Uh-oh...the news in Venezuela today.... https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article224964740.html Didn't Maria Esperanza say "it will begin here"? Time to pray...
All the indicators are that we are heading into very turbulent times. There is no doubt that Venezuela is a 'sign' to us all.
More disappointments and stupidity coming from Trump, this time in Venezuela where he is continuing the Neocon foreign policy of regime change started by old man Bush and continued by Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama. I thought we elected Trump to put America First? Sadly, rather than surrounding himself with real America First foreign policy advisors like Ron Paul or Pat Buchanan, Trump has hired some of the worst Neocon Foreign Policy swamp creatures imaginable. His slavish embrace of the Neocon foreign policy agenda will be Trump's downfall. Sad, because his campaign rheotric was so promising.
https://defence-blog.com/army/russi...n-for-military-intervention-in-venezuela.html Russia says it knows of US plan for military intervention in Venezuela Feb 7, 2019 in Army, News Venezuela's army during military drills The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, during her weekly news briefing, said that the USA already made the decision on “forceful” intervention in Venezuela. “There are still signs coming from Washington about the possibility of using force in order to overthrow the legal authorities, including through direct military invasion. This is actually being spoken about openly in the White House. I would like to recall that this kind of statement from the mouth of American officials is a direct violation of Article 2 Par. 4 of the UN Charter, ordering all UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force in international relations”, Zakharova said at a news briefing in Moscow. According to Zakharova, the decision on the use of force has already been made by Washington, “everything else is nothing more than a covering operation”. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has also stated that the United States has incited Venezuela’s military to commit crimes, promising them amnesty for betraying the country’s authorities. “Washington has turned to direct threats of sanctions to the Venezuelan military, who remain loyal to the legitimate government. That is just a different, new reading of the ‘carrot and stick’ approach. On the one hand, they threaten a potential punishment. On the other hand, they promise a potential reward”, Zakharova added. On 30 January, military analyst Dylan Malyasov has reported at his Facebook page that the US military began to prepare to air strikes in Venezuela. “Venezuela has 90 days. An order was issued on the preparation of an air strike on major military and political centers of the country, air defense bases and naval forces. Parallel to the deployment of ground troops in Colombia. If Maduro does not go on dialogue, then May month will be unusually hot,” said Dylan Malyasov. Calls for U.S. military intervention in Venezuela are growing, most recently from Senator Marco Rubio. Even Secretary General Luis Almagro of the Organization of American States has said he would not foreclose the military option. Also a few days ago, the U.S. President Donald Trump says military intervention in Venezuela is “an option” as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step down, but the troubled oil-rich nation’s ally Russia is warning against “destructive meddling”. Also a few days ago, the U.S. President Donald Trump says military intervention in Venezuela is “an option”. In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Trump said US military intervention was under consideration. “Certainly, it’s something that’s on the – it’s an option,” Trump said, adding that Maduro requested a meeting months ago. “I’ve turned it down because we’re very far along in the process,” he said in a CBS “Face the Nation” interview. “So, I think the process is playing out.”
It seems that once again we are gearing up to witness the fruits of naturalism take shape in another nation who refuses to do the bidding of our financial masters. At one time I thought this sort of thing was warranted to protect the interests of America and other nations from communism. I see now that we do not operate under a democracy but by order of financial interests bent on bending the entire world to its will.
Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil in the world but these are grossly underexploited because of rampant corruption and gross inefficiency causing the flight of relevant expertise from the country. Russia's economy is based on oil and gas and they have a vested interest in maximising the price to keep their own corrupt economy afloat. The Russians therefore have a direct interest in maintaining low and decreasing Venezuelan output and so they support Maduro. The regime is feeding only its supporters and the Chinese are helping them to identify them from the rest of the population. It would surely be un-Christian not to interfere in an obviously failed state that uses food as a weapon against its own people, which has lost 10% of its population in a few years to neighbouring countries, that are finding it difficult to cope with the influx, and where 85% of common drugs are unavailable and whose hospitals and infrastructure are in chaos.
It's only fair to have a look at what the other side is saying. https://www.investigaction.net/en/venezuela-what-everyone-needs-to-know-about-the-us-led-coup/ Venezuela: What Everyone Needs To Know About The US-Led Coup 28 Jan 2019 Kevin Zeese / Margaret Flowers Two things stand out about the US coup in Venezuela. First, it is unusually open. Typically, the US tries to hide its coups. Second, the coup is built on a series of obvious falsehoods, yet the bi-partisans in Washington, with a few exceptions, keep repeating them. First, we will correct the falsehoods so readers are all working from the same facts. Second, we will describe how this coup is being defeated. It will be another major embarrassment for the Trump administration and US foreign policy. It is important to understand Venezuela has become a geopolitical conflict as Russia and China are closely allied with Venezuela. China and Russia coming into the backyard of the United States challenges the antiquated Monroe Doctrine. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and the second largest gold reserves, as well as diamonds and other minerals such as coltan (needed for electronic devices). And, Venezuela is taking over as president of OPEC and will be in a position to push for oil payments in non-dollar currencies or in cryptocurrencies, a major threat to the US dollar. A protest outside the United States Consulate in Sydney on January 23 to demand no US intervention in Venezuela. Photo: Peter Boyle Correcting the Record There are a series of false statements repeated by DC officials and corporate media to justify the coup that are so obvious, it is hard to believe they are not intentional. In his two-paragraph comment on the coup, even Senator Bernie Sanders repeated them. 1. Truth: President Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president. President Maduro was re-elected on May 20, 2018, in response to the opposition demanding an early election. The legitimacy of the election of Maduro is so evident that it must be assumed those who say he is illegitimate are either intentionally false or ignorant. The election was scheduled consistent with the Venezuelan Constitution and in consultation with opposition parties. When it became evident that the opposition could not win the election, they decided, under pressure from the United States, to boycott the election in order to undermine its legitimacy. The facts are 9,389,056 people voted, 46% of eligible voters. Sixteen parties participated in the election with six candidates competing for the presidency. The electoral process was observed by more than 150 election observers. This included 14 electoral commissions from eight countries among them the Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America; two technical electoral missions; and 18 journalists from different parts of the world, among others. According to the international observers, “the elections were very transparent and complied with international parameters and national legislation.” Venezuela has one of the best electoral systems in the world. Voter fraud is not possible as identification and fingerprints are required for each voter. Voting machines are audited before and immediately after the election. Venezuela does something no other country in the world does — a public, citizen’s audit of a random sample of 53% of voting machines that is televised. All 18 parties signed the audits. Maduro won by a wide margin, obtaining 6,248,864 votes, 67.84%; followed by Henri Falcón with 1,927,958, 20.93%; Javier Bertucci with 1,015,895, 10.82%; and Reinaldo Quijada, who obtained 36,246 votes, 0.39% of the total. This same voting system has been used in elections that Maduro’s party has lost in governor’s and legislative elections. Venezuela is a real democracy with transparent elections. The United States could learn a good deal about real democracy from Venezuela. 2. Truth: The economic crisis is caused by outside intervention, internal sabotage and the decline in oil prices. There is no doubt the economic situation in Venezuela is dire. The cause is the economic war conducted by the United States, the major decline in oil prices and economic sabotage by the opposition. In essence, the United States and opposition created problems in the Venezuelan economy and now say Maduro must be replaced because of problems they created. Oil was discovered in Venezuela in the early part of the 20th Century and has dominated the economy since then. The Dutch Disease, the negative impact of an economy based on one natural resource, causes a sharp inflow of foreign currency, which raises the value of the country’s currency, making the country’s other products less price competitive. It is cheaper to import products rather than create them. This makes it more difficult for segments of the economy like agriculture and manufacturing to develop. Chavez/Maduro sought to diversify the economy. They put in place thousands of communes and hundreds of thousands of people working in cooperatives to build agriculture and manufacturing. When the global price of oil was cut by more than half, it collapsed Venezuela’s public finances undermining these efforts. The economic war by the US made it difficult for Venezuela to borrow and trade with some countries. Economic sanctions against Venezuela began under President Obama, and the Trump administration escalated them with financial sanctions. United States sanctions cost Venezuela some $6 billion since August, according to an October analysis. Measures against the nation’s oil industry have prohibited the Venezuelan majority-owned company, CITGO, from sending profits back to Venezuela, a $1 billion loss to the government yearly. Now, the Bank of England is refusing to return $1.2 billion in gold reserves after US officials, including Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton, lobbied them to cut Venezuela off from its overseas assets. The US economic war and sabotage of the economy by business interests has been exposed as part of the effort to remove Maduro by creating social unrest and lack of confidence in the government. This has included hoarding of goods, storing essentials in warehouses and selling Venezuelan goods in Colombia. In September 2018, Venezuela pointed to a false media campaign exaggerating migration from Venezuela. They highlighted statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to affirm that Venezuela has the fewest volunteer migrants in the continent. They pointed out 5.6 million Colombians have fled violence in their country and live in Venezuela. Venezuela has programs that have helped thousands of Venezuelans return home. Socialism strengthens economies, as demonstrated in Portugal. Indeed, one criticism of Venezuela is that the Bolivarian Process is moving too slowly to put in place a socialist economy. There is a need for more sectors to be nationalized and put under democratic control of the people. Continued at the link..
'Socialism strengthens economies..' Yeah, right, all they need is 'democratic control' of more business sectors. It's already working out so well with the oil, food and health, who could argue?
VENEZUELA – ‘IT WILL START HERE.’ Catholic mystic and Venezuelan Maria Esperanza once said, “It will start here.” Could she have been referring to the chaos, blackouts and hunger Venezuela is now experiencing?
Things are moving so fast now...nothing would surprise me. We all need to be spiritual prepared for anything. I don’t think we will necessary get a warning....unless it’s spiritual... The steel of many will be tested.....
Yes. Let's just keep God always in our hearts and keep praying and keep asking all of heaven to help us and not wait or look for a warning. God bless you. . Gary
I agree..if anyone is waiting for a heavenly “warning” to fix your soul....don’t. We’ve already been warned! Lol
Starving Venezuela Into Submission You are so kind-hearted! I shed a tear thinking of American generosity. “So many delightful goodies: sacks of rice, canned tuna and protein-rich biscuits, corn flour, lentils and pasta, arrived at the border of troubled Venezuela – enough for one light meal each for five thousand people”, – reported the news in a sublime reference to five thousand fed by Christ’s fishes and loaves. True, Christ did not take over the bank accounts and did not seize the gold of those he fed. But 21st century Venezuela is a good deal more-prosperous than 1st century Galilee. Nowadays, you have to organise a blockade if you want people to be grateful for your humanitarian aid. This is not a problem. The US-UK duo did it in Iraq, as marvellous Arundhati Roy wrote in April 2003 (in The Guardian of old, before it turned into an imperial tool): After Iraq was brought to its knees, its people starved, half a million of its children killed, its infrastructure severely damaged… the blockade and war were followed by… you guessed it! Humanitarian relief. At first, they blocked food supplies worth billions of dollars, and then they delivered 450 tonnes of humanitarian aid and celebrated their generosity for a few days of live TV broadcasts. Iraq had had enough money to buy all the food it needed, but it was blocked, and its people received only some peanuts. And this was rather humane by American standards. In the 18th century, the British colonists in North America used more drastic methods while dispensing aid to disobedient natives. The Red Indians were expelled from their native places, and then they were provided humanitarian aid: whiskey and blankets. The blankets had been previously used by smallpox patients. The native population of North America was decimated by the ensuing epidemics from this and similar measures. Probably you haven’t heard of this chapter of your history: the USA has many Holocaust museums but not a single memorial to the genocide near home. It is much more fun to discuss faults of Germans and Turks than of your own forefathers. First, you starve people; then you bring them humanitarian aid. This was proposed by John McNaughton at Pentagon: bomb locks and dams, by shallow-flooding the rice, cause widespread starvation (more than a million dead?) “And then we shall deliver humanitarian aid to the starving Vietnamese”. Or, rather, “we could offer to do [that] at the conference table.” Planning a million dead by starvation, in writing: if such a note would be found on the ruins of the Third Reich, it would seal the story of genocide, it would be quoted daily. But the story of the genocide of the Vietnamese is rarely mentioned nowadays. They did it in Syria, too. At first, they brought weapons for every Muslim extremist, then they blockaded Damascus, and then they sent some humanitarian aid, but only to the areas under rebel control. This cruel but efficient method of breaking nations’ spirit has been developed by lion tamers for years, perhaps for centuries. You have to starve the beast until it will take food from your hands and lick your fingers. ‘Starvation-taming’, they call it. The Israelis practice it in Gaza. They block all export or import from the Strip, interdict fishing in the Mediterranean and drip-feed the captive Palestinians by ‘humanitarian aid’. Jews, being Jews, make it one better: they made the EU to pay for the humanitarian aid to Gaza AND to buy the aid stuff from Israel. This made Gaza an important source of profit for the Jewish state. So in Venezuela they follow an old script. The US and its London poodle seized over 20 billion dollars from Venezuela and from Venezuelan national companies. They stole over a billion in gold ingots Venezuela had trustingly deposited in the cellars of the Bank of England. Well, they said they will give this money to a Venezuelan Random Dude, rather. To the guy who already promised to give the wealth of Venezuela to the US companies. And after this daylight robbery, they bring a few containers of humanitarian aid to the border and wait for the rush of bereft Venezuelans for food. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted: “The Venezuelan people desperately need humanitarian aid. The U.S. & other countries are trying to help, but Venezuela’s military under Maduro’s orders is blocking aid with trucks and shipping tankers. The Maduro regime must LET THE AID REACH THE STARVING PEOPLE.” Venezuelans aren’t starving, even though they are going through difficulties. The biggest noise is made by the wealthy, as always. If Pompeo wants to help Venezuelans, he might lift the sanctions, return the funds, lift the blockade. The biscuits he wants to provide are of but little use. President Maduro is right when he refuses to let this hypocrisy bribe the stomachs and hearts of his people. It is not just that he remembers his Virgil and knows, Timeo danaos et dona ferentes, “beware gift-bearing Greeks.” There are too many American and Colombian soldiers around the pending delivery place, and this place is suspiciously close to an airport with an extra-long runway suitable for a an airlift. The US is known for its propensity to invade its neighbours: Panama was invaded in 1989 to keep the Panama Canal in American hands and to roll back the agreement signed by the good-hearted President Jimmy Carter. President George Bush Sr sent his airborne troops in after calling Panama president “a dictator and cocaine smuggler”. This is exactly what President Trump says about Venezuela’s president. They are likely to use this aid to invade and suborn Venezuela. Wisely, Maduro began large military exercises to prepare the army in case of invasion. The situation of Venezuela is dire enough even without invasion. Their money has been appropriated, their main oil company is as good as confiscated; and there is a strong fifth column waiting for Yankees in Caracas. This fifth column consists mainly of compradors, well-off young folk with a smattering of Western education and upbringing, who see their future within the framework of the American Empire. They are ready to betray the unwashed masses and invite the US troops in. They are supported by the super-rich, by representatives of foreign companies, by Western secret services. Such people exist everywhere; they tried to organise the Gucci Revolution in Lebanon, the Green Revolution in Iran, the Maidan in the Ukraine. In Russia they had their chance in the winter of 2011/2012 when their Mink-Coat Revolution was played at Moscow’s Bolotnaya Heath. In Moscow they lost when their opponents, the Russia-First crowd, bettered them by fielding a much-bigger demo at Poklonnaya Hill. The Western news agencies tried to cover the defeat by broadcasting pictures of the Putin-supporters demo and saying it was the pro-Western Heath. Other Western agencies published pictures of 1991 rallies saying they were taken in 2012 on the Heath. In Moscow, nobody was fooled: the mink-coat crowd knew they were licked. In the Ukraine, they won, for President Yanukovich, a hesitant and pusillanimous man of two minds, failed to gather massive support. It is a big question whether Maduro will be able to mobilise Venezuela-First masses. If he is, he will win the confrontation with the US as well...
... Maduro is rather reticent; he hasn’t disciplined unruly oligarchs; he does not control the media; he tries to play a social-democrat game in a country that is not Sweden by long shot. His subsidies have allowed ordinary people to escape dire poverty, but now they are used by black marketeers to siphon off the wealth of the nation. Far from being a disaster zone, Venezuela is a true Bonanza, a real Klondike: you can fill a tanker with petrol for pennies, smuggle it to neighbouring Colombia and sell it for market price. Many supporters of the Random Guy have made small fortunes this way, and they hope to make a large killing if and when the Americans come. A bigger problem is that Venezuela had become a monoculture economy: it exports oil and imports everything else. It does not even produce food to feed its 35 million inhabitants. Venezuela is a victim of neoliberal doctrine claiming that you can buy what you can’t produce. Now they can’t buy and they do not produce. Imagine a democratic Saudi Arabia hit by blockade. In order to save the economy, Maduro should drain the swamp, end the black market and profiteering, encourage agriculture, tax the rich, develop some industry for local consumption. It can be done. Venezuela is not a socialist state like orderly Cuba, nor a social-democratic one like Sweden and England in 1970s, but even its very modest model of allowing the masses to rise out of misery, poverty and ignorance seems too much for the West. It is often said there are two antagonists in the West, the Populists and the Globalists, and President Trump is the Populist leader. The Venezuela crisis proved these two forces are united if there is a chance to attack and rob an outsider country. Trump is condemned at home when he calls his troops back from Afghanistan or Syria, but he gains support when he threatens Venezuela or North Korea. He can be sure he will be cheered on by Macron and Merkel and even by The Washington Post and The New York Times. He has the real WMD, the Weapons of Mass Deception, to attack Venezuela, and these WMD had been activated with the beginning of the creeping coup. When a rather unknown young politician, the leader of a small neoliberal rabidly pro-American fraction in the Parliament, Random Dude, claimed the title of president, he was immediately recognised by Trump, and the Western media reported that the people of Venezuela went out in mass demos to greet the new president and demand Maduro’s removal. They beamed videos of huge Caracas demos back to Venezuela. Not many viewers abroad noticed that the video was old, filmed in 2016 demos, but the Venezuelans saw that at once. They weren’t fooled. They knew that there is no chance for a big protest demo on that day, the day of a particularly important baseball game in the professional league between Leones of Caracas and Cardenales de Lara from Barquisimeto. But the WMD kept lying. Here is a report by Moon of Alabama: the reports of large anti-government rallies are fake news or prophecies hoping to become self-fulfilling ones They lie that there are army deserters spoiling for a fight with the army. The young guys CNN presented weren’t deserters, and they didn’t live in Venezuela. Even their military insignia were of the kind discarded years ago, as our friend The Saker noticed. However, these lies won’t avail – my correspondents in Caracas report that there are demos for and against government (for Maduro slightly bigger crowds), but the feelings aren’t strong. The crisis is manufactured in Washington, and the Venezuelans aren’t keen to get involved. That’s why we can expect an American attempt to use force, preceded by some provocation. Probably it won’t be a full-blown war: the US never fought an enemy that wasn’t exhausted prior to the encounter. If the Maduro administration survives the blow, the crisis will take a low profile, until sanctions do their work and further undermine the economy. In this struggle, President Trump is his own bitter enemy. He seeks approval of the War Party, and his own base will be disappointed by his actions. His sanctions will send more refugees to the US, wall or no wall. He undermines the unique status of the US dollar by weaponising it. In 2020, he will reap what he sow. Israel Shamir can be reached at adam@israelshamir.net https://www.unz.com/ishamir/starving-venezuela-into-submission/
Trump and Team Neocon don't care about the people of Venezuela. If they really cared about "humanitarian aid" they would end the unjust sanctions and repent from their demonic "regime change" mentaility. Elliot Abrams is a convicted war criminal and John Bolton is a chicken-hawk, draft-dodging, dual-citizen; between the two of them they make Maduro look like a Saint. This Guaido Fake-President is a Western intelligence operative and cares nothing for the people of Venezuela; Guaido is a traitor to Venezuela and enjoys zero actual popular support. And Trump's foreign policy has definitively exposed him as a liar and a fraud to everything "America First" means. Trump is a Deceiver and a Snake and answers to Saudi and Israeli handlers, not to the America First principles he campaigned on. It's like we are watching the modus operandi on display during the demonic Arab Spring and Ukrainian Maidan unfold all over again, only this time Venezuela is Team Neocon's target. May Justice come quickly to Team Neocon and may relief come quickly to people of Venezuela and any other nation suffering under Team Neocon's demonic economic warfare.
Thank you for this post. I dont understand people. Why arent the people of the West crying out against this? There are children affected by all of this.. No one even 'likes' this post - and on Christian website too. Dont you see.... when our governments have raped andall pillaged these countries; theyll come for all of us!! Shame on you!
I get your sarcasm, steve. Its quite funny. I wonder would Jesus find it funny that you make jokes - on a Christian website - at your apparent approval of the plundering of another country, its people, its children. Keep the jokes coming, cowboy!
At Venezuela’s Border, a Strange and Deadly Showdown Over Aid https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/world/americas/brazil-venezuela-border-shooting.html there is a possibility of a military conflict in Latin America between Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and perhaps other countries, please pray that this will not happen and that it will work out a political and non-military solution to the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela , currently in Brazil there is a high flow of Venezuelan refugees who have no alternative but to seek shelter here because of the desperate situation they are in, a probable war or military intervention will only make matters worse for both sides.
