Geen evolutie en ecolutie zonder revolutie!

Albert Einstein:

Twee dingen zijn oneindig: het universum en de menselijke domheid. Maar van het universum ben ik niet zeker.
Posts tonen met het label WOLA. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label WOLA. Alle posts tonen

vrijdag 21 december 2018

Mensenrechten- en milieuactivisten worden massaal vermoord in Brazilië en Colombia, waar het laatste land NAVO bases heeft.......

De Colombiaanse verzetsbeweging FARC heeft een paar jaar geleden een vredesverdrag gesloten met de Colombiaanse regering en sinds die tijd is het geweld flink toegenomen tegen de arme bevolking en tegen de ngo's die zich inzetten voor deze vooral oorspronkelijke bevolking, hetzij op het gebied van mensenrechten bescherming dan wel milieubescherming...... (deze 2 zaken zijn verbonden, zoals je begrijpt)

Eric Draitser is de schrijver van het hieronder opgenomen artikel dat gisteren werd gepubliceerd op CounterPunch. Hij meldt o.a. de moord afgelopen week op Edwin Dagua Ipia, de gouverneur van de oorspronkelijke bevolking in de provincie ('departement') Cauca ten zuiden van de belangrijke stad Cali dat in de aangrenzende provincie Valle del Cauca ligt........

Kaart van Cauca
De kaart van de Colombiaanse provincie Cauca met hoofdstad Popayán

Het afgelopen jaar werden in Colombia zelfs meer dan 100 moorden gepleegd op mensenrechtenadvocaten en op leden van de gemarginaliseerde en onderdrukte bevolkingsgroepen, zo meldt het Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).......

Het aantal moorden is toegenomen sinds Ivan Duque (Márquez) werd gekozen tot president, een  fascist en vriend van de voormalige rechtse corrupte president en opperploert Álvaro Uribe.......

Er is nu zelfs sprake van misdaden tegen de menselijkheid, aldus WOLA...... Duque laat deze doodseskaders gewoon hun gang gaan, niet zelden worden deze eskaders dan ook bevolkt door militairen en politiepersoneel......

Het is al een schande van formaat dat de NAVO een land als Colombia toelaat tot het bondgenootschap, dezelfde NAVO waarvan Nederland één van de leden is, de NAVO een terreurorganisatie die nu al minstens 2 militaire bases heeft in Colombia..... De aansluiting van Colombia bij de NAVO werd onder Uribe voor elkaar gebokst, ten overvloede het teken dat de NAVO schijt heeft aan mensenrechtenschendingen, terwijl deze terreurorganisatie daar wel mee schermt als het bijvoorbeeld om Rusland of Iran gaat...... 

De NAVO heeft overigens nooit moeite gehad met dictaturen, zie de voormalige dictaturen Spanje, Griekenland en Turkije (de laatste is intussen weer een dictatuur), alle 3 dictaturen die lid waren van de NAVO, terwijl de NAVO top, als de VS (haar feitelijke baas), de vuilbek niet kon en kan houden over het 'bevorderen van democratie in de wereld....' ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

De hoogste tijd voor de FARC de wapens weer op te nemen, zeker gezien het feit dat de rechtse doodseskaders gewoon doorgaan met hun moorden, verkrachtingen en martelingen van socialisten, mensenrechtenactivisten, milieuactivisten en advocaten die zich inzetten voor het arme deel van de Colombiaanse volk, waaronder zich zoals gezegd ook de oorspronkelijke bevolking bevindt........ Doodseskaders die de deze bevolkingsgroepen ronduit terroriseren.....

Draitser richt zich in zijn artikel ook op de fascistische president Bolsonaro en wat zijn wanbeleid betekent voor het arme deel van de Braziliaanse bevolking........ Zo is het hek nu helemaal van de dam wat betreft de oorspronkelijke volkeren in het Amazone gebied, hun gronden worden met veel geweld overgenomen, zonder dat de verantwoordelijke psychopaten bang hoeven te zijn voor het ingrijpen van de overheid..... 

Bolsonaro liet al weten dat wat hem betreft het Amazonewoud mag worden gebulldozerd....... Je begrijpt dat e.e.a. gepaard zal gaan met een groot aantal moorden, zoals dat nu eigenlijk al praktijk is..... Het werkelijke aantal doden zal wel nooit bekend worden, daar de gebieden waar het over gaat zo uitgestrekt zijn en er amper telefoonverkeer mogelijk is anders dan met satelliettelefoons....

Beste bezoeker, lees het volgende artikel van Eric Daitser en geeft het ajb door:

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Killing Fields of Colombia and Brazil


In Colombia, the last week has been a particularly bloody one for indigenous leaders. In the state of Cauca, just south of the major city of Calí, the indigenous governor Edwin Dagua Ipia was assassinated after having received numerous death threats from paramilitaries in the area. He is one of at least ten indigenous people murdered in the country just in the last week.

In fact, according to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), more than 100 assassinations of human rights advocates and members of marginalized and oppressed communities have taken place just in 2018. There is a sense among observers that the killings have escalated since the election of Ivan Duque, the young right wing president and close ally of former president and international criminal Alvaro Uribe.

In a damning report published by the Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), the human rights NGO noted that 35% of the social leaders and activists murdered belonged to ethnic minorities (19% Afro-Colombian, 15% indigenous), a staggering figure which demonstrates just how targeted those groups are, considering the proportion of violence with which they’re targeted versus their total share of the national population. Moreover, CODHES indicated that:
Approximately 50 percent of the victims were authorities or representatives of ethnic territories and organizations. Another 36 percent were community or union leaders, 8 percent land rights claimants and 6 percent are members of the family of women social leaders. The worst affected regions in order of total numbers were Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Antioquia, Chocó, and Córdoba.”
The continued killings have drawn the attention of the United Nations, though little has been done to stem the tide, particularly as the government of Ivan Duque has slithered into power. Luis Guillermo Pérez Casas, a lawyer with the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (CCAJAR), explained in a report jointly submitted with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, that the killings, and total impunity due to government inaction, rise to the level of crimes against humanity.

He told the Guardian that:
The murders of our colleagues must stop…We hope the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC will warn the Colombian government that if the impunity persists, they will be forced to open an investigation into those responsible, at the highest level… The peace process is failing because there’s a lack of implementation of the agreement. The process that was agreed upon has not been delivered.”
International human rights organizations have also raised the alarm about the violence and assassinations in Colombia. In early 2018, after the killing of 10 human rights activists, Amnesty International issued a report which called on the Colombian government to protect at-risk activists, especially those in remote parts of the country, who face extraordinary risks from paramilitaries and contract killers. Similarly, Human Rights Watch called on the Colombian governmentto do more to protect activists after a very bloody 2016. Sadly, the situation has only gotten worse.

Brazil’s War on Activists

The election of the fascist Jair Bolsonaro, the man who as candidate promised to open up the Amazon to mining and other environmentally harmful, extractive industries, has sent a very dangerous signal to indigenous and peasant groups in Brazil that the impunity that has long existed will only expand further while their rights are curtailed.
Bolsonaro represents a unique threat to activists from all spheres, especially indigenous and peasant communities who stand in the way of the right wing goal of stripping land rights from those groups in the interests of corporate investors and international financiers. And unlike the somewhat more muted (though no less destructive) rhetoric from the traditional neoliberal right, Bolsonaro and his far right, fascist politics will likely escalate the war on oppressed groups from simmering to white hot.
Speaking of the potential impact of Bolsonaro on the already ghastly violence against activists, Brazil-based independent journalist Michael Fox explained to me that:
It’s still very early to tell the effect his election has had. Violence spiked in the lead-up to the second round vote, but there has been a lull since the election while people regroup The recent killing of [two] Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) leaders was very likely a sign of things to come.”
Fox’s analysis, which is no doubt accurate, reflects the general sense of anxiety about the future, especially in the wake of the most recent assassinations which he referenced.
On the night of December 8, 2018 two leaders of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) were assassinated in the state of Paraiba in the Northeast of the country. Their deaths, in an area regarded as a traditional stronghold of the left, have left many asking just what the future holds for activists in Brazil.

The assassinations are certainly not the first high-profile killings of social movement activists in Brazil in recent years, though they have received some added attention given that they come on the heels of the Bolsonaro victory – a worrying signal for some that the horrendous violence is only going to escalate.
To put it in perspective, the Brazilian religious advocacy group Comissão Pastoral da Terra – CPT (Pastoral Land Commission) released a thorough report which found that:
The brutal reality of Brazil’s rural areas has become increasingly harsher since 2013, back when 34 murders were recorded. In four years, these figures have increased by 105%, reaching 70 executions in 2017 –  a 15% increase over 2016.
It should be noted that, of course, this shocking rise in volence cannot be attributed to Bolsonaro himself, but rather to deeper structural and economic factors, in particular corproate privatization. As CPT coordinator Ruben Siqueira explained to Brasil de Fato:

We see this as a new land rush, in which land is a means of production, a store of value, like wood, water, ore, agribusiness, expansion of land-based businesses. This has to do with the financial crisis that started in 2008 with the speculative bubble. Since then, the hegemonic capitalist sector, which is financial capital, is looking for backing, something that can support this international speculative game
Indeed, it seems the escalation of violence against indigenous and peasant activists is directly connected to the growing need for consolidation of land and natural resources resulting from the econmoic downturn of the last ten years. However, it is perhaps even more precise to pinpoint the drop in commodity prices, most conspicuously the collapse of oil prices in 2014-2015, as one of the primary drivers of this renewed push for capital accumulation.
And though this process was jumpstarted during the tenure of Dilma Rousseff and the Workers’ Party (PT), it has picked up momentum under the right wing Temer government. And it’s about to go into overdrivwe with Bolsonaro taking power. For it is Bolsonaro himself who has promised to open up as much protected land as possible to big business.

Indeed, within days of Bolsonaro’s victory, reports began to circulate that indigenous lands were being invaded and/or seized, with all the attendant violence one would expect. As Beto Marubo, a native leader from the Javari Valley Indigenous Land in Brazil’s far west, explainedto National Geographic, “Many brothers tell us there are invasions, people entering the territories with no regard for the rules and no fear of the authorities.” This final point is critical because while impunity has long been the norm in Brazil, the utter disregard for any semblance of governmental or law enforcement oversight will likely increase underr Bolsoanro who has all but given his blessing to displacement and violence against these groups.

Ultimately, the struggle is about land rights, especially for the indigenous peoples who have fought for official demarcation of lands for decades.
Dinamã Tuxá, Coordinator of Brazil’s Association of Indigenous Peoples (APIB) summed it up neatly:
This scenario is totally heartbreaking. Bolsonaro has made clear and consistent declarations about ending the titling of indigenous lands, which are completely opposed to our rights. His racist, homophobic, misogynist, fascist discourse shows how Brazilian politics will be in the coming years… His discourse gives those who live around indigenous lands the right to practice violence without any sort of accountability. Those who invade indigenous lands and kill our people will be esteemed. He represents an institutionalization of genocide in Brazil.
Of course it must be remembered that Afro-Brazilian communities will be targeted as well. Marielle Franco’s assassination in March 2018 was in many ways a watershed moment for the social movements in the country. However, rather than driving positive political change on the national level, Brazil has instead elected a fascist leader who praises the extrajudicial methods historically employed by the dictatorship and its enablers in the country.  It remains to be seen how the left can regroup, respond, and reestablish its political power.
One thing is certain in both Brazil and Colombia: the far right is in power, and that means the war on social movements and activists is only just getting started.
And while it may seem bleak as we read about seemingly daily atrocities visited upon the indigenous and poor of these (and other Latin American) countries, we cannot simply despair. Instead, we must organize and mobilize. For those of us in the Global North, that means doing what we can to be in solidarity with these activists, helping to build power internationally.
Duque, Bolsonaro, and the far right of Latin America may have ascended to power, but they are not omnipotent.
Now is the time for organizing; the time for struggle; the time for resistance.

More articles by: ERIC DRAITSER
===================================
Zie ook:
'Bolivia: staatsgreep maakt eind aan succesvol presidentschap Evo Morales' (zie ook de links in dat bericht naar meer artikelen over Bolivia, waar de VS in feite een coup heeft georganiseerd....)

'Amazonegebied in brand, Black Rock verdient daar vele miljoenen mee'

'Braziliaanse natuurbeschermer vermoord door illegale houthakkers'

'Berta Cáceres voorvechter gelijke rechten en milieuactivist vermoord in Honduras'

'Hondurese activiste ontvoerd en vermoord (alweer...), met instemming van de VS.........'

'Hillary Clinton mede verantwoordelijk voor moord op Berta Cáceres...........'

'Door VS gesteunde bewind in Honduras heeft de staat van beleg afgekondigd........'

'9 'ex-FARC rebellen' vermoord door leger Colombia: FARC-EP opgericht'

'Koenders heeft vrijlating gegijzelde Spoorloos makers in Colombia bewerkstelligt....... AUW!!!'

'Paus Franciscus in Colombia om vrede te prediken......'

'People of Brazil: my sincere condolences with 'your' fascistic, psychopathic president Bolsonaro......'

'VS commando's vechten o.a. in Midden- en Zuid-Amerika, aldus het VS ministerie van oorlog.........'

'NAVO gaat VS helpen in Zuid-Amerika terreur uit te oefenen: Colombia lid van de NAVO.........'

'NAVO naar Zuid-Amerika? Weg met dit agressieve, terroristische bondgenootschap, NU!!!'

'Bolton geeft toe dat de VS een fascistisch beleid voert......'

'Bolsonaro, de fascistische nieuwe president van Brazilië, werd volgens Avaaz en fake news brengers als de NYT gekozen door manipulatie via WhatsApp'

'Bolsonaro wint Braziliaanse verkiezingen >> weer zijn we een fascistisch geleid land 'rijker...''

'Braziliaanse verkiezingen: democratie versus (neo-) fascisme, ook een groot gevaar in Europa'

'Katy Sherriff (Radio1 correspondent Z-Amerika) brandt socialistische partij Brazilië af......'

Wat betreft VS terreur in Bolivia:
'NOS met fake news over Bolivia'

'Bolivianen eisen hun president terug'

'Bolivia: staatsgreep maakt eind aan succesvol presidentschap Evo Morales'

'Bolivia: bewijs op tafel dat VS aanstuurt op een coup''




Bolivia’s Remarkable Socialist Success Story: President Evo Morales has transformed his country’s economy with an unapologetically left-wing agenda.

dinsdag 22 mei 2018

Venezolaanse verkiezingen door Maduro gewonnen, ondanks economische oorlogvoering VS

In het hieronder opgenomen artikel aandacht voor alle (gewelddadige) bemoeienis van de VS met Midden- en Zuid-Amerika. Naar aanleiding van de verkiezingen in Venezuela is de aandacht met name op dit land gericht, een land dat zich probeert te verdedigen tegen de economische oorlogvoering van de VS, een oorlogvoering die al jaren duurt en die m.n. het volk keihard treft....

Zo bevoorraden de VS winkelketens voor levensmiddelen al een paar jaar hun winkels niet meer, dit onder druk van de VS regering (ingevoerd onder 'vredesduif' Obama....). Medicijnen, veelal afkomstig uit de VS zijn bijna niet meer te krijgen, intussen zijn door het gebrek aan medicijnen zelfs al mensen overleden.... Je had het al begrepen: dit alles om zo een ontevreden bevolking te kweken, die zich tegen de democratisch gekozen regering zou moeten keren.....

Lullig voor de VS, maar ook nu weer heeft de Venezolaanse bevolking gekozen voor een regering onder Maduro, de huidige linkse president..... Niet zo vreemd, zeker als je ziet wat Chavez, de voorganger van Maduro en Maduro zelf hebben gedaan voor de grote arme onderlaag: fatsoenlijke huisvesting, scholing en medische zorg, plus een inkomen waar men mee rond kan komen (al is dat door de eerder genoemde VS bemoeienis een stuk moeilijker geworden)....  

Voornoemde zaken, belangenbehartiging voor het arme deel van Venezuela, zijn uiteraard een doorn in het oog van de VS, dat zelf kampt met een enorm grote arme onderlaag, die men maar al te graag onder de duim houdt...... Een zaak waarvan het beest Trump een sport heeft gemaakt, met veel leugens wist hij deze mensen te paaien om op hem te stemmen, maar zoals verwacht: van zijn beloften komt niet veel terecht, iets dat hij aan anderen wijt en niet aan het smerige onmenselijke neoliberale beleid dat hij voert.....

Afgelopen zondag, werden er verkiezingen gehouden in Venezuela, reden voor de reguliere media in ons land in dit geval Radio1 en de nationale radiozenders van Duitsland en Groot-Brittannië (plus uiteraard de andere westerse massamedia) de laatste weken Venezuela en dan met name president Maduro te demoniseren..... De oppositie boycot deze verkiezingen, daar men van tevoren wist dat Maduro deze verkiezingen zou winnen..... 

Volgens deze nationale radiozenders zouden deze verkiezingen niet eerlijk zijn verlopen >> dat de VN deze verkiezingen controleerde noemde men er maar niet bij....... (daarover zo meer)

OP WDR liet men een correspondent horen die sprak 'met een willekeurige passant'. Deze liet weten dat er geen voedsel meer te krijgen is en er een groot gebrek is aan medicijnen, dit is de schuld van falend overheidsbeleid, aldus de vrouwelijke passant....... De schuld van de overheid of de schuld van de VS dat al jaren een economische oorlog voert tegen Venezuela, zoals hierboven beschreven....???

Na de verkiezingen is het helemaal bal, de reguliere westerse media schreeuwen het uit met o.a. de volgende woorden: -de verkiezingen zijn frauduleus verlopen, -de verkiezingen zijn gestolen door Maduro, de verkiezingen waren een schijnvertoning en -stemmen zouden zijn gekocht*. Wat al deze media er niet bijvertellen, is het feit dat VN waarnemers deze verkiezingen hebben gecontroleerd en tot op heden heb ik geen verklaring gehoord van internationale waarnemers dat de verkiezingen frauduleus zijn verlopen, zoals dot ook in 2012 niet het geval was, terwijl ook toen veel organen van diezelfde media stelden dat de verkiezingen waren gestoken..... 

Marc Bessems van de ´onafhankelijke´ NOS kon natuurlijk niet achterblijven en bakte ze donkerbruin, volgens hem stond de uitslag al maanden geleden vast..... Ja Bessems, het was maanden geleden al bekend dat Maduro zou winnen, vandaar ook dat oppositiepartijen de verkiezingen hebben geboycot, oppositiepartijen die willens en wetens geweld op de straten van Venezuela brachten (zo hebben ze zelfs tegenstanders met benzine overgoten en in brand gestoken, dit nog naast het in brand steken van een geboortekliniek, terwijl daar moeders met baby's aanwezig waren....)..... 

´Helaas´ voor deze figuren was en is het grootste deel van de bevolking arm en ja voor die groep heeft Maduro, zoals zijn voorganger Chavez, heel veel gedaan nadat ze een enorm lange tijd werden vertrapt door uiterst rechtse regeringen en dictaturen, kijk dat vergeet het overgrote deel van deze mensen niet!

Bessems durft als vele anderen te stellen dat het Maduro regime een wanbeleid heeft gevoerd en dat dit de oorzaak is van de economische ellende in Venezuela...... Bessems moet weten dat de VS hiervoor één op één verantwoordelijk is, ongelofelijk dat deze ´onafhankelijke journalist´ dergelijke leugens keer op keer durft te herhalen, sterker nog: hij durft in feite zelfs te stellen dat de regering Maduro liegt als het de VS beschuldigt van economische oorlogvoering tegen Venezuela.......... (wedden dat Bessems goed bevriend is met welgestelde, anti-socialistische, anti-Maduro Venezolanen??)

Lees het volgende uitgebreide (prima) artikel over de smerige rol die de VS de laatste decennia in Midden- en Zuid-Amerika heeft 'gespeeld', bewerkt door Roger Harris, dat eerder op Consortium News werd gepubliceerd:

The US is Definitely Meddling in the Venezuelan Election

May 19, 2018 at 8:09 pm
Written by Consortium News

(CN Op-ed) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is the frontrunner in the presidential elections that will take place on Sunday. If past pronouncements and practice by the United States are any indication, every effort will be made to oust an avowed socialist from the the U.S. “backyard.”

This week, the leftist president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, tweeted: “Before the elections they (U.S. and allies) will carry out violent actions supported by the media and after the elections they will try a military invasion with Armed Forces from neighboring countries.”

U.S. antipathy towards the Venezuelan government started with the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998, followed by a brief and unsuccessful U.S.-backed coup in 2002. Chávez made the magnanimous, but politically imprudent, gesture of pardoning the golpistas, who are still trying to achieve by extra-parliamentary means what they have been unable to realize democratically. After Chávez died in 2013, the Venezuelans elected Maduro to carry on what has become known as the Bolivarian Revolution.

The Phantom Menace

In 2015 then U.S. President Barack Obama declared “a national emergency” because of a supposed Venezuelan threat to the U.S. The U.S. has military bases to the west of Venezuela in Colombia and to the east in the Dutch colonial islands. The Fourth Fleet patrols Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. Yet somehow in the twisted logic of imperialism, the phantom of Venezuela posed a menacing, “extraordinary threat” to the U.S.

Each year Obama renewed and deepened sanctions against Venezuela under the National Emergencies Act. Taking no chances that his successor might not be sufficiently hostile to Venezuela, Obama prematurely renewed the sanctions his last year in office even though the sanctions would not have expired until two months into Trump’s tenure.

The fear was that presumptive U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might try to normalize U.S. -Venezuelan relations to negotiate an oil deal between Venezuela and his former employer Exxon. As it turns out, the Democrats need not have feared Trump going soft on regime change.

Last August, Donald Trump publicly raised the “military option” to overthrow Venezuela’s democratically-elected government. Then David Smilde of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) counseled for regime change, not by military means, but by “deepening the current sanctions” to “save Venezuela.” The somewhat liberal, inside-the-beltway NGO argued against a direct military invasion because the Venezuelan military would resist, not because such an act is the gravest violation of international law.

Meanwhile the sanctions have taken a punishing toll on the Venezuelan people, even causing death. Sanctions are designed, in Richard Nixon’s blood-curdling words, to “make the economy scream” so that the people will abandon their democratically elected government for one vetted by the U.S.

                        
Maduro: Phony threat to the U.S.

In January, Trump’s first State of the Union address called for regime change of leftist governments in Latin America, boasting, “My government has imposed harsh sanctions on the communist and socialist dictatorships of Cuba and Venezuela.” Hearing these stirring words, both Democrats and Republicans burst out in thunderous applause.

Dictatorships,” as the term is wielded by the U.S. government and mainstream media, should be understood as countries that try to govern in the interests of their own peoples rather than privileging the dictates of the U.S. State Department and the prerogatives of international capital.

Attack of the Clones

In addition to summoning Venezuela’s sycophantic domestic opposition, who support sanctions against their own people, the U.S. has gone on the offensive using the regional Lima Group to destabilize Venezuela. The group was established last August in Lima, the capital of Peru, as a block to oppose Venezuela.

The eighth Summit of the Americas was held in Lima in April under the lofty slogan of “democratic governance against corruption.” Unfortunately for the imperialists, the president of the host country was unable to greet the other U.S. clones. A few days earlier he had been forced to resign because of corruption. Venezuelan President Maduro was barred from attending.

Along with Peru and the U.S. ’ ever faithful junior partner Canada, other members of the Lima Group are:
  • Mexico, a prime participant of the U.S. -sponsored War on Drugs, is plagued with drug cartel violence. The frontrunner for the July presidential election is left-of-center Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who is widely believed to have won the last two elections only to have them stolen from him. 
  • Panama’s government is a direct descendent of the one installed on a U.S. warship when the U.S. invaded Panama in 1989. Recall the triggering incident that unleashed U.S. bombs and 26,000 troops into Panama against a defense force of 3,000: a GI in civilian clothes was fatally shot running a military checkpoint and another GI and his wife were assaulted. What similarly grave affront to the global hegemon might precipitate a comparable military response for Venezuela? Panama imposed sanctions against Venezuela in a spat in April, accusing Venezuela of money laundering. Panama is a regional money laundering center for the illicit drug trade (some alleged through a Trump-owned hotel). 
  • Argentina elected Mauricio Macri president in 2015. He immediately sold the country out to the vulture funds and the IMF while imposing severe austerity measures on working people. The economy has tanked, reversing the gains of the previous left-leaning presidencies of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández. Military and diplomatic deference to the U.S. has become the order of the day. Macri has negotiated installation of two U.S. military bases in Argentina, first with Obama and now with Trump. 
  • Brazil deposed its left-leaning, democratically elected President Dilma Rousseff in a 2016 parliamentary coup. Her successor, the unelected Michel Temer, has imposed austerity measures and cooperated with the U.S. in joint military exercises along the Brazilian border with Venezuela. Temer suffers from single digit popularity ratings and is barred from running for public office due to a corruption conviction. Former left-leaning president “Lula” da Silva is the frontrunner in October’s presidential election but was imprisoned in April by Temer’s government. 
  • Chile was the victim of the U.S. -backed coup, which overthrew the elected left-leaning government of Salvador Allende in 1973. A reign of terror followed with the extreme rightwing government of Gen. Augusto Pinochet killing thousands. An economic and diplomatic destabilization campaign coordinated by Washington set the stage for the coup. The Chilean regime-change scenario could be the model for Venezuela. The rightwing opposition in Venezuela torched a maternity hospital with mothers and babies inside and even poured gasoline on suspected Chávez supporters, burning them alive. 
  • Colombia is the U.S. ’ closest ally in the region, the recipient of the most U.S. military aid, and the source of the greatest amount of illicit drugs afflicting the U.S. . The Colombian government has flaunted its recent peace accords with the FARC and continues to be a world leader with 7 million internally displaced persons and political assassinations of trade union leaders, human rights workers, and journalists. In cooperation with the U.S. , Colombia has been provocatively massing troops along its border with Venezuela. 
  • Costa Rica is a neoliberal state that has been a staunch silent partner of U.S. imperialism ever since it served as a base for the Contra war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. 
  • Guatemala is a major source of undocumented immigrants fleeing violence into the relative safety of the U.S. . Femicide is rampant as is criminal impunity, all legacies of the U.S. -backed dirty war of genocide from the 1960s through the ‘80s, which claimed some 200,000 Mayan lives. 
  • Honduras’ left-leaning President Zelaya was deposed in a U.S. -backed coup in 2009. In the aftermath of rightwing repression and domestic violence, Honduras earned the title of murder capital of the world. The current rightwing president was reelected last November in an election so blatantly fraudulent that even the Organization of American States (OAS) failed to endorse the results. 
  • Paraguay is the site of the first of the rightwing parliamentary coups in the region when left-leaning President Fernando Lugo was deposed in 2012.
Pinochet: Torturer and Murderer backed by U.S.

Such is the nature of the right-wing states allied against Venezuela in contemporary Latin America. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this right tide is the willingness of Brazil and Argentina to allow U.S. military installations in their border areas as well as conducting joint U.S. -led military exercises with contingents from Panama, Colombia and other countries.

Cuba, Bolivia, and Nicaragua are Venezuela’s few remaining regional allies, all of which have been subject to U.S. -backed regime-change schemes. Most recently, the Nicaraguan government undertook modest measures to increase workers’ and employers’ contributions but lower benefits. It led to violent demonstrations. Some sources hostile to the Ortega government labelled the protests as “made in the U.S. A.” In the face of such protests, the government rescinded the changes on April 23.

The Empire Strikes Back

In early April, the U.S. Southern Command conducted a series of military exercises, dubbed “Fused Response,” just 10 miles off the Venezuelan coast, simulating an invasion.

Later that month, Juan Cruz, Special Assistant to President Trump and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, was asked whether the U.S. government supports a military coup in Venezuela. Speaking for the White House and dripping with imperial arrogance, he responded affirmatively:

If you look at the history of Venezuela, there’s never been a seminal movement in Venezuela’s history, politics, that did not involve the military. And so it would be naïve for us to think that a solution in Venezuela wouldn’t in some fashion include a very strong nod – at a minimum – strong nod from the military, a whisper in the ear, a coaxing or a nudging, or something a lot stronger than that.”

Across the Atlantic on May 3, the European Parliament demanded Venezuela suspend presidential elections. Four days later, U.S. Vice President Pence called on the OAS to expel Venezuela. Adding injury to insult, the U.S. announced yet another round of sanctions. Then the next day, U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley joined the chorus calling on President Maduro to cancel the presidential election and resign.

Haley: End Venezuelan election. (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

Far more blatant and frightening is the Plan to Overthrow the Venezuelan Dictatorship – Masterstroke, dated February 23, 2018.Masterstroke was leaked on the website Voltairenet.org and picked up by Stella Calloni in the reliable and respected Resumen Latinoamericano.

Although Masterstroke is unverified, the contents as reported by Calloni are entirely consistent with U.S. policy and pronouncements:

The document signed by the head of the U.S. Southern Command demands making the Maduro government unsustainable by forcing him to give up, negotiate or escape. This Plan to end in very short terms the so-called ‘dictatorship’ of Venezuela calls for, ‘Increase internal instability to critical levels, intensifying the decapitalization of the country, the escape of foreign capital and the deterioration of the national currency, through the application of new inflationary measures that increase this deterioration.’”

That is, blame the Venezuelan government for the conditions imposed upon it by its enemies.

Masterstroke calls for, “Continuing to harden the condition within the (Venezuelan) Armed Forces to carry out a coup d’état, before the end of 2018, if this crisis does not cause the dictatorship to collapse or if the dictator (Maduro) does not decide to step aside.”

Failing an internal coup, Masterstroke plans an international military invasion: “Uniting Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Panama to contribute a good number of troops, make use of their geographic proximity…”

A New Hope

With the urging of the Pope and under the auspices of the government of the Dominican Republic, the Maduro government and elements of the opposition agreed to sit down to negotiate last January in the hopes of ending the cycle of violence and the deterioration of living conditions in Venezuela.

By early February they had come to a tentative agreement to hold elections. The Maduro government initially opposed a UN election observation team as a violation of national sovereignty, but then accepted it as a concession to the opposition. The opposition in turn would work to end the unilateral sanctions by the U.S. , Canada, and the EU, which are so severely crippling the daily life of ordinary Venezuelans. Two years of adroit diplomacy by the Maduro government with the less extreme elements of the opposition were bearing fruit.

The agreement had been crafted and a meeting was called for the government and the opposition to sign on. The government came to the final meeting, but not the opposition. The opposition as good clones of Washington had gotten a call from their handlers to bail.

In a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don’t scenario, the U.S. first accused Venezuela of not scheduling presidential elections. Then elections were scheduled, but too early for the U.S. . Then the date of the elections was moved to April and then extended to May. No matter what, the U.S. would not abide by any elections in Venezuela.Ipso factoelections are considered fraudulent by U.S. if the people might vote for the wrong candidate.

Mesa de la Unidad Democrática(MUD), the coalition of Venezuelan opposition groups allied with and partially funded by the U.S., are accordingly boycotting Sunday’s election and are putting pressure on Henri Falcón to withdraw his candidacy. Falcón is Maduro’s main competition in the election. MUD has already concluded that the election is fraudulent and are doing all they can to discourage voting.

CNBC, reflecting the Washington consensus, expects the U.S. to directly target the Venezuelan oil industry immediately after the election in what they describe as “a huge sucker punch to Maduro’s socialist administration, which is depending almost entirely on crude sales to try and decelerate a deepening economic crisis.”

Ever hopeful and always militant, Maduro launched the new Petro cryptocurrency and revalued the country’s traditional currency, the Bolivar, in March. The Petro is collateralized on Venezuela’s vast mineral resources: the largest petroleum reserves in the world and large reserves of gold and other precious metals. The U.S. immediately accused Venezuela of sinisterly trying to circumvent the sanctions…which is precisely the intent of the Petro and other economic reforms, some of which are promised for after the presidential election.

The Force Awakens

Latin America has been considered the U.S. empire’s proprietary backyard since the proclamation of the Monroe Document in 1823, reaffirmed by John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress in 1961, and asserted by today’s open military posturing by President Trump.

The so-called Pink Tide of left-leaning governments spearheaded by Venezuela in the early part of this century served as a counter-hegemonic force. By any objective estimation that force has been ebbing but can awaken.

Before Chávez, all of Latin America suffered under neoliberal regimes except Cuba. If Maduro is overthrown, a major obstacle to re-establishing this hemispheric wide neoliberalism would be gone.

The future of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution is pivotal to the future of the counter-hegemonic project, which is why it is the empire’s prime target in the Western Hemisphere. If the Venezuelan government falls, all Latin American progressive movements could suffer immensely: AMLO’s campaign in Mexico, the resistance in Honduras and Argentina, maybe the complete end of the peace accords in Colombia, a left alternative to Lenin Moreno in Ecuador, the Sandinista social programs in Nicaragua, the struggle for Lula’s presidency in Brazil, and even Morales and the indigenous movements in Bolivia.

Kissinger: Issue too important for democracy.

As U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger said in 1970: “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.”

Op-ed by Roger D. Harris / Republished with permission / Consortium News / Report a typo
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* Terwijl de VS zoals gezegd al een aantal jaren bezig is de bevolking tegen de socialistische regering op te zetten middels een economische oorlog, die zoals gewoonlijk de gewone bevolking het hardst treft....... Over het beïnvloeden van verkiezingen gesproken........ 

Op 18 juni 2018 kop veranderd: zag tot mijn schrik dat ik het woord 'door' per abuis 2 keer heb vermeld (doordat de koptekst in concept werd veranderd), mijn excuus.