Venezuela

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:55 pm

PSYCHOLOGICAL OR INTELLIGENCE OPERATION? THE USS DETROIT WARSHIP SAILED NEAR VENEZUELAN COASTS
22 Jan 2020 , 7:33 am .

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The USS Detroit is a warship inscribed in Operation South Command Hammer (Photo: US Navy)

Before the Serreta ship of the Coast Guard, Gabion class of the Venezuelan Navy, intercepted the USS Detroit warship from the United States, the latter turned northward after it sailed about 26 miles off the coast Venezuelans for approximately seven hours.

On Tuesday, January 21, it was news that the USS Detroit remained close to the coast of Venezuela, creating high expectations for the opposition bases that support a foreign armed intervention against the country, after Juan Guaidó fled to Colombia to meet with the president Iván Duque and Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State of the Trump Administration, in the framework of an anti-terrorism summit sponsored by Washington.

After the activity of the USS Detroit was detected, the Venezuelan Serreta pursued this ship near the Venezuelan coasts, maintaining a prudential distance between navigation waters with international jurisdiction and Venezuelan area.

Subsequently, both the USS Detroit and the Serreta took their route of origin; towards the north the first, towards La Guaira the second.

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The Military Zone portal reported in December 2019 that the USS Detroit "released moorings at the Mayport Naval Station, to join the area of ​​responsibility of the Southern Command where it will serve in support of the MARTILLO multinational operation" on October 31.

Follow the portal on military news:

"For the tasks against illicit traffic in waters of Central and South America in the framework of the MARTILLO operation, the USS Detroit will have its surface combat package which will be significantly reinforced by its embarked air component, which is composed of a Sea Hawk MH-60S helicopter and two MQ-8B Fire Scout VANTs assigned to the Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 2 'Sea Knights' Helicopter. The crew, consisting of 90 people, will perform rotations every 4-5 months and will count with the support of a detachment of the US Coast Guard.

"The USS Detroit will not only be limited to control tasks without the exchange with various navies in the region, as is usually the case in these types of operations. According to the provisions of the US Navy, a In early 2020, a second LCS will be deployed, in this case the USS Little Rock LCS-9, a unit also belonging to the 'Freedom' class. "

The route of the US ship could be connected with military intelligence work, as the South Command has previously made by air, violating Venezuelan airspace several times during 2019, thus denounced by the State chaired by Nicolás Maduro.

For the latest statements of Pompeo, threatening the future overthrow of the Chavez government in Venezuela, it could also be a psychological operation, given the expectation expressed by those who advocate a military invasion of the US bill.

http://misionverdad.com/TENDENCIAS/oper ... o-cerca-de

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:59 pm

redfish @redfishstream

It's 1 year since Juan Guaido's failed US-backed coup in Venezuela and today he's speaking in #Davos.

Hear from the Venezuelan People's Militia, who tired of US meddling are prepared to defend their country from any and all imperial threats.

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Wed Feb 12, 2020 3:19 pm

Repudiate return of opponent Juan Guaidó to Venezuela

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Juan Guaidó was rebuked by citizens on his return to Venezuela on Tuesday. | Photo: Screenshot

Posted 12 February 2020

In a video that circulates on social networks, it is observed how a Conviasa employee tells Guaidó: “You are a traitor to the homeland”.

Opposition Deputy Juan Guaidó returned to Venezuela on Tuesday after a tour of Europe and the United States ( USA ), during which he demanded greater sanctions against the South American country, and was received by citizens and workers of the state-owned company Conviasa They repudiated his presence.

Guaidó, who last year proclaimed himself President of Venezuela, entered through the Maiquetía International Airport, in the Vargas state, half an hour from Caracas.

In a message placed on his Twitter social network account, Guaidó wrote: “we are already in Caracas. I bring the commitment of the free world, willing to help us recover Democracy and Freedom. A new moment begins that will not admit setbacks and that needs us all doing what we have to do. ”
Guaidó called the town to the airport and the town responded: they went to him for asking for more sanctions for Venezuela and took advantage of asking for his imprisonment. https://t.co/3FUYVOVmPC

- Leonel Retamal Muñoz (@LeonelTeleSUR) February 11, 2020
The deputy called the town to meet him at the airport, however, the response from the opposition was small.

The teleSUR correspondent in Venezuela, Leonel Retamal, tweeted that "the people responded: they went (but) to raise him for asking for more sanctions for Venezuela and took advantage of asking for his imprisonment."

Groups of citizens and employees of the state-owned Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa) congregated in the airport lounge, where Guaidó passed by yelling "Get out!" And "Vendepatria."
Listen to the Conviasa workers who waited for Guaidó in Maiquetía. They were not "irregular groups" as the right says, but people who are threatened by economic attacks that, contrary to what the US says, hit the whole of Venezuelan society # 11Feb https://t.co/oImM8zO6av

- Marco Teruggi (@Marco_Teruggi) February 11, 2020
The administration of the president of the United States (USA), Donald Trump, announced this week that he applied coercive measures to Conviasa, an airline that has about two thousand employees.

In a video that circulates on social networks, it is observed how a Conviasa employee claims Guaidó, who has asked Europe and the United States to apply greater sanctions against Venezuela. "Guaidó, you are a traitor to the country," says the worker.
#Venezuela | Look at the arrogance with which Guaidó treats the airport staff and as a worker at #Conviasa , the state airline, calls the self-proclaimed by name: "Guaidó, you are a traitor to the homeland." pic.twitter.com/5qs8huU0ub

- OɾιoƖ Sabata (@oriolsabata) February 11, 2020
https://www.telesurtv.net/news/venezuel ... -0001.html

Google Translator

Damn, npr made it sound like some sort of tragedy but it was of course farce.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:29 pm

'The Bolivarian Shield' Prepares Millions to Defend Venezuela

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Civilians practice combat tactics for the defense of their homeland, Feb. 15, 2020. | Photo: Twitter/ @Bauxilum_CVG
Published 15 February 2020

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro Saturday inaugurated the 2020 Bolivarian Shield, a defensive military exercise that is carried out amid U.S. threats and sanctions.

"We start the 2020 Bolivarian Shield Exercise with the deployment of our glorious Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), which maintains a military-civic union with more than 2,300,000 mobilized combatants," Maduro said.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez confirmed that the Army has been deployed throughout the country for the realization of the new military exercises

"We are deployed on every ship, border post, city, and street. Our determination is born from our love to defend the homeland. Let's go soldiers, let's go militia, let's go people! We will win!" he said​​​​​​.

Nicolás Maduro

@NicolasMaduro
Somos un pueblo rebelde, consciente, valiente y comprometido con las luchas históricas de los libertadores, siempre de pie y en lucha permanente. A pesar de todas las agresiones imperiales los venezolanos no nos rendimos, ni nos rendiremos jamás. ¡Siempre Venceremos!

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We are a rebellious, conscious and brave people committed with the liberators' historical struggles. We are always standing and in permanent struggle. Despite all the imperial aggressions, Venezuelans do not give up, nor will we ever give up. We always overcome!

The Venezuelan president indicated that this year's military exercises will have an extraordinary character because all FANB forces and weapon systems will be deployed on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16.

It was also reported that special military maneuvers will be carried out in cities such as Caracas, Maracay, Valencia, Barquisimeto, and Maracaibo, which means that the 2020 Bolivarian Shield will cover the north, south, center, east and west of the country.

Maduro reported that the military exercises will not only serve to prepare for possible attacks by the U.S. or Colombia but also to respond to the mafias smuggling fuel into neighboring countries.​​​​​​​

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/The ... -0003.html
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Mon Mar 02, 2020 1:56 pm

FEBRUARY 22, 2020
By CP Venezuela

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The political parties and social movements below signed, members of the Popular Anti-imperialist and Anti-fascist Front (FPAA), indemnify the onslaught of US imperialism, in partnership with the European Union and the Group of Lima, against our nation. Their actions represent an act of provocation and interference that violates the sovereignty and peace of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The purposes of the aggression and the attacks by international capital and it's lieutenants of the local Right wing forces against the national dignity and the well-being of the Venezuelan people are no longer a secret to anyone. The bourgeoisie of the United States, the big domestic capitalist monopolies and their related parties, have acted against peasants, workers and communities in Venezuela and Latin America for more than half a century.

The Imperial onslaught has increased considerably in the last decades of the Venezuelan political process. It does not only include political conspiracy, assassination attempts and plans of national fragmentation so as to occupy geographic areas, carried out by oil and mining companies, but also economic sabotage, the grotesque elevation of prices of the basic food basket, the transport boycott, the sewing of anarchy and thousands of other abuses committed daily by the pro-imperialist Right. It is well known that for the advancement of those plans, the Right takes advantage of impunity and other governmental mistakes.

In recent months their isolationist plans and economic-military provocations have entered a new phase, looking to close in on surrounding the Venezuelan nation, to deliver the final blow against the Bolivarian process and its avant-garde. The imperialists and their lackeys, suffocated by the huge and prolonged structural crisis which consumes them, consider that the appropriate time has come to hit the struggles of the Venezuelan people at their base, ruining social plans, cornering the people and finding a way out of the Bolivarian Government through any route. These plans have been given the green light by the coup mongers, promoted by US imperialism, their footmen in Latin America, as well as by the unpatriotic Right based on Venezuelan soil.

The policy of carrying out an interventionary coup, so developed by the imperialist government of the United States, the European Union, and with the shameful collaboration of a number of Latin American governments, now focuses its goal on an aggressive military-political propaganda campaign, hidden behind the so-called "humanitarian aid" which seeks to justify the invasion of our country.

We condemn the imperialist plans of hunting down the natural resources and privatizing them, publicly declared so by the United States, the European Union, the Lima Group, FEDECAMARAS-VENAMCHAM, and the National Assembly in contempt and directed by Guaido group.

We, members of the FPAA, call for preparation, organization and popular mobilization. We demand a heavy hand by the Government against the saboteurs, intervenerors and terrorists, immediate jail for price speculators. We demand the application of article 113 and 114 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the monopolist price speculators in particular and to the financial system. We call to establish worker-peasant-community-popular control over the processes of production, marketing and distribution, and to boost national industrialization plans. We also call for a real agrarian revolution that would definitively remove the dependence, exploitation and unpatriotic ruthless blackmail of the historical enemies of the Venezuelan people and of the world.

AGAINST IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION!

UNITY AND MOBILIZATION!

COMMUNIST PARTY OF VENEZUELA

HOMELAND FOR ALL PARTY

REVOLUTIONARY PARTY OF LABOR

GAYONES MOVEMENT



Caracas, February, 2019

https://mltoday.com/against-imperialist ... venezuela/
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 03, 2020 3:31 pm

Venezuela Denounces Presences of Colombian Paramilitaries

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Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino | Photo: Xin Hua

Published 3 March 2020

Venezuela’s Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, denounced the presence of Colombian paramilitary forces in the Bolivarian territory for continuously engaging in drug trafficking.

On Sunday, members of the Armed Forces of Venezuela dismantled a cocaine production and processing laboratory in the state of Tachira. This facility was under exploitation of the Colombian paramilitary group “Los Rastrojos”.

According to reports, 14 members of that organization were also captured in February in the same bordering region. In the operative action, several illegal deposits for fuel trade were deactivated.

On his official Twitter profile, general Padrino Lopez expressed: “Colombia: a delegitimized government, with degraded institutions, a territory sowed with violence and drug trafficking, that walks around in circles, with a trap and its false positives tries with its paramilitary force to use our territory because of its incapacity. They don't fit in here!."
Colombia: un gobierno deslegitimado, con instituciones degradadas, un territorio sembrado de violencia y narcotráfico, que anda por las ramas, con la trampa y sus falsos positivos pretende con su pie de fuerza paramilitar usar nuestro territorio por su incapacidad.¡Aquí no caben! https://t.co/gEfFzb5PkU

— Vladimir Padrino L. (@vladimirpadrino) March 2, 2020
President Nicolas Maduro’s Administration had reiterative on its decision to fight against fuel traffic to Colombia and called on Ivan Duque’s government to ease the paramilitary access to Venezuelan territory.

For his part, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza described Duque as a “drug trafficker and paramilitary subordinate” and condemned the Colombian mandatary's support to violent groups who try to destabilize the security of the Bolivarian nation. However, those actions have not prospered because of the loyalty of the Venezuelan people to the Bolivarian Revolution and its leader, Nicolas Maduro.

Recently, the Colombian mandatary held a meeting with U.S. president, Donald Trump, where he requested more sanctions and coercive measures against the Venezuelan government and people. ​​​​​​​

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/ven ... -0006.html

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Columbia's Duque Asks Trump for Stronger Sanctions Against Venezuela

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Another issue that was addressed by Trump and Duque was drug production in the country, that despite U.S. presence for over two decades has continued to grow. | Photo: EFE

The visit was completed with a keynote speech at the 2020 pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference.


Colombian President Ivan Duque made a one-day visit to the United States Monday with a full agenda that included meeting with Donald Trump to request more attacks against Venezuela, announce the reinstatement of glyphosate fumigations, and to top it all off a keynote speech at the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC conference

During his meeting with Trump, Duque immediately began by attacking Venezuelan as he reiterated that “it's very important that we are stronger on sanctions” against the neighboring nation.

The Colombian head of state even acknowledged that “Venezuela is running out of things” so they, referring to the U.S. and Colombia “have to, in this year, work together jointly so there's a political and democratic transition that is effective in Venezuela.”

Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza responded later that his country will ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Duque for asking a foreign nation to impose more unilateral sanctions against Venezuela.

“This shameful request for ‘stronger sanctions’ that Duque makes to Trump will be taken to the International Criminal Court to investigate the criminal responsibility in the suffering these measures cause to the Venezuelan people,” Arreaza tweeted.

According to the government and international NGOs, the unilateral coercive measures that the U.S. has imposed on the Latin American nation since 2014 have caused losses of US$120 billion and around 50,000 deaths.

Another issue that was addressed by Trump and Duque was drug production in the country, that despite U.S. presence for over two decades has continued to grow.

However, the conclusion was that the fumigation of illicit crops for the fight against drugs with the toxic glyphosate had to be reinstated, as Trump defended it and the Colombian president announced his hopes to resume it, despite the resistance made by farmers and human rights organizations.

In 2015, Colombia halted aerial fumigation due to the unintended contamination of legal crops and water sources. One year prior to this decision, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that if there was evidence of negative consequences the government had to stop using that method to fight the illegal crops.

The visit was completed with a keynote speech at the 2020 pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference.

Duque took to the stand to announce a Free Trade Agreement with Israel and stronger bilateral relations - especially in the defense sector - but also to denounce, without any proof, that Venezuela’s government "opened its doors" to Hezbollah for them to prepare attacks from Venezuela. The head of state then urged AIPAC to set their aim in Latin America under the justification of defending "democracy."

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Duq ... -0018.html
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Mon Mar 23, 2020 4:27 pm

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Maduro Announces Economic Measures to Counter Covid-19 Coronavirus
March 22, 2020 orinocotribune coronavirus, COVID-19, economic measures, Patria System, President Maduro, Venezuela
This Sunday Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced the forthcoming entry into force of several decrees with a set of economic measures with which Venezuelans will be protected during the contingency that the country is going through due to the Covid-19 coronavirus. The measures include ratifying labor immobility (no layoffs without just reason), suppression of the payment of rent for businesses and main housing, a prioritized plan for agri-food investment to guarantee the Clap, special bonuses for informal and private workers, among other measures.

“Workers and businessmen, you know that we have the tools, the power and the absolute decision to protect all the jobs in the country, businesses and companies,” said the president.

The announced measures include:

Ratification of labor immobility in defense of workers until December 31.
Special payroll payment plan for small and medium industry through the Homeland System for 6 months. This means that the government will take charge of the payroll for small and medium enterprises that op-in into the program.
Immediate suppression of the payment of rent for shops and primary housing for 6 months.
Prohibition of cuts of sevices by telecom service providers.
The prioritized agri-food investment plan is ratified to guarantee 7 million CLAP boxes every month to the same number of families.
Special bonuses for all workers in the informal economy and private business through the Patria System.
Six-month suspension of principal and interest payments on all credits. Suspension of late payment fees in this extension
Restructuring of the terms of access to credit, in favor of small and medium producers. There will be a generation of special guarantees for small and medium industry.
“In the case of workers and employers, you know that we have the power and the conscience to protect all jobs and companies in the country, and to advance in the protection of the country’s job stability,” he said.

Featured image: Presidential Press

Source URL: Alba Ciudad

https://orinocotribune.com/maduro-annou ... ronavirus/

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Venezuela: Already Arrived – 130 Cuban Doctors to Fight Coronavirus – Medical Supplies From Russia on Their Way
March 21, 2020 orinocotribune coronavirus, COVID-19, Cuba, Cuban Doctors, Russia, Solidarity, Venezuela
On Friday night, a Conviasa flight with 130 Cuban doctors who will support efforts to combat the coronavirus arrived at Ramp 4 of the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía (Covid-19). The delegation of Cuban doctors, specialists trained in the Barrio Adentro Mission, were received by the Minister of the People’s Power for Health, Carlos Alvarado and from now on, join the actions undertaken for the control and prevention of this global pandemic that affects the health of human beings.

Earlier, President Nicolás Maduro reported in a telephone interview broadcasted by Venezolana de Televisión that the 130 Cuban doctors who were about to arrive in the country were trained to work in the Barrio Adentro system and to support the fight against the coronavirus. He explained that they were going to be assigned to the Capital Region.

In this context, he greeted all the support of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alba) and the government of Cuba. He added that coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) should continue and he highlighted the high-level cooperation between Cuba-Venezuela regarding medical care since the arrival of former President Hugo Chávez.

In addition, the head of state reported that the Russian Federation will send a shipment of medical supplies to Venezuela next week , to support the government’s efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. “Russia joins support for Venezuela by announcing a donation of special humanitarian aid that will arrive next week,” he said.

Source URL: Alba Ciudad

Translated by JRE/EF

https://orinocotribune.com/venezuela-al ... their-way/
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:47 pm

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Venezuela’s Coronavirus Response Might Surprise You

March 25, 2020
By Leonardo Flores – March 24, 2020

Within a few hours of being launched, over 800 Venezuelans in the U.S. registered for an emergency flight from Miami to Caracas through a website run by the Venezuelan government. This flight, offered at no cost, was proposed by President Nicolás Maduro when he learned that 200 Venezuelans were stuck in the United States following his government’s decision to stop commercial flights as a preventative coronavirus measure. The promise of one flight expanded to two or more flights, as it became clear that many Venezuelans in the U.S. wanted to go back to Venezuela, yet the situation remains unresolved due to the U.S. ban on flights to and from the country.

Those who rely solely on the mainstream media might wonder who in their right mind would want to leave the United States for Venezuela. Time, The Washington Post, The Hill and the Miami Herald, among others, published opinions in the past week describing Venezuela as a chaotic nightmare. These media outlets painted a picture of a coronavirus disaster, of government incompetence and of a nation teetering on the brink of collapse. The reality of Venezuela’s coronavirus response is not covered by the mainstream media at all.

Furthermore, what each of these articles shortchanges is the damage caused by the Trump administration’s sanctions, which devastated the economy and healthcare system long before the coronavirus pandemic. These sanctions have impoverished millions of Venezuelans and negatively impact vital infrastructure, such as electricity generation. Venezuela is impeded from importing spare parts for its power plants and the resulting blackouts interrupt water services that rely on electric pumps. These, along with dozens of other implications from the hybrid war on Venezuela, have caused a decline in health indicators across the board, leading to 100,000 deaths as a consequence of the sanctions.

Regarding coronavirus specifically, the sanctions raise the costs of testing kits and medical supplies, and ban Venezuela’s government from purchasing medical equipment from the U.S. (and from many European countries). These obstacles would seemingly place Venezuela on the path to a worst-case scenario, similar to Iran (also battered by sanctions) or Italy (battered by austerity and neoliberalism). In contrast to those two countries, Venezuela took decisive steps early on to face the pandemic.

As a result of these steps and other factors, Venezuela is currently in its best-case scenario. As of this writing, 11 days after the first confirmed case of coronavirus, the country has 86 infected people, with 0 deaths. Its neighbors have not fared as well: Brazil has 1,924 cases with 34 deaths; Ecuador 981 and 18; Chile 746 and 2; Peru 395 and 5; Mexico 367 and 4; Colombia 306 and 3. (With the exception of Mexico, those governments have all actively participated and contributed to the U.S.-led regime change efforts in Venezuela.) Why is Venezuela doing so much better than others in the region?

Skeptics will claim that the Maduro government is hiding figures and deaths, that there’s not enough testing, not enough medicine, not enough talent to adequately deal with a pandemic. But here are the facts:

First, international solidarity has played a priceless role in enabling the government to rise to the challenge. China sent coronavirus diagnostic kits that will allow 320,000 Venezuelans to be tested, in addition to a team of experts and tons of supplies. Cuba sent 130 doctors and 10,000 doses of interferon alfa-2b, a drug with an established record of helping COVID-19 patients recover. Russia has sent the first of several shipments of medical equipment and kits. These three countries, routinely characterized by the U.S. foreign policy establishment as evil, offer solidarity and material support. The United States offers more sanctions and the IMF, widely known to be under U.S. control, denied a Venezuelan request for $5 billion in emergency funding that even the European Union supports.

Second, the government quickly carried out a plan to contain the spread of the disease. On March 12, a day before the first confirmed cases, President Maduro decreed a health emergency, prohibited crowds from gathering, and cancelled flights from Europe and Colombia. On March 13, Day 1, two Venezuelans tested positive; the government cancelled classes, began requiring facemasks on subways and on the border, closed theaters, bars and nightclubs, and limited restaurants to take-out or delivery. It bears repeating that this was on Day 1 of having a confirmed case; many U.S. states have yet to take these steps. By Day 4, a national quarantine was put into effect (equivalent to shelter-in-place orders) and an online portal called the Homeland System (Sistema Patria) was repurposed to survey potential COVID-19 cases. By Day 8, 42 people were infected and approximately 90% of the population was heeding the quarantine. By Day 11, over 12.2 million people had filled out the survey, over 20,000 people who reported being sick were visited in their homes by medical professionals and 145 people were referred for coronavirus testing. The government estimates that without these measures, Venezuela would have 3,000 infected people and a high number of deaths.

Third, the Venezuelan people were positioned to handle a crisis. Over the past 7 years, Venezuela has lived through the death of wildly popular leader, violent right-wing protests, an economic war characterized by shortages and hyperinflation, sanctions that have destroyed the economy, an ongoing coup, attempted military insurrections, attacks on public utilities, blackouts, mass migration and threats of U.S. military action. The coronavirus is a different sort of challenge, but previous crises have instilled a resiliency among the Venezuelan people and strengthened solidarity within communities. There is no panic on the streets; instead, people are calm and following health protocols.

Fourth, mass organizing and prioritizing people above all else. Communes and organized communities have taken the lead, producing facemasks, keeping the CLAP food supply system running (this monthly food package reaches 7 million families), facilitating house-by-house visits of doctors and encouraging the use of facemasks in public. Over 12,000 medical school students in their last or second-to-last year of study applied to be trained for house visits. For its part, the Maduro administration suspended rent payments, instituted a nationwide firing freeze, gave bonuses to workers, prohibited telecoms from cutting off people’s phones or internet, reached an agreement with hotel chains to provide 4,000 beds in case the crisis escalates, and pledged to pay the salaries of employees of small and medium businesses. Amid a public health crisis – compounded by an economic crisis and sanctions – Venezuela’s response has been to guarantee food, provide free healthcare and widespread testing, and alleviate further economic pressure on the working class.

The U.S. government has not responded to the Maduro administration’s request to make an exception for Conviasa Airlines, the national airline under sanctions, to fly the Venezuelans stranded in the United States back to Caracas. Given everything happening in the United States, where COVID-19 treatment can cost nearly $35,000 and the government is weighing the option of prioritizing the economy over the lives of people, perhaps these Venezuelans waiting to go home understand that their chances of surviving the coronavirus – both physically and economically – are much better in a country that values health over profits.

https://orinocotribune.com/venezuelas-c ... prise-you/
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:16 am

Rogue General Admits Plot Against Venezuela From Columbia

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Violent groups are being trained from Colombia to attack the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said President Nicolás Maduro. | Photo: Colombian National Police

Published 26 March 2020

Cliver Alcala Cordones is accused of organizing a destabilizing plan against Venezuela from Colombia; he acknowledged his organization's part in this in an audio broadcast by the Colombian media outlet W Radio.


The former major general of the Venezuelan Army, Cliver Alcala Cordones, confessed that he organized from Colombia the plan denounced by the Venezuelan government this Wednesday that foresaw a series of selective murders, including that of President Nicolas Maduro.

Alcala Cordones was identified as the coordinator of all efforts to commit terrorist acts and assassinations against Venezuela, which would be carried out in March amid the coronavirus pandemic that has already reached the country.

In audio from W Radio broadcast this Thursday, the former Venezuelan military confirmed that the weapons confiscated in Barranquilla, Colombia, this March 24 were intended for Robert Colina Ibarra, alias Pantera, to attempt against the stabilization of the Government of Venezuela and assassinate President Maduro.

Alcala stated that these weapons were part of an agreement between him and Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido with US advisers.

The former Venezuelan official assured that he is in Barranquilla in constant communication with the Colombian authorities. "The Colombian authorities have been talking to me. I am not trying to escape," he said.

Although he acknowledges that the entire organization of the plan was conceived from Colombia, Alcala Cordones assured that neither President Iván Duque nor the Armed Forces of that country were aware of it. "They only found out about 48 hours ago," he said.

After the broadcast of the audio, the Venezuelan attorney general, Tarek William Saab, reported that the Public Ministry of that country opened an investigation against Guaido, Alcala Cordones, and others involved in the plan.

The Venezuelan official assured that it is a "convicted and confessed," crime of "attempted coup d'état" against the government of President Maduro.

He stressed that Alcala Cordones made a public statement about his plans that "intended to bathe Venezuela in blood."

"As part of this subversive plan, Alcala, with the protection offered by the Colombian authorities, would have organized at least three camps in towns in the neighboring country (Colombia) to train assault groups against Venezuela," said Saab.

Keys to the destabilizing plan

In a press conference, the Vice Minister of Communications, Tourism, and Culture of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, explained the keys to this recently dismantled plan:

-Colombia and the United States organized it.

-It would be executed between March 23 and 25, during the social and collective quarantine decreed by the Venezuelan Executive to stop the expansion of the coronavirus.

-It was intended to arm paramilitary groups in Venezuela to commit terrorist actions.

-Assault groups would be introduced to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro.

-Initially, it would be executed on March 10, but it was postponed due to alleged deficiencies in operational capacity and the failure of calls to protest by opposition lawmaker Guaido.

-The seized weapons have a value of $ 500,000, equivalent to 83,333 diagnostic kits, 2,500 face masks, and three million chloroquine tablets to serve thousands of patients with Covid-19.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rog ... -0018.html
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blindpig
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Wed Apr 01, 2020 1:57 pm

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IMF Conditions Emergency COVID-19 Loan to Venezuela on Regime Change
March 31, 2020 Alan MacLeod coronavirus, COVID-19, Guaido, IMF, US Imperialism, US Sanctions, Venezuela
The IMF refused a COVID–19 emergency loan to Venezuela unless it agreed to overthrow President Maduro and installs the Washington-backed Juan Guaidó.

By Alan Macleod – March 30, 2020

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) blocked a request from Venezuela for an emergency loan to deal with the COVID–19 pandemic on the grounds that President Nicolas Maduro “lacked recognition.” “IMF engagement with member countries is predicated on official government recognition by the international community, as reflected in the IMF’s membership. There is no clarity on recognition at this time,” a spokesperson for the international banking organization said. In fact, around 150 countries recognize Maduro, including the vast majority of UN member states. Indeed, the UN itself has endorsed him, even placing Venezuela on the Human Rights Council. Crucially, however, the United States government has not.

Nevertheless, “help” might be on the way. That is if U.S.-backed self-declared president Juan Guaidó is to be believed. Yesterday he announced that he had secured a $1.2 billion dollar loan from the organization on one condition: that Maduro steps down and allows what he calls an “emergency government” to take control of the country. Guaidó was recently given a column in The Economist magazine.

Guaidó’s pronouncement comes amid the news of a former military general, Cilver Alcala, confessing to organizing a military coup with Guaidó. Alcala has placed himself under the protection of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

The Venezuelan government, meanwhile, has been more preoccupied with its response to COVID–19. The country has a relatively small 119 confirmed cases, with three deaths reported so far. Even before any reported cases, Maduro declared a health emergency, canceling many foreign flights and prohibiting crowds. On the day of the first positive case, public buildings like schools, theaters, and restaurants were shuttered, and wearing a mask in certain locations became mandatory. The government organized a huge online database and website, where any person worrying they were showing symptoms could inform authorities. Over 20,000 sick people were visited in their homes by medical professionals. This was made possible by Venezuela’s Cuban-built nationalized healthcare system. Thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S., between 92 and 99 percent of whom voted against Maduro in the 2013 elections, are flocking back to their country of birth in the knowledge that his response has been far more reassuring than Trump’s.

Although under punishing U.S. sanctions that American UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas estimates have killed over 100,000 people, the country has nevertheless been showered with help from its allies. Cuba, for example, has sent 130 more doctors and 10,000 doses of lifesaving Interferon Alpha 2b, an antiviral known to help combat the virus. And this weekend a huge shipment of Chinese supplies, including over 500,000 test kits, 5 million facemasks, and 70,000 infrared thermometers, arrived in Venezuela.

Nevertheless, the economy is still in dire straits and has been for many years, not least because of sanctions and a refusal from the international finance industry to cooperate. The IMF headquarters are located in central Washington, D.C., barely a stone’s throw away from the White House. The physical distance between the two buildings is reflective of how closely the IMF and the U.S. government work together. Indeed, the United States holds unique veto power over the organization. All significant IMF actions require at least 85 percent agreement. But the U.S. holds 17.5 percent of the votes. Critics of the organization, like Martin Honeywell, Andre Gunder Frank and Michel Chossudovsky, claim that its job is to carry out the financial interests of Washington by keeping developing countries poor, controlling them through “financial terrorism”; plying countries with huge, usurious loans on the proviso that they privatize their assets, thus sinking their economies and making it impossible for them to accrue enough wealth to ever pay it back. An example of this was Ecuador, who, by 2005, was forced to spend 47 percent of its entire income paying back enormous interest on loans. This ensured that countries in the Global South could not take an independent, progressive path.

The IMF worked closely with the U.S. government in 2002 in briefly overthrowing Maduro’s successor, Hugo Chavez. Just hours after what appeared to be a successful coup, its Director of External Relations said they were willing to give new dictator Pedro Carmona unlimited funds: “we stand ready to assist the new administration in whatever manner they find suitable,” he said. Carmona was deposed the next day.

Maduro, Chavez’s handpicked successor came to power in 2013 and was re-elected in 2018 in some of the most intensely internationally monitored elections in world history. Despite the unanimous positive feedback from monitors, the U.S. government preemptively refused to recognize the results, eventually declaring Juan Guaidó, head of a small, far-right opposition party, the legitimate ruler of the country. Guaidó has attempted to seize power by force a number of times but has not been successful. A December poll found him to have a 10 percent approval rating and a 69 percent disapproval rating.

After an unsuccessful April coup attempt, a number of Guaidó’s co-conspirators fled to the US where they believed they would be treated well. In fact, they were arrested for illegally entering the country and have been incarcerated in an ICE detention camp ever since.

Despite his own very low approval ratings, forces in Washington have not managed to dislodge President Maduro from power. It is unlikely, therefore, that he or the Venezuelan people will accept the IMF number crunchers’ offer. Beware of geeks bearing gifts.



Featured image: Opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks to supporters in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 21, 2020, following his return from an international tour aimed at trying to shore up support from world leaders. Ariana Cubillos | AP

Source URL: MintPress

https://orinocotribune.com/imf-conditio ... me-change/

Monsters. "Some men kill you with a gun, some with a fountain pen."

Gotta watch that Mint Press, libertarians I think. I seriously doubt that President Maduro has "very low approval ratings" among the masses.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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