Venezuelans Believe Trump Bluffing About Wanting Maduro Toppled?
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
The neocon/CIA house organ Washington Post is frantic over the failure of Trump regime hardliners to oust Nicolas Maduro, nothing thrown at him working.
According to WaPo, the coup plot “has had virtually no effect on its intended target. There have been no significant defections of Venezuelan generals, and no sign of any move against Maduro, who has remained entrenched in the presidential palace even as opposition demonstrations have sputtered.”
“Sputtered” indeed! They achieved nothing, showing ineptness by Trump regime coup plotters and imposter Guaido, reviled by most Venezuelans -supported by the nation’s privileged class and business interests.
Ordinary Venezuelans want Bolivarian social democracy preserved and protected. Whatever anti-government demonstrations were held earlier, it’s unclear if anything of even modest significance is going on now.
According to popular resistance co-director Kevin Zeese, he and other members of his group visited Venezuela for days, saying:
“One of our delegates…was trying to go to these protests, and couldn’t find them. They seem like no one is showing up for these protests,” adding:
“…Guaido is loosing power as he embraces the United States, as he calls for US troops, as he is tied to this terrorism and the electrical grid attack. (O)n the other side, Maduro is gaining power.”
Guaido’s call for mass protests days earlier fell flat, at best dwindling numbers showing up, not thousands as establishment media falsely claim.
Street violence when occurs is US orchestrated, thugs recruited to serve its interests – losing hearts and minds of the vast majority of Venezuelans, not winning them over.
Most ordinary people in the country know US dirty hands are behind the coup plot they oppose. So does Venezuela’s military, the key factor behind failed Trump regime tactics to gain another imperial trophy, along with control over the world’s largest oil reserves and the nation’s other valued resources.
According to WaPo, the Trump regime’s coup plot failed so far because “Venezuelans know (his regime) is bluffing. There is no credible US military option in Venezuela, and very little chance that Trump would actually try one,” adding:
There’s no “surefire means to bring about the regime change upon which it has staked considerable political capital and prestige.”
Propaganda war works at home, not against targeted nations. Time and again, illegal sanctions fail to shift public opinion against ruling authorities – just the opposite occurring.
When nations are attacked by foreign powers militarily or by other means, most people back their government, their only protection against hostile dark forces.
It was true in Iraq under Saddam, in Libya under Gaddafi, in Syria under Assad, in Cuba, Iran, and now in Venezuela.
WaPo turned truth on its head, claiming Maduro “respond(ed) to popular demonstrations (sic) by dispatching gangs of paramilitary thugs and other special forces to beat or shoot protesters in poor neighborhoods. He arrests and tortures any military officer suspected of disloyalty.”
The above claims are bald-faced Big Lies, part of failed propaganda war. Here’s more:
Maduro “stands by as Venezuelans suffer life-threatening shortages of food, water and electricity (sic) — including power outages that last for days (sic).”
“More than 3 million people have fled the country (sic), and most of those who remain are focused on staying alive (sic).
“Some, imbibing the regime’s relentless propaganda (sic), blame the opposition or Washington for the empty stores (sic) and countrywide blackouts (sic).”
All of the above are bald-faced Big Lies or gross distortions. In response to repeated US-orchestrated attacks on the country’s electricity grid, Maduro announced the following on Sunday:
“(W)e have been working on this serious situation. The coup went directly to the electric power generation system and affected its transmission capacity throughout the country.”
"I have approved a 30-day plan to go to a regime of rational distribution of electricity, which allows balancing the generation process, secure transmission, service, and consumption throughout the country.”
“We are investigating infiltration elements within the electric supply that may be serving as moles to cause damage from the inside.”
On Sunday, Trump regime point man for toppling Maduro Elliott Abrams appeared desperate. The coup plot to topple Maduro hasn’t gone as planned.
Swift regime change failed, Abrams now saying “we are in this at a very early point” – polar opposite Trump regime thinking in January.
“How does it end,” Abrams asked? “It ends when the pressures have mounted to a sufficient degree to convince Maduro and his clique that their time is up, or convince the Venezuelan military that they have got to force Maduro out.”
What hasn’t happened so far isn’t likely ahead – short of sending in the marines. With lunatics in charge of Trump’s geopolitical agenda, what’s highly unlikely is possible.
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