Donald Trump is checking out where a war might be held without causing
problems for a new hotel/golf course/casino.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/15/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Trump Tells Florida Crowd “Something Will Happen in Venezuela” Soon
“Something will happen with Venezuela. That’s all I can tell you,” Trump
said, before not-so-cryptically adding that Washington would be “very much
involved.”
by Alan Macleod
July 14th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
On a trip to COVID-19 riddled Florida this weekend, President Donald Trump
not-so-cryptically revealed that he had something big planned for Venezuela
during a meeting with leaders of the U.S. military’s Southern Command.
“Something will happen with Venezuela. That’s all I can tell you,” he said,
before adding that Washington would be “very much involved” in what he was
referencing.
On Trump’s orders, Southern Command moved large numbers of forces to the
region, ostensibly to conduct a counter-narcotics operation against
Venezuela, which the U.S. has described as a “narco state,” with the DEA
offering a $15 million bounty for President Maduro’s head. This, despite
the
fact the U.S. government’s own reports on drug smuggling barely even
mention
Venezuela and official summaries show that U.S.-allies Colombia and Ecuador
are the sources of the vast majority of South American drugs that end up in
the U.S. In May, Juan Guaidó, the Washington-backed self-declared president
of Venezuela, green-lighted a coup attempt led by American ex-Green Berets
that ended in total failure.
Despite privately writing him off as a spent force, the “Beto O’Rourke of
Venezuela,” President Trump continued to publicly back Guaidó, telling a
group of hardline Venezuelan and Cuban expats in Miami-Dade County this
weekend that he still “stands with the righteous leader of Venezuela.” A
recent poll found that only three percent of Venezuelans recognize Guaidó
as
legitimate, and over 80 percent of the country say the entire opposition
movement has “no credibility” whatsoever.
A US Navy Destroyer Just Entered Venezuelan Waters. Is Trump Trying to
Start
a War?
The USS Nitze is conducting what the US is calling a “freedom of navigation
operation" to contest an "excessive maritime claim by Venezuela.”
MintPress News | Alan Macleod | Jun 24
This weekend, Trump’s Special Advisor on Venezuela, Elliott Abrams
announced
brand new sanctions not just on Venezuela, which is under a virtual total
blockade, but on any company found to be helping the importation of goods
to
the country in any way. Abrams has managed to force London-based Lloyd’s
Registrar to withdraw insurance and registration to ships the U.S. deems to
be helping break the blockade, meaning they are unable to dock anywhere in
the world. “It’s just not worth the hassle or the risk for [companies],” he
gleefully told Reuters. “There are people who don’t cooperate…We’ll go
after
the ship, the ship owner, the ship captain.” U.S. citizens breaking the
embargo already face 30 years in prison. Thus, Abrams appears to have
dusted
off his Nicaragua strategy from the 1980s, where the country was sanctioned
and attacked so badly that they eventually gave in and accepted the
U.S.-backed candidate Violetta Chamorro as president in 1990.
Washington’s power and influence have helped bring the Venezuelan economy
to
a standstill, with oil exports at their lowest in modern history. The
sanctions regime was formally condemned by the United Nations; an American
U.N. rapporteur visiting the country and estimating that over 100,000
people
have been killed as a result, declaring the U.S. guilty of “crimes against
humanity.” Sanctions are a bi-partisan endeavor, beginning under President
Obama in 2015, who declared a “national emergency” due to the “unusual and
extraordinary threat” Venezuela was posing to the United States.
Trump’s latest move to tighten the noose even further around the necks of
Venezuelans appears to be at least partially motivated by his desire to
shore up the vote of the large Latin American expat vote in Southern
Florida, a state where polls show he is falling further behind Joe Biden.
In
the 2013 election, at least 92.5 percent of Venezuelans in Florida voted
against Maduro and for the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski.
VenezolanosConBiden and MAGAzuela: Two Sides of the Same Coin
The Biden campaign held an event outlining Biden's “vision for Venezuela.”
Spoiler alert: it barely differs from President Trump's.
MintPress News | Leonardo Flores | Jul 9
Biden has also taken a hard line on Venezuela and is attempting to out-hawk
Trump on the issue. “It’s time for free and fair elections so that the
Venezuelan people can turn the page on the corrupt and repressive Maduro
regime,” he said, adding that, “Trump talks tough on Venezuela, but admires
thugs and dictators like Nicolas Maduro. As President, I will stand with
the
Venezuelan people and for democracy.” Last month the largest Democratic
Super PAC began running ads aimed at Latino Florida Latinos comparing Trump
to Maduro, his predecessor Hugo Chavez, and former Cuban leader Fidel
Castro. A recent poll found that only 19 percent of Venezuelans had
confidence that the situation would improve in the short term. The U.S.’
latest moves suggest they would be correct in their pessimism.
