A Taste of Propaganda US Style
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
US information war rages against Venezuela.
A crescendo of Trump regime and supportive media propaganda accompanied Tuesday’s failed attempt to enlist Venezuelan military and public support to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
Since initiating the plot in January, Trump regime coup plotters have operated in a slapdash keystone cops manner, their tactics failing, including on Tuesday.
Their plot to eliminate Bolivarian social democracy is a flop, short of military intervention that’s possible but unlikely.
Pompeo again warned it could come, saying the US is “prepared to consider military action if that’s what it takes to restore the democracy in Venezuela (sic). The president’s been consistent and unambiguous about that, that the option to use military force is available if that’s what is ultimately called for (sic).”
Regional countries oppose it. So do EU ones. On Wednesday, Venezuela’s envoy to the bloc Claudia Salerno Caldera said Brussels already said (it’s) against it. They said it during the second contact group, and they were strong about it…They were not in favor or considering that war would help at all.”
Spokeswoman for EU political chief Federica Mogherini Maja Kocijancic earlier said the bloc believes “military intervention…must (be) avoid(ed),” adding:
“What is explicitly quite clear, from our point of view, is that we need a peaceful political and democratic and Venezuelan-owned resolution of this crisis. This obviously excludes the use of force.”
Time and again, Brussels says one thing, then bends to Washington’s will, key EU countries partnering in US wars of aggression. The bloc supports imposter Guaido.
A Tuesday White House statement turned truth on its head, saying: “The people of Venezuela took to the streets today to demand their freedom from the violent, authoritarian, and socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro (sic),” adding:
“President Donald J. Trump has been monitoring the situation minute-by-minute throughout the day” — when not watching Fox News, playing golf, or involved in other non-affairs of state.
He’s captive to disinformation fed him by Pompeo, Bolton, Abrams, and others, along with rubbish Fox News features, his favorite TV channel.
On Tuesday, Bolton lied claiming senior Maduro officials back Guaido, naming Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, Supreme Court Chief Justice Maikel Moreno, and presidential guard head Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala.
“They’re committed,” he falsely roared, adding: “They committed to support ousting Maduro (sic), and it’s time for them now, if the Cubans will let them do it (sic), to fulfill their commitments (sic).”
No evidence suggests high-ranking government or military officials support the coup to oust Maduro, just the opposite. Propaganda works by repeating Big Lies endlessly to get most people to believe them.
An earlier Rasmussen poll showed only 6% of Americans viewed champion of social democracy Hugo Chavez favorably. A January poll by the company showed 41% of US respondents said Washington should do more to encourage democracy in Venezuela (sic) — the hemisphere’s preeminent democratic state.
Propaganda works as intended, why it’s part of US strategy in dealings with other countries, notably ones targeted for regime change.
Last week, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called Bolton a “pathological liar…a threat to the region.” The same goes for Trump, Pompeo, Abrams, and most others in Washington.
Bolton lied claiming Rodriguez “acknowledged the presence of 20,000 ‘Cuban thugs’ in Venezuela.”
“Cuba does not have troops or military personnel in the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” Rodriguez stressed. It has doctors, other medical personnel and teachers, its leading exports along with good will.
On Wednesday at the Trump regime’s request, Sergey Lavrov and Pompeo spoke by phone. Russia’s Foreign Ministry explained the following:
“It was indicated that the continuation of (US) aggressive steps is fraught with the most serious consequences,” adding:
“Only the Venezuelan people have the right to determine their destiny, for which dialogue between all political forces in the country is needed, and for which the government has long called for. Destructive pressure from outside, especially force, has nothing to do with the democratic process.”
Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Pompeo’s claim about Moscow dissuading Maduro from fleeing Venezuela to Cuba “fake news,” adding: His Big Lie is more evidence of the failed “US-backed coup attempt.”
A Final Comment:
On Tuesday, the Trump regime’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an order, prohibiting US commercial aircraft from flying below 26,000 feet in Venezuelan airspace until further notice, citing “increasing political instability and tensions” — stoked by the US it failed to explain.
Perhaps the order is prelude to banning all commercial air traffic to Venezuela unless authorized by the State Department and FAA.
A Final Comment
The latest Trump regime coup tactic to oust Maduro failed. On Tuesday evening in a nationwide address, Maduro congratulated Venezuela’s military for “defeat(ing) this small group that intended to spread violence through putschist skirmishes.”
It’s just a matter of time before the next shoe drops, maybe by imposing a total embargo on the country, an act of war if the Trump regime goes this far.
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