Undeclared US War on Venezuela

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)

Washington tried eliminating the Bolivarian Republic from inception, earlier coup attempts foiled, another slow motion one ongoing now.

Rex Tillerson and CIA director Mike Pompeo openly called for regime change. Political and economic war, along with months of US-orchestrated street violence aim for this outcome.

In 2015, Obama’s executive order disgracefully declared Bolivarian social democracy a threat to US national security, an outrageous accusation.

He shamefully declared a “national emergency” when none exists, saying he ordered it “with respect to the (nonexistent) unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela,” ludicrously adding:

“We are committed to advancing respect for for human rights, safeguarding democratic institutions, and protecting the US financial system from the illicit financial flows from public corruption in Venezuela.”

His press secretary turned truth on its head, accusing its government of “intimidating its political opponents…criminalizing dissent, (and) violating human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Bolivarian social democracy is polar opposite US fascist rule. It considers rule of law principles inviolable. It respects the sovereign rights of other nations.

It champions fundamental civil and human rights. It provides Venezuelans with vital social benefits Americans can’t imagine.

It doesn’t wage wars on other nations like Washington, or run the world’s largest gulag prison system, operating at home and abroad, torturing detainees, brutalizing them in other ways.

America systematically violates fundamental international laws unaccountably. Venezuela respects them.

Addressing the newly elected National Constituent Assembly on Thursday, President Nicolas Maduro extended his government’s outreach to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), saying:

“To all the presidents, I call on them to approve a meeting and through mutual dialogue, we can find a solution.”

“Respect is the only path to peace, not threats or violence or the economic and commercial blockade.”

Explaining he’ll be in New York next month for UN General Assembly sessions, he invited Trump to engage in “mutually respectful” dialogue – outreach ignored by a rogue state seeking his ouster, by force if other methods fail.

In remarks to Constituent Assembly members, he said “(w)e will never cede to foreign powers,” denouncing US “imperialist aggression” toward his country.

Separately he explained that “nobody is above the original power,” subordinating himself to Constituent Assembly authority – “to govern the destinies of the Republic.”

Article 349 of Venezuela’s constitution states “(t)he President of the Republic can not object to the new Constitution. The constituted powers may in no way impede the decisions of the National Constituent Assembly.”

Once Constituent Assembly members finish their work, revising or rewriting Venezuela’s constitution with a mandate to restore order and preserve Bolivarian democracy, voters in a national referendum will have final say – the way democracy is supposed to work.

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