Another manufactured diversion, or the drumbeat for war we have heard in the past? In an article in The Guardian, The risk of a catastrophic US intervention in Venezuela is real, Gabriel Hetland, assistant professor of Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies and Sociology at University at Albany, SUNY, presents a grim prediction: “War would bring untold suffering to the country and a vanishingly small likelihood of the change Venezuela needs.”
Timeline of events:
1) Maduro: The recent President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, a Socialist and former Chavez loyalist, served one six-year term as President and then ran again in late 2018.
2) Guaido: A young 35 year-old engineer, Juan Guaidó, decided to enter politics several years ago to end government corruption, and worked his way up to be the Leader of the National Assembly in Venezuela, the equivalent of our Congress. He suddenly decided to run against Maduro for the Presidency and was his opponent in late 2018. It is clear he was encouraged to run and backed by the United States.
3) Maduro steals Venezuelan Presidential election? Maduro declared himself President and was sworn in in early January 2019, but almost everyone the country, and internationally, thinks the votes were rigged to favor Maduro. Maduro also used strongman tactics to keep his campaign opponents at a minimum, such as charging them with treason while they campaigned. There have been massive protests in Venezuela opposing his win, and calls for an end to fraud and corruption in the government.
4) It is noteworthy that the Venezuelan military fully backs Maduro.
5) Because Irony and Relentless Hypocrisy are Not Dead, the United States Butts In as Champion of Free and Fair Democratic Elections
In September of 2018:
The New York Times reported in September that the Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious Venezuelan military officials to discuss overthrowing Mr. Maduro, though American officials eventually decided not to help the plotters.
“All options are on the table,” Mr. Trump told reporters in late September at the United Nations General Assembly meeting. “Every one. The strong ones, and the less-than-strong ones. Every option — and you know what I mean by strong.”
Mr. Maduro made a surprise visit to the General Assembly and railed against the United States in a 50-minute speech, calling Americans “imperialists.” He and Mr. Trump did not meet.
Republicans and Trump decided to go forward:
On Jan. 15 2019 [Vice President Mike Pence] Mr. Pence spoke with Mr. Guaidó by telephone to express the “United States’ resolute support for the National Assembly of Venezuela as the only legitimate democratic body in the country.”
On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, Pence released a video to “encourage those who are protesting against President Nicolas Maduro and underline U.S. backing for opposition leader Juan Guaido.” He said:
“Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power. He has never won the presidency in a free and fair election, and has maintained his grip of power by imprisoning anyone who dares to oppose him.”
Also on Tuesday:
Members of Congress from Florida met with Mr. Trump on Tuesday and discussed Latin America policy, including on Venezuela.
“We encouraged the president today to follow through with what he’s already declared, which is that Maduro is illegitimate,” said Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican. “The next logical step is to recognize the president of the National Assembly as the rightful president.”
6) Guaido says Maduro is “illegitimate President” and declares himself President on Wednesday, January 23, 2019. Juan Guaidó called Maduro’s win “illegitimate,” ignored Maduro’s swearing-in ceremony, and was himself “sworn in” as the President of Venezuela amid country-wide protests. He “soon invoked an article of Venezuela’s Constitution that transfers power to the leader of the National Assembly, the nation’s legislative body, in the event that the presidency becomes vacant. The assembly has declared Mr. Maduro’s re-election last year illegitimate and called for new elections.”
The US recognized Guaidó as president minutes after his declaration. A number of Latin American nations, most with conservative governments backed by the US, have also done so. The growing list includes Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, and Paraguay. Canada and the Organization of American States have also recognized Guaidó. The European Union has reportedly considered such a step, but for now has instead issued a call for new elections.
The Occupant weighed in:
[Trump] called on Maduro to resign and promis[ed] to use the “full weight” of the U.S. economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela’s democracy.
“The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law,” Trump said in a statement.
Holy shit. Things are ratcheting up.
7) Hours later Maduro ends all diplomatic and political ties with the U.S. Maduro responded to Pence and Trump by ending diplomatic and political ties with the U.S. (its biggest oil importer), and kicking out all U.S. State Department employees, giving them 72 hours to leave Venezuela.
“Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional president. .... I’ve decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist U.S. government,” Maduro thundered while holding up a decree banning the diplomats before a crowd of red-shirted supporters gathered at the presidential palace.
“Don’t trust the gringos,” he said, rattling off a long list of U.S.-backed military coups — Guatemala, Chile, Brazil — in decades past. “They don’t have friends or loyalties. They only have interests, guts and the ambition to take Venezuela’s oil, gas and gold.”
8) The same day Vladamir Putin of Russia, who has financially backed Maduro’s rise to power, tells the U.S. to remove itself from the situation.
In a further blow to the opposition, Russia warned the United States against meddling in Venezuela. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia telephoned Mr. Maduro and “emphasized that destructive external interference is a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international law,” according to a statement on the Kremlin’s official website.
The United States ignored the admonitions, trying to rally other countries to reject what Mr. Pompeo called “Maduro’s tyranny.”
9) Juan Guaido then urged all countries who backed him to ignore Maduro’s orders and keep diplomatic and political personnel in Venezuela.
10) Thursday, January 24, 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo responds to Maduro’s diplomatic expulsion by saying the Trump administration does not recognize the Maduro government or its authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or "to declare our diplomats persona non grata."
"We welcome interim President Guaido's directive to all diplomatic missions in Venezuela that Venezuela intends to maintain diplomatic relations with all countries. The United States maintains diplomatic relations with Venezuela and will conduct our relations with Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido, who has invited our mission to remain in Venezuela. ...
"We call on the Venezuelan military and security forces to continue protecting the welfare and well-being of all Venezuelan citizens, as well as U.S. and other foreign citizens in Venezuela. We call on all parties to refrain from measures that are inconsistent with the privileges and immunities enjoyed by members of the diplomatic community. The United States will take appropriate actions to hold accountable anyone who endangers the safety and security of our mission and its personnel."
Pompeo then directly challenged Maduro’s order and told some State Department employees to stay put, but ordered “non-emergency personnel” to leave. He also strongly advised American citizens who are expats and travelers to leave Venezuela.
“His regime is morally bankrupt, it’s economically incompetent, and it is profoundly corrupt. It is undemocratic to the core,” Mr. Pompeo told a meeting in Washington of the 35-member Organization of American States.
The United States also offered $20 million in emergency aid to Mr. Guaidó’s side and requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday on the Venezuela crisis.
11) Also on Thursday, Venezuelan military denounce “coup” against Maduro
On Thursday, January 24, 2019, Venezuelan Defense Minister and military brass held a press conference to announce that Guaidó is staging a coup against the sitting President of Venezuela with U.S. and Brazil’s help, and which is considered treason.
In a live address to the nation on Thursday the defen[s]e minister, Vladimir Padrino, accused the Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó, the United States and regional allies such as Brazil of launching an attempted coup against Maduro that risked bringing “chaos and anarchy” to the country.
“We are here to avoid, at all costs … a conflict between Venezuelans. It is not civil war, a war between brothers that will solve the problems of Venezuela. It is dialogue,” said Padrino.
In a significant blow to Venezuela’s newly energized opposition, the defen[s]e minister declared unwavering support for “our commander-in-chief, the citizen Nicolás Maduro”.
Why, you might be asking yourself, is the Trump administration possibly poised to invade Venezuela to help install Guaido and oust Maduro?
Mueller. Diversion.
Mueller. Diversion.
Mueller. Diversion.
And, oil.