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Venezuela Launches War Drill To Secure Power Grid
Venezuela Launches War Drill To Secure Power Grid
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced Wednseday that phase two of the country’s military exercises would begin as early as Friday.
Sputnik said local news reports show large-scale military exercises will start in 24 to 48 hours, will be used to secure the country’s power grids and water supply systems.
“This coming weekend, the military drills dubbed Ana Karina Rote are being resumed at their second stage,” Rodriguez was quoted on the state-run television on Wednseday. The first stage of the drills, dubbed Angostura, was held between February 10 and 15 to practice repelling an American invasion.
The news comes after Venezuela suffered a devastating blackout that left the country paralyzed. The crisis started on March 7 with a system failure at the Guri hydroelectric power plant, which produces 80% of the country’s power.
Earlier this week, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said two people had been detained on suspicion of attempted sabotage of the country’s power system, adding that Washington carried out the attack.
President Maduro said the blackout is an “electric war announced and directed by American imperialism.”
He said electrical systems were targeted by cyber attacks and “infiltrators.” He added that government forces restored power to “many parts” of the country on March 8, but was quickly knocked out again by a new wave of attacks. He noted that “one of the sources of generation that was working perfectly” had been sabotaged and accused “infiltrators of attacking the electric company from the inside.”
In the last 60 to 90 days, Venezuela has faced deep political turmoil. Juan Guaido was elected the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly in early January, which the Maduro government rejected recognizing since 2016.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
US officials offered my friend cash to take down Tehran’s power grid
US officials offered my friend cash to take down Tehran’s power grid
It took a country-wide power outage in Venezuela, whispers of a cyberattack, and smug tweets from US officials to make me suddenly recall the cloak-and-dagger story of a close Iranian-American friend nine years ago.
My friend, an engineer — who I will not name for obvious reasons and who I will call ‘Kourosh’ for the purpose of this article — revealed to me in 2010 that he was approached by two “State Department employees” who offered him $250,000 to “do something very simple” during his upcoming trip to Tehran.
Kourosh was freaking out because he didn’t know how these guys knew he was going to Iran in the first place, and how they knew he was “cash-strapped,” in the second.
He wasn’t a particularly political person, though he had participated in some DC protests in the aftermath of the hotly contested 2009 presidential elections. He was just one of thousands of Iranian-American engineers in the Washington-Maryland-Virginia technology belt looking to make a decent living.
Kourosh told the US officials that he was not interested, that if Iran needed to make changes, Iranians inside the country were the only ones who should do it.
I begged him to let me write this story, but he was very nervous and declined. Over the next year or two, I pushed some more and he gave me further information, but wouldn’t budge on its publication. Here’s what he revealed:
The State Department guys had since approached him a second time. They offered him further details about the job. They wanted him to disable Tehran’s power grid in exchange for the $250k. They needed someone with technical skills, but said the job was a simple one. He would have to go to a specific location in the Tehran area with a laptop or similar communication device and punch in a code.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
From Coup D’etats to Soft Power: Dissecting Washington’s Color Revolution Techniques
From Coup D’etats to Soft Power: Dissecting Washington’s Color Revolution Techniques
Over the last hundred years Washington has interfered in the internal affairs of at least 50 countries for a total of 130 individual cases. As for the last three decades, there have been more than 40 instances of such interference, including cases of elections meddling and fraud, coup d’etats and attempts to trigger armed conflicts.
As it’s been pointed out by a number of prominent statisticians, over the last hundred years Washington has interfered in the internal affairs of at least 50 countries for a total of 130 individual cases. As for the last three decades, there have been more than 40 instances of such interference, including cases of elections meddling and fraud, coup d’etats and attempts to trigger armed conflicts. To be more specific, the American alternative media site AlterNet managed to establish 80 instances of Western interference over the period from 1953 to the present day.
This basically means Washington won’t think twice when it sees an opportunity to bring a government down, imposing its will on other countries through all sorts of non-profit organizations and intelligence agencies with the latter acting with diplomatic immunity. These days, pretty much across the globe it’s a running joke that there will never be a coup d’etat in Washington as there’s no US embassy there.
However, there’s a lot of variables in one’s fomenting of public unrest that could eventually open the floodgates to a “color revolution.” It’s impossible to confront dissent through the use of brute force, as history has shown us on multiple occasions. Therefore, as the United States carries on targeting one government after another in a desperate bid to preserve its so-called primacy upon the global political stage, the hidden springs from whence comes another political trap are increasingly visible for those who study history.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
China Offers To Help Venezuela Restore Power As Maduro Accuses Trump, Guaido Of “Sabotage”
China Offers To Help Venezuela Restore Power As Maduro Accuses Trump, Guaido Of “Sabotage”
China offered on Wednesday to help Venezuela repair its power grid after the country was plunged into its worst blackout on record, now in its sixth day, reports Reuters.
With the power blackout in its sixth day, hospitals struggled to keep equipment running, food rotted in the tropical heat and exports from the country’s main oil terminal were shut down.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang said China had noted reports that the power grid had gone down due to a hacking attack.
“China is deeply concerned about this,” Lu said. –Reuters
“China hopes that the Venezuelan side can discover the reason for this issue as soon as possible and resume normal power supply and social order. China is willing to provide help and technical support to restore Venezuela’s power grid,” added Lu.
President Nicolas Maduro, who retains control of the country’s military and has the support of both Russia and China, has accused US President Donald Trump of cyber “sabotage.”
“The United States’ imperialist government ordered this attack,” Maduro said in a 35-minute televised address on Monday night accusing the White House of launching an imperialist “electromagnetic attack.”
“They came with a strategy of war of the kind that only these criminals – who have been to war and have destroyed the people of Iraq, of Libya, of Afghanistan and of Syria – think up,” Maduro added.
Maduro claimed that the Trump administration conducted the attack in coordination with “puppets and clowns” from the Venezuelan opposition in order to bring about a “a state of despair, of widespread want and of conflict” to justify a foreign invasion.
Caracas-based political analyst Dimitris Pantoulas tweeted on Tuesday that Maduro appeared “worried, anxious and absolutely desperate,” adding that it’s clear that the government is not in control of the situation.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Looters Pillage Venezuela Supermarkets As Crippling Blackout Hits Day Five
Looters Pillage Venezuela Supermarkets As Crippling Blackout Hits Day Five
Looting and violence are rapidly on the rise as Venezuela enters its fifth day without power across most of the country though some reports suggest as much as 30% of power has returned to parts of the capital city Caracas.
The UK Daily Mail has published a series of shocking photographs showing the aftermath of mobs looting supermarkets in Caracas as things turn desperate. The already politically unstable Latin American country was plunged into darkness after last Thursday night all but one of 23 statessuffered mass blackouts. Scene after looting in Caracas, via Reuters
As reports of approaching 20 or more deaths at hospitals attempting to operate with faulty back-up generators came in over the weekend, Reuters noted, “Electricity experts said that outage was most likely due to failures in the transmission system, and that the government lacks the equipment and staff to repair them.”
The scene of looting in Baruta, Caracas earlier today. Security forces arrived in large numbers and eventually gained control of the situation there. #Venezuela
Reuters further described “already-scarce food rotting in shops, homes suffering for lack of water and cell phones without reception.”
And the Daily Mail reported “Pictures reveal that some supermarkets in the capital have been left ransacked by desperate residents as they struggle to find food.”Looting in Caracas, via Reuters
Security personnel have been deployed throughout Caracas to prevent mass looting, though we can imagine that since reports of the water supply being impacted by the outage, people are simply reaching desperation and are attempting any way possible to endure the nightmare circumstances.
Photographs showed in some instances looters being piled into police trucks and vans — this as US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido over the weekend called for nationwide anti-Maduro protests over the failing infrastructure. Most analysts agree the electrical grid mass failure is the result of generally failing infrastructure after years of underinvestment and neglect.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Presstitutes Turn Blind Eye to UN Report on Venezuela
Presstitutes Turn Blind Eye to UN Report on Venezuela
Washington and the Convict Appointed to Overthrow Venezuela Continue the Lies
Don’t you think something is fishy when the presstitutes orchestrate a fake news “humanitarian crisis” in Venezuela, but totally ignore the real humanitarian crises in Yemen and Gaza?
Don’t you think something is really very rotten when the expert, Alfred Maurice de Zayas, sent by the UN to Venezuela to evaluate the situation finds no interest by any Western media or any Western government in his report?
Don’t you think it is a bit much for Washington to steal $21 billion of Venezuela’s money, impose sanctions in an effort to destabilize the country and to drive the Venezuelan government to its knees, blame Venezuelan socialism (essentially nationalization of the oil company) for bringing “starvation to the people,” and offer a measly $21 million in “humanitarian aid.”
As the United States is completely devoid of any print or TV media, it falls upon internet media such as this website to perform the missing function of honest journalism.
As for the alleged starvation and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, Zayas has this to say:
The December 2017 and March 2018 reports of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) list food crises in 37 countries. “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is not among them.”
“In 2017, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela requested medical aid from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the plea was rejected, because Venezuela ‘is still a high-income country … and as such is not eligible’.”
The “crisis” in Venezuela “cannot be compared with the humanitarian crises in Gaza, Yemen, Libya, the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq, Haiti, Mali, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Somalia, or Myanmar, among others.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Venezuela Deploys Troops “To Protect National Power Grid” From US “Aggression”
Venezuela Deploys Troops “To Protect National Power Grid” From US “Aggression”
update: Though some parts of Venezuela’s power grid have reportedly begun to come back online after the country was plunged into nation-wide darkness beginning Thursday evening, the mass blackout crisis continues, which Caracas has blamed on US-orchestrated saboteurs.
To prevent further “sabotage” Venezuela’s Defense Ministry has vowed in an official statement via state TV social media channels to deploy armed forces to protect the national electricity system for the duration of the power outage.
“All the security agencies, civil protection and the nation’s integral defense system are deployed to protect and help the people across the country,” a statement said, via Bloomberg. This as official accusations against Washington for conducting what Maduro previously called a US “electricity war” have become even more strident.
#LIVE | Venezuela’s @vladimirpadrino: “This [recent blackout] is an aggression against our country that has hurt every Venezuelan, regardless of color or political allegiance.”
The defense ministry previously vowed to put more security patrols on the streets after dark, as already high-crime areas of Caracas are now considered no-go zones as a result of the blackout.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Venezuela Now 24 Hours In Darkness; Maduro Blames US “Electricity War”
Venezuela Now 24 Hours In Darkness; Maduro Blames US “Electricity War”
Venezuela’s worst ever power outage in recent history has continued since Thursday, as video and photos continue to come out of the cash and resource strapped country showing entire cities blanketed in darkness.
Stretching into day two of the mass electrical shutdown, 23 out of 24 states remain in darkness, according to the AP, in a prolonged situation now reaching crisis levels given reports that hospitals are struggling to keep back-up generators running and many businesses are forced to remain shuttered. Caracas streets Thursday evening, via the AFP/Getty
The nation-wide blackout quickly turned into a blame-game over who’s at fault, with many in the opposition blaming the Maduro government’s mismanagement and notorious corruption, and with pro-regime voices blaming right-wing saboteurs taking orders from the United States.
Caracas has even gone so far to point the finger at Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who only yesterday as part of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing said that the US should promote “widespread unrest” in order to bring down the Maduro government. Though offering no specific proof Caracas officials accused the US and opposition activists of causing “pandemonium” for several days, culminating in the blackout.
President Nicolas Maduro gave brief public acknowledgement of the outage on Twitter, saying, “The electricity war declared and directed by the imperialist United States against our people will be overcome!” and added, “No one can defeat the people of Bolivar and Chavez. Maximum unity patriots!”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Financial Imperialism: the Case of Venezuela
Financial Imperialism: the Case of Venezuela
Drawing by Nathaniel St. Clair
Invasion of Venezuela by US and its proxies is just around the corner! This past week vice-president Pence flew to Colombia once again—for the fifth time in recent weeks—to provide final instructions to US local forces and proxy allies there for the next step in the US regime change plan.
Evidence that the ‘green light’ for regime change and invasion is now flashing are supportive public statement by former president, Barack Obama, and several high level US Democratic party politicians and candidates, directly attacking the Maduro regime. They are signaling Democrat Party support for invasion and regime change. Events will now accelerate—just in time perhaps to coincide with the release of Mueller Report on Trump.
Behind the scenes it is clear, as it has been for months, that US Neocons are once again back in charge of US foreign policy, driving the US toward yet another war and attempt at regime change of a foreign government.
US Strategy in Brief
The US Neocon-led strategy is increasingly clear: establish a ‘beach-head’ on the Colombian-Venezuelan (and Venezuelan-Brazilian) border under the guise of providing humanitarian aid. Use the aid to get Venezuelans on the border to welcome the US proxy forces to cross over. Set up political and military structures thereafter just inside the Venezuelan borders with Colombia and Brazil, from which to launch further similar efforts deeper into Venezuela. Repeat this province by province, step by step, penetrating Venezuela space until enough local units of the Venezuelan military change sides and convince one or more of the Venezuelan military hierarchy to join them. Establish a dual state and government within and along the border of the Venezuelan state this way. A breakaway State and dual power within the country.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
As Guaido Re-Enters Venezuela Monday, Bolton Threatens US Action If He’s Detained
As Guaido Re-Enters Venezuela Monday, Bolton Threatens US Action If He’s Detained
US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido plans to re-enter Venezuela on Monday after previously meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and other regional leaders in Colombia last week, and after visiting with the president of Ecuador on Sunday. The Maduro government, including Venezuela’s Supreme Court, has said he could face up to 30 years in prison for violating a prior travel ban placed on him — something which the US has balked at, saying it would take action if Guaido were prosecuted or harmed.
In a speech posted to social media on Sunday, Guaido referenced other notable opposition leaders currently imprisoned or under house arrest: “Tomorrow we will return to our country, there is a risk on returning, many politicians like Leopoldo Lopez and union leaders are imprisoned but if the governement seizes me, there are clear steps to take, mobilization is the first one”, he said according to Bloomberg. And attempting to stoke the momentum of anti-Maduro protests which seem to have faded in the country, he added, “we will take the streets” and that “I will announce next political steps tomorrow. This process in unstoppable. Political transition has already started.”
Significantly, Guaido invoked the some 700 total armed forces widely reported to have defected over the past weeks, most believed to have taken refuge in Colombia, to suggest successful “mobilization” and significant momentum. “I announce my return to the country and call on marches across the country for Monday and Tuesday,” he said on Twitter late Saturday. He said that if arrested by Maduro, it “would be a coup d’etat“.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Venezuela Orders PDVSA Offices Relocate To Moscow; Putin Affirms Support To “Friend” Maduro
Venezuela Orders PDVSA Offices Relocate To Moscow; Putin Affirms Support To “Friend” Maduro
A top Venezuelan official has announced that President Nicolas Maduro has ordered national oil and gas company PDVSA to close its current European headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal and move it to Moscow. The announcement came from Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez during a press conference standing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Friday.
“President Nicolas Maduro instructed the Lisbon branch of PDVSA to close this office and relocate the office to Moscow,”Rodriguez said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. It appears the relocation is already underway, and is part of the framework of “broadening cooperation” with Russian energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom, according to the statement.
The Venezuelan vice president said, “This is done in line with our plans to expand technical cooperation in the oil production area with Rosneft, with Gazprom. The moment now is the most suitable to do so. We are changing the format of our relations.” And she added, “It’s the perfect time, as we are reshaping our relations.”
As part of the press briefing, Russian FM Lavrov conveyed President Putin’s words of support and solidarity to his “friend” President Maduro in a further clear sign that Moscow has dedicated itself to helping Venezuela’s state oil company weather the storm of US economic war and sanctions.
Lavrov explained in the press conference, “Russia will further help the Venezuelan government to solve social and economic problems, which includes lending support via legitimate humanitarian aid.”
This after what’s been widely acknowledged as failed US-led coup efforts over the past weeks in support of opposition leader Juan Gaido, who has tried to rally support for greater external “pro-democracy” intervention against the Caracas government. As part of her remarks Rodriguez slammed what she called a US “operation” of “sabotage” against a “legal government” spearheaded by White House envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Has the United Kingdom transported fake money to Venezuela?
Has the United Kingdom transported fake money to Venezuela?
According to a pan-Arab Lebanese TV Channel (Al-Mayadeen), an Ethiopian plane has uploaded at Malta 15 chests of false money to be delivered to Venezuela.
The Venezuelan economy has collapsed. Elliot Abrams thinks this is due to the communist government being unfit managers while the Bolivarian government of Nicolas Maduro thinks it’s the result of a US sabotage.
Whilst sabotaging the Venezuelan economy, the United States has just delivered humanitarian aid for the victims of this sabotage to the border that Venezuela and Colombia share. Convinced that this stock includes subversive material, the Venezuelan government is refusing to deliver this aid (but it is accepting aid from other countries). Clearly this stock is barely significant, since the total US aid following the crisis represents only 6% of the daily aid distributed by the Venezuelan authorities.
During the war against Syria, both Saudi Arabia and Qatar printed false money to bring the Syrian economy into chaos. However at the time, both monarchies were competing with each other; they had not come to a market sharing agreement. Further, at the same time they were paying all their mercenaries in dollars. For the mercenaries to be on the spot men, they had to change their US dollar pay into Syrian pounds. Finally, Syria has printed new notes in Russia.
Translation
Anoosha Boralessa
Pence threatens war in Venezuela at Colombia summit: “There is no turning back”
Pence threatens war in Venezuela at Colombia summit: “There is no turning back”
February 26, 2019 “Information Clearing House” -US Vice President Mike Pence delivered a bellicose speech before representatives of 14 Latin American countries at a meeting of the Lima Group in Bogotá, Colombia, yesterday. The remarks were timed to coincide with the US-orchestrated provocations at the Venezuelan border over the weekend, resulting in clashes that left several people dead.
Pence rehashed phrases plagiarized from speeches given by George W. Bush in the run-up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, combining them with denunciations of socialism.
“There is no turning back,” Pence said. “All options are on the table.”
“A new day is coming in Latin America,” he continued. “In Venezuela and across the Western hemisphere, socialism is dying and liberty, prosperity and democracy are being reborn before our eyes.” Pence issued an ultimatum to the Venezuelan military, threatening that if it did not overthrow Maduro, “You will find no safe harbor, no easy exit, no way out. You will lose everything.”
Pence announced that the US would place added sanctions on officials in the Venezuelan government and called on the right-wing governments of Latin America to “transfer ownership of Venezuelan assets in your country” to the government of US puppet Juan Guaidó.
In other words, the US is conducting cross-hemispheric highway robbery.
In his speech, Pence gave several justifications for intensifying US war threats against Venezuela. Venezuela exploits indigenous tribes, damages the environment through oil exploration and impoverishes its population, Pence said.
These claims would be laughable were it not for the seriousness of the threats. The United States is the world’s worst offender in each of these departments.
Particularly disgusting was Pence’s attack on Venezuela for refusing “shelter for those displaced” immigrants along its border.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Burning Aid: An Interventionist Deception on Colombia-Venezuela Bridge?
Burning Aid: An Interventionist Deception on Colombia-Venezuela Bridge?
Sen. Marco Rubio and coup leaders claim the Venezuelan National Guard burned US aid trucks on the bridge in Colombia. But all available evidence points in the opposite direction.
CARACAS, Venezuela — The Trump administration’s coup against Venezuela culminated on February 23 with US-backed opposition attempting to ram several trucks loaded with boxes of USAID“humanitarian aid” across the previously unused Francisco de Paula Santander bridge connecting Colombia to Venezuela.
The trucks failed to reach the other side — but that was never really the point of the stunt. As Father Sergio Munoz, a right-wing Venezuelan activist posted on the Colombian side of the border, explained to journalist Dan Cohen, the humanitarian “aid” was a purely symbolic provocation aimed at discrediting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in international eyes and generating waves of destabilizing violence.
By the end of the day, the trucks lined up on the Francisca de Paula Santander bridge were flanked by gangs of guarimberos.
These were the nihilistic masked youth who form the shock troops of the right-wing opposition, and who placed Caracas under siege with violent barricade protests, known as guarimbas, at several points between 2014 and 2017. A mob of guarimberos burned to death Orlando Figuera, a 22-year old black Venezuelan accused of supporting Maduro, on an eastern Caracas street in broad daylight, back in June 2017.
On the Santander bridge this February 23, the guarimberos rained down a hail of rocks and molotov cocktails on Venezuelan national guardsmen holding the line against the USAID trucks. Suddenly, the trucks caught fire and the masked youth began unloading boxes of aid before they burned. Within minutes, pro-opposition media reported that the Venezuelan national guard forces were responsible for the fires.
A reporter for the private anti-government channel NTN24 claimed without evidence that the Venezuelan security forces had caused the fires with tear gas:
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Canada and the Venezuela Coup Attempt
Canada and the Venezuela Coup Attempt
US presidents have bombed or invaded places like Grenada, Panama, Iraq and Sudan to distract from domestic scandals or to gain a quick boost in popularity. But, do Canadian politicians also pursue regime change abroad to be cheered on by the dominant media as decisive leaders?
In a discussion on regime change in Venezuela after last Monday’s “Lima Group” meeting in Ottawa, Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole praised Canadian policy but added that the Liberals used the meeting of countries opposed to Nicolas Maduro’s government to drown out criticism of their foreign policy. O’Toole claimed the “Lima Group” meeting was “put together quite quickly and I think there are some politics behind that with some of the foreign affairs challenges the Trudeau government has been having in recent months.” In other words, O’Toole believes the Liberals organized a gathering that concluded with a call for the military to oust Venezuela’s elected president to appear like effective international players.
Understood within the broader corporate and geopolitical context, O’Toole’s assessment appears reasonable. After being criticized for its China policy, the Liberals have been widely praised for their regime change efforts in Venezuela. In a sign of media cheerleading, CTV News host Don Martin began his post “Lima Group” interview with foreign minister Chrystia Freeland by stating “the Lima summit has wrapped and the object of regime change is staying put for the time being” and then he asked her “is [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro any step closer to being kicked out of office as a result of this meeting today?” Later in the interview Martin applauded the “Lima Group’s” bid “to put the economic pincers around it [Venezuela’s economy] and choking it off from international transactions.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
