Here we go again…

What’s going On with Venezuela?

The proven oil reserves in Venezuela are recognized as the LARGEST in the world, totaling 297 billion barrels.

While ignoring (and even supporting) the atrocities of authoritarian regimes in places like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Uzbekistan, US oligarchs have targeted Venezuela for “regime-change” in the name of “democracy”.

Currently, the US is engaging in economic warfare against Venezuela to foment a coup and remove its democratically elected president Nicolás Maduro.

Without providing solid evidence, our corporate-controlled government and mainstream media portray Maduro as a corrupt, repressive, and illegitimate leader with little to no support.

Ask yourself:

Do I ever see officials from the Venezuelan government appear in corporate news shows to tell THEIR side of the story?

What people DO get to comment on Venezuela and what are their credentials and agenda? Are these people essentially public relations agents for the US-orchestrated coup?

Does corporate news provide me with historical background of US imperialism in Venezuela to put these current events in context?

What Corporate-Controlled Media will NOT Tell You

The CIA was involved in the failed coup against Venezuela’s popular leader Hugo Chavez in 2002.

Venezuela is not a strictly socialist country; it has a “mixed” economy — not unlike Norway or other Scandinavian countries.

Venezuela is a DEMOCRACY — unlike US-allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

In 2012, Jimmy Carter went on record saying:

“As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we’ve monitored, I would say the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world”

The opposition to Maduro knew they were going to lose the last election and so boycotted it in attempt to delegitimize the results.

The US actually tried to dissuade Maduro’s opponents from running!

Maduro invited international observers into the country in 2018 to monitor the last election but the opposition asked the UN not to send observers!

More than 80% of the Venezuelan population had not even HEARD of Juan Guaidó before Trump and the US state proclaimed him the “rightful” president.

Maduro’s approval ratings within his country are on par with opposition-controlled National Assembly. According to an October poll by opposition-aligned pollster Datanalisis, Venezuela’s National Assembly, of which Juan Guaidó is president, has a disapproval rating of 70%.

Venezuela WANTS to sell its oil to the US — the US is their largest market and refines a majority of their oil.

US companies Chevron Corp, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International all have operations in Venezuela, and are allowed to continue to engage in transactions and activities with PDVSA and its joint ventures through July 27.

The US-made weapons were discovered at the storage yard of Arturo Michelena International Airport in the Venezuelan city of Valencia, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday. The stash included at least 19 rifles and 118 magazines, high-caliber ammunition, as well as 90 radios and six mobile phones — and was likely sent from Miami, Florida on Sunday, authorities believe. An investigation to determine the intended recipient of the shipment has been launched.

“No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external affairs of any other State. The foregoing principle prohibits not only armed force but also any other form of interference or attempted threat against the personality of the State or against its political, economic, and cultural elements.” Organization of American States Charter

Why is the US Corporatocracy so Keen to Remove Maduro?

While Venezuela’s economy is not a strictly-state-run economy, its oil industry is nationalized and uses its revenues for the benefit of its citizens (especially the poor).

After years of crippling US sanctions Maduro stepped over a crucial line in October when his government announced that Venezuela was abandoning the US dollar and would be make all future transactions on the Venezuelan exchange market in euro.

Saddam Hussein also went off the dollar in favor of the euro in 2003 — we started dropping bombs on him the next month.

A similar decision by the Gadhafi government in Libya (2011) was quickly followed by a devastating US-orchestrated conflict — culminating in Gadhafi’s capture by radical Islamists who sodomized him with a bayonet before killing him. Since then, Libya has gone from Africa’s wealthiest country to a truly failed-state complete with a slave trade! To make matters worse, after the collapse of the Libyan government, its military arms were smuggled out of that country and into the hands of ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria — enabling US-orchestrated chaos in those countries.

Who cares what currency a country uses to trade petroleum?

Answer: US oligarchy

The US dollar is central to US world economic domination.

Like all other modern currencies, it is a fiat currency — backed by no real assets to prop up its value.

In lieu of a “gold standard” we know operate on a de-facto “oil-standard”:

“After the collapse of the Bretton Woods gold standard in the early 1970s, the United States struck a deal with Saudi Arabia to standardize oil prices in dollar terms. Through this deal, the petrodollar system was born, along with a paradigm shift away from pegged exchanged rates and gold-backed currencies to non-backed, floating rate regimes.

The petrodollar system elevated the U.S. dollar to the world’s reserve currency and, through this status, the United States enjoys persistent trade deficits and is a global economic hegemony.” Investopedia

“The central banking Ponzi scheme requires an ever-increasing base of demand and the immediate silencing of those who would threaten its existence. Perhaps that is what the hurry [was] in removing Gaddafi in particular and those who might have been sympathetic to his monetary idea.” Anthony Wile

US Foreign Policy is about Oligarchy Not Democracy

Since World War II, the US has attempted to over-throw the 52 foreign governments. Aside from a handful of exceptions (China, Cuba, Vietnam, etc.), the US has been successful in the vast majority of these attempts.

US foreign policy is not about democracy — it is about exploiting the world’s resources in the interests of a small, ultra-wealthy global elite.

This exploitation benefits a small percentage of people at the top of the economic pyramid while the costs are born by those at the bottom.

US CIA Coup Playbook:

How to Plunder Resources from Foreign Countries While Pretending to Support Democracy

1) Find a country with resources you want.

2) Send in an “Economic Hitman” to offer bribes the country’s leader in the form of personally lucrative business deals. If he accepts the deal, the leader will amass a personal fortune in exchange for “privatizing” the resources you wish to extract.

If the leader will not accept your bribes, begin the regime-change process.

3) Engage in economic warfare by imposing crippling sanctions on the country and blame the ensuing shortages on the leader’s “socialist” policies.

4) Work with right-wing allies inside country to fund and organize an “astroturf” opposition group behind a corporate-friendly puppet.

5) Hire thugs inside country to incite unrest and violence against the government in coordination with your opposition group. Use corporate media to publicize the orchestrated outbursts as popular outrage and paint a picture of a “failed state” mired in corruption and chaos.

6) When the government arrests your thugs, decry the response as the brutal repression. Use corporate-owned media to demonize the target government as a despotic regime while praising your puppet opposition as champions of democracy.

7) Work with right-wing military leaders to organize the overthrow the government (offer them the same business deals the current leader refused).

8) If a military-led coup cannot be organized, create a mercenary army to carry out acts of terrorism against the government and its supporters. Portray the mercenaries as “freedom fighters” and their acts of terrorism as a “civil war”.

9) If the target government has popular and military support and is too well-defended for your mercenaries to over-throw: label the country a “rouge state” and wait for the right time to invade. Meanwhile, continue to wear the country’s government and populace down using steps 3–8.

10) Escalate the terror campaign within the country to provoke a military response from the country against the US. If they won’t take the bait , fabricate an attack or threat that you can sell to the US population as justification for an invasion.

11) Once the government is removed, set up your puppet regime to provide the illusion of sovereignty. The regime will facilitate and legitimize your appropriation of the country’s resources under the guise of “free” trade.

12) As you continue to extract the country’s resources, provide intelligence and military support to the puppet regime to suppress popular dissent within the country.

13) Use the demise of the former government as yet another example of the impracticality of “socialism.”

What Can I Do?

Call your senators and representatives to voice your opposition to US regime-change efforts in Venezuela.

https://www.commoncause.org/find-your-representative/

Please share this message with others.

https://medium.com/@terry3000/oppose-the-us-coup-in-venezuela-f1021a433146

Sources:

The Plot to Overthrow Nicolás Maduro and Steal Venezuela’s Oil

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

Venezuela Seizes ‘US Weapons Shipment’ & Guaido Promises To Sell Out To US Interests

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYd02yOYrf8

Interview with Venezuelan Foreign Minister: The U.S. Interferes in Latin American Politics Every Day, Every Hour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FCZiSdwp_A

As U.S. Moves to Oust Maduro, Is Invading Venezuela Next?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dmlMcwZx5A

Trump’s Venezuela Envoy Elliott Abrams Is a War Criminal Who Has Abetted Genocide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrcT3GJuh0A

A War for Oil? Bolton Pushes Privatization of Venezuela’s Oil as U.S. Ratchets Up Pressure on Maduro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wifJII9W6ZI

Venezuela’s History of U.S. Imperialism with Paul Dobson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ygmP5dMLcg

Is the US Meddling in Venezuela? Max Blumenthal Asks US Congress Members.

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

Max Blumenthal on Venezuela and Dark Ops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQWAO4Has04

TRUTH About US-Backed Venezuelan Coup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE3JwPkbwSI

Explaining the US-led right-wing coup in Venezuela

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OduGB52GgoE

Leftist Debunks John Oliver’s Venezuela Episode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fV-C1Ag5sI

The CIA Was Involved In the Coup Against Venezuela’s Chavez in 2002

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/800

The History — and Hypocrisy — of US Meddling in Venezuela

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14263

Economic strangulation of Venezuela: Human toll of US sanctions and regime change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PLjGODW8tA

Venezuela: Call It What It Is — a Coup

The power grab of the right’s Juan Guaidó is brazenly unconstitutional.

https://www.thenation.com/article/venezuela-coup-guaido-maduro/

Basic Facts on Venezuela

https://venezuelanalysis.com/basicfacts

Venezuela’s Maduro: International Observers Will Accompany 2018 Presidential Elections

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13665

Venezuela opposition asks U.N. not to send observers to May vote

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-un/venezuela-opposition-asks-u-n-not-to-send-observers-to-may-vote-idUSKCN1GO2J0

In depth: Media in Venezuela

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19368807

The problem for Venezuelans: Maduro’s opposition would provide no relief

There’s a reason the rightwing opposition boycotted Sunday’s election and calls for street protests — it can’t mount a credible bid for government

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/03/venezuelans-maduro-opposition-election-street-protests

Who is Afraid of Venezuelan Democracy?

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/07/who-is-afraid-of-venezuelan-democracy/

Democracy in the Middle East

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_the_Middle_East

The United States’ Hand in Undermining Democracy in Venezuela

http://cepr.net/publications/op-eds-columns/the-united-states-hand-in-undermining-democracy-in-venezuela

US Envoy in Venezuela Tried to Dissuade Falcon from Presidential Bid

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13728

Opposition without leadership! 81% of Venezuelans do not know who Juan Guaidó is

https://www.conelmazodando.com.ve/oposicion-sin-liderazgo-81-de-los-venezolanos-no-sabe-quien-es-juan-guaido-encuesta

The ‘Venezuelan People’ Are Whoever Agrees with Donald Trump

https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-venezuelan-people-are-whoever-agrees-with-donald-trump/5667149

This is despite the fact that more than 80 percent of Venezuelans have never heard of Guaidó, and that the body he leads, the National Assembly, has an over 70 percent disapproval rating (roughly the same as the disapproval rating for Maduro).

According to an October poll by opposition-aligned pollster @datanalisis, Venezuela’s National Assembly, of which @jguaido is president, has a disapproval rating of 70%. Yet the head of this overwhelmingly unpopular body just appointed himself president of Vzla?

https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1088148183023304704

Venezuelan oil sanctions would hit Gulf Coast refineries

https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Venezuelan-oil-sanctions-to-hit-Gulf-Coast-13558459.php

Who’s Paying the Pro-War Pundits?

https://www.thenation.com/article/whos-paying-pro-war-pundits/

The Military-Industrial Pundits: Conflicts of Interest Exposed for TV Guests Who Urged Syrian War

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

Factbox: U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-usa-sanctions-fact/factbox-us-sanctions-on-venezuelas-oil-industry-idUSKCN1PN34I

Venezuela Sends More Crude To The U.S. Despite Production Woes

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Venezuela-Sends-More-Crude-To-The-US-Despite-Production-Woes.html

Why the US demonises Venezuela’s democracy?

Venezuela is about to hold impeccably free and fair elections. Yet the US treats it as a dictatorship

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/03/why-us-dcemonises-venezuelas-democracy

Carter States That the Election Process in Venezuela is “the Best in the World”

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120921005758/en/Carter-States-Election-Process-Venezuela-%E2%80%9Cthe-World%E2%80%9D

Maduro is re-elected in a show of popular resistance

https://mronline.org/2018/05/30/maduro-is-re-elected-in-a-show-of-popular-resistance/

US Envoy in Venezuela Tried to Dissuade Falcon from Presidential Bid

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13728

Nicolas Maduro Did Not Steal the Venezuelan Election — Despite America’s claims that he did.

https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/5ga7q8/nicolas-maduro-did-not-steal-the-venezuelan-election

The United States vs. Democracy

https://jacobinmag.com/2018/05/venezuela-elections-trump-sanctions-intervention-maduro

Iraq nets handsome profit by dumping dollar for euro

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/feb/16/iraq.theeuro

Gadhafi’s Gold-money Plan Would Have Devastated Dollar

https://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/markets/item/4630-gadhafi-s-gold-money-plan-would-have-devastated-dollar

Gaddafi Planned Gold Dinar, Now Under Attack

https://www.thedailybell.com/all-articles/editorials/anthony-wile-gaddafi-planned-gold-dinar-now-under-attack/

Death of Muammar Gaddafi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Muammar_Gaddafi

Libya: From Africa’s Richest State Under Gaddafi, to Failed State After NATO Intervention

https://www.globalresearch.ca/libya-from-africas-richest-state-under-gaddafi-to-failed-state-after-nato-intervention/5408740

Libya slave trade

https://www.cnn.com/specials/africa/libya-slave-auctions

Exclusive: Tracing ISIS’ Weapons Supply Chain — Back to the US

https://www.wired.com/story/terror-industrial-complex-isis-munitions-supply-chain/

How Petrodollars Affect The U.S. Dollar

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/072915/how-petrodollars-affect-us-dollar.asp

Confessions of an Economic Hitman — John Perkins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWuAct1BxHU

Secret Wars of the CIA John Stockwell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmYZ_kWHk3Q

Four Lies That Led To American Wars

http://www.simplefactsplainarguments.com/2013/03/4-false-flags-that-led-to-american-wars.html

Israel Lobbyist suggests False Flag attack to start war with Iran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M84l19H68mk&feature=youtu.be

Overthrowing other people’s governments: The Master List

https://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list

A Brief History of U.S. Intervention in Iraq Over the Past Half Century

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

List of authoritarian regimes supported by the United States

https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/List_of_authoritarian_regimes_supported_by_the_United_States.html

How U.S. Military Bases Back Dictators, Autocrats, And Military Regimes

Officials have repeatedly collaborated with fiercely anti-democratic regimes and militaries.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-us-military-bases-back-dictators-autocrats-and-military-regimes_us_591b229ae4b05dd15f0ba8e6

“Make the Economy Scream”: Secret Documents Show Nixon, Kissinger Role Backing 1973 Chile Coup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Ki6nWSeVQ

United States involvement in regime change

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change

Chapter 4 Article 19 of the Organization of American States Charter: Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of Their Independence and Sovereignty

A Brief History of U.S. Dirty Wars in Central America That Set the Stage for the Refugee Crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBJpykHbbYI

Video: CIA’s fatal tactics to overthrow governments (3:35) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq-NndqLoV4

America’s History Of Meddling In Foreign Elections https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-r1b7bXmiY