Too many times our mainstream media react after the fact. Venezuela is not new news. It is convenient both politically and economically for Trump and those who are intent on stealing the natural resources of third world countries.
The Venezuela story serves two purposes that feed off of each other. With the advent of millennials and other Americans realizing that the current economy is extractive on most, it is imperative that they jolt you back to the Powell Manifesto’s indoctrination which programs you to believe that the type of economy we have is best for everyone. Forget what your eyes and your finances are telling you.
Let’s be clear. Venezuela is a basket case because of Maduro but also because of the Venezuelan Plutocracy and the United States.
None of these critics are calling for broad economic sanctions against Latin American countries with far more violent and repressive records. Against Honduras, for instance, where the military was recently deployed to violently repress peaceful demonstrations following fraudulent elections, which the U.S. government recognized. Or against Colombia and Mexico, where, over the last few months, dozens of political candidates and social leaders have been killed with impunity.
Venezuela is treated differently by the U.S., for obvious reasons: it has a government that seeks to be independent Washington and it sits atop hundreds of billions of barrels of oil reserves, which—when the Venezuelan economy finally recovers— will enable the government to have far-reaching regional influence.
In fact, that is exactly what happened during the Chávez administration. Venezuela grew in popularity in Central America and the Caribbean thanks in great part to the government’s generous Petrocaribe initiative, which brought tangible economic benefits to many countries in the region. It was also influential in building regional institutions such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which were much more independent of the U.S. than the Organization of American States, located in Washington, DC.
Regardless of how one feels about Venezuela’s current government, it is time to acknowledge that U.S. policy towards that country is making things worse. It is generating greater economic pain, instability and political polarization in Venezuela and undermining the odds of reaching a peaceful solution to the country’s political crisis.
Here is the reality. The United States could not allow a non-European Democratic Socialist state that is sitting on a fortune of natural resources capable of educating its masses who were left behind by the wealthy few and their wards. It is too close to home.
America is awash in natural resources on Federal land and on stolen land. Suppose our masses got educated after realizing that their southern neighbor was successful at doing it. We can make excuses for those Scandinavian countries, after all, they are mostly monolithic, ? We can blow smoke up the noses of Americans who are trusting.
So with the help of the Venezuelan Plutocracy who have been robbing the country for decades, Trump (& Obama) had their stooge who would carry the mantra of what Democratic Socialism does to an economy. Forget that for the first time they started eradicating poverty in Venezuela. You will not hear this from news outlets wedded to our system.
So now, the United States is getting ready for a pseudo-war in Venezuela likely to end like the one in Panama where the U.S. military killed thousands of Panamanians purportedly to arrest Manuel Antonio Noriega for his capitalist need to supply drugs that hurt many Americans no different than what our pharmaceutical companies do today. You see, it depends on who is causing the death of Americans that matter. U.S. Corporation directly is OK. But others, it is punishable by military actions a tick away from war crimes.
A U.S. cyber sabotage likely caused the blackouts in Venezuela. TeleSur had an interesting piece titled “Venezuela Blackouts: ‘Straight From the Cyberwar Playbook’.”
According to the author, modern cyber-warfare is the first step in an overall intervention and has the intent of weakening the enemy by creating chaos or sowing social disaffection. This could eventually be followed by a more conventional type of warfare, including invasion.
The author posits, “In the case of Venezuela, the idea of a government like the United States remotely interfering with its power grid is actually quite realistic. Remote cyber operations rarely require a significant ground presence, making them the ideal deniable influence operation.”
Being a completely deniable action, it can also be used to blame your enemies, putting more pressure on them within their own populations.
One example of this is that three minutes after the start of the blackout, United States Senator Marco Rubio tweeted a message to his followers casting blame on the Nicolas Maduro administration. The quick nature of the tweet gave the appearance of a coordinated attack, which caused the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to call Rubio out by name on social networks.
Finally, Leetaru says, “Widespread power and connectivity outages like the one Venezuela experienced last week are also straight from the modern cyber playbook.
The cyber attack began Thursday against the El Guri hydroelectric plant control system, and left the Venezuelan population without electricity for almost 24 hours.
According to the Venezuelan government, this nation-wide blackout was brought about by foreign-backed actions aimed at destabilizing the government President Nicolas Maduro, who stressed that the aggression “affected everyone equally without political distinction.”
If that is the case, our policies are already killing Venezuelans just like we did Panamanians leading up to and after Bush invaded Panama in 1989. Do not be surprised if we keep Venezuela in dire straights and invade close to the 2020 elections. And all during the election Democrats must be ready for Republicans to use Venezuela as the poster child for “Democratic Socialism, which the Democrats intend to bring you.”
How many news outlets are highlighting the fact that Trump is asking for half a billion dollars for actions in Venezuela?
The playbook is out for those who are interested in seeing it. Just like the Bush administration destroyed the Panamanian economy before and then invaded when the country failed to turn on Noriega, that same outcome is a distinct possibility in Venezuela.
Remember, the Venezuelan crisis would let our incompetent president achieve several goals if we allow him to define the narrative. Given that he has not made the lives of the middle-class and the poor any better, he must deflect. He will attempt to pin Venezuela’s chaos as the outcome of a Democratic win. And will maintain support from the Plutocrats as they contemplate the spoils from a Venezuelan invasion realized economically or militarily.
When considering one’s position on the Venezuelan crisis, it is important to realize that the traditional mainstream media, many NGOs, and other organizations are complicit in either group-think or appeasement to the plutocracy. They do not ask questions or probe the counter-narrative. It’s alternative, independent sources of information that enlighten Americans with the truth. For example, this interview with Colombian Ambassador to the United States Francisco Santos about ousting Nicolas Maduro via the Grupo de Lima, a supposedly entirely Latin American initiative, is probative.
Spread the word. Share the truth.