Excerpt of the weekly MFA briefing by Maria Zakharova:
——-
The UN Security Council held a meeting in New York yesterday at the initiative of the US to discuss the humanitarian situation in Venezuela. Russia’s position, whereby this is not the appropriate platform or format for discussing this topic, remains unchanged. We are not turning a blind eye to the challenging social, economic and humanitarian developments in Venezuela. Still, we do not see any threats to regional, let alone international, stability or security.
Representatives of Donald Trump’s administration are obsessive in hammering home the message that “all options are on the table.” This is a matter of grave concern. Let me reiterate that the possible military scenario, if this is what representatives of the US establishment have in mind, would lead nowhere. It is dangerous, since it could bring about a civil war. We urge our US colleagues to review these irresponsible plans that are at odds with international law. I would like to draw the attention of our Western colleagues once again to what they have done in a number of countries around the world. Just look at the scenarios you have been trying to follow there, and what came out of it.
We will continue to do everything we can to prevent the dangerous scenarios that we witnessed in a number of countries from taking place in Venezuela. We are glad that there is little support for this option within the international community, even though Washington regrettably persists in its efforts.
It is also unfortunate that the US Security Council was not able to refrain from discussing the humanitarian situation in Venezuela. Vice President Mike Pence’s remarks went beyond the bounds of decency when he called for recognising Venezuela’s new leader, backing up his claims with ultimatums and threats of new sanctions.
Representatives of the US administration do not hesitate when it comes to breaking fundamental principles and norms of international and regional law as they seek to unseat the legitimate President of Venezuela. Aggressive rhetoric against official diplomatic representatives of the Venezuelan government, recognising appointees who appeared out of nowhere, illegal takeover of diplomatic property, financial assets and other acts of this kind are all reminiscent of gang warfare rather than what professional politicians and diplomats normally do. It is possible that the US is guided by its own experience when it promotes broad recognition and largely directs the appointment of so-called Venezuelan ambassadors and official representatives around the world. Over the past years, we have seen people without any prior experience in public service being appointed US ambassadors, be it in executive or legislative branches, let alone diplomatic work. These were people that were in good graces of one administration or another or contributed to an election campaign financially. They were rewarded by ambassador posts. This is how it happens in the US. This does not mean, however, that this approach, coupled with violations of international law, should be applied elsewhere.
Washington conceals its disdain for the decades-old international legal framework behind the opaque notion of a rules-based world order and imposes it everywhere, including in regional and international affairs. This fully applies to the call by Mike Pence on the UN Security Council to withdraw the mandate from Venezuela’s permanent representative, as well as to the prospect of the US putting forward a resolution recognising the legitimacy of this country’s alternative government and its representative.
There were new developments lately regarding this situation. In particular, the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States, a prominent structure in the Western hemisphere, decided to accept the appointment of a permanent representative designated by Venezuela’s National Assembly. This is nothing short of an attempt to legitimise the dual rule in Venezuela. The fallout from this is not just hypothetical, but real, since it establishes the duality of power in a sovereign country. All the prerequisites are created for a major internal standoff in this country. Instead of promoting a settlement and building bridges between the political sides, they are doing just the opposite. The sides are being separated only to be pitted against one another so as to make it impossible to settle this conflict by political or diplomatic means.
In addition to this, having placed on the agenda the question of the status of Venezuelan government’s official representatives, the US delegation ignored all legal arguments of other countries that are members of the Organisation of American States. In particular, this related to the fact that the Permanent Council is not entitled to determine the powers of delegations, and questions of this kind cannot be decided by a simple majority. Instead, they must be reviewed by the General Assembly of the Organisation of American States, to say the least. Therefore, the decision taken by the Permanent Council directly contradicts the organisation’s statutory documents, undermines it and is detrimental to the status of this structure. But who cares when the stakes are so high?
We call on our partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to think about the fallout from this precedent and how it will affect the future work of the Organisation of American States. I want to ask our foreign partners: What will happen if the US tries to further promote the approach of recognising a representative of an impostor as tested within the Organisation of American States? Who will be targeted after Venezuela?
In this connection, I would like to remind you that there is no such notion as collective recognition of governments and their powers in international law. This is a sovereign right of every country. Only the head of state, head of government and foreign minister are entitled to appoint official representatives abroad. We firmly oppose all attempts by a number of countries to question the powers of the Venezuelan delegation within various frameworks, and remain committed to fending off any such attempts moving forward. The ongoing developments are merely an attempt to revert human development to a primitive state.
Regarding humanitarian aid to Venezuela, there are no objective reasons for imposing it on Caracas. There are no hostilities taking place in the country, there were no natural disasters or epidemic outbreaks. Once again, let me point out that the best way to help the people of Venezuela is to lift the illegal unilateral sanctions that target primarily the people of Venezuela. This is what Washington is after, going to great lengths in order to make sure that every Venezuelan suffers and shapes his or her political position accordingly. Washington tested these tactics in many regions of the world.
For example, efforts to block the access of regional and local authorities to financial resources constitute a serious challenge for the people, while no one is questioning the legitimacy of these resources. Just think about it: the cost of humanitarian aid Washington seeks to impose on Venezuela is in the tens of millions of dollars, while the overall effect of sanctions, according to Venezuela, is estimated at over 110 billion dollars. Just give them their money back, lift the sanctions and the country will be back on track. Even a small portion of this enormous amount would have helped deal with the shortage of medicine and other essential goods in Venezuela, and help launch the needed economic reforms. Let me reiterate what we have been saying all along: if the package of measures that is currently used in Venezuela were applied to any so-called developed Western country, let alone developing ones, the targeted country would collapse.
The use by Washington of restrictive measures and threats against countries that work with official Caracas, in particular Cuba, which has been suffering from a US blockade for more than 50 years, is extremely cynical. By the way, by failing to abide by the UN General Assembly resolution urging to end the embargo against Cuba is yet another example of the US showing disdain for UN resolutions.
As for Russia, we stand for strict compliance with norms and principles of international law in all aspects related to a settlement in Venezuela, against ratcheting up tension and imposing outside rule on a sovereign country.
So, the Russians are not going away. They are going to stand with Venezuela. They are fighting the hybrid war launched by the U.S. on every front.
“Acting like criminal gang, fostering a civil war, violating all international norms and UN resolutions”, are some of the colorations Russia paints on US hegemony.
A diplomatic gauntlet has been thrown down with this speech from Maria Z. and words from Lavrov yesterday.
The issue is drawn. Russia has decided to raise the bar for US action.And we know China is with Russia on this matter also.
Now the US has to hope for enough crazies to start some real serious insurgent-like actions. Bombings will be the likely thing. They will want some mass casualties, in the hundreds. That’s all they have left.
Brazil’s leader may chip in with some covert action against a lightly guarded military outpost, but it is unlikely the Brazilian military wants to mess with what may become a Cuban-Russian-Iranian-Chinese backed Maduro defense.
There really is no way for the US to back out of this any time soon. They have bungled the regime change.
They may hope for a sniper shot to kill Maduro as solace. After their successes in Donbass killing Motorola, Givi and Zakharchenko, they will be incentivized to try something against the man they hate in Caracas.
Expect Abrams and Bolton and Pence and Pompeo to authorize CIA, Mossad and UK assets to go to work to make the blood flow and possibly to decapitate the President of a sovereign state. They reject his legitimacy and feel no compunction about the prohibitions in international and US laws.
Larchmonter: I fear you are correct in you assessment of Western intentions. But you can bet the farm that Russian (and Chinese) intelligence services have their ears to the ground. I can’t see the Anglo-Zionists getting away with this.
“… you can bet the farm that Russian (and Chinese) intelligence services have their ears to the ground …”
Sure they do. But then, what? How will this actually prevent “… the Anglo-Zionists getting away with this …”? The AngloZionist Empire is (still) fully in charge of the $$$ printing presses, and they have a myriad well-tested insidious ways to destabilise & “turn” just about any smaller government they please. Just look how the political scenery across South America has radically changed over the last couple of years… Hardly “by itself”, one would say.
The idiotic tweets and other incoherent loud noise emanating from Washington D.C. appear to be a mere smoke screen for something far more sinister. “Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.” Here is a well known French-Syrian analyst’s view: https://www.voltairenet.org/article205782.html
Anonymous:
Yes, but, the AngloZionist Empire has been loosing a few of late. The old formula is not working anymore.
As for the printing presses, the world is de-dollarising and setting up alternative payment systems. In 10 years all that will be left for the US is a massive dollar debt that nobody wants to touch with a bargepole. The first sniff of a default and the dollar crashes.
The world is moving on leaving the US behind.
“… the dollar crashes …”
Yes, I am sure it will – eventually. It is just that nobody has a slightest clue when…
Recall, for instance, the big real estate crash of ~2008, when all kinds of sleazy speculators had a heyday stampeding sheeple into buying (their) gold, telling how “the dollar will collapse in a matter of months … days”, that a massive “run on the banks” was “imminent”, that there would be nothing left to eat so better stock up on dry food (which they were selling), … and God knows what other nonsense… Hmm, come to think … there had been an even worse crash in 1929, and the world & dollar still did not end… (And the multiple Jehovah Witnesses’ predictions of the “World’s End” did not materialise either … albeit a football-stadium-sized meteor may still do that job instead of God any time now…)
But what you are saying is absolutely true, the dollar will crash one sunny day. In the meantime, I (even though, unfortunately, am now living in the U.S.) am not losing any sleep over the prospect.
The dollar will never crash, but its value will slowly drop, so slow that no one will notice. Instead people’s purchasing power will decrease, they will be able to afford less things, like tooth care, cars, alone time to heal the wounds of work. They will wake in the mornings sooner in life with more pain, taking longer each day to remove the cobwebs of daily life. The efficiency of the human being in America will drop, and all of it so slowly that no one will ever notice or care, it will all seem so natural and a part of daily life, it will go unnoticed until a random lone wolve(s) snap out, and randomly start killing their own heard.
Yes, exactly! You nailed it. That is why someone commented, that we all are just like boiling frogs: the temperature is slowly and steadily raised – and before we even know it – we are cooked!
The increase of the costs of living which you are mentioning is already quite noticeable here in the States. In your local supermarket even from month to month – ten cents more this, forty cents more that … appears “affordable”, you may grumble a little but you do not complain (to whom?), you say “c’est la vie” – and keep shopping… (As for other stuff … let’s not even talk about that… The Chinese workers are already demanding higher wages, and so the U.S. “one dollar” stores are getting smaller and smaller… While just thinking about your rent makes your blood pressure go higher and higher as well…)
The Zionazis thought that they had achieved a victory, and offered up a nice mitzvah to their psychopathic ‘God’ when they murdered the leader of Hezbollah al-Mussawi, along with his family. Hard cheese ‘Gods on Earth’-you got Nasrallah instead.
Fourth paragraph has a spelling error…article says US Security Council but should read: UN Security Council…
The eschatology followed by the US includes the necessity of destruction of the UN and an establishment of a new world peace structure centred on Jerusalem. The ecumenical council seeks the same.
All paths are turned towards the same end.
Armageddon is a spiritual way-post for the US and her controlling entities. The US is a tool therefore. Its actions are nonsensical only to those who don’t understand that the US is a vehicle to bring about the glorious end.
Wow! Getting damn close to a declaration of war as Russia is certainly accusing the Outlaw US Empire of waging war against Venezuela and warning all and sundry that the Empire will wage similar war on them if they don’t join together and resist.
MZ is pure class. It’s a good thing israel’s trump regime has nobody that can even approach her professionalism. Compare MZ with this (Removed language,MOD):
Good One: Sarah Sanders Says Lawmakers Too Dumb to Understand Trump Tax Returns
https://sputniknews.com/business/201904141074126969-wh-says-lawmakers-not-smart/
“Speaking to Fox News, Trump appointee Sanders remarked that members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate “weren’t smart enough” to sift through the president’s business deals, including the many Trump bankruptcies, foreclosures and other well-documented commercial failures.”
But, vot, Sanders may be an (expletives deleted)but she is, I would say, correct here. US politicians are imbeciles, ignorant, brainwashed, aggressive but obedient to their pay-masters. AIPAC likes it like that.
Secretive meeting on US ‘military option’ in Venezuela reveals key figures of invasion push – report
https://www.rt.com/news/456499-venezuela-invasion-secret-meeting/
“The roundtable was held on April 10, yet its check-list was misleadingly dated as April 20. The fact the meeting had actually taken place was confirmed to Blumenthal by its participants, whom he has reached for comment. They were not very eager to talk, though.
“They were extremely nervous that somebody in the media knew about the existence of this event. It was a very high-level meeting with basically the main people in Washington involved in making the sausage of Trump’s Venezuela policy and they wanted to keep it as private as possible,” Blumenthal told RT on Sunday. “It really does show that military options are being seriously considered at this point, after all other mechanisms that Trump has put into play seem to have failed.”
The list of participants is surely impressive – the roundtable has brought together former and incumbent military and civil officials from the US and South America, representatives of USAID and Organization of American States (OAS) as well as analysts from various think tanks. Several figureheads ‘appointed’ by the self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido were also in attendance.”
See also:
US Military Attack on Venezuela Mulled by Top Trump Advisors and Latin American Officials at Private DC Meeting
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/04/13/us-military-attack-venezuela-trump-csis-invasion/
“We will continue to do everything we can to prevent the dangerous scenarios that we witnessed in a number of countries from taking place in Venezuela.”
“Just give them their money back, lift the sanctions and the country will be back on track.”
Well said. Well said.
What we are seeing is that Russia is now consistentently opposing US unilateralism and exceptionalism whereever it rears its big ugly head.
Washington had grown accustomed to having its own way, without having to consider what other countries think, but things have changed, or is in the process of changing.
Russia, under Vladimir Putin, is telling the Americans that those days are over, and they must stop yearning for them, because they arent coming back.
Washington will no longer be allowed to ride roughshod over international law without opposition.
Moscow, observing long established international rules, will now oppose Washington, politely, but firmly, whenever the US overreaches itself.
The Uni-polar ambitions of the US have seemingly collided head on with the harsh multi-polar geo-political reality driven by Vlad.
Welcome to the real world.
Selah
Amen! Zakharova rocks. USA just monks.
religious psychopathics wet dreamers of ‘end time fantasy” on both sides who call themselves ‘catholics’ or ‘muslims’ falsely, will not go in peace ,they want to drag the whole humanity into more blood shed ,so they can be sitting next to their respective ”god”….sickos don’t drink their ,”we vs them” koolaide…have a nice day guys.,we live in interesting times indeed.
Could not have been set better.
Let’s keep in mind, that irrespective of my admiration for the amazing Maria Zakharova, she is still a diplomat.
“and other acts of this kind are all reminiscent of gang warfare rather than what professional politicians and diplomats normally do.”
When this is the diplomatic language, then what do we think is the honest language behind close doors?
I cannot remember such harsh words spoken publically in the international circuits, apart from some quotes of psychopatic idiots, who can be found abundantly among politicians in the UK and USA.
The whole international law is under attack, from the usual actors. It was refined after WW2 to prevent this mass slaughter from happening again.
That leaves only one conclusion, I’m afraid.
Cheers, Rob
I hate to pour cold water over the red embers of “imminent nuclear holocaust, for sure, no doubt about it”.
However, the psychos of the present hegemony understand that they face a world of four civilizations that do not want the end of the world, just yet. And the consequences are very clear. Whatever ideology or religion that drives the Empire to take mankind to the brink is really a dogma of Power and Control. They need a world to rule. Blowing it up gets them nothing. Losing power is better than losing the dominion forever or having to share the dominion in a transition to a new era.
Though the West may be disassembling apace, and though it certainly is led by godless freaks whose Liberalism defies Nature as well as God and Human Wisdom, the sociopaths we hear from are nowhere near “the button”, the codes and switches to launch that apocalypse.
Thus, there is no sure path to a guaranteed finish for the Hegemon and its global Empire. It won’t be in a one hour exchange of thermonuclear weapons.
More likely, just as any addict or self-destructive person usually has a slow glide to termination, or at least, the end to its normal functioning life, the Hegemon has passed its shelf life and useful date. It has to strong-arm its vassals for almost every issue. Its lists of sanctions are massive. Nearly every country on Earth is on a list of some sort with punishments, fines, restrictions, prohibitions and limitations on its “sovereignty” because the Master of the Universe, the USA, attempts to rule the planet as its plantation.
It no longer can get the vassals to shed blood for its machinations. Terrorists have to be recruited, paid, trained, armed and “led” on their missions to bring “democracy” to the Resistors.
Complete fascism, total gangsterism, absolute criminality are the standards of the USA. See its current wars which never end.
But the two big nations of Russia and China say no more. It ends here, in your backyard, in defiance of your bogus Monroe Doctrine. They stand with Resistors Cuba and Iran. They defy the Hegemon.
Does the US Southern Command want a war that might bring hundreds of thousands of Che Guevaras, Fidel Castros, Joaquin Villalobos, and decades of vengeance in the hearts and minds of millions of Latinos who suffered American domination?
Can Trump afford a war only “W” could promote?
Will the Pentagon want to be bled in South and Central America (for the war will go continental and all US servicemen will have to be restricted to citadel bases)?
The decades have passed, the rhetoric remains, but the consequences are reversed. The US will have regime change if it starts this war with Venezuela. The consequences are all negative for the Hegemon.
Russia and China understand “the end of Empires”. The US is facing its first “ending”. It will be of its own making.
Good commentary, Larchmonter. Especially that “the war will go continental”. Very true, I think. And there won’t be one.
There won’t be any wars from the US at all, not for many decades perhaps – the other side of its total downfall and its inevitable renewal, on rather more modest terms – and then perhaps not at all if the world is better organized by then, and no wars are necessary or possible.
I also quite like the scenarios from other commenters that the “collapse” of the dollar will be a long, slow decline with life in the US getting poorer and poorer. That would be manageable. Gradual fall, gradual renewal.
Whether the US has earned such mercy from its karma, is another matter.
Larchmonter, my friend, you wrote a tour de force of the not so far future. The Empire is indeed falling and I agree, it will not go out in a blaze of ‘glory’, a Gotterdämmerung the likes of which The World can not fathom, it will be, hopefully and from the looks of it, a long and ever increasing slide in to inconsequential babbling of total unimportance. The telltale signs are already there for any who wish to look, to not only look but see.
The lines have been drawn. Syria will continue to catch hell simply because certain neighbors of that bedeviled country can deliver local ‘hell’. However, it is obvious the promulgators of that hideous and immensely costly in human terms war have lost, and having lost are now almost a laughing stock, albeit how bitter, amongst those who truly know what happened and how The Empire was defeated by a very small but dedicated group of soldiers, airmen and sailors.
As we promised ‘them’ in early 2014 if they dared to come for us, if the Empire goes for Venezuela may God help their souls because the citizens of that country will have no mercy on the Empire, nor will the massive numbers of willing swords who will come running to help Venezuela fight The Empire.
To quote a line from Incident On Simonka, Sarjant Annya Dmitrovna, slightly changed for Venezuela:
“Know this, Marine. We will fight you, if needs be we will fight you alone and to the death. You may take this country but what you will get is a smoking ruin where we will fight you for every house, every cottage, every wall, every back alley, every window, every hill, every ditch and every dacha garden. You will be safe nowhere. Venezuela will be your grave, Marine, you and all of your comrades, it will make Stalingrad look like a kindergarten tea party.”
Auslander
I hate to pour cold water over the red embers of “imminent nuclear holocaust, for sure, no doubt about it”. However, the psychos of the present hegemony understand that they face a world of four civilizations that do not want the end of the world, just yet.
You don’t think that these dumb losers in the White House and their satanic bosses are dumb and evil enough to trigger the nuclear war by accident/arrogance/mistake?
If something like Pence becomes Fuhrer the deliberate instigation of the End Times through nuclear war is a very real prospect.
MM
With all due respect, I don’t think we need Pence to be Fuhrer to risk nuclear annihilation…MAGA is already doing a very fine job of risking the survival of humanity.
One look at the doomsday clock should leave no doubt in any of our minds that we live in extremely dangerous times. Personally, I think that as Trump has become more emboldened and reckless in office, the risk has become comparable to a perpetual Cuban missile situation, except that now the tinderboxes are on numerous global fronts.
I judge Trump not just on his own extraordinary incompetence in foreign affairs but also the in the astonishing array of bloodthirsty and inept swamp creatures he has brought into his fold. The likes of Pompeo, Bolton, Pence, and Abrams are all certifiable lunatics and yet with his approval, they call most of the shots. Add to this mix the likes of Haspel and it is a miracle we have not already all gone up in smoke.
What I find totally dumbfounding is that the likes of Greg Hunter and many other moronic commentators spin is that Trump is playing actually 4D chess, is way ahead of the game, has a grand plan to drain the swamp, and that everything is going to turn out fine…yeah right!!!
Regards from across the ditch
Col
Disclaimer…if Hitlery had got her foot in the door of the big old house, odds on we would already all be dead.
Yes, Col-I suspect that Trump would destroy humanity accidentally, or as a pawn manipulated by the raving, omnicidal, psychopaths like Pompeo and Bolton, and the Democrat Zionazis and Sabbat Goyim. But Pence et al, I believe, would do it deliberately, to bring on the End Times. That, in my opinion, is the difference between them, but they are all Evil to their marrow.
MM
Point taken!
Of course the obscenely psychopathic trio of Pence, Pompeo and Bolton are self-proclaimed Evangelical Christians…come to think of it… Abrams is too…goodness me, do you think maybe there is a pattern emerging here?
Scary thought indeed…perhaps these lunatics really do strive to be central figures in their anticipated rapture.
One thing I have no doubt about whatsoever is that regardless of denomination, religious fundamentalism is a very dangerous beast. If you have this sort of thinking entrenched in the agenda of the most powerful and reckless hegemon in global history, then it becomes a very real recipe for disaster.
Cheers
Col
Abrams is a Jew, Col, of the worst type, needless to say. He was married to Rachel Decter, now dead, a Zionazi of quite considerable hatred towards the Palestinians, whose children she vilified in one quite deranged (but not for a Zionazi) hate rant as ‘devils’ spawn’. It’s quite a read. Hell hath no fury like a woman long marinated in Zionazi hatred of the goyim. A fitting mate for Elliott, however, methinks.
Well hello Larchmonter445,
You are definitely right, but the point exactly is that *you* have a sound mind. There is however an increasing amount of people behind the wheel that are either incompetent, plainly stupid, or owned by people behind the scenes that don’t know how gun powder smells. Or all of them.
(this last one is a reason that sometimes the thought sniffs through my mind, that the first retaliating rockets should land on Tel Aviv and the City of London.)
True, there is a stiff protocol to get to the button, with good reasons. However, there have been more occasions than we know that we have been just *so* close. So, it’s not like he earth switch in your home that will definitely always work. It is for a reason that the commander in chief is the president, and not a general.
Remember the US Navy and the RF Navy opposed to each other for the coast of Syria, after a false flag chemical attack? It was under Obama, and Putin made some master chess moves. In the meantime, mutiny had broken out US Navy servicemen, who didn’t want to ‘be the air force of Al Quaida’. Obama did a cleansing of his military afterwards, while within all of his characteristics I’m sure he is very vain.
Maybe that’s the point of Maria Zakharova concerning diplomats: many nowadays they are not chosen for
proven experience, but having the right wallet or licking the right boot.
There have been several conversations between the highest generals of the US and RF forces, Joseph Dunford and Valeri Gerasimov, and I think they have at moments preserved us for the worst. Now, I don’t think those conversations have been friendly, but I also think also that military men on this level understand each other. Then follows my thought: have we put the line of decisions on the right level, when others are yelling on Twitter?
My point is, that I don’t trust fully the protocol.
To illustrate my point, I’m not a politician neither a military man (though I have done military service), I’m an industrial engineer.
If only people knew how often I have received the most ridiculous project proposals on my desk, on which I really thought ‘to what kind of school have you been?’ and they came from experienced, university based colleagues. Really, just ignoring the basic laws of Isaac Newton from centuries ago, whose basic laws are in teaching at the beginning of physics lessons on high school.
You know why? Because they wanted so badly that it ‘will work anyway’. They. wanted. it. so. badly. They were relying on some mysterious ‘hope forces’, that last time I checked are not known in physics.
Now, this is about the thing that I’m worried about. Some day, somehow, a vain politician will bully himself in such a position that he cannot go back anymore.
In my personal examples, one time a colleague was on the verge of throwing a stapler to my head out of anger that his lovely (but outright idiot and dangerous idea) was not honored. We’re all human. You are right that cooler heads should prevail, but I’m sorry that I don’t rely completely on that.
Cheers, Rob
Indeed fine reasoning. Unfortunately I think the likes of Bolton and Pompeo are not susceptible to rational though
and I am afraid that there are more like them too close to the levers of power. That said I am praying for an angel or at least a spectre (Bob Marley’s ghost) to appear to them for a proper comeuppance.
Larchmonter:
“The US will have regime change if it starts this war with Venezuela.”
How do you envision regime change in the wake of a war with Ven.coming about?
What other “regime’ is there for the USA to change to other than the breaking off of states or regions, a la USSR?
Are you thinking that the resistance to such a war would be so decisive that government in the USA would break down? I wish it would, but I cannot *visualize* how this would actually happen. Because so many terrible things are already happening and there is no sign of them on the American street. People continue to drive their commutes (which they already hate), go shopping for food or whatever, plan their holidays . . .
Very few people even think about voting and doing their civic duty even now. So, if they decided to stop doing it, hardly anyone would notice.
the only concrete thing I can think of is that there are a lot of Latinos and Chicanos now in the USA, and they might feel solidarity with Venezuelans and cause some kind of a ruckus. OTOH, I reckon they mostly get their news from the MSM, so where will they hear about anything?
The only think i can think of that would impact Americans would be if major entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare (i.e., programs for the middle class, not the poor and indigent) were to disappear for lack of funding and if basic infrastructure such as electricity and water disappeared. Or, when large volumes of body bags start to arrive at airports where they cannot be hidden. Even so, I don’t see any; of this really bringing about “regime change.” The inertia is huge. The country is huge. Very difficuilt to turn this battleship. It can drift along for years and years under its own momentum/inertia of movement before friction finally slows it down to a halt.
Katherine
The Centurions of the Republic who worked against the Clinton Crime Family in the last election will end electoral progression, suspend the Constitution (what is left of it) and remove the lunatics to the new federal “St. Elizabeth’s Mental Hospital” (where the crazed enemies of the State are housed).
There is a class of Intel, Military and Geopolitical operatives who have no other ideology other than seeing the US as their corporate responsibility. They are always ready to act to preserve the Republic.
They would never allow the nuclear exchange to progress to actuality. Their expertise is in taking down governments. They would take down whatever administration, rogue military or Intel group pursued this nuclear armageddon.
If you really study Trump’s Power, he has never been allowed more than about 25% of the real powers of the Presidency.
The limited Power flows from a limited President to his NSC director Bolton. That makes Bolton 25% of what some prior NSC directors have been.
Pence may want the Rapture to come about, but as President, he will have even less Power than Trump.
The Centurions see representative government as too weak to compete with Russia and China and to maintain the US hegemonic advantages. They would welcome a crisis to intervene, stabilize the situation, and run military and geopolitical affairs in a rational way. A State of Emergency would produce a leadership that would change the paradigm of present global “order”.
The present crazies get to continue their senseless wars, and get to run hybrid wars and color revolutions.But they will not be allowed to launch nukes. The Centurions are ready for action. Their expertise is in consequences. They have no delusions about the consequences of real SuperPower warfare.
Larchmonter:
So you are positing a coup from within the Deep State if Trump & Cia decide to launch nukes anywhere, including Venezuela? To prevent nuclear Armageddon?
It seems as though this would in a sense be just a little tapdance to the side, since we have in a sense already been “taken over” by the crazy Bolton and Pompeo. So someone else stepping in to take over the reins might be barely noticed, if, say, Trump continues as the figurehead.
If he were forcefully removed—I think that would create civil turmoil.
Probably not what any coup planners want.
Katherine
Americans don’t care about how many countries their empire bombs, regimes changes, or loots around the world.
Americans have much more important things to care about like … social media, reality TV shows, celebrity idol worship, and of course, competing to see who can fawn over US war criminal military in the most pathetic fashion.
Change is not coming from within the USA.
Fundamental change will only come from a Wall Street implosion and economic collapse or a catastrophic American military defeat with body bags of American war criminals streaming home by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
Let’s hope so, but I see a couple of flies in the ointment. Most dangerously there is the literally insane ‘religious’ connection, of Dominionist ‘Christian Zionist’ monsters like Pence and its type, who are intent on bringing about the End Times, so that they can be ‘Raptured’ while the rest of humanity burns, with Talmudist Zionazi fanatics, both true believers driven by hate, like the ‘settler’ Judaic Taliban and the religious groups who support them, and secular fascistic Jews like Satan-yahoo. Satan-yahoo and his ilk have no limitations on their aggression, because driven by the most insanely vicious hatred of the Other, particularly anyone, as Jabotinsky vowed, who ‘gets in our way’, and who they will happily murder without remorse, young or old, man or woman. These are really, really, innately, Evil, genocidal and morally deranged creatures. The so-called ‘Christians'(a true joke on us all)want the world destroyed, and Satan-yahoo and his ilk would happily enact a global ‘Samson Option’ of a nuclear winter, to ‘punish a Jew-hating world’ (we all hate them, apparently, in these psychopaths’ lurid pathopsychological projection)as one Zionazi worthy described the prospect some years ago. We are not dealing with human beings here, really, just emanations from the diabolical regions, whether they be a real place or somewhere deep within twisted psyches.
Always a pleasure to read or watch MZ. Comparing her to Western politicos you realize how Western Civilization is collapsing into total degeneracy and insanity.
Since we know this is all about oil, I wonder why Maria has not mentioned anything about it? Why not openly accusse US of attempting to take over a full control over Venezuela’s oil like what they did in Iraq and Libya?
I think that would look more efficient than talking about international law. International law and order pretty much doesn’ t exist for decades now, due to aggressive US actions against sovereign nations.
I see that the Chinese have been candid concerning that bladder of piss, wind and pure Evil, Pompeo, abusing China for standing by Venezuela. ‘He’s lost his mind’, the Ambassador to Chile allegedly observed. Sorry, Ambassador-Pompeo never had a ‘mind’ in the way that rational people describe it. He is pure robopathic, mindless, hatred and blood-lust in action, ie the perfect representative of the Evil machine of death and destruction that is Thanatopolis DC.
I recommend MZ and everybody to read Voltairenet https://www.voltairenet.org/article205987.html . Here you get everything straight, as always.
Follow the money, unfortunately its like that. Depressing the world goes toward less and less humanity and force is law.
As crazy and shameless as the Anglozios again behave in this case of regime change, its a tough battle for the Russians and Chinese to defend and might actually do them a great disservice and cost them a lot of sympathies eventually. To any ubiased observer there simply is no denying the criminal and incompetent nature of the Chavez / Maduro regime, the complete impoverishment and return to 4th world status of Venezuela, the worn out ideology stupidly adhered to even in the face of its complete defeat by sheer reality. Betting on a deadbeat regime believing its own silly propaganda and denying reality as it is today, wont work in the long run and will only disappoint those sincerely hoping for an end to the smoke and mirrors policies of the empire.
It will take a political genius to steer those socialist lemming marches off the beaten path to their beloved cliffs of economic reality, which no amount of pomp and propaganda will ever change. What Russia and China achieved for their countries, measured reform into prosperous dignified political and economic heavyweights seems to be impossible for the impotent salsa countries here in latin america. Just one parasitic junta replacing the older one with whatever trendy ideology du jour can be used to lure the masses, seemingly the curse of this region.
It is irrelevant how “incompetent” Maduro & Co. are.
They are Venezuelan. They were elected by Venezuelans under Ven. law.
Our govt. is equally incompetent.
More so. Our elections certainly sub-par.
Studies of various kinds have pronounced that the USA is not a democracy but instead is an oligarghy.
As though we hadn’t managed to figure that out for ourselves. . . .
So, will you invite Maduro to “regime-change” Washington/Trump and impose “democracy”?
Ah, I thought not.
Katherine
thats not the point. we all agree the empire has no legal basis in what it does and should be held accountable for its criminal actions. but that doesnt matter in our time of might is right. this is a PR war first and foremost. and the empire has a pretty good hand in this case -however badly they play it- the Maduro regime being what it is. and please lets not pretend the Chavistas are anything but an ideologically dressed up gang of criminals who are holding the country hostage and robbing it blind just as the others will do when its their turn.
Utter garbage. Under the Chavistas poverty has been massively reduced in Venezuela, despite vicious and escalating US sanctions, begun by that phony scum-bag, House Negro Number One, Obama. That is something that outrages Rightwing thugs wherever it occurs, because of their deep and abiding hatred of others. In Venezuela as in many places, the class hatreds follow racial lines, with the White ‘elite’ despising the mestizo majority with a fury worthy of any European reactionary, of this century or any other.
Why Venezuela has not been Defeated
https://petras.lahaine.org/why-venezuela-has-not-been-defeated/
“Why Venezuela has Succeeded?
Despite the two decades of pressure by the world’s biggest imperial power, which bears responsibility for the world’s highest rate of inflation, and despite the illegal seizure of billions of dollars of Venezuelan assets, the people remain loyal , in defense of their government. The reasons are clear and forthright.
The Venezuelan majority has a history of poverty, marginalization and repression, including the bloody massacre of thousands of protestors in 1989. Millions lived in shanty towns, excluded from higher education and health facilities. The US provided arms and advisers to buttress the politicians who now form the greater part of the US opposition to President Maduro. The US- oligarch alliance extracted billions of dollars from contracts from the oil industry.
Remembrance of this reactionary legacy is one powerful reason why the vast majority of Venezuelans oppose US intervention in support of the puppet opposition.
The second reason for the defeat of the US is the long-term large-scale military support of the Chavez-Maduro governments .Former President Chavez instilled a powerful sense of nationalist loyalty among the military which resists and opposes US efforts to subvert the soldiers.
The popular roots of Presidents Chavez and Maduro resonate with the masses who hate the opposition elites which despise the so-called ‘deplorables’. Chavez and Maduro installed dignity and respect among the poor.
The Venezuelans government defeated the US-backed coups and lockouts, these victories encouraged the belief that the popular government could resist and defeat the US-oligarch opposition. Victories strengthened confidence in the will of the people.
Under Chavez over two million modern houses were built for the shanty town dwellers; over two dozen universities and educational centers were built for the poor, all free of charge. Public hospitals and clinics were built in poor neighborhoods as well as public supermarkets which supplied low-cost food and other necessities which sustain living standards despite subsequent shortages.
Chavez led the formation of the Socialist Party which mobilized and gave voice to the mass of the poor and facilitated representation. Local collectives organized to confront corruption, bureaucracy and criminality. Together with popular militias, the community councils ensured security against CIA fomented terror and destruction.
Land reform and the nationalization of some mines and factories secured peasant and workers support – even if they were divided by sectarian leaders.
Conclusion
The cumulative socio-economic benefits consolidate support for the Venezuelan leadership despite the hardships the US induces in recent times. The mass of the people have gained a new life and have a lot to lose if the US- oligarchy returns to power. A successful US coup will likely massacre tens of thousands of popular supporters of the government. The bourgeoisie will take its revenge on those many who have ruled and benefited at the expense of the rich.
There are important lessons to be learned from the long-term large-scale successful resistance of the Venezuelan government’s experience but also its limitations.
Venezuela, early on, secured the loyalty of the army. That’s why the Chavista government has endured over 30 years while the Chilean government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in three years.
The Venezuelan government retained mass electoral support because of the deep socio-economic changes that entrenched mass support in contrast to the center-left regimes in Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador which won three elections but were defeated by their right-wing opponents, including electoral partners, with a downturn in the economy, and the flight of middle-class voters and parties.
Venezuela’s linkages with allies in Russia, China and Cuba provided ‘life jackets’ of economic and military support in the face of US interventions, something the center-left governments failed to pursue.
Venezuela built regional alliances with nearly half of South America, weakening US attempts to form a regional or US invasion force.
Despite their strategic successes the Venezuelan government has committed several costly mistakes which increased vulnerability.
Failure to diversify their exports, markets and banking system. The US sanctions exploited these weaknesses.
Failure to carry out monetary reforms to reverse or contain hyperinflation.
Failure to maintain the hydro-electoral system and secure it from sabotage.
Failure to invest in and recruit new technical professional to upgrade the operation of the financial system and prosecute financial corruption in the banking system. Venezuela worked with high officials who engaged in financial and real estate transactions of a dubious nature.
The failure to recruit and train working class and professional political cadres capable of oversight over management.
Venezuela has taken steps to rectify these errors but the question is whether they have time and place to realize radical reforms?”
Shlomo will not get Venezuela.
In Solidarity with Venezuela: 60 Countries Create Group for the Defense of Peace and the Principles of the UN Charter
https://www.globalresearch.ca/60-countries-create-group-defense-peace-principles-un-charter/5674355
“This Friday, from the headquarters of the United Nations (UN), a group of 60 member states advocated for the Defense of Peace and the Principles of the UN Charter. The name of the coalition is still in discussion, however, they work together to develop a plan of action in rejection of the aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and any other sovereign people.
The Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, insisted that the support of these countries towards Venezuela is only in the framework of the defense of the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations and highlighted the execution of seven concrete actions will be developing over these weeks, in favor of peace and self-determination of peoples.
During the meeting the representatives of the 60 States discussed the media propaganda operation that has been built on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, and how the United Nations has not been summoned in this process of supposed humanitarian assistance that takes place outside the framework of international law.”
Venezuela Walks from OAS as Body Violates Charter in Support of US-Backed Coup
https://www.mintpressnews.com/venezuela-walks-oas-body-violates-charter-support-us-backed-coup/257234/
When an organization becomes too corrupt to reform, it’s better to leave.
Amazing Feat in Propaganda’: US Support for Guaido Rooted in Thirst for Oil
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201904161074167343-us-support-guaido-for-oil/
”This was a policy that dates back to the early part of the 20th century, and really what’s happening now is that they want that oil back. When [Hugo] Chavez became president [of Venezuela], when he was elected in 1998, he began to use Venezuela’s oil for the Venezuelan people, which is quite the anathema to the United States. And then he began to nationalize the oil and kick out some big oil companies like ExxonMobil; those companies [now] want that oil back. It’s very clear that that’s what happening. In fact, John Bolton, the [US] national security adviser, has already been meeting with US companies to talk about which companies are going to get which interests in Venezuelan oil,” Kovalik explained.”
Decent interview providing info on Venezuela’s past and the current zionazi-gay economic/propaganda war.
How about an initiative to discuss the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
If Russia has now drawn a line in the sand, can we infer that the hypersonic missiles are now fully operational? And has Kinzhal been test launched from a TU – 160 yet?
Any conjecture on how L445’s Centurions would react to the non-nuclear destruction of a carrier battle group?
I do not believe Pence and his ilk are Christians of any persuasion, just the fakery of a professional politician. The Nazarene was quite clear that billionaires and mass murderers do not get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
That is exactly the fantacies these “Bible Belters” have and there lies the rub. Ignorabe breeds fabrications and nobody is more ignorant than a Bible/ Koran/ Talmud thumper. There`s no “direct knowledge” happening in a True Believer.
The American Empire and Trump Regime in particular are openly boasting (or admitting) that it is imposing the USA’s colonial Monroe Doctrine on Latin America.
In fact, America ultimately seeks not only to recolonize Latin American but also much of the world behind America’s lies about promoting “freedom or democracy” or its Orwellian “Rules-Based International Order.”
In practice, this means American turns sovereign nations into USA-controlled banana republics, vassal nations, or failed states, which are open for exploitation by America’s predatory “free market capitalism” in general and its Washington Consensus poison in particular.
This is the gist of America’s Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine as advanced by the Pentagon and US National Security Strategy:
Making the world safe for the American Empire and its free market rapists.
… after reading all interesting comments …
Psychopaths are a menace, but those who are throwing around tons of depleted uranium are quiet another, and I lack an appropriate word.
The fact is we are in a nuclear war and have been since at least 2001 … radiation cannot be seen and not be heard, most of the time … and most of the time it is working away, taking all forms of life. This radiation cannot be undone and most of it has a half life of 4.7 billion years … which is massive overkill because humans do have a “use by date” in the best of conditions … perhaps a few million years ahead at most.
I do not see any real profound human intelligence in action at all.
Talking and singing songs is not real action … these “moron things” are laughing at us.
Strategic civilian commando actions are the solution, but human beings are a herd animal, timid law abiding animal, so in this respect we are doomed … so far that is.
Plus millions of people do not realise we have a most serious problem and many are awaiting the Saviour.