Venezuela - No, The "Responsibility To Protect" Does Not Apply
Richard Haass is the president of the Council of Foreign Relations. On Friday, before the failed delivery of fake "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela, he opined that the rejection of the "aid" would justify an intervention based on the dubious doctrine of a Responsibility to Protect (R2P):
Richard N. Haass @RichardHaass - 19:26 utc - 22 Feb 2019
What the Maduro regime is doing to the people of Venezuela is inconsistent with the obligations that come with being a sovereign state. The time has come for the UN or OAS or Lima Group to consider how to apply the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. bit.ly/2TZaoZv
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Haass attached a link to a report by the Crisis Group which summarized the situation at that time:
High Noon over Humanitarian Aid at Venezuela’s Border
Attaching the Crisis Group piece is an apt display of the utter stupidity of Richard Haass. That's because the report completely contradicts his argument. The principle of the Responsibility to Protect ..
.. is based upon the underlying premise that sovereignty entails a responsibility to protect all populations from mass atrocity crimes and human rights violations. The principle is based on a respect for the norms and principles of international law, especially the underlying principles of law relating to sovereignty, peace and security, human rights, and armed conflict.
The Crisis Group report argues, quite correctly, that the Venezuelan government is legally justified to reject the "aid". Thus R2P, which presuppose that a state does not fulfill is legal obligations, can not apply to the case:
Under international law, governments must give consent to the distribution of food and medical supplies when a population’s survival is threatened, but only if the aid is of an exclusively humanitarian and impartial nature. This aid operation, however, is primarily political, in that it is intended to undermine Maduro and bring about a change of government.
The acts of the Venezuelan government were fully consistent with "the obligations that come with being a sovereign state".
To recommend a legal procedure and policy by linking to a report that contradicts that reasoning is quite daft.
Furthermore Haass wants "the UN or OAS or Lima Group to consider how to apply the Responsibility to Protect".
But neither the Organisation of American States nor the Lima Group, a Canadian plot together with some Central and South American states to attack Venezuela, can apply R2P beyond the already taken sanction measures:
The Responsibility to Protect provides a framework for employing measures that already exist (i.e., mediation, early warning mechanisms, economic sanctions, and chapter VII powers) to prevent atrocity crimes and to protect civilians from their occurrence. The authority to employ the use of force under the framework of the Responsibility to Protect rests solely with United Nations Security Council and is considered a measure of last resort.
The UNSC will of course reject any U.S. attempt to apply R2P with regards to Venezuela.
The only and last time that the Security Council passed a chapter VII resolution based on R2P was with regards to Libya. The resolution allowed other states to protect the civilian population of Libya by force. The U.S. and others abused the resolution to overthrow the Libyan government and to completely destroyed the country. China and Russia certainly noted that. They will never again let such a resolution pass.
That Senator Marco Rubio, a driving power behind the campaign against Venezuela, explicitly posted these pictures of Muhammad Ghaddafi before and after R2P was applied, only strengthens the case against it.
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Posted by b on February 25, 2019 at 19:00 UTC | Permalink
next page »A small silver lining in the latest American-led debacle is the dissonant juxtaposition of the calls for R2P for Venezuelans who are supposedly starving, but not actually at all, and the lack of calls for R2P as it concerns the millions upon millions of Yemenis who are literally starving and dying on a mass scale. In the US there is a (very) small crack in the dam of the R2P nonsense as the anticipated groundswell of support for a military intervention has not materialized in the way the coup plotters here had hoped.
Posted by: Don Wiscacho | Feb 25 2019 19:13 utc | 2
The west is diseased. It really is a spectacle though, how hard some of these barmy expat Cubans are going against Maduro. They are the kings of projection, ime.
Speaking of Florida Man, two performers at Branson's show were Colombian(living in FL..) musicians(Carlos Rives and Juanes), were all of the performers Colombian lol? So anyway, these two are big in Israel. Here they are respectively, waving giant Israeli flags around. Do all artists who perform in Israel have to do this? Or is it just a show of fascist solidarity.
Posted by: sejomoje | Feb 25 2019 19:29 utc | 3
Thanks for the posting b
I don't remember where I first read the R2P acronym but the translation that I remember was Rape to Protect and it probably fits the empire application of the concept better anyway.
I certainly hope that your assertion that China and Russia will not let another Libya happen in Venezuela is true.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 25 2019 19:48 utc | 4
Reporting that will never be acknowledged in the Corporate Media ... https://www.rt.com/news/452158-blumenthal-venezuela-supermarket-shelves/
Posted by: chet380 | Feb 25 2019 19:57 utc | 5
Thanks for this, b, as I predicted R2P was the fundamental motive. Although, if R2P were phrased differently--the Responsibility to Protect a sovereign nation against aggression of all types including illegal sanctions and other violations of international law, such as a naval blockade--then it ought to be invoked against the Aggressor, which as always is the Outlaw US Empire. Gee! See what can be done when the narrative's changed! Such an Act would need to be passed by the UNGA then sent on to UNSC for action. Sure, the Outlaw US Empire or one of its vassals on the UNSC will veto it, but political damage will be inflicted that's unavoidable.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 25 2019 19:58 utc | 6
"Venezuela: Trade Unions Ratify Anti-Imperialist Stance"Good progress resulted from the 21 Feb meeting of Trade Unions which was attended by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez:
"Rodriguez highlighted President Maduro’s working class and trade union background, adding that the amidst the 'asphyxiation' imposed by US-led sanctions it was down to the workers to take the reins and ensure that production continues.
"The organizations present used the occasion to bring some issues to Rodriguez’s attention. The Labor Ministry in particular was the target of severe criticism, with the FLNCT demanding that the vice-presidency reactivate the technical work tables between the ministry and trade unions, a proposal that Rodriguez accepted." [My Emphasis]
As I suggested several weeks ago, the easiest solution to the 5th Column's aid with the illegal sanctions regime is to nationalize all people-critical enterprises so they're no longer controlled by that 5th Column. Sure, they'll fuss and fume along with their benefactor the Outlaw US Empire, but there really isn't anything they can do to prevent such a revolutionary act. And what additional losses might the Venezuelan government endure when the kitchen sink's already been thrown at them? Such a move would serve to cement workers support for the Bolivarian process while signaling the world that Maduro is the president.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 25 2019 20:23 utc | 7
thanks b... humanitarian aid = trojan horse... but man o man, that is one shitty trojan horse to work with... thanks for linking to the same article paveway linked yesterday... we canucks have to compete hard to keep up with the usa in the immorality dept, but thanks for that freak crystia freeland, we are doing a very good job... cbc is hard at work on this too... it is quite pathetic to see it unfold as it has to date...
Posted by: james | Feb 25 2019 20:24 utc | 8
to compete we really need some mario rubio in canada obviously... maybe our next pm will be it??
Posted by: james | Feb 25 2019 20:25 utc | 9
If international bodies like the US really wanted to deliver aid they could send it in legally, via ship or aircraft.
Posted by: JohninMK | Feb 25 2019 20:29 utc | 10
Rubio is a piece of garbage. That said, the Russians and Chinese knew exactly what the US and NATO were going to do to Libya. They were not fooled. They allowed it to happen probably because they expected the resulting chaos to be beneficial to them.
Posted by: Alaric | Feb 25 2019 20:43 utc | 11
The armed forces of the bolivarian revolution and Chavistaz must seize the opportunity to cleanse the augean stables once and for all. Exile all venezuelan compradors to Florida, they would fit right in with the likes of degenerates like Marco Rubio. Will Maga muppets welcome this fresh european blood with open arms ? One thing is clear, should exceptionals decide to R2P Venezuela SOCOM might have their hands full, the whole of latin america will be burning from Patagonia to the Rio Grande...
Posted by: Augustin L | Feb 25 2019 20:44 utc | 12
Is it my imagination, or did I watch the protesters yesterday torch those trucks with molotov cocktails? That had to be the plan prior, who ever came up with it. Sometimes, one gets the impression that these blunders are actually part of the plan, at least by some measure from those involved.
Posted by: Eugene | Feb 25 2019 20:52 utc | 13
"R2P" does not apply because "R2P" is fraudulent crap imposed by neocons and corporate enablers at the UN as an attempt to give a new veneer to imperialism after Iraq via Slaughter and BHL. I feel bad for anyone who defends it after it's been exposed as a NATO tool wielded by the multinational corporations and the neocon agenda now multiple times.
Posted by: Blooming Barricade | Feb 25 2019 20:52 utc | 14
Thanks for the work B.
Karlof1 for POTUS
@James 9 What.... The PM of Ontario isn't enough? Or the CONs various 'sexting' scandals.
JT firing a woman who made the wrong choice even when it was 'made clear' by the PMO that it was her choice is my favorite.
Maybe Freeland stating that if Canadians don't get in the streets over this deal I'm signing it. She was talking about the trade deal that Trump ixnayed then ramrodded the same garbage corp first narrative through a 'new' NAFTA...
No Canada is right up there...the blood is just less obvious
Posted by: Tannenhouser | Feb 25 2019 20:55 utc | 15
Americans who try to make America great again...
https://twitter.com/AshAgony/status/1099393439593086977
https://twitter.com/AshAgony/status/1099408196949684224
Posted by: Sasha | Feb 25 2019 20:55 utc | 16
British MP Chris Williamson calling a spade a spade...
https://twitter.com/DerbyChrisW/status/1099382439418441728
Posted by: Sasha | Feb 25 2019 20:56 utc | 17
Just how much the MSM has contributed to this state of affairs was set out by John Pilger....
Researchers at the University of the West of England studied the BBC's reporting of Venezuela over a ten-year period. They looked at 304 reports and found that only three of these referred to any of the positive policies of the government. For the BBC, Venezuela's democratic record, human rights legislation, food programmes, healthcare initiatives and poverty reduction did not happen. The greatest literacy programme in human history did not happen, just as the millions who march in support of Maduro and in memory of Chavez, do not exist.
Posted by: Harry Law | Feb 25 2019 20:58 utc | 18
It is said that along with GNB,extraordinarily well organized popular militias contributed to keep the borders sealed, it seems that they came all, from teens to sexagenaries, to help...
Venezuelans applauding 👏 and celebrating the policemen who protected the bridge, that is, the brave ones who did not betray their homeland, they ppl shout: -Long live the Guard! -Loyal always, traitors never! You will not see this on CNN 😏
https://twitter.com/garoukike/status/1099563855875883008
Posted by: Sasha | Feb 25 2019 21:00 utc | 19
Yesterday at Urdaneta Avenue, Caracas, huge support for President Maduro nad sovereign Venezuela.
Huge crowd at Av Urdaneta today in Caracas rejecting imperialist intervention - you will not see these images in CNN nor BBC and the Guardian will not report it #TrumpHandsOffVenezuela #HandsOffVenezuela
https://twitter.com/HOVcampaign/status/1099456011985915909
Posted by: Sasha | Feb 25 2019 21:02 utc | 20
Has anyone else but me marked the passing of the 30-day limit on Guido's (sic) claimed role of "interim President"?
After all, the Venezuelan Constitution is the sole source of Guido's (sic) claim to legitimacy, yet that document very clearly says that the leader of the National Assembly can assume that position for 30 days. No a day more.
Thirty days have passed, yet Guido (sic) hasn't even *called* for new elections, much less overseen any. His time is up. Perhaps someone should bring that to his attention.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Feb 25 2019 21:05 utc | 21
US guidelines for "Humanitarian Aid".....
US guide to "helping" people of #Venezuela: - Step 1. Sanction billions $ worth of oil exports, needed to import food & vital supplies. - Step 2. Offer instead few trucks of "USAID aid" to "save" #Venezuela, while using it as a tool to carry out coup d'etat. #HandsOffVenezuela
https://twitter.com/EmbassyofRussia/status/1099604625391521792
Posted by: Sasha | Feb 25 2019 21:05 utc | 22
b, excellent summary on R2P.
The Brazilian VP said today and has been saying this for weeks, NO to any talks of military intervention in Venezuela. R2P will never fly in Latin America. There is no money nor the will to have a war in the region, the US/Canada are alone with it.
Recommend to read Peter Bolton article on the latest in Venezuela as well, pointing that Guaidó is losing domestic support and more and more oppositions in Venezuela are calling for dialog and less warmongering. Should Guaidó continues to play this US game, he will be really toast in Venezuela.
Posted by: Canthama | Feb 25 2019 21:10 utc | 23
If so be the case, then why wasn't it the West's "responsibility to protect" the 348 social leaders and human rights defenders assassinated by the Colombian state between 1985 and 2016?
Posted by: Maracatu | Feb 25 2019 21:11 utc | 24
The Elders:
"The group was initiated by Richard Branson[6] and musician and human rights activist Peter Gabriel, together with anti-apartheid activist and former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mandela announced the formation of the group on his eighty-ninth birthday on 18 July 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa.[7]" -wikipedia .
Not lost is the fact that Obama went to party at Branson's private Necker Island after his term ended.
As the onion peels come off it appears that Branson is about as deep state as it gets. Wonder if Mandela was in for the charade when he started the group?
Jimmy Carter is Elder Emeritus. Probably how he got away with supporting VZ elections. Nobody listens to the old farts anyway,
Kudos to Gabriel for backing out. Kudos to Roger Waters for calling his old friend out.
Posted by: Stumpy | Feb 25 2019 21:19 utc | 25
Tannenhouser @15--
Thanks for the endorsement! But my law & history-based views are too radical for any political party within the Outlaw US Empire, thus I'm a party of1.
Venezuela Analysis published this short op/ed about the weekend's activities I highly recommend:
"Venezuela’s 23F: A Collective Victory for a Collective Future: As the opposition's latest attempt to oust Maduro seems to be failing, Chris Gilbert asks: What makes it so hard to replace Chávez and now Maduro?"
Gilbert puts together some of my thoughts with his own and the behaviors of his fellows and concludes:
"One thing that Saturday’s events showed is that most Venezuelans know their history. Because of that, they don’t need to be told: Beware of gringos bearing gifts.
"Now let’s see if this same historical sense, combined with the memory of last weekend’s collective victory, can help redirect the Bolivarian Republic to a future conceived along collective and communal lines – the way Chávez himself envisioned it." [My Emphasis]
Essentially as I've exhorted: Reembrace Bolivarian Socialism and finish what Chavez started is the only realistic solution.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 25 2019 21:20 utc | 26
Does anyone have the link to the foreigner's comments from within Venezuela the other day? I think it was either here or at the Saker where I found them, either in the form of a blog entry (his own) or a comment on a public blog/site.
Essentially he was saying he had zero problems finding drugstores that had full stock of most OTC remedies - ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin, etc. If it helps jog a memory, he was told that he must have been given a "Potemkin show" and he laughed at it, said no way. He went all around his neighborhood and every store had the same thing.
I've got a particularly nasty pro-Rubio Twittertroll and I cannot find that link for the life of me. Thanks in advance if anyone has it.
Posted by: KC | Feb 25 2019 21:21 utc | 27
Aha! Disregard. Google isn't something I use often, but when they're not censoring stuff it does work a lot better than DuckDuckGo.
Here's that guy I was talking about and I highly recommend this article (and comments): https://fair.org/home/venezuela-coverage-takes-us-back-to-golden-age-of-lying-about-latin-america/
This comment in particular is what I was thinking of: https://fair.org/home/venezuela-coverage-takes-us-back-to-golden-age-of-lying-about-latin-america/#comment-3163346
Posted by: KC | Feb 25 2019 21:25 utc | 28
" The resolution allowed other states to protect the civilian population of Libya by force".
And, indeed, a few citizens of Libya did survive the following holocaust.
Posted by: Tom Welsh | Feb 25 2019 21:27 utc | 29
"Crisis Group"? The gang that employs the guy Michael Kovrig who was arrested in China a couple months ago? Should we be surprised that they are involved in the empire's Venezuela coup operation?
No, it should be obvious that this "Crisis Group" is an imperialist operation and thus the Chinese are right that this Kovrig guy is a spook working in the private sector for cover. They are just offering a warning that the empire will have a hard time rationalizing bombing at this point, not arguing against bombing in general.
Posted by: William Gruff | Feb 25 2019 21:28 utc | 30
Yeah Right @21
Maduro mentioned the 30-day period expired in his speech a few days ago. You are not alone.
#nolefaltapelotas
Posted by: Stumpy | Feb 25 2019 21:29 utc | 31
"Responsibility to Protect" is, to borrow Jeremy Bentham's excellent phrase, "nonsense upon stilts".
The only important thing to know about R2P is that it was declared by the UN, and it can be exercised only by a UN Security Council mandate.
Failing such a UN mandate, no person or body has any right to use force under the guise of R2P, or to interfere in the internal or external affairs of any sovereign nation.
The US government has been interfering with Venezuela's affairs on a grand scale for weeks, and a US Senator has publicly threatened the elected President of Venezuela with torture and assassination.
Yet the UN Security Council has not authorized any action against Venezuela.
The US government's actions, therefore, are illegal.
Posted by: Tom Welsh | Feb 25 2019 21:31 utc | 32
Posted by: George Lane | Feb 25, 2019 2:09:37 PM | 1
Marco is a miami excuban hater of Fidel, so naturally hes psycho/loco
Posted by: brian | Feb 25 2019 21:57 utc | 33
Despite the snappy, leetspeaky, social-media friendly alphanumeric acronym "R2P", the "Responsibility to Protect doctrine" is simply a rebranding of the discredited concept of "The White Man's Burden". It parallels the euphemistic rebranding of "imperialist" to "liberal interventionist".
As this latest iteration demonstrates, this so-called "doctrine" is always invoked when some or all of the Western Hegemony authoritarian capitalist governments need a fig leaf for unilateral military operations that disregard and violate the conventions of international law, not to mention the sovereignty of the target nation(s).
And, to close with an admittedly sophomoric joke for English-language speakers: Remember, you can't spell "Haass" without "ass".
Posted by: Ort | Feb 25 2019 21:57 utc | 34
@Ort #34 (immediately above me):
Very astute! And it reminds me that you also cannot spell "Haussman" without "a_s_...", well damnit!
https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14337
Isn't it interesting that of ALL the people pushing for US intervention, the only two I can think of with actual Hispanic/Latino sounding names are Guaido and Rubio? On the other side we have "Hass", "Hausmann", "Abrams", etc.
White man's burden indeed!
Posted by: KC | Feb 25 2019 22:09 utc | 35
It seems R2P could apply to Israel . Venezuela-not so much unless somebody has pictures of many starving people.
Posted by: Pft | Feb 25 2019 22:16 utc | 36
AOC made a vid related to Venezuela. Patrick Henningsen says:
"Finally @AOC finds time from chopping vegetables to lecture el mundo on she "feels" about #Venezuela & that "we all need to CENTER the issue of democracy." Like a scene out of #Clueless. Condescending, narcissist, parroting el Bolton/Clinton script delegitimizing #Maduro gov"
The offensive vid's at the above link.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 25 2019 22:23 utc | 37
Unwanted US food aid 'for Venezuela' will begin rotting in Cucuta's warehouses in Colombia pretty soon. At the same time, Colombia prolongs the man-made humanitarian disaster in its own Guajira Peninsula, doing absolutely nothing for the indigenous Wayuu people starving to death and lacking clean water for the last eight years.
Apparently, the Wayuu's historic villages are in the way of the massive Cerrejon coal mine's expansion. Were would Europeans and Americans get cheap coal? Besides, those damn indians want to DRINK the avaialable water - that's just crazy! The mine needs that water to spray on dusty roads. Colombia didn't build the Cercado Dam to collect water to be wasted on humans, especially the ones they're trying to exterminate.
Cerrejon's owners, BHP, Anglo-American and Glencore, demand (profit) protection from those wild Colombian indians. Can't someone kill them? Where is the R2P love for strip mining coal? We may need to regime-change our cocaine suppliers... again. Right after Venezuela.
Posted by: PavewayIV | Feb 25 2019 22:27 utc | 38
Sorry - I was probably overstepping my bounds there. James: get the Lima Cartel on the phone. Tell them 'Cleanup on Aisle C - no witnesses' - they'll know what it means.
Posted by: PavewayIV | Feb 25 2019 22:33 utc | 39
See the United Nations Human Development Indices and Indicators, Statistical update for 2018.
Venezuela ranks ahead of at least 10 Latin American nations including their hostile, fascist neighbors, Colombia and Brazil.
Posted by: GM | Feb 25 2019 22:35 utc | 40
Colombia is a de iure NATO partner country (see here in Dutch, or in English on NATO's website). Which suggests that all manner of scams to exercise Responsibility to Protect (prepubescent citizens from their own virginity, per the original R2P intervention, Haiti 2004, where the RCMP trained known pedos and cocaine traders of the Cedras junta's army, previously denied entry to Canada in 1999) as Haitian police officers. The Canadian government conspired with OXFAM GB to have removed from The Lancet a paper on the resulting crime wave including rapes against girls, although the Lancet later showed some spine and reinstated the paper. The conspiracy involved death threats made by OXFAM GB personnel against one of the authors of the paper published in the Lancet.
Posted by: Johan Meyer | Feb 25 2019 22:50 utc | 41
People! This is rich!! I initially thought it was the South American counterpart of "The Onion", but it is apparently all too true! Guaido tries to wrap himself in the legacy of Chavez but instead of winning over any Chavistas, he provokes the ire of his own followers! Really! You can't make this stuff up! It's hilarious! READ IT! https://www.publico.es/tremending/2019/02/24/guaido-se-proclama-continuador-de-chavez-y-los-antichavistas-colapsan/
Posted by: Maracatu | Feb 25 2019 23:01 utc | 42
Regime Change Hypocrisy continues:
"Where is the logic and rationale in claiming Hezbollah 'threatens the safety and security' of the UK when the Lebanese army, a recipient of British aid, openly coordinated and fought a battle with Hezbollah against terrorist groups on Lebanon’s borders [that the UK helped arm and finance] just a bit over a year ago?"
Yes, an idiot in the UK's massively inane government today declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice ruled today that the UK's guilty of what amounts to State Terrorism against the Chagos Islanders--the people who lived on Diego Garcia for those unaware.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 25 2019 23:15 utc | 43
Encouraging comments in the "US hypocrisy on Venezuela sanctions" article. One is "For well over a generation Colombia has seen political corruption in government and mass murder undertaken by its army and by pro-government “death squads” – violence on a far greater scale than is recently purported to exist in Venezuela. There were, however, no US calls for the overthrow of successive Colombian governments. On the contrary, the US supported the Colombians with armaments, finance and goodwill." The other "However, it is worth noting that despite the devastating impact of US sanctions on Venezuelan society, the most recent (2018) UNDP human development index – which combines measurements of life expectancy at birth, years of schooling and gross national income per capita – ranked Venezuela higher than Brazil and Colombia."
Posted by: Peter Schmidt | Feb 25 2019 23:49 utc | 44
@KC #35
Thanks for the link which details the role Ricardo Hausmann has played as a tool for US intervention in Venezuela for many years. His daughter Joanna is a hugely popular comedian with viral youtube videos, appealing to the same mostly young audience that watches Colbert, Oliver, and Noah. She now uses her platform to spread her father's propaganda as seen here:https://www.mintpressnews.com/millennials-guide-promoting-regime-change-venezuela/255357/
We are fortunate to have Roger Waters in the music world with the cred and a platform to educate and call BS when needed. In Hollywood we had the "We Are At War" Russiagate crap pushed by Rob Reiner and Morgan Freeman. Now Joanna Hausmann (along with the aforementioned Comedians) pushing the same type propaganda about Venezuela. Is there not one name in Hollywood, not one celebrity or entertainer, who could have the courage of Waters? Step up, we're waiting on you.
Posted by: kabobyak | Feb 25 2019 23:52 utc | 45
Are the "reality creators" becoming predictable? The resistance seems
one step ahead nowadays. It is strange and exhausting though that
the resistance constantly has to wonder what horror the nightmare
creators are planning next. Mass ritual sacrifices are one of their
favorites. It really sears "reality" into the mind. I wonder when they
are going to wind up the John "Death Squad" Negroponte automaton. Maybe
its getting its creaky joints oiled and its program fine-tuned. The empire
seems to have warehouses full of these automata, ready to be inserted into
its dirty wars. At least Eliot Abrams can't operate in the shadows.
Posted by: evilempire | Feb 26 2019 0:16 utc | 46
KC | Feb 25, 2019 4:21:35 PM | 27
Note sure if this is it but it fits the bill albeit from a different site. An amazingly different view than that of the MSM, well worth reading.
https://
www.veteranstoday.com/2019/02/25/venezuela-coverage-takes-us-back-to-golden-age-of-lying-about-latin-america/
Posted by: JohninMK | Feb 26 2019 0:17 utc | 47
kayboyak
Yes there are others in Hollywood awake: Jimmy Dore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMxuU6_3seg
Posted by: Robert | Feb 26 2019 0:45 utc | 49
Mr. Haass is just a coward who doesn't have the balls to say explicitly what he wants - a military aggression against Venezuela that is, of course, contrary to international law - and who instead babbles about R2P.
Posted by: Pnyx | Feb 26 2019 0:55 utc | 50
I think we can read between the lines here a bit.
Haas is elevating the Lima Group - putting it on par with OAS and UN. This diplomatic cut-out will be the organization that legitimizes actions against Venezuela and other countries in Central and South America.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 26 2019 1:03 utc | 51
chet380 5
Thanks for the link. It's great to have people like Blumenthal break through the lies whether in Venezuela or Israel. (I read his book on the latter so the Netanyahu's push to unite with Kahane's far right party is no surprise.)
Canthama 23
The US/West promoted opposition is never popular in the country they are pushed on whether Chalabi to Iraq, the Benghazi NTC on Libya, or the MB jihadis on Syria. All these countries already had their opposition people who wanted to work within the current system for change.
Posted by: Curtis | Feb 26 2019 1:05 utc | 52
At this point, I must say that it was a good thing that Marco Rubio did not win Florida in the Republican primaries back in 2016 or there might have been a chance (good or not) that he would have become the Republican candidate for President. Either he or the Klintonator then would have had an equal chance of becoming POTUS and the invasion of Venezuela as well as the invasion of Syria would have come much sooner. As it is, Donald Trump's election bought the Maduro government two extra years of time to prepare for war.
Posted by: Jen | Feb 26 2019 1:08 utc | 53
It would be interesting to see/read the details of the economic warfare waged against Venezuela after Chavez won election. What was done to Argentina has been documented.
Posted by: Curtis | Feb 26 2019 1:09 utc | 54
Then, of course, the whole notion of "responsibility to protect" is utter bullshit to begin with.
No State has any right to interfer in any way in another's State's business, period. Any kind of intervention, whatever the motive, is a no-go. And if UN Charter or Security Council states otherwise, then they're the ones going deep into illegal stuff and breaching the international order, which is one of strict and absoltue non-intervention. And I mean it; heck, as long as one State is busy genociding part of its own population, there's no ground to intervene; people got the wrong notion out of Nuremberg, when the real issue was with Germany invading other countries and genociding their populations - had Hitler stuck with Germany's minorities, no foreign body would have had any grond to put him in the dock. Therefore, interventions are strictly limited to States that breach first the non-intervention principle, like attacking first another country - say, US against Iraq in 2003 or Germany against Poland in 1939.
Of course, any government who openly states that they prefer this or that side in any other country's internal politics, be it elections or anything else, is already breaching that key and basic principle - something the US and European powers do on a regular basis. No need to say any country openly supporting any party in some foreign country should be considered quite close to going rogue; if done frequently, that should be enough to make it a pariah state.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Feb 26 2019 1:14 utc | 55
Robert @49
Thanks for the Jimmy Dore link, and he has a respectable online audience. My point is that Roger Waters message is occasionally reported in the MSM due to his respected status inside the system; he reached many folks exposing Branson and educating about Venezuela, and it was not just preaching to the choir. People didn't have to seek out his message, the message came to them.
I wish Jimmy Dore and Lee Camp would get more exposure, but MSM will not help that happen. Only a name with the stature of Waters, respected from the "inside", will be given the exposure there.
Posted by: kabobyak | Feb 26 2019 1:40 utc | 56
That is true. With Obama, Hillary and friend Lanny Davis wrecked Honduras, ousted the President and installed a puppet. Much murder and mayhem. A disaster. Small wonder people are fleeing with nothing but their lives.
Attempted coup more recently in Nicaragua, but that was Trump's guys wasn't it?
So many coups, so little time. We just can't have countries attempting to do anything for their common citizens. That deserves a coup according to the US and its vassals.
Posted by: fast freddy | Feb 26 2019 2:08 utc | 57
@11 alaric.. i think you are too quick to blame russia and china for libya...i suppose you feel the same here on venezuala.. if russia and china don't do something right away, they will be seen as profiting off the madness the west wants to impose... i don't agree with you..
@15 tannenhouser... we are coming from way behind to try to catch up the the usa's evil empire status - i agree.. but we have quite a ways to go.. unless freeland gets in again, i think the pace is going to slow down a bit.. mind you harper did quite a bit to ruin our image on the world stage.. he still is... so, maybe their is hope for canada to be an even bigger shit then they presently are here at present..
@38/39 paveway... thanks for the info @38.. i think it is very relevant, but if crystia freeland finds out you are posting this stuff, she will try to send you to gitmo! she is the lead screech of the lima cartel...
Posted by: james | Feb 26 2019 2:10 utc | 58
b : Thanks for your work on this.
KC @ 28:
Max Blumenthal posted video from Venezuela re: the supermarkets:
https://grayzoneproject.com/2019/02/21/venezuela-humanitarian-crisis-max-blumenthal-supermarket-caracas/
Check the same site for an article about the burning of that truck on the Francisca de Paula Santander bridge.
For an in depth, comprehensive explanation of the food situation in Venezuela, listen to a YouTube vid posted by an ex-serviceman who'd worked in Latin America in the 1980s. Pay attention to the bit about how, once the US sanctions bit, gangs from Columbia would come in to Venezuela to buy all food stock from distributors in order to sell it back into Venezuela at confiscatory prices :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubs8OOHjTVM
Posted by: Laninya | Feb 26 2019 2:38 utc | 59
@Alaric | Feb 25, 2019 3:43:55 PM | 11
Rubio is a piece of garbage. That said, the Russians and Chinese knew exactly what the US and NATO were going to do to Libya. They were not fooled. They allowed it to happen probably because they expected the resulting chaos to be beneficial to them.
I doubt that Russia and China were foolish enough to think that the chaos in Libya would benefit them. They were already friends with Gaddafi's country; chaos would not help them.
No, at the time (2011), the U.S.'s reputation was relatively good, in spite of the invasion of Iraq. The Russians and the Chinese probably believed that Obama and Hilary were sincere. That was a mistake ("we came, we saw, he died", hee hee hee). I doubt they will be fooled again.
Posted by: Cyril | Feb 26 2019 2:41 utc | 60
R2P has always been little more than thinly veiled "legalized imperialism." It's justification is just another version of "The White Man's Burden" and the adoption of the term became necessary as it's predecessor "humanitarian intervention" wore out it's usefulness.
I have little doubt that the gargoyles that inhabit the boardrooms and business corridors make smug, vicious jokes about "our responsibility to protect our profits" as they plan their next invasion and heist of resources.
"Neither imperialism nor colonialism is a simple act of accumulation and acquisition. It's not just a matter of going out there and getting a territory and sitting on it. Both of these practices are supported and perhaps even impelled by impressive cultural formations, that include ideas that certain people and certain territories require and beseech domination."
- Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism
Posted by: Allen | Feb 26 2019 2:51 utc | 61
Wait, who elected Richard Haass and why does he get to dictate US foreign policy? He's as legit as Random Guiado.
Posted by: Roy G | Feb 26 2019 3:00 utc | 62
A neo cohen is going to neo cohen. Interesting when International law and the doctrines of civility in warfare are used against other countries but never against the dual citizen Haass' country...balfourstan.
Posted by: Tony Mike | Feb 26 2019 3:21 utc | 63
Engdahl sheds a bit of light on whats at stake in Venezuela
http://www.williamengdahl.com/englishNEO17Feb2019.php
Posted by: Pft | Feb 26 2019 3:53 utc | 64
Your point Marco?
https://twitter.com/BBassem7/status/1099749334172594176
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0Opv8RWsAEJGiA.jpg
Posted by: Marco Rubio | Feb 26 2019 3:57 utc | 65
A good article by John Pilger: The War on Venezuela is Built on Lies
Also a rendition of the events of the 23rd of February according to TeleSur
Patrick Henningsen of 21st Century Wire episode on Venezuela and the here interviewed by RT
Posted by: jsb | Feb 26 2019 4:01 utc | 66
There is no Responsibility to Protect. That doctrine was invented just so that the NATO countries could destroy and colonize weaker countries.
Posted by: Joseph A Magil | Feb 26 2019 4:32 utc | 67
Is This the End of the Anglosphere?
After decades of intellectual dominance, Britain and the U.S. are losing influence. The rest of the world shouldn’t celebrate just yet.
https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/serfilatov/37945564/1046674/1046674_600.jpg
Posted by: Bloomberg | Feb 26 2019 5:10 utc | 68
Anyone here seen another source for this news?
http://eu.eot.su/2019/02/25/venezuelan-police-detains-group-of-colombian-provocateurs/
Posted by: John Anthony La Pietra | Feb 26 2019 5:47 utc | 69
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ //
=> Cyril | Feb 25, 2019 9:41:03 PM | 60
No, at the time (2011), the U.S.'s reputation was relatively good, in spite of the invasion of Iraq. The Russians and the Chinese probably believed that Obama and Hilary were sincere. That was a mistake ("we came, we saw, he died", hee hee hee). I doubt they will be fooled again.
// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The U.S.'s reputation has been at the bottom for a looooong time. What just occurred to me is that under the Obama regime it has somehow managed to sink even much lower. An amazing feat!
Posted by: blues | Feb 26 2019 6:20 utc | 70
@55 Clueless Joe
"No State has any right to interfer in any way in another's State's business, period."
Unilaterally, no. That would be very non-Westphalian of them.
"Any kind of intervention, whatever the motive, is a no-go."
Again, in the post-WW2 legal regime that is true, if that intervention is unilateral.
"And if UN Charter or Security Council states otherwise, then they're the ones going deep into illegal stuff and breaching the international order, which is one of strict and absoltue non-intervention."
No, sorry, that's where you go wrong. The UN Charter is a TREATY. An INTERNATIONAL TREATY.
Every country that has signed that treaty is agreeing to its articles, and by doing so creating a new chapter in International Law (after all, Intl Law is merely the catch-all phrase for all international "treaties and customs").
You sign the Charter, you are bound by its articles and chapters.
Article 2, for example, codifies the prohibition on the unilateral use of force.
Article 25 codifies that all member states will abide by the "decisions" of the UNSC
All of Chapter VII codifies how that UNSC can "decide" that member states can go BANG! on someone.
That's all International Law, Joe. All of it, because the UN Charter is a treaty, and therefore is legally binding on all states that sign it.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Feb 26 2019 7:57 utc | 71
We have Responsibility to Protect our precious sources of crude oil, which are being threatened by a Socialist Dictator.
While we're at tit, we will undertake some cosmetic efforts to aid the people there, but then pretty much abandon them to a dictator of our choosing.
Posted by: ralphieboy | Feb 26 2019 8:11 utc | 72
Yeah Right:
If art. 2 orders no unilateral use of force, then art. 25 is null and void; if you can't use unilaterally force, you can't have the excuse of a Security Council vote to work your way around it. To be blunt, the SC's powers are illegal according the basis of the UN principles themselves; they are way too great.
Besides, deep down, there's no superior laws to national laws - there's no global State / country / empire that can truly impose its rule over its lesser components. Treaties are just that, treaties. Temporary deals. If you want to have laws ruling over countries, then first you have to dissolve the countries as independent nations - something which, obviously, is opposite to the ultimate principle upon which UN is supposed to be built.
To be blunt: the bottom-line is that it's probably time to dissolve UN (and, most probably, the EU) and have another better body whose first and key role will be to ensure the absolute independence of States, and second to coordinate about issues that are too big to be fully tackled by countries independently (as long as the 1st principle is fully respected).
Anyone who doesn't like this should just start his own World Conquest, because it's the only defensible alternative to core Westphalian principles.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Feb 26 2019 9:29 utc | 73
One in the eye for Trump: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cubans-back-new-constitution-affirming-role-of-socialism/ar-BBU4Muj
Posted by: Shakesvshav | Feb 26 2019 10:11 utc | 74
It is difficult to work out what Trump is actually up to but he does have scores to settle with various groups and whatever else he might be he has appeared to be quite vindictive.
One group that pissed him off was the neo-cons, like Bolton and Abrams, so he has set them up for a failure. He has no real intention of invading Venezuela so they'll end up looking like a pair of tossers when their regime change "slam-dunk" ends in failure.
Incorporating the neo-cons into the regime-change schtick also dumps of the interventionist Democrats who think the sum shines out of Bolton and Abrams arses at the moment. Since most of the likely Democratic candidates in the next presidential election are from the interventionist wing of the Democratic Party, Trump is setting them up for failure in 2020. I'm getting the feeling that Tulsi Gabbard might be the only Democratic candidate who could defeat Trump but the Democratic Party establishment will make sure that will never happen just as they did with Sanders in 2016.
Finally, Trump is setting up the Little Marco, the most likely Republican to oppose him, for a good kicking on the campaign trail with the Gaadafi shit.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Feb 26 2019 12:12 utc | 75
OT
UNs highest court just ruled in favor of Mauritius in the Chagos Islands dispute. Britain insisted the ruling was non-binding, though. Ingrates.
Who knows, maybe the massive US military base in Diego Garcia will finally be given back to its aboriginals.
Who woulda thought the UN was good for something?
Posted by: dan | Feb 26 2019 12:18 utc | 76
@72 Clueless Joe.
"If art. 2 orders no unilateral use of force, then art. 25 is null and void;"
No, sorry, read the Charter. Article 25 is what "empowers" the UN Security Council, in that every country that signs the Charter is agreeing that they will obey a "decision" of the UNSC.
A UNSC "decision" does not have to imply the use of force on the part of anyone: the UNSC debates a topic, and then the members of the UNSC can (if they wish, which often they don't) put the debate to a vote.
If the language of the resolution contains the word "decides that..." then whatever is "decided" in that document is legally binding upon whichever member state is affected by its text.
That decision can be quite specific, applying to a single member state, or it can be a catch-all decision that is applicable to every member state.
That's why UNSC resolutions so seldom contains the words "decides that..." since all the permanent members of the Council have to agree - which is rare indeed.
"if you can't use unilaterally force, you can't have the excuse of a Security Council vote to work your way around it."
OK, you are clearly struggling with the concept of Treaty Law.
The plain text of this particular treaty gives you the answer you need i.e. Article 2 does not allow individual States to decide that going BANG! on someone is the way to settle an argument. Article 25 does allow the UN Security Council - collectively - to make that decision on behalf of the UN's member states.
That's perfectly legal, since that treaty applies *only* to member states of the UN (which, of course, is pretty much *every* sovereign state on Planet Earth).
They signed the treaty, they are agreeing to what is in the text of that treaty.
It's not a difficult concept to grasp.
"To be blunt, the SC's powers are illegal according the basis of the UN principles themselves; they are way too great."
Woah!!! Where did the word "principles" come from?
What, exactly, is a "principle" of International Law?
Because in my understanding (very different from yours, obviously) what we are discussing is the compendium of Treaties and Customs that makes up International Law, not some wibbly-wobbly concept like.... well.... "principles".
"Besides, deep down, there's no superior laws to national laws - there's no global State / country / empire that can truly impose its rule over its lesser components."
Sovereigns are sovereign, within their own sovereign soil. No argument there.
But international law is the law BETWEEN sovereigns, and it governs (or, at least, attempts to govern) the behaviour of states in their interactions WITH each other.
Here, a simple example: a country in the Middle East (let's call it, oh, "Ismail") goes to war with another country (say, "Syrup") and as a result of that war takes control of some territory (I don't know, let's say "the Gonad Heights").
Leave aside the rights or wrongs (the "who started what and why") and ask a simple question: does Ismail now *own* the Gonad Heights?
Int'l Law would say "no, you occupy it, but it isn't yours".
Ismail might say "f**k you. I've grabbed it, I own it. Bite me".
By your logic Ismail is correct: there is no law superior to Ismail's national law, and so it can decide whatever it wants w.r.t. having grabbed Syrup by the Gonads.
By my login Ismail is simply playing childish games, and no matter how furiously it stamps its little feet this territory is occupied-territory.
That no other country - not even Syrup - is willing to take on Ismail to get that territory back makes no difference to the fundamentals i.e. that territory belongs to Syrup, and all Ismail is doing is holding it at the point of a gun.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Feb 26 2019 12:26 utc | 77
stephen spielberg was correct we should never forget the hungary children.
if maduro cannot protect them then the imf,cfr,brookings and chatham house will have to do the heavy lifting.
during hitlers times an heroic english man activated a kinder transport of innocent souls across europe many where saved thanks to the city of london corporation and wall street ashkanazim.
if needs be the uk and usa can again operate a transport for safe harbour of the kinder
Posted by: mervin | Feb 26 2019 12:47 utc | 78
I think the Libyan fiasco was a major turning point and eye opener. Also Syria with the excellent help of Eva Bartlett and Vanessa Beasley. And now the Venezuelan fiasco which is the worst/best yet. I would also add China as not backing off easily.
----------
financial matters
April 11, 2017 at 9:45 am
I think Libya was a major turning point. I don’t think Russia and Iran are going to back off easily. The US also seems to have pretty much lost what humanitarian clout they may have had.
—————
GlobalMisanthrope
December 16, 2015 at 9:48 am
Re How the Arab Spring Became the Arab Cataclysm
Vijay Prashad provides a different perspective in this interview with Chris Hedges.
financial matters
December 16, 2015 at 1:23 pm
Very good interview.
Vijay Prashad talks about the period from 1989 when we had the Panama invasion and collapse of the Soviet Union as leading to an unleashing of US military power leading to the Iraq War in 2003. This war serious dented the image of the US as being a humanitarian actor and the US pushed for the UN Responsibility to Protect Act in 2005 which was used to justify the Libya invasion.
Prashad sees the results of that invasion and what is going on now in Syria as reflecting that the period 2011-2015 is seeing the end of this US unipolarism that lasted from 1989 to 2011
Posted by: financial matters | Feb 26 2019 12:58 utc | 79
To the posters that wonder why Russia and China do not intervene and stop the hegemon in all of these countrioes.
I think Russia has a GDP the size of New Jersey and is just recovering from the plunder after the USSR fell. China is building the belt and road initiative.
These are two nuclear armed countries that for sure do not wish to ever have to use those nukes.
Russia IMO is now getting in the empire's way and that started when the US attacked Syria where Russia's only other base was. The next one was Ukraine and Crimea where Russia has a base. IMO the Russians are playing it very smart with little to no death and violence on their part.
China is also doing damage to the empire by the belt and road initiative.(not intentional to hurt the US)
To expect these countries to openly defy the loose cannon US is not smart and they are smart while they watch this drunk throw his kung fu chops in mid air and trip him every so often on the QT.
Posted by: arby | Feb 26 2019 13:39 utc | 80
Yeah Right:
"Sovereigns are sovereign, within their own sovereign soil. No argument there. But international law is the law BETWEEN sovereigns, and it governs (or, at least, attempts to govern) the behaviour of states in their interactions WITH each other."
Well, that's the trick. When you allow interferences in other countries' business, you aren't just dealing with "interactions between states", you are dealing with clear and definitive breaches of countries' sovereignty. Any intervention, any interference, arguably any mere *comment* on how a sovereign country deals with its internal affairs is a breach of this. So, it's quite obvious that not only the invasion of Iraq, but the bulk of foreign interventions by the US and other Western powers since decades are clear violations of countries' absolute and indisputable sovereignty. This of course includes any official blabbing about Venezuela, when the only single thing they should be allowed to say is that Maduro and his government are the legal recognized rulers and government of that country, and Guaido is no. Any other position should be considered illegal and an official stating otherwise should actually be sued for it.
Posted by: Clueless Jo | Feb 26 2019 13:49 utc | 81
I'm retreading here but it's pretty clear that R2P was the latest in NewSpeak dressing up of the same old sabotage and destruction. What is significant are the brazen actions that followed. Keeping in mind that the supposed threat to the people of Libya was manufactured, the ensuing rape was astounding. This should have been a huge turning point for perspectives around the world, and in some quarters it probably was. In the USA it was spun so hard people had no chance of decoding it. Then it culminated in the now infamous Hillary quote...that and a large Hollywood film about some brave heroes.
I bring this up in part because it does relate to the VZ situation in that there are such cascades of obfuscation, deception and outright lies that it is worth comparing. I recall reading up on the supposed riot that threatened what was then called an embassy but was in fact a rented villa/compound. The piece I read examined the film that caused it and the man behind it. The Innocence of Bin Laden was originally a honey-trap that flopped when it was screened in LA. The guy behind it had all kinds of dealings with the FBI and appeared to have confidential informant status. It was retreaded as The Innocence of Muslims and rolled out yet again. Accompanying the article were interviews with people that worked on the production, all quite damning in regard to the authenticity and intended use of the film. It was this piece of bad art/agit-prop that supposedly cause the "riot". Except that it wasn't a riot so much as an organized and well planned hit. What ensued is a bit murky, but witnesses and participants recall being targeted on the way to the safe-house and ambushed. The film 13 hours seeks to control this narrative.
Then reports of SAS on the ground directing activities, mercs coming on from Egypt, and of course the weapons from Libya being shipped over to Syria for another go. The crowning jewel is the fact that the USA led from the rear, supplying the French and Britzies with bombs aplenty and destroying the infrastructure. This is very similar to a gang rape initiation or something equally gruesome. It's as if to say: 'no more high horse for you, there is blood on your hands too!' It seems that this type of scenario is being played in VZ. As noted above, the resistance seems to be ahead of the curve now.
The Syrian situation was the turning point, after the rest of the world looked on in horror at the rape of Libya. Venezuela has endured nearly 20 years of pressure, but unlike Syria it is not surrounded by the like of KSA and isreal, just to name a few. It's one thing to "make the economy scream" and quite another to go in and occupy. Granted the USAs military has become an occupying force, but it is stretched thin and the troops are not conditioned for hard combat. There is close to zero chance that any other standing army in Latin America will be enlisted to do the dirty work. Sure some Columbian death squad mercs, and some SF types from a few nations but that is about it. The R2P pretext is hogwash and everyone knows it, which is a sure sign that the chickenhawks are fresh out of new ideas. It couldn't be more clear that the crises are manufactured by the would be neo-colonials and the moneyed upper classes.
There is a very real possibility for this whole thing to explode in ways not intended by the perps. If history is an indication, there is an underlying resentment in Latin America toward the European North and all of its appendages and rightly so. It is the arrogance of these players that handicaps them, assuming the masses are ignorant and blind to the patterns of their own history. One does not need a graduate degree to know one is being fugged.
So here we are: the coup attempts are more and more ridiculous, the puppet even more of a stooge, and the turnout for the Maidans even weaker. All of this selective and largely contrived outrage is primarily for domestic consumption and consent manufacturing, because there is no way anyone south of the border is buying it. They failed in Syria, the most recent attempt in Nicaragua failed, and Monroe's backyard is falling under Sino-Russo influence. It's not enough to have the Lima group as quislings, they must have it all. Either that or some twisted version of the Sampson option: if I can't have it nobody can! The big problem being that alot of people get hurt when Uncle Scam throws all the toys out of the pram...
Posted by: Chevrus | Feb 26 2019 14:16 utc | 82
mervin, yet another in a long line of Hasbara trolls who pollute these waters like the turds they are.
Posted by: SlapHappy | Feb 26 2019 14:22 utc | 83
78
gadaffi was a new hitler who thankfully was stopped in time before he could kill all his people same with serbia,ukrainia and iraqi.
even animal assad had to stop his butchery once usa,uk and israel said never again.
day by day libya is flowering into the country chatham house and brookings cfr always wanted it to be.
apart from the tons of depleted uranium missile and bomb waste these countries could still be new promised lands
Posted by: mervin | Feb 26 2019 14:48 utc | 84
Curtis @54: Here's a free book about the economic warfare against Venezuela, from 2017:
The Visible Hand of the Market - Economic Warfare in Venezuela by Pasqualina Curcio Curcio (pdf, 5.4 Mb)
https://www.nato.int/docu/speech/1998/s981112a.htm have a look
Westphalian principles of "sovereignty entails a responsibility to protect all populations from mass atrocity crimes and human rights violations. The principle is based on a respect for the norms and principles of international law [economics, especially the underlying principles of law relating to sovereignty, peace and security, human rights, and [victimizing armed conflict. <= HAass "
The human problem is 7 billion or more humans in the world have left the determination of relations between a nation state organized to serve an economic interest to the proven, most greedy in the world (politicians: in charge of Armed Rule-Making nation state Structures (ARMS)) to resolve the relations between the ARMS and the humanity issues.
But humanity trapped and resides within is not a part of the purpose of developing an ARMS and organizing it into a named nation state. Humanity should negotiate with the states, (not the politicians of one state negotiating with the politicians of the other states, not even all of the nation states getting together, because their interest is economic not human). Resolving human rights and defending human rights and advancing human privilege are, according to our Makers' design, superior to, and outside of the jurisdiction of the economic conflict. Economic differences between or within an ARMS are resolved by wars, but human conflicts with those who prosecute economics are undefended and unrepresented. The ARMS developed the UN, and then used it for their political interest, but never have they used an international organization to resolve conflicts between an ARMS and the humanity it contains or invades.
Humanity, is stronger than all of the nations put together (hands down), but global humanity has never organized. Humanity has no representative with any power any where in the world. Humanity has been forced to depend on one or more ARMS, or organized created and managed by ARMS to defend human rights and supply human needs. ARMS have proven by the calendar of history to be incapable of protecting humanity, and even to avoid the abuse of humanity itself, because advancing economics conflicts with defending humanity.
Its time the humans in the world self organize (deny membership to any nation state, or to any ARMS). With objects that demand and insist that governments, nation states, kingdoms ARMS of any kind all and each relinquish their claims to a right to use or abuse humanity. Why? Because long years of UN, the League of Nations and other organizations created supposedly to address human rights have failed humanity. These international organizations organized by persons in charge of economic entities have been unable to solve the conflict between the rights of humanity and the demands of economics. Every human is entitled to a victim-free conflict-free secure environment to live in, but every government denies that security because it is advancing their cause in economics.
I propose a purely human organization: one that would operate in complete transparency to national boundaries (truly global). Its membership would deny eligibility to every human being employed by, connected to, or employed by, elected to, or contracted with a government, an affiliate of government, a corporation(profit or not) or a nation state or an ARMS.
In other words, the needs and fears of humanity differ so much from the nation state system and its siblings, that the nation states, kingdoms, (ARMS of any type) and humanity that occupy them are opponents in interest, need and expectation. Each ARMS is organised, in one fashion or the other, to maximize a system of economics, each ARMS is a designed (structure) with a design purpose to organize the people and resources within a bounded area (nation state(ARMS)) in order to advance, defend, and foster (ADF) the economic assets, economic activity, and economic earnings(AAE) of the ARMS for the designers. Economics of any kind suppresses humanity; but both humanity and economics are in some ways dependent upon each other for progress and survival. Its the unbalanced relative power of the ARMS over humanity that has brought the world to war.
The ARMS are designed by those in control of the territory claimed by the ARMS. The ARMS are designed to use and to employ the minds and manpower as resources to accomplish economic objectives no matter the abuse and denial to humanity. Tere is no human representation capable to limit the abuse the prosecution of economics can bring to humanity trapped within the boundaries of an Armed Rule-Making Structure (ARMS).
A possible name of such an organization might be Humanity for Humans HFH and its purpose objects might be to give balance to the relations between economic interest and human interest and to prosecute the human cases against the Nation State System (the ARMS).
Posted by: snake | Feb 26 2019 15:44 utc | 86
Apparently this is a picture of how well off the people of
Cucuta Colombia live---
https://twitter.com/notipaco/status/1100021370254168070
Posted by: arby | Feb 26 2019 15:45 utc | 87
Thank you, b, for explaining the curious phrase 'R2P' and that it does not apply in this instance. I think the concept relates somewhat to the London Review of Books article that karlof1 referenced earlier, so I'll again thank him for that and also b4real for responding to me on the thread about the riot at the border. (I tried to clarify my question on the second page of that piece last night.)
It is important that we not lose sight of the determination to contain the Americas south of us in the web of US influence - but as you have noted, b, the repercussions are already being felt in Venezuela with more solidarity in terms of the 'deep nation' there. That will certainly ricochet in other problematic states as that horrible photo brings home to everyone in the region that they are in the hands of maniacs if they allow the disintegration of their countries to continue.
This is a little bit why I questioned the LRofB article, since I felt that originating the sovereignty issue with the formation of the Latin American states didn't really go far enough back. To me it arises with, as karlof1 pointed out, the Declaration of Independence, and is built into the formation of the US state as well. The same statement can be made on the R2P issue, since the United Nations is based on that sovereignty pairing - the sovereignty of the individual as well as the sovereignty of the nations comprising it.
Thank you for this post.
Posted by: juliania | Feb 26 2019 15:55 utc | 88
why are so many warmongers from the jewish race involved in venezeula E.G richard Haass. & eliot abrahms
Posted by: albert darmo | Feb 26 2019 16:02 utc | 89
Thanks, chevrus at 81 - well said! I believe the majority of US citizens would recoil in horror at the terrible photo Rubio posted and that b has reminded us of here. I cried when I saw it last night. And the tragedy of Libya with the savage Clinton response was a major factor, I believe, in her loss of the presidency - people remembered what she said. I did. And now I don't want to call us simply 'Americans' any longer - we are diminished. "USians" is better. We don't deserve the all embracing title, no way.
I wish we did.
Posted by: juliania | Feb 26 2019 16:15 utc | 90
We have a Zionist occupied government and until we can all agree on that and also on a course of action to remove them from positions of power, we will continue to pay for and suffer from their wars of aggression.
Posted by: SlapHappy | Feb 26 2019 16:18 utc | 91
Maybe Chrystia Freeland could ask her Ukranian relatives to source a Ukranian BUK missile to shoot down an airliner above Venezuela. Preferably a plane with a NATO member as the flag state and/or with passengers from NATO countries.
The Dutch will do the accident investigation after a request by Random Guydo. Bellingcat will provide the "evidence". The criminal investigation will be done by NATO member states, headed by the Dutch.
Dutch politicians instruct the public prosecutor and police to blame it on the Venezuelans. The documents will be declared a state secret to prevent journalists nosing around with freedom of information requests. The Dutch provide funding to Bellingcat under guise of OSINT training to law enforcement and the family members of the victims will get free legal assistance to sue the Maduro government.
Never change a winning team.
Posted by: Symen Danziger | Feb 26 2019 16:22 utc | 92
@ karlof1 | Feb 25, 2019 4:20:26 PM | 26
”my law & history-based views are too radical for any political party within the Outlaw US Empire, thus I'm a party of1.”
Nope - party of 2; I hereby recognize you as the legitimate president of the United States of America, and will begin organizing caravans of aid trucks to DC as soon as you give the order.
Posted by: AntiSpin | Feb 26 2019 16:26 utc | 93
@74 ghost ship
Trump is either playing 8D chess surrounding himself with neocons creating elaborate warmongering schemes setting themself up for failure or maybe, just maybe, Trump actually is a warmongering loon little different from Obama, Clinton et al.
It's odd how people still think Trump is different. He revealed his true colours almost immediately after bombing Syria shortly after becoming president and by then appointing neocon after neocon.
Posted by: Daniel | Feb 26 2019 16:49 utc | 94
US Spy Plane Reportedly Spotted Over Venezuela as Maduro Warns of Risk of War
https://sptnkne.ws/kNXz
Posted by: Zanon | Feb 26 2019 16:55 utc | 95
karlof1 @37
I'm not sure if I can thank you for posting the link to Cortez's...well, statement I guess; pretty painful to sit through. Proof positive that labels such as "left" and "right" really have no political significance anymore; both have been co-opted by the Lords of Capital.
I will give Cortez credit for being able to simultaneously create both a vegetable salad and a word salad, however.
Keep it up b; the world of reason would suffer without your contributions.
Posted by: robjira | Feb 26 2019 17:28 utc | 96
fyi Why Canada Wants Regime Change in Venezuela
http://ricochet.media/en/2521/why-canada-wants-regime-change-in-venezuela
"...The ideological commitment of the Canadian government [and its opposition parties] to overthrow Maduro and promote the opposition in the country is because of its neoliberal and reactionary politics. Canada is committed to the assertion of its powers in poorer countries in order to access their resources and labour. Comparing the United States and Canada, Gordon replied, It's a bit more complicated for the US to play the role that Canada is because it has more baggage in the region. Canada prides itself in being non-imperialist and appearing that way in international media...
The presence of Canadian mining companies in Latin America, at least in part, explains its alliances and interests in the region. The majority of mining companies in the world have their headquarters in Canada, while 41% of the large mining companies in Latin America are Canadian..."
Posted by: John Gilberts | Feb 26 2019 17:28 utc | 97
AntiSpin @92--
Thanks for your support! But instead of trucks filled with aid, a fleet of paddy wagons and several SWAT Teams need to be sent to arrest the entire Executive and Legislative branches of government and every General Officer within the military as none has done their sworn duty to defend the constitution from Domestic Enemies.
As you might envision the above occurring, although it seems massive, it would only be the first step as Wall Street banksters and their kin throughout the land would be next along with BigLie Media CEOs and editorial staff, followed by the total withdrawal of all overseas military personnel. These were some of the moves the late William Blum said he'd make if POTUS after which he assumed he'd be assassinated. But even those moves still don't even begin to rectify the deceit and corruption rife within the Outlaw US Empire as many of the state governments are as bad as the federal.
I see Bernie did his Stand-up Routine on CNN yesterday. What a joke! Yes, he'd be arrested, too, as he's also guilty of failing to do his duty to his nation as he swore. About the only member of government that might avoid being held is Tulsi Gabbard as she has recognized the enemy within and introduced legislation aimed at throttling some aspects of imperial policy. But it's really sorry when you realize that the entire government must be arrested for what's essentially Treason, along with most of the heads of media and business.
The only way a one-man revolution will be successful is if he can amass a hundred million allies; that's why history's devoid of any one-man revolutions as revolutionary is always plural since it takes a team just to begin.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 26 2019 17:31 utc | 98
"The only way a one-man revolution will be successful is if he can amass a hundred million allies; that's why history's devoid of any one-man revolutions as revolutionary is always plural since it takes a team just to begin."
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 26, 2019 12:31:34 PM | 97
"Give me some men who are stout-hearted men
who will fight for the right they adore,
"Start me with ten who are stout-hearted men,
and I'll soon give you ten thousand moooooore --"
Posted by: AntiSpin | Feb 26 2019 17:43 utc | 99
robjira @95--
If you've followed my postings since the election, you'll have seen me post numerous items portraying AOC in a positive manner, items which have encountered flak. Unfortunately, it's clear that like so many of her fellow congresscritters she doesn't fully understand the document she swore to uphold and defend--particularly when it comes to actions aimed at disrupting the sovereignty of another nation. I think you'll agree it does no good to provide only one image of anyone as we all have our plusses and minuses; and when it comes to budding politicos, building one's integrity is paramount unless one has already gone down the path to corruption like Rubio. And in AOC's case, the media's magnifying glass hovers over her constantly--thus the imperative to maintain an exceptional degree of integrity.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 26 2019 17:46 utc | 100
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What a psychopath little Marco is.
Posted by: George Lane | Feb 25 2019 19:09 utc | 1