Saturday, February 02, 2019

America - The King Maker

The US, the self-appointed guardian of “democracy”,  imposed sanctions on the $7 billion in assets held by Venezuela's PDVSA in the United States.

John Bolton, the US national security adviser stated to Fox Business host Trish Regan, that the US had “a lot at stake” in Venezuela. He specifically mentioned the economic benefit Venezuela’s oil could bring. “It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela.”

AP News reported, “The coalition of Latin American governments that joined the U.S. in quickly recognizing Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president came together over weeks of secret diplomacy that included whispered messages to activists under constant surveillance and a high-risk foreign trip by the opposition leader challenging President Nicolas Maduro for power, those involved in the talks said.”


And that:

“In mid-December, Guaido quietly traveled to Washington, Colombia and Brazil to brief officials on the opposition’s strategy of mass demonstrations to coincide with Maduro’s expected swearing-in for a second term on Jan. 10 in the face of widespread international condemnation, according to exiled former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, an ally.” and “To leave Venezuela, he sneaked across the lawless border with Colombia, so as not to raise suspicions among immigration officials who sometimes harass opposition figures at the airport and bar them from traveling abroad, said a different anti-government leader, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security arrangements.”

The Wall Street Journal, also described Trump administration’s secret plan offering support to Guaidó,  was tightly coordinated. The night before Guaidó declared himself interim president of Venezuela, he eceived a phone call from Vice President Mike Pence.
“Mr. Pence pledged that the U.S. would back Mr. Guaidó if he seized the reins of government from Nicolás Maduro by invoking a clause in the South American country’s constitution.
“That late-night call set in motion a plan that had been developed in secret over the preceding several weeks, accompanied by talks between U.S. officials, allies, lawmakers and key Venezuelan opposition figures, including Mr. Guaidó himself. "
Pence placed his phone call to Mr. Guaidó to tell him, ‘If the National Assembly invoked Article 233 the following day, the president would back him,’ the senior administration official said.”
The Washington Post citing current and former US officials uses the following expressions: “use the newly declared interim government as a tool to deny Maduro the oil revenue from the United States”. [Italicized] Yes, a tool it’s and further disclosed further: “In Guaidó, the Trump administration found a figure on which to hang hopes”. an official in the US the report said: “We have been engaged [to] […] help organize the internal opposition […] But that internal piece was missing. He was the piece we needed for our strategy to be coherent and complete.” It highlights the "double standard, in which the White House tolerates or embraces some dictators and right-wing authoritarians but calls leftist and socialist authoritarians illegitimate.” Or as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) tweeted: “Let me get this straight. The US is sanctioning Venezuela for their lack of democracy but not Saudi Arabia? Such hypocrisy. […] crippling sanctions or pushing for regime change will only make the situation worse.” who added,  ‘US should not anoint the leader of the opposition in Venezuela during an internal, polarized conflict.’”
 A White House statement announced, “President Trump stands with the people of Venezuela as they demand democracy, human rights and prosperity denied to the people by Maduro.” The Venezuelan "people" are whoever agrees with America. 

No comments: