



Coordinated attacks, which resembling periods before US coups and military interventions, have been taking place recently by the US political and media establishment against Venezuela.





White House officials have warned openly for an expansion of the economic embargo, which is already causing suffocation to the Venezuelan economy, making it even more difficult for the country to import basic food and medicines.





New threats concerning sanctions related to the Venezuelan oil sector may result to even complete banning of imports into the US. At the same time, the possibility of prohibiting insurance for the oil tankers from Venezuela is being examined, meaning complete prohibition of oil shipment.





As the American economist and analyst Mark Weisbrot reveals citing well-informed sources in Washington, the White House is now threatening even opposition executives, such as Henri Falcón , in order not to take part in the presidential election - thus preventing them from legitimizing the process.





Knowing that the right-wing opposition is about to be dissolved, Washington is attempting in every way to intensively undermine government's contacts with the opposition, and therefore, to harm the validity of the elections. And this, despite the fact that, according to opposition poll companies, 77.6% of the respondents say they will be involved in the process and only 12.3% stated that they will not participate.





Key Inspirator of the new US strategy is the senator for Florida, Marco Rubio, who, through a Twitter message, openly called the Venezuelan army to overthrow the democratically elected president of the country. A few weeks earlier, Trump himself had left open even the possibility of a military invasion.





At the same time, American news agencies such as Reuters and Associated Press, as well as humanitarian organizations funded by the State Department, present Venezuela as a picture taken from Dante's hell. Reuters, in an unprecedented distortion of reality, has come to compare immigrants' exit (due to the economic crisis), with the chaotic pictures on the borders of Myanmar with Bangladesh. Indicative of the US media policy was the derogatory attitude against the UN independent observer, Alfred de Zayas, who, after an on-site investigation in Venezuela, said that the country is experiencing great difficulties, but not a humanitarian crisis.





The attempt of depicting Venezuela as a country in a state of humanitarian crisis originates directly from Washington, which hopes to activate international law, like the so-called "responsibility of protection," with which the invasion of foreign powers could be "legalized" under the pretext of the protection of the population.









Article by Aris Chatzistefanou translated from the original source



