US v. Venezuela: A Clash of Civilizations
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Venezuelan social democracy for all its citizens is polar opposite US rule of, by, and for its privileged few alone - governance in both nations world’s apart.
Trump regime coup d’etat rumblings are more intense than any time since Bush/Cheney’s aborted April 2002 two-day attempt to replace Hugo Chavez with fascist tyranny - the fate of Venezuelan sovereignty again up for grabs.
There’s good news and bad. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said the country’s armed forces won’t accept an illegitimate president imposed by “dark forces,” stressing:
“The Homeland’s soldiers don’t accept a president imposed by obscure interests or self-proclaimed unlawfully,” adding Venezuela’s military will defend the nations sovereignty and constitutional law.
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said “only Venezuelans have the right to determine their future. Destructive external intervention is unacceptable,” adding:
“The swearing in of a ‘president in charge of Venezuelan’ opposition, and its immediate recognition in that capacity by the US and several regional states, aims to increase the division in Venezuela, incite violence and essentially seeks to destabilize the internal political situation and further escalate conflict.”
“(D)uality of powers, intentional and, obviously well thought out, is a direct path to chaos and the destruction of the foundations of the Venezuelan State.”
China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing supports the efforts of the Government of Venezuela to maintain its sovereignty, independence and stability.”
“We oppose foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela, and we hope that the international community will also follow this principle.”
Remarks like the above fall on deaf ears in Washington because they lack teeth. Bolivia, Cuba, Iran, Mexico, Nicaragua, South Africa, Spain, Syria, and Turkey also expressed support for Maduro and Venezuelan sovereignty - free from foreign interference.
US major media support tyranny over Bolivarian social democracy, falsely claiming Maduro’s May reelection lacked legitimacy, citing nonexistent vote-rigging.
The NYT cited an unnamed US official “warn(ing) that if Mr. Maduro used force against opponents, the United States could impose new sanctions, and did not rule out the use of military force to stop him,” the Times adding:
“The American recognition of Mr. Guido as Venezuela’s legitimate president is far more than a symbolic measure, and presents new complications for Mr. Maduro.”
Separately, the Times lied, claiming Maduro “centralized power in the executive branch, tamping down on dissent through violence and intimidation…jail(ing) prominent members of the opposition” - only lawbreakers supporting sedition, the Times failed to explain.
The neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post called for Trump to “act with caution to support (Venezuelans) in their quest to remove Maduro’s boot from their neck,” adding:
“Conditions in Venezuela have become utterly untenable” - failing to explain it’s because of unrelenting US political, economic, financial and sanctions war.
Like other US major media, WaPo lied, claiming Maduro was sworn in to a new six-year term after winning fraudulent elections. Saying “(d)emocracy in Venezuela has ceased to exist” is a bald-faced Big Lie.
All of the above remarks and more like them support the Trump regime’s coup d’etat agenda. Wall Street Journal editors asked “(w)ill this be the moment that Venezuelans finally reclaim their democracy?
Hardly by a US-orchestrated coup d’etat attempt, aiming to oust democratically elected Maduro, supported by most Venezuelans.
The Journal reinvented history saying “after 17 more years of judicial usurpation, arresting opponents, smothering the free press and failed socialist economic policies, Venezuelans are desperate” - for the US to keep its dirty hands off the country, its editors failed to explain.
These are troubling times in Venezuela and elsewhere because of US rage to dominate all other countries, force its favored strategy.
Numerous US interventions in Latin and Central American followed the 1823 Monroe Doctrine - Venezuela the latest example.
Cuba, Nicaragua, and perhaps Bolivia are on its target list for their sovereign independence. Will Trump be remembered as a coup d’etat president - along with all his other high crimes?
Will the UN and most world community member states support tyranny over democratic rule, or do nothing to intervene against Washington’s rampaging?
Is full-blown tyranny in America a hair’s breadth away? Is this what things have sunk to in the country.
It’s no longer the one I grew up in, never democratic, now a police state unsafe and unfit to live in - run by a bipartisan criminal class!
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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
