Murderous Threats to Maduro & his Military from the LIMA Group Conference, Updated

...with news from the USNC emergency meeting on Venezuela, called by the USA

Tweet of the month:

[video:https://youtu.be/Wq2vXy0cijo?t=7s]

from sputniknews.com: ‘United Nations Security Council Holds Emergency Meeting on Venezuela, feb. 26

“Addressing the UN Security Council, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza demanded the proof of the election fraud, the United States and its allies claimed. He repeatedly recalled that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is a legitimate head of state.

He continued questioning the logic behind the European states ultimatums put forward by Germany, UK, France and Spain earlier in the day. As he noted, Venezuela simply asks for respect of international laws, including the UN charter in the issue.
"I hope that the Security Council will convene a meeting to evaluate who was behind this coup d’etat and to punish those who were behind it… And they would not need a lot of intelligence because of the evidence is abundant," Arreaza said.

"It was Donald Trump who threatened the use of military force directly against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. How is that he was not even challenged or questioned by the entities of multilateralism?" Arreaza said.

US Accuses Cuba, Urges Int'l Community to Recognize Guaido as Interim President

"Cuba has directly made matters worse. And the United States and our partners are the true friends of the Venezuelan people," Pompeo said.
Also, he called on the international community to recognise Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela.

Earlier, Bolivian President Evo Morales called the convening of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the current crisis in Venezuela, branding recent developments an "invasion" of the country's internal affairs.
Addressing the UN Security Council, Anne Gueguen, the French deputy permanent representative to the UN stated that France calls on Venezuela authorities to respect the rights of the National Assembly.

From the WaPO:
“The Lima Group of nations and Guaido issued an 18-point declaration Monday in which they reiterate their call on the Venezuelan military to recognize Guaido as their commander in chief. They also ask the International Criminal Court to consider Maduro’s blocking of emergency food and medical supplies a crime against humanity and urge the United Nations to play a bigger role in resolving the crisis.

Brazil’s vice president says his nation will maintain its strategy of avoiding military intervention when it comes to neighboring Venezuela.
Monday’s tweet by Vice President Hamilton Mourao came as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with regional leaders about Venezuela and said that “all options are on the table.”
Mourao said Brazilian officials “believe in diplomatic and international economic pressure.”

Germany is calling for greater pressure against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro to bring about fresh elections.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said Monday that Germany believes “the pressure on Maduro needs to be increased so as to move in the direction of free, fair and democratic presidential elections. Demmer said Germany was particularly concerned by “the apparent deployment of militias and groups of thugs to intimidate the population.

Typically unbiased and transparent news form the NYT.com: ‘Cold War-Style Accusations Fly as Security Council Meets on Venezuela’, feb. 26

“A United Nations Security Council meeting on Venezuela’s crisis briefly turned into a diplomatic brawl on Tuesday, as the United States and Russia traded rejoinders reminiscent of the Cold War.
Nothing was resolved, and it appeared that if anything, the meeting illustrated how antagonists have hardened their positions over the crisis afflicting Venezuela, once Latin America’s most prosperous country, now in an economic free fall.”

From RT:

“Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has denounced US sanctions and “theft of assets” from his country and accused the Trump administration of trying to foment a coup in violation of international law.

Speaking at the United Nations, Arreaza said that $30 billion had been “confiscated” from Venezuela since November 2017 due to Washington’s tightening economic measures against the country.
Arreaza suggested a meeting between Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to “try to find common ground” and reach a diplomatic solution as tensions between the two countries continue to rise."

Arreaza said on Tuesday that trucks supposedly carrying humanitarian supplies were also loaded with nails and wire. Guaido tried to assist the entry of the trucks across the Colombian border into Venezuela, which Arreaza said was a "well-orchestrated operation to violate the territory" of the country.

Speculation has mounted that the US may use its ally Colombia as a backdoor to invade Venezuela, prompting Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia to call on all neighboring states to reject the use of force, “regardless of political affiliations.”
Nebenzia said that US sanctions on Venezuela were designed to bring the country to a “state of destitution” as a pretext to trigger a “humanitarian intervention” and regime change to install a government friendlier to the US."

I'm not sure why the video in the Tweet won't boot, but if you click on the pscp.tv hyperlink, press the On button at the top of the screen, you can watch.

No transcript, but here are the incendiary highlights from the Evil God-loving Evangelical: “as Prez Trump says, there will be no turning back; the LIMA group was formed two years ago to prevent VZ from sliding further into a brutal dictatorship; we want to thank the leaders of Brazil and ‘ColUMbia’ to help the VZ people in their hour of need; the nations gathered here today agree with us that Nicola Maduro is a usurper, with no legitimate claim to power and he must go; the struggle is between dictatorship and democracy (he said about a dozen times); Maduro actually danced while truckloads of food and medicine burned while thousands of children are starving, even while Maduro sent aid to his puppet-masters in Cuba; nearly 200 members of the military defected to Guiado’s camp; as DT said, the fight has begun; Cuban thugs in masks went around border towns randomly shooting at innocents; as Prez Duqué and I agree, our efforts will increase; we encourage all nations to free the assets of Maduro govt. to the rightful President, Guaido; stronger sanctions are on the way; DT says all options are on the table; and I say to the VZ armed forces, you can support Juan Guaido or you and your families will be held accountable, and as Prez Trump said last week: you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit, no way out, you will lose everything; we know that many of you don’t defect because you’re loyal to Maduro, but due to fear for your families by Cuban-trained secret police; those nations still supporting Maduro should reconsider and stop further isolating themselves on the world’s stage; where the spirit of the lord lives, there is liberty’ then he had the huevos to quote Simon Bolivar; freedom’s on the way for the VZ people, you go with God, then: Libertad! Vaya con Dia!

Related items:

(She's lamented for a long time that people fail to understand that *her* socialism isn't like Venezuela's.)

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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wendy davis's picture

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snoopydawg's picture

Sure they ran down a few civilians, but that made them heroes to Trump and Pence. They won't have to worry about threats to their families. Oh wait.. they left without them.

The media won't show this video because it goes against the talking points of Madura burning the trucks.

Well now, ain't that a kick in the pants? As Caitlin said, "anyone who believes the official story are idiots." Yep.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

elaborate version of the setting the truck on fire, very moving. but the trouble is, hordes of people believe it all. and as the agitprop lies get worse, and more and more nations have endorsed guaido as the True President, of course we've figured that someone would call for an R2P coalition to Save the Starving and Dying venezuelan citizenry. well...here it comes:

from bernhard at Moa:

"Richard Haass is the president of the Council of Foreign Relations. On Friday, before the failed delivery of fake "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela, he opined that the rejection of the "aid" would justify an intervention based on the dubious doctrine of a Responsibility to Protect (R2P):
Richard N. Haass @RichardHaass - 19:26 utc - 22 Feb 2019
What the Maduro regime is doing to the people of Venezuela is inconsistent with the obligations that come with being a sovereign state. The time has come for the UN or OAS or Lima Group to consider how to apply the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. bit.ly/2TZaoZv

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/02/venezuela-no-the-responsibility-to...

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If Every Debate About US Interventionism Was About Godzilla Instead

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Alligator Ed's picture

@artisan [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muUZjovOFRg]

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@Alligator Ed
There goes Tokyo!

What a great song. It is, after all, a fine line between clever and stupid, and this baby stands proudly astride that line, heavy-booted feet firmly planted. This is the kind of music that, even if someone out there is recording anything like it, is just not ever going to make it onto the airwaves nowadays.

Man, how I miss the glory days of FM radio.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Anja Geitz's picture

@artisan

Caitlin's sure got a talent for honing in on the truth.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

wendy davis's picture

@artisan

for the US Empire (the rastas call 'babylon, the great satan) of course, but to say it plainly: I AM a maduro supporter/apologist. the administration called an emergency meeting at the UNSC today. pompeo the mob boss seems to be in viet nam with his Prez; who will speak for amerika there? guess johnny cohen'll be on his own?

https://twitter.com/USUN

'the most beautiful woild...in the woild...' (harry nilsson)

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wendy davis's picture

Pence threatens war in Venezuela at Colombia summit: “There is no turning back”, Eric London', eric london, a few bits from a very long and depressing exposé including coverage by the WaPO aside from this:

“Simultaneous with this weekend’s planned confrontation, the US military escalated its war plans. CNN reported that “the US military has flown an increased number of reconnaissance flights in international airspace off the coast of Venezuela during the last several days to gather classified intelligence” in possible preparation for a military intervention.
On Saturday, Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló reported that the Venezuelan military threatened to “open fire” on an American ship that entered Venezuelan territorial waters without permission. Though the ship was registered in Vanuatu, it was flying under a US flag in violation of international maritime law. US officials claim the ship was carrying 200 tons of “humanitarian aid.

[how many truck convoys, ships, warehouses all over colombia contain '200 tons of humanitarian aid'?]

“The Washington Post wrote yesterday that behind the scenes in Bogotá, Guaidó “sought assurances that the United States could use force if necessary.” Venezuelan right-wing opposition leader Julio Borges tweeted Sunday that the opposition “will urge for an escalation of diplomatic pressure and the use of force against the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.”

he also writes that Brazil wants no part of a military invasion (take that to the bank), and telesur has it that neither does the EU.

but in my utter ignorance about julio borges, i couldn't figure out tweet similar to this yesterday and from the past; guess i should have bingled him:

on edit: what i'd neglected to mention (duh) was that the relevance was this:

@MiamiHerald "BREAKING: Univision’s Jorge Ramos and his team detained by Maduro in Venezuela, network tweets: https://hrld.us/2Xr8EL5

the thing is, although a FreeJorjeRamos hashtag popped up, he was 'detained' in a waiting room for three hours.

oh, and remember my 'bolton greenlights india to strike pakistan militartly' and my gripe about tulsi's comment: “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D.-Hawaii) said, "We stand with the people of India in condemning the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, and send our condolences and prayers to the victim’s families. We must all stand up against these jihadists and their ideology.”?

well, they did, according to RT this a.m. in a dueling propaganda story:

"According to Indian media, 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets bombed sites belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed jihadist group, active in Kashmir. The strikes were “100 percent successful” and went “exactly as planned,” NDTV reported, citing sources.", etc.

but of course now that thug Modi is amerika's BFF, imran khan is not...amb. cohen tweeted the same thing tulsi had earlier. craig murray's bak from pakistan, my guess is that he'll write about it soon.

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The attempted border crossing of "humanitarian aid" was right out of the US coup strategy book. Sure enough four people were shot and trucks were burned. Problem here is that the Venezuelan police and National Guard did not have live ammo, and a handgun was videotaped on the Columbian side. Videos clearly show the trucks set on fire by the anti-Maduro protesters. The "tell" here is that Little Marco Rubio immediately came out with statement that the "violence" at the border changes everything, therefore justifying an invasion.

The first phase of the attempted coup has clearly failed. The military continue to support Maduro. The obvious question now is whether the US dares to use military force to overthrow a popular, democratically elected president. The Venezuelan military is just under 500,000. Add in police and national guard and that is a sizable force. Many people will die to enforce US imperialism in South America. That will leave a stink behind that will last for a generation or more. Also by symmetry, Russia would be justified in invading the Ukraine. After all they are a living nightmare of poverty, the poorest country in Europe (pensions are way below subsistence) brought about by an illegal coup, and they are in Russia's backyard. Evidence has surfaced that Poroshenko is using government money to buy votes, so that the next election will be a fraud.

One more thing. Guaido is currently under investigation for criminal charges. He is under Supreme court orders not to leave Venezuela. He is currently in Columbia having a hate fest with Pence, Rubio and other scoundrels. Rumor is that he will attempt to return soon. Will he be arrested at the border? He should be, as leaving was clearly a criminal act. If he is arrested the US will use that as another pretext to invade and kill tens of thousands of people. Unless the US exercises some restraint, this ends very badly.

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Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

wendy davis's picture

@The Wizard @The Wizard

full of false flag events, but a psyop on the World Stage: see how brutal a tyrannical dictator he is? while VZ citizens die of hunger and disease, massive diseases may soon infect millions and spread to nearby nations because they're fleeing the agents of their oppression (the guardian), so "Please Dear Lord! Have the Nations of the World consult their consciences and: Open a Big Can of Woop Ass on Venezuela!"

great comment analyzing what's not happened by way of the psyop, what might happen, and i'd might have to go back to check what VZ's military has in reserve troops and military hardware (mostly the good russian stuff).

on edit: from eric london:

“Venezuela, on the other hand, has an army with 350,000 soldiers on active duty and 2,000,000 in reserve. It operates advanced Russian-made weapons systems, including S-300VM anti-missile and Buk anti-aircraft devices. Unlike any of the countries the US has invaded in recent decades, Venezuela also has a functional Air Force, featuring fleets of US-made F-16 and Russian-made Su-30MK2 fighters.”

“There is a possibility that a US intervention would involve a clash with Russia, another nuclear-armed power. There are a substantial number of Russian nationals working in Venezuela’s oil extraction industry. US Naval Commander Craig Faller told the Voice of America earlier this month that the US military is preparing for a possible conflict with Russia in what Faller called “our neighborhood” of Latin America. It is also possible that Nicaragua and Cuba would become involved in fighting, drawing the entire hemisphere into war.”

but of course he had to get his boilerplate bitch in:

“By identifying socialism with the social disaster produced, in part, by the anti-socialist, bourgeois nationalist policies of the Maduro government, the American ruling class hopes to slander socialism and counter the threat of revolution by preparing mass repression at home.”

i'm trying to check my of it all to see what else i might bring, but these for now:

Venezuela Denounces 2nd False Flag Operation at Colombia Border’, telesur english, feb. 23

“According to witnesses, violent right-wing opposition members torched the trucks on the Colombian side with Molotov cocktails trying to incriminate Venezuelan security forces.
A new episode in the false flag operation being waged against the Venezuelan government to justify a foreign intervention, happened on the Francisco de Paula Santander International Bridge that links Venezuela and Colombia.

Two out of the four trucks with alleged "humanitarian aid" from USAID, which were trying to illegally enter Venezuela, were burned at the border between the two countries. The burning trucks were on the Colombian side of the Francisco de Paula Santander Bridge where Venezuelan opposition leaders have been leading protests."

US Plans to Deliver Arms to Venezuelan Opposition, Russia Warns’, telesur feb. 22

“The Russian government warned Friday that the United States and its allies from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of planning to deliver arms to the Venezuelan opposition.

"We have evidence that U.S. companies and their NATO allies are working on the issue of acquiring a large batch of weapons and ammunition in an Eastern European country for their subsequent transfer to Venezuelan opposition forces," the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said.", etc.

y'all have seen marco rubio's evil maduro-as-gadaffit tweets, opposition wearing red cross uniforms, etc.

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ggersh's picture

@wendy davis https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-26/us-preparing-military-interven...

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

i'll have to read it again in the a.m., but martin shieff (?) at strategic culture had claimed that the US fifth fleet is active in the caribbean (north coast of VZ) but that made no sense, as the 5th fleet is off the coast of bahrain, in a shiite nation ruled by a minority sunni majority, meaning: "who cares about the deaths in their uprisings?" but second fleet makes more sense, but bingling brought me nothin', and secondd fleet ain't on twitter, as far as could find.

but i will have a bit to bring on what happened at trump's call for an emergency session at the USNC. now, my eye are burning hot and scratchy, and need some rest.

thanks, ggersh.

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Ken in MN's picture

...after they illegally boarded a vessel in international waters and mutilated and murdered people who were trying to deliver humanitarian aid to the starving Palestinians? Yeah, me neither...

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I want my two dollars!

wendy davis's picture

@Ken in MN

yes, from the mavi marmara, rachel corry, forward, but remember: Israel ran the investigations, cases...closed, buttoned up, sent down the memory hole. jayzus, in 2010.

thanks for unearthing it from the hole, amigo.

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EdMass's picture

Aside from the pro-Maduro State controlled Media, (with propaganda help from the Cubans, Russians, China and Turks - all with significant financial risk in the billions on the line) where is this paradise-on-earth that used to be the richest country in SA 20+ years ago being militarily attacked meme by the US, S American political coalitions and other countries around the world come from?

It's all made up? The 10's of thousands some reports say millions that have fled to Brazil and Columbia and living in refugee tent cities on the borders are a figment?

Maduro is a Resistance Hero?

Like Iran and Pakistan and other countries the Military was given social control of industries and commerce as a means of political coercion by the "Leader" so they are totally invested in the status quo to my understanding.

Look, after more than 40 years of protest, the last thing I want or support is more US Interventionism anywhere.

I'm very confused at this point.

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

wendy davis's picture

@EdMass

to mean that this as a Question, but your commentary is packed with assertions that are hard to respond to. first, i dunno that 20 years ago it was 'the richest country in SA 20+ years ago', but i do find that assertion in exposés to use it to undermine Chavismo, from fox news to the Independent UK, world economic forum, etc.

dunno what you mean by this: "Aside from the pro-Maduro State controlled Media, (with propaganda help from the Cubans, Russians, China and Turks - all with significant financial risk in the billions on the line), but yes, a nation on the enemies list is always accused of stifling dissent by shutting down media. mark weisbrot of CEPR often challenges the MSM narrative on the economics side of VZ, but in this case he and tara ruttenburg were challenging that media narrative during the hugo chavez presidency, specifically television. ‘Television in Venezuela: Who Dominates the Media?’, cepr.net 9pdf) you might find it interesting.

michael hudson also attempts to change the conventional narrative on the economics in VZ, and once even said (in rebuttal to a news item speaking for him in error)...that if he had been asked, he would have advised nicolas maduro not to keep struggling to pay off the rest of the IMF's loan to the nation, much as iceland had done, and was the better for it.

as far as the 'millions fleeing' that's a highly politicized number, an even FM arrazea had said 'well maybe a million', but others note that many came back, some left due to not wanting to be shot or beat up by the guarimbero thugs at the guarimbas guarimbas.
. yeah, some may have been in search of better lives, but as far as people living in tent cities, no that's the USA. that's what made me laugh about the 'aid convoys' stuffed with tents, to say the truth.

but you might want to read thru this popular resistance newsletter i pulled up: 'Venezuela: What Activists Need To Know About The US-Led Coup', or greg grandin's book review: ‘What’s at Stake in Venezuela?’, Greg Grandin on sovereignty and Latin America, lrb.co.uk in which he traces the history of the 41 (iirc) Amerikan coups against latin american nations.

my favorite passage, much as the empire has treated sub-saharan africans"

7. The United States held, in contrast, to an aterritorial understanding of sovereignty. As the nation flew west, first indigenous peoples, and then Mexicans, were often cast as ‘children’, supposedly incapable of forming the rational political society that justified self-government. After the frontier closed, Latin American nations became the new irresponsibles. Woodrow Wilson’s Latin American experts, as they prepared for the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, ranked countries ‘as mature, immature or criminal’ and came up with a series of tests ‘to determine whether they are yet ready to be allowed to conduct their own affairs in a world to be governed by reason’. ‘How many Cubas are there?’ the document asked: that is, how many countries were made up of leaders and populations who had no right to political sovereignty because they couldn’t exercise sovereignty over themselves and their emotions?"

anyhoo, i need to go take care of some dinner prep.

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From the Guardian article: Venezuela: US increasingly isolated as allies warn against use of military force

...European powers and some of Donald Trump’s key Latin American allies – all of whom have recognised the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, as Venezuela’s legitimate leader – warned that they would oppose sending troops into the country.

...But beyond the US, few appear willing embrace the prospect of violence. In Latin America, there is a painful and bloody history of US interventions, and the terrible fallout from the 2003 invasion of Iraq is another deterrent to the use of military force.

An invasion would be complicated and bloody, with a strong chance of sliding into protracted civil war. Venezuela has armed forces that are more than 300,000 strong, thousands more members of pro-government gangs or guerrilla groups, complex terrain – and a government that still has some support from international partners including China and Russia.

Brazil’s vice-president, retired general Hamilton Mourão, said on Monday that under no circumstances would his country allow the United States to intervene militarily from Brazilian territory, even though the country’s rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro has previously vowed to do “everything for democracy to be re-established” in Venezuela.

Colombian president Iván Duque has also now ruled out intervention, according to sources in his administration. Chile and Peru were among other regional powers opposing military action on Monday.

There was similar concern across the Atlantic, where European nations including Spain and Germany made clear they considered the deployment of troops a line that should not be crossed.


This DN interview yesterday with Venezuela's foreign minister is worth viewing, The Coup Has Failed & Now the U.S. Is Looking to Wage War: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Speaks Out

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dim9uOsDuI width:600 height:400]

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EdMass's picture

@coolepairc

with a strong chance of sliding into protracted civil war.

Why would there be a civil war? I understand according to the Guvmnt of Venesuela that Maduro was fully supported and elected by 90%+ of the electorate?

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

wendy davis's picture

@EdMass

that, if i may. it would be a 'civil war' akin to the astro-turfed proxy wars in syria to depose assad. in much the same manner, the opposition (colombian, pro-guaidos, likely brazilian, CIA, et.al.) wore red cross clothing, ski masks, threw molotov cocktails at the 'aid' trucks, pretending to be venezuelans.

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wendy davis's picture

@coolepairc

and thank you for both links. first, i'd say that no matter the verbiage from brazil' FM: "...under no circumstances would his country allow the United States to intervene militarily from Brazilian territory", those are some weasel words, imo. there are islands off the north coast (most notably curacao of the 3 abc islands), that already have those same '200 tons of humanitarian aid' on them, and weapons allegedly shipped there to help the invasion. but further, announcing that bolsonaro would want to help any attacks (whether by air or offshore) might harm him on the world stage of supporters of VZ sovereignty, don't you think?

it's hard not to get a chuckle out of this formula: "Venezuela has armed forces that are more than 300,000 strong, thousands more members of pro-government gangs or guerrilla groups, as well. not to mention that those self-same journalists have actually aided the coup in their 'reporting'.

now as to your DN video with FM arreazea (transcript here), i think all three of them did well setting some of this in context, including historically. but as a side note, one of DN!'s sidebar stories is that the LIMA group rejects a military solution, or close to that. i dunno that that's the truth, but i guess we'll see.

i'm glad juan brought up the mccabe book and trump's mention early on, but it was noteworthy that when asked about AMLO, the FM kinda breezed by it. to me, he's still a hope-and-change Brand (like Obomba was) waiting in the wings to see who he really turns out to be.

i was glad to hear the history of the putsch in the dominican republic, which i hadn't known, and it might be in greg grandin's book on the history of coups by the western hegemon in latin america. a commenter brought the review of his book to the café yesterday, but it was sooooo long i hadn't taken the time to read it.

but yes, i wound up my 4 days of live-blogging yesterday (including Tweets from the global no war on venezuela actions) noting that the coup failed, and until we heard from the LIMA group in bogata, i'd end that diary. (i just looked at that word doc to see if i could find the link, but it's 20 pages of quotes and links, sorry.)

i sincerely appreciated this from arraaza:

"So, what we saw is—Juan said that the colectivos had answered with rubber bullets. No, it was the National Guard and the police. The front line was the police, the Policía Nacional Bolivariana; the second line, the National Guard. And then, of course, there were people that wanted to defend our sovereignty and that were there also. No one was killed in Táchira or in the Colombian side, which was the real—the real problem.

The events happened in Brazil, in Santa Elena, and in the Brazilian border, where there’s another story there. There’s something related to the indigenous groups of my country, which we defend and love, but there’s a mayor that has been elected, and he’s from the party of Guaidó. And they tried to get into a military unit. And something happened there. And it’s still not clear how these people, four people, died. It’s under investigations. We don’t know where the fire came from. But when you see the TV, it seems that Maduro gave the order to his military to fire on the people, and that is not true. We were very, very prudent."

anyhoo, thanks, and i need to try to answer EdMass and then do some dinner prep soonish.
stay tuned for news from the USNC, i guess. part of will no doubt be an exercise in bashing china and russia, and eric london had noted.

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wendy davis's picture

@coolepairc

transcript and video to the Café and hat-tipped you, so thanks again. in the updates from the UNSC conference on VZ the US had called, i've added a lot of what arraaza had said (at the top)

Telesur reports today: 'Venezuela Meets With UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Stresses Dialogue

“Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza appealed again to the countries of the U.N. to act in the face of the U.S. interventionist aggression.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza appeared before the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UNHRC) in Geneva Wednesday to discuss the interference and threat of military intervention being wrought on his country by the United States.
He asked the international organization to speak out about the false flag operations they are using to justify a military intervention in Venezuela.

This Geneva trip comes on the heels of a session Tuesday of a special session of U.N. Security Council called by the United States to discuss Venenzuela.
At that meeting, many countries, including those who have come out against Venezuela's government, have rejected the use of force by the U.S., which Arreaza called a threat to Venezuela’s sovereignty and the rights of a free people as well as a violation of the United Nations charter.

After this meeting, Arreaza will meet privately with U.N. representatives.in Geneva.”

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magiamma's picture

I just found this link. apologize if it has been posted before.

http://www.williamengdahl.com/englishNEO17Feb2019.php

What’s Not Being Said About the Venezuela Oil War

The real prize that these powerful international oil giants are eyeing likely lies well to the east of the Orinoco heavy oil fields where they now operate. The real prize is the ultimate control over one of the best-kept secrets in the oil industry, the huge oil reserves of a disputed area straddling Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil.
...
Historically, both Venezuela and Guyana, a former British colony, laid claim to Esequiba.
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In January 2018 the UN Secretary General referred the status of Esequiba to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where it sits today.
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Guyana filed for an extension of its offshore Exclusive Economic Zone to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in order to extend its continental shelf by a further 150 nautical miles. To get UN permission, they declared the area was subject to no territorial disputes, ignoring the very active Venezuela dispute
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Right now we find Maduro with the open support of China and Russia, opposed by Guaido with the open backing of Washington, London, France, Brazil (also bordering on the Esequiba region) and others. Further adding to the explosive geopolitical cocktail of the region is the fact that China has formally incorporated Guyana into its Belt, Road Initiative and is building a highway link from Manaus in Northern Brazil through Guyana giving Brazil far more efficient access to the Panama Canal, cutting thousands of miles off the shipping rout

e.

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wendy davis's picture

@magiamma

just before your "Right now we find Maruro" one as well:

"Imagine a scenario where Maduro’s regime is replaced by a free-market Guaido who reopens Venezuela to foreign oil interests and reprivatizes the state PDVSA. Then Guaido, with help from his various international friends, aggressively asserts Venezuela’s claims to Esequiba. Britain, France and Spain, all with major oil companies in the region, have joined the US in recognizing Guaido as interim president. So long as Venezuela was controlled by Maduro, it suited Exxon and their backers in Washington to recognize Guyana’s legitimacy to the offshore Esequiba fields. Were Guaido to come in, that could easily change and a fragile Guyana could be arm-twisted to resolve the Esequiba issue to the benefit of Venezuela."

i must say i find his use of 'Maduro regime' rather toxic, though. oddly, even though i'd signed up for Engdahl's newletter, all he sends are chapters from his new book. i've highlighted different of his exposés over the last couple years, most notably on genetically modified organisms and CRISPR gene technology.

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wendy davis's picture

although mine eyes can't focus on the particulars. but we'd known of the disputed oil fields earlier, an Rexxxxon, former sec state's company had already been busy drilling there.

thanks, magi amma, wish i could focus more tonight, but even my hippie similisan eyedrops and lip medex in my eye corners...ain't up to the task. so it's closing time for me, and i admit to being depressed, so i'll let my favorite playing for change band be the closing song, may titi and tula and co. bring us laughter and good dreams. g' night, all.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5HfGrTUvz4]

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wendy davis's picture

Russian, US resolutions on Venezuela fail at UN Security Council’, via RT, feb. 28, 2019

“The US draft blamed the government of President Nicolas Maduro for causing an “economic collapse” in Venezuela, which has sparked a migrant and refugee crisis. Referring to the authorities in Caracas as the “regime,” the document urged to “start a peaceful political process” that would result in “free, fair and credible presidential elections,” while denouncing the May presidential vote as “neither free, nor fair.”

“The US draft resolution garnered nine votes, while Russia, China and South Africa voted against the text. Indonesia, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast abstained.
The council then voted on the Russian draft supporting a political solution, which failed with seven votes against it. A "no" vote by any one of the five permanent members – US, UK, France, Russia and China – is considered a veto, killing the proposal automatically.
The Russian draft suggested that the Security Council should express concern over civilian deaths in Venezuela and urge all political forces there to commit to resolving the situation.

The draft was similar to a joint statement on the violence in Haiti, which the US supported a few days ago. But when it came to Venezuela, the Americans “killed off” the Russian proposal by adding remarks condemning the government of Nicolas Maduro and making other changes, said Dmitry Polyansky, the Russian deputy UN envoy.

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