change action .... the most minor step is seen as grandiose step forward in the battle to not break 1.5C - not going to happen. Maduro is toast. But then comes the civil war, the next rebellion, the terrorist acts against the new Military Junta in Venezuela, the torching of the rich people's homes. It won;t be pretty imho. But I could be wrong and nirvana will break once the poor see what a great humanitarian and leader Juan Guaido is.

ROFL and blah blah blah :)
« Last Edit: February 25, 2019, 03:29:22 AM by Lurk »

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #92 on: February 25, 2019, 03:36:01 AM »
More History

Quote
Venezuela coup linked to Bush team

Specialists in the 'dirty wars' of the Eighties encouraged the plotters who tried to topple President Chavez The Observer (UK)By: Ed Vulliamy, April, 21 2002 NEW YORK

-The failed coup in Venezuela was closely tied to senior officials in the US government, The Observer has established. They have long histories in the 'dirty wars' of the 1980s, and links to death squads working in Central America at that time. Washington's involvement in the turbulent events that briefly removed left-wing leader Hugo Chavez from power last weekend resurrects fears about US ambitions in the hemisphere. It also also deepens doubts about policy in the region being made by appointees to the Bush administration, all of whom owe their careers to serving in the dirty wars under President Reagan. [including one John Bolton]

One of them, Elliot Abrams, who gave a nod to the attempted Venezuelan coup, has a conviction for misleading Congress over the infamous Iran-Contra affair. The Bush administration has tried to distance itself from the coup. It immediately endorsed the new government under businessman Pedro Carmona. But the coup was sent dramatically into reverse after 48 hours.

Now officials at the Organisation of American States and other diplomatic sources, talking to The Observer, assert that the US administration was not only aware the coup was about to take place, but had sanctioned it, presuming it to be destined for success.

The visits [to the US ] by Venezuelans plotting a coup, including Carmona himself, began, say sources, 'several months ago', and continued until weeks before the putsch last weekend. The visitors were received at the White House by the man President George Bush tasked to be his key policy-maker for Latin America, Otto Reich. Reich is a right-wing Cuban-American who, under Reagan, ran the Office for Public Diplomacy. It reported in theory to the State Department, but Reich was shown by congressional investigations to report directly to Reagan's National Security Aide, Colonel Oliver North, in the White House.

North was convicted and shamed for his role in Iran-Contra, whereby arms bought by busting US sanctions on Iran were sold to the Contra guerrillas and death squads, in revolt against the Marxist government in Nicaragua. Reich also has close ties to Venezuela, having been made ambassador to Caracas in 1986. His appointment was contested both by Democrats in Washington and political leaders in the Latin American country. The objections were overridden as Venezuela sought access to the US oil market. 

Read on: http://www.mrclancy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Venezuela-Coup.pdf
« Last Edit: February 25, 2019, 04:07:11 AM by Lurk »

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #93 on: February 25, 2019, 03:40:18 AM »
Venezuela: Crowding Out the Opposition
Javier Corrales, Michael Penfold-Becerra
Journal of Democracy
Johns Hopkins University Press
Volume 18, Number 2, April 2007
pp. 99-113
10.1353/jod.2007.0020
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/214433/summary

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #94 on: February 25, 2019, 03:47:16 AM »
Quote
Report: Coups
Venezuela’s Wounded Bodies: Nation and Imagination During the 2002 Coup
Fernando Coronil
Pages 33-39 | Published online: 31 May 2016
Download citation https://doi.org/10.1080/10714839.2011.11725529 (Req Access)

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10714839.2011.11725529?journalCode=rnac20

Quote
Report: Empire And Dissent
Venezuela: Defying Globalization’s Logic
Steve Ellner
Pages 20-24 | Published online: 31 May 2016

    Download citation https://doi.org/10.1080/10714839.2005.11722355 (req. access)

Extract below "... in the face of US hostility and an aggressive US-supported domestic opposition has important implications for progressive Latin American struggles."
« Last Edit: February 25, 2019, 04:09:53 AM by Lurk »

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #95 on: February 25, 2019, 04:05:50 AM »
History and Elections

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=nBjWCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&ots=KddR4xlEXB&dq=2015%20elections%20venezuela%20&lr&pg=PR10#v=onepage&q=2015%20elections%20venezuela&f=false

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=jIV9BgAAQBAJ&lpg=PR11&ots=v6R2tGfgSK&dq=2015%20elections%20venezuela%20&lr&pg=PR11#v=onepage&q=2015%20elections%20venezuela&f=false



Quote
Computer Science > Social and Information Networks
Political Bots and the Manipulation of Public Opinion in Venezuela
Michelle Forelle, Phil Howard, Andrés Monroy-Hernández, Saiph Savage
(Submitted on 25 Jul 2015)

    Social and political bots have a small but strategic role in Venezuelan political conversations. These automated scripts generate content through social media platforms and then interact with people. In this preliminary study on the use of political bots in Venezuela, we analyze the tweeting, following and retweeting patterns for the accounts of prominent Venezuelan politicians and prominent Venezuelan bots. We find that bots generate a very small proportion of all the traffic about political life in Venezuela. Bots are used to retweet content from Venezuelan politicians but the effect is subtle in that less than 10 percent of all retweets come from bot-related platforms.

Nonetheless, we find that the most active bots are those used by Venezuela's radical opposition.

Bots are pretending to be political leaders, government agencies and political parties more than citizens. Finally, bots are promoting innocuous political events more than attacking opponents or spreading misinformation.

Comments:    8 pages, 3 figures
Subjects:    Social and Information Networks (cs.SI); Computers and Society (cs.CY); Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1507.07109 (req. access)

Latin America’s New Turbulence: Can Democracy Win in Venezuela?
Benigno Alarcón, Ángel E. Álvarez, Manuel Hidalgo
Journal of Democracy
Johns Hopkins University Press
Volume 27, Number 2, April 2016
pp. 20-34
10.1353/jod.2016.0030

The Authoritarian Resurgence: Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela
Javier Corrales
Journal of Democracy
Johns Hopkins University Press
Volume 26, Number 2, April 2015
pp. 37-51
10.1353/jod.2015.0031

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #96 on: February 25, 2019, 07:55:43 AM »
History and News - this Wikipedia page is unusually very detailed with a very long list of refs

Quote
2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
A crisis concerning who is the legitimate President of Venezuela has been underway since 10 January 2019, when the opposition-majority National Assembly declared that incumbent Nicolás Maduro's 2018 reelection was invalid and the body declared its president, Juan Guaidó, to be acting president of the nation.

The process and results of the May 2018 Venezuelan presidential election were widely disputed. The National Assembly declared Maduro illegitimate on the day of his second inauguration, citing the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela enacted under Hugo Chávez, Maduro's predecessor; in response, the pro-Maduro Supreme Tribunal of Justice said the National Assembly's declaration was unconstitutional.

Mass demonstrations throughout Venezuela and the world occurred on 23 January when Guaidó called for Venezuelans to protest against Maduro. Demonstrations in support of Maduro and Chavismo took place as well. Special meetings in the Organization of American States (OAS) on 24 January and in the United Nations Security Council on 26 January were held but no consensus was reached. Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres called for dialogue.

Maduro's government says the crisis is a coup d'état led by the United States to topple him and control the country's oil reserves. Guaidó denies the coup allegations, saying peaceful volunteers back his movement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Venezuelan_presidential_crisis

Quote
National Assembly (Venezuela)
1999 Constitution
President Hugo Chávez was first elected in December 1998 on a platform calling for a National Constituent Assembly to be convened to draft a new constitution for Venezuela. Chávez's argument was that the existing political system, under the earlier 1961 Constitution, had become isolated from the people. This won broad acceptance, particularly among Venezuela's poorest classes, who had seen a significant decline in their living standards over the previous decade and a half.

The National Constituent Assembly (ANC), consisting of 131 elected individuals, convened in August 1999 to begin rewriting the constitution. In free elections, voters gave all but six seats to persons associated with the Chávez movement. The Venezuelan people approved the ANC's proposed constitution in a referendum on 15 December 1999. It was promulgated by the ANC and came into effect the following 20 December. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_(Venezuela)#1999_Constitution


Quote
2017 constitutional crisis
On 29 March 2017, the Supreme Court (TSJ) stripped the Assembly of its powers, ruling that all powers would be transferred to the Supreme Court. The previous year the Court found the Assembly in contempt for swearing in legislators whose elections had been deemed invalid by the court. The 2017 court judgement declared that the "situation of contempt" meant that the Assembly could not exercise its powers.

The action transferred powers from the Assembly, which had an opposition majority since January 2016, to the Supreme Court, which has a majority of government loyalists. The move was denounced by the opposition with Assembly President Julio Borges describing the action as a coup d'état by President Nicolás Maduro. However, after public protests and condemnation by international bodies, the court's decision was reversed a few days later on 1 April.

On 4 August 2017, Venezuela convened a new Constituent Assembly after a special election which was boycotted by opposition parties. The new Constituent Assembly is intended to rewrite the constitution; it also has wide legal powers allowing it to rule above all other state institutions. The Constituent Assembly meets within the Federal Legislative Palace; the leadership of the National Assembly have said it would continue its work as a legislature and it will still continue to meet in the same building.

On 18 August the Constituent Assembly summoned the members of the National Assembly to attend a ceremony acknowledging its legal superiority; the opposition members of the National Assembly boycotted the event. In response, the Constitutional Assembly stripped the National Assembly of its legislative powers, assuming them for itself.

It justified the move by claiming that the National Assembly had failed to prevent what it called "opposition violence" in the form of the 2017 Venezuelan protests. The constitutionality of this move has been questioned, and it has been condemned by several foreign governments and international bodies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_(Venezuela)#2017_constitutional_crisis
Quote
Political composition
The first election of deputies to the new National Assembly took place on 30 July 2000. President Hugo Chávez' Fifth Republic Movement won 92 seats (56%). The opposition did not participate in the 2005 elections, and as a result gained no seats, while the Fifth Republic Movement gained 114 (69%).

In 2007 a number of parties, including the Fifth Republic Movement, merged to create the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which in January 2009 held 139 of the 169 seats (82%).

In the 2010 election, for which the number of deputies was reduced to 165, the PSUV won 96 seats (58%), the opposition electoral coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) 65, and Patria Para Todos won 2.

At the 2015 parliamentary election, the MUD won 109 of the 164 general seats and all three indigenous seats, which gave them a supermajority in the National Assembly; while the government's own coalition, the Great Patriotic Pole, won the remaining 55 seats. Voter turnout exceeded 70 percent.

The result, however, was marred by the January 2016 suspension from the NA by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of 4 elected MPs from Amazonas state due to alleged voter fraud and election irregularities. 3 of the 4 were opposition deputies and one was from the GPP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_(Venezuela)#Political_composition

--- --- ---


Quote
2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015 to elect the 164 deputies and three indigenous representatives of the National Assembly. They were the fourth parliamentary elections to take place after the 1999 constitution, which abolished the bicameral system in favour of a unicameral parliament, and the first to take place after the death of President Hugo Chávez.

Despite claims from the opposition of a possible last-minute cancellation, the elections took place as scheduled, with the majority of polls showing the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) holding a wide lead over the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its wider alliance, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP).

The political landscape leading up to the elections was heavily influenced by the severe economic crisis faced by the country, as well as a series of protests that took place in 2014, after which former Chacao mayor and leader of Popular Will, Leopoldo López, was detained and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The scarcity of basic goods and high inflation were the central topics of discussion, with each party blaming their opponent as the cause.

Introducing economic policies to counter the crisis, as well as granting amnesty to political prisoners, was the main campaign pledge of the MUD. The ruling PSUV, on the other hand, ran a campaign focused on overcoming what they called an "economic war" led by the right-wing against the Venezuelan people, as well as defending the legacy of Chávez and the social policies introduced during his presidency.

The result was a decisive defeat for the PSUV, which lost control of the Assembly for the first time since 1999. The MUD, composed of politicians opposed to the government of both Chávez and his successor, won 109 seats, and with the support of the three indigenous representatives, gained a supermajority of 112 seats against 55 won by the GPP.

In terms of popular vote, the MUD received 7.7 million votes, an increase of 2.4 million from the 2010 elections, becoming the most voted party in Venezuelan electoral history. In comparison, the GPP only managed to gain an additional 200,000 votes, to total 5.6 million votes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Venezuelan_parliamentary_election

Rob Dekker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #97 on: February 25, 2019, 08:13:23 AM »

More than three million Venezuelans have fled the country in the years since the crisis began, and those who remain have seen their quality of life deteriorate to previously unthinkable levels.


Rob do you happen to have a legitimate credible source for that figure of 3 million - in years?

Over how many years? Show me the figures that make up this 3 million please.

Sure. That number is from the UN :

https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2018/11/5be4192b4/number-refugees-migrants-venezuela-reaches-3-million.html

Here is the breakdown :

Quote
According to data from national immigration authorities and other sources, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean host an estimated 2.4 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela, while other regions account for the rest.

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have largely maintained a commendable open-door policy to refugees and migrants from Venezuela; however, their reception capacity is severely strained, requiring a more robust and immediate response from the international community if this generosity and solidarity are to continue,” said Eduardo Stein, UNHCR-IOM Joint Special Representative for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela.

Colombia has the highest number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, a total of over one million. It is followed by Peru, with over half a million, Ecuador over 220,000, Argentina 130,000, Chile over 100,000 and Brazil 85,000.

In addition to South American countries, countries in Central America and the Caribbean also recorded increasing arrivals of refugees and migrants from Venezuela. Panama, for example, is now hosting 94,000 Venezuelans.

If things don't change in Venezuela, the UN expects another 2 million in 2019 :
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-migration/two-million-more-venezuelans-could-flee-next-year-u-n-idUSKBN1OD2CD
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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #98 on: February 25, 2019, 08:21:12 AM »
Novara Media - Premiered on 5 Feb 2019

As crisis engulfs Venezuela, Aaron Bastani looks at the political and economic history of the country since Hugo Chavez won power in 1998. His conclusion? That sanctions and oil prices are to blame for the country's economic plight, while it boasts a far greater tradition of democracy than critics often realise let alone dare to admit.


Quote
03:23 "........ when Hugo Chavez was elected as a result of democratic elections in 1998 the country he inherited was in a parlous situation. In fact GDP per capita in the country in 1998 was at the same level it had been in 1963. And in fact it had fallen by a third from the all-time high of 1978 twenty years earlier.

What's more the purchasing power of the average salary was one-third what had been twenty years before meaning that the situation he inherited was in many ways resembling the economy of Venezuela today."


Quote
03:50 ".... thus if we want to make sense of the rise of Hugo Chavez and the popularity of what's been called the Bolivarian revolution we have to understand the profound economic crisis into which he stepped. He did not assume the mantle of economic prosperity and success, anything but.

What's more, the first 12 to 14 years of the Bolivarian revolution named after Simon de Bolivar one of the mythical political figures of Latin America 19th Century was one of growth and economic expansion.

GDP per capita grew by a factor of more than three [x 300% ] between 1998 and 2014. The economic success of Venezuela over that period meant it pulled away from similar sized countries in the region such as Colombia, Peru and it even became wealthier than Argentina - on a per head basis for the first time since 1989.

So in short the first decade plus of the Hugo Chavez Administration was an economic success story for Venezuela - and NOT the socialist failure we're so often told."


Quote
5:00 "More importantly that economic growth redounded to the benefit of ordinary people. And there was undoubted progress in terms of expanded welfare provision across the country over the first 15 years of the Chavez administration.

By 2012 Venezuela had the lowest levels of inequality in the region with poverty falling from 70.8% in 1996 to 21 percent in 2010.

By the time of Chavez's death in 2013 more than 6% of GDP was spent on education. With citizens enjoying free daycare nurseries and university degrees.

While 21% of the population experienced malnourishment in 1998 by 2012 that figure had fallen to just 5 percent. Elsewhere infant mortality halved between 1990 and 2010, while the number of doctors relative to the population tripled [x 300% ] between 1998 and 2012.

Perhaps it's no surprise then what with its rising prosperous economy and increasingly far-reaching social welfare programs that just six years ago Venezuela was determined to be one of the happiest places to live on Earth."

« Last Edit: February 25, 2019, 01:16:14 PM by Lurk »

Rob Dekker

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Re: The Empire vs Venezuela - News and History
« Reply #99 on: February 25, 2019, 08:41:56 AM »
Quote
and if it is, it's all the US's fault anyway.

Probably because it primarily is. Venezuela cannot sell it's Oil Resources because of the actions of the USA alone - long long before Maduro's re-election in May last year.

That's laughably false.
The US sanctions have next to NOTHING to do with the dire situation in Venezuela right now.

For starters, the US sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry (against PDVSA) were imposed Jan. 28, 2019, less than a month ago. And it has (after a one week dip) had little effect on the amount of Venezuelan oil imported into the US :
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W_EPC0_IM0_NUS-NVE_MBBLD&f=W

The problems with Venezuela's oil industry started decades ago, and notably accelerated under Maduro :



The issue here is that Venezuela under Maduro did not spend any money on maintaining their oil production and refinement industries. The EIA puts it like this :

Quote
Reduced capital expenditures by state–owned oil and natural gas company Petròleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) are resulting in foreign partners continuing to cut activities in the oil sector, making crude oil production losses increasingly widespread. With Venezuela’s heavy dependency on the oil industry, the country’s economy will likely continue to shrink, and that the runaway inflation will remain the mainstay at least in the short term.

https://www.eia.gov/beta/international/analysis.php?iso=VEN

And regarding your remark that "Venezuela cannot sell it's Oil Resources" the EIA has this interesting note that much of their production is used to pay off Russian debt :

Quote
Venezuela’s revenue from oil exports is severely constricted because only about half of the exports generate cash revenues. U.S. refiners are among the few customers that still remit cash payments. The remaining crude oil exports are sold domestically at a loss or sent as loan repayments to China and Russia (the repayments to Russia are sent to Nayara Energy’s (formerly Essar) Vadinar refinery in India to service debt that Venezuela owes to Russian oil company Rosneft, the co–owner of the Vadinar refinery).

Which explains why Russia is so interested in keeping Maduro in power.
This is our planet. This is our time.
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