Venezuela - Random Guyaidó's New Coup Attempt Turns Out to Be A Dangerous Joke
(This post was appended throughout the day. It is in chronological order.)
---
The Random Guyaidó who the Trump administration tries to make president of Venezuela just launched another coup attempt against the government.
He announced his intent in a series of tweets around 6:00 am local time (machine translated):
Juan Guaidó @jguaido - 9:58 utc - 30 Apr 2019People of Venezuela began the end of usurpation. At this moment I meet the main military units of our armed force initiating the final phase of Operation Freedom.
Venezuelan people we go to the street, national armed force to continue the deployment until we consolidate the end of the encroachment that is already irreversible.
The national armed forces have made the right decision, they have the support of the Venezuelan people, with the endorsement of our Constitution, with the guarantee of being on the right side of the story. To deploy the forces to achieve the cessation of usurpation.
People of Venezuela, we need to go out on the streets together, to support the democratic forces and to regain our freedom. Organized and together mocilícense the main military units. People of Caracas, all to La Carlota.
Guaido also posted a short video which shows talking into the camera with some 30 soldiers standing behind him.
bigger
Some members of the armed forces released Leopoldo Lopez, an opposition leader under house arrest since he, in 2014, organized violent protests against the government. Guaidó and López went to the La Carlota airforce base near Caracas. Lopez tweeted (machine translated):
Leopoldo López @leopoldolopez - 10:17 utc - 30 Apr 2019Venezuela: The final phase has begun for the cessation of usurpation, Operation Freedom. I have been released by the military to the order of the Constitution and of President Guaidó. I'm at the La Carlota Base. All to mobilize. It's time to conquer freedom. Strength and Faith
bigger
López is, like Guaidó, a creature of the U.S. of A. He was also involved in the 2002 coup attempt against then President Chavez.
It is not clear if Guaido and Lopez entered the air base. A person from the government said they are only on a highway.
A video posted by some TV station shows a platoon of armed and masked soldiers at a road block.
The Venezuelan Minister for Communication Jorge Rodríguez says the coup will be defeated (machine translated):
Jorge Rodríguez @jorgerpsuv - 10:18 utc - 30 Apr 2019We inform the Venezuelan people that we are currently confronting and deactivating a small group of military traitors who were positioned in the Altamira distributor to promote a coup against the constitution and Peace of the Republic ... 1/2
To this attempt was added the far-right coupe and assassin, who announced his violent agenda for months. We call on the people to stay on high alert, along with the glorious Bolivarian National armed forces, to defeat the coup attempt and preserve the peace. We will win 2/2
The Distibuidor Altamira is a highway exit near the affluent business and living district Altamira in eastern Caracas.
Some, but not all, Internet access from/to Venezuela is disabled.
The chief of the armed forces of Venezuela chimes in (machine translated):
Vladimir Padrino L. @vladimirpadrino - 10:51 utc - 30 Apr 2019We reject this coup movement that seeks to fill the country with violence. The pseudo political leaders who have placed themselves at the forefront of this subversive movement, have employed troops and policemen with weapons of war in a public thoroughfare of the city to create chaos and terror
News of the coup comes shortly after Reuters reports that the Blackwater founder Erik Prince is looking for money to set up a mercenary army to attack Venezuela:
In private meetings in the United States and Europe, Prince sketched out a plan to field up to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire on behalf of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch.
...
A person familiar with the administration’s thinking said the White House would not support such a plan.
...
One of Prince’s key arguments, one source said, is that Venezuela needs what Prince calls a “dynamic event” to break the stalemate that has existed since January, ...
No "dynamic event" happened so far.
It has now been confirmed that Guadió and Lopez did not enter the La Carlota air base. It is under control of government forces. Some soldiers are said to have been "deceived".
The metro of Caracas was shut down by the government.
A short video and a photo show a few low rank soldiers on a highway bridge with a carton of bananas and a basket of machine gun ammunition. Besides one machine guns they are armed with normal rifles and pistols. They are marked with a blue armlet or masks as Guaidó supporters.
bigger
bigger
Another short video shows Lopez, somewhat frustrated, on a highway bridge with a handful of soldiers and a few journos.
CNN diverts from the official U.S. government line and Marco Rubio isn't happy about it.
bigger
Chavista supporters of President Maduro have surrounded the President's Miraflores Palace to prevent the coup plotters from capturing it.
President Nicolás Maduro tweeted (machine translated):
Nicolás Maduro @NicolasMaduro - 14:07 utc - 30 Apr 2019Nerves of Steel! I have spoken with the commanders of all the REDIs and ZODI of the country, who have expressed their total loyalty to the people, to the Constitution and to the fatherland. I call for maximum popular mobilization to ensure the victory of peace. Venceremos!
Guaidó moved to the Plaza Altamira, a place of regular opposition protests in a wealthy quarter, and speaks to a minor crowd.
There are claims, including by Marco Rubio, that Guaidó supporters have taken the La Carlota Base. (La Carlota's official name is Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base.) These reports are false. The small gang of Guaidó soldiers and some Guaidó supporters are on a highway bridge near the entrance of the air base. The base is in the hand of government forces. The opposition never entered it.
There are no reliable reports that any additional military besides the 30 or so men on the bridge have switched to Guaidó.
15:00 utc
Someone points out that the soldiers supporting Guaidó carry M4 Colt assault rifles. The official assault rifle of the Venezuelan military is the Kalashnikov AK-103. Back in February there were a number of flights from Florida to Venezuela which delivered weapons to the opposition.
16:00 utc
It is becoming clear that this coup attempt is no more than a stupid PR campaign. Here is a map of the whole 'coup' scene which plays in a small area of the wealthy Altamira district of Caracas.
bigger
At the bottom of the map is the La Calota air base, also known as Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Base, which Guaido supporters tried to enter. They threw rocks against the guards until tear gas drove them away. Directly north of it runs a highway east to west. The two highway bridges on which Guaidó's soldiers stand are crossing the highway right next to the base. Some 500 meters north of the highway bridges is Plaza Altamira (the upper blue point) where Guaidó spoke to some supporters.
The highway bridges can be seen in this video taken from north of the highway looking south across the bridges towards the airport. In the video some fireworks go off to which nervous Guaidó supporting soldiers on a bridge respond (1 2 vid) by firing a few shots into the air.
The whole coup attempt was run within a 500 x 200 meter corridor with nothing of significance happening outside of it. A dangerous propaganda stunt but so far nothing more than that.
This slight modification of the Guaidó/López picture above seems appropriate. These dudes are mere comic figures, wannabe fantasy heroes.
bigger
17:00 utc
Video of some six alleged coup soldiers who loudly claim their innocence (machine translated):
Coup soldiers surrender in #Venezuela and claim they were brought to the uprising under deception by military deserters followers of John Guaidó
Quotes from a speech by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino (machine translated):
A small group, tiny military and police officers decided to kidnap SOME GNB vehicles, armaments and ammunition. They broke in this morning and they bet on the Altamira dealer
Weapons of War, rifles and machine guns were placed, betting on the roads through which the citizens move. It is a coup attempt, no doubt, of a mediocre magnitude
80 percent of the troops who came to this call were deceived. He sought to bring chaos and death to a group of country soldiers who were deceived into committing a terrorist act
It is a coup attempt of a very small and negligible magnitude. We have given immediate response: all the commands of the #FANB, of the components, of the tactical units, operative, of the Redis, Zodi, of the militia were immediately reported
80 percent of those who were taken there, deceived, left on their own and reported with their natural controls.
The majority of the military with weapons have left the place and have gone to the Plaza Altamira, where they are reediting everything that we live in the year 2002
We will not allow any aggression against the law, institutionality, democracy and the Constitution. The Republic's weapons are to defend their sovereignty and independence.
Responsiblity for any bloodshed and violence to the fascist and anti-patriotic leadership, which does not deserve respect from Venezuelans or FANB, because they try to use military for their own purposes.
"Miraflores cannot be reached by violence. Who arrives in Miraflores for violence, will be overthrown by violence, "says Vladimir Godfather Lopez, Minister of Defense of #Venezuela
(FANB, GNB, Redis, Zodis are abbreviations for the Venezuelan army, National Guard and other security forces.)
18:00 utc
Opposition TV showed Guaidó and López talking in a crowd of maybe a thousand all white people in Altamira. There were six men in Army and National Guard uniforms with them plus four bulky bodyguards in civilian clothes (one of color). They drove away in four seemingly armored SUVs with darkened windows.
Some radical youngsters on motorcycles still play cat and mouse with riot police and national guard near the airbase. The number of people near the airbase and on the bridges shrunk considerably.
It seems that the whole event is over.
The conclusion below from our first entry today seem to have been correct.
---
Guaidó seems to have neither a base nor large scale military support nor access to significant military equipment. If that does not change this coup attempt is likely to fail within a few hours.
Posted by b on April 30, 2019 at 11:31 UTC | Permalink
« previous page>>>> james | Apr 30, 2019 5:20:27 PM | 119
pat lang stupidity.
Pat is a conservative so what do you expect? That he supports Maduro?
As for his analysis, he was pretty well bang on except for saying that "that Maduro's troops and police will crush today's "revolt," arrest Guaido and his handful of military supporters and put them on trial". I doubt any of this will happen, those involved in the coup will be allowed to sneak abroad but with the clear understanding that if they do return to Venezuela, it will not be good.
Violence is so ingrained in the American psyche, that it's difficult for them to understand that violence should be the absolute last resort for when everything else has failed in politics and diplomacy.
Have all who comment here forgotten the Easter Rebellion in Dublin. The arch-colonialists of the time, the British Government won with the support/understanding, perhaps grudging, of most of the Irish and then HMG threw it all away with the brutality of their response by shooting many of the prisoners. Washington and London never learnt that lesson because they're corrupt and stupid, but you can be sure Moscow did.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | May 1 2019 8:36 utc | 202
Well, the CIA/Pentagon/South Command/Trump Admin are going full throttle to force this coup to fruition. It is utterly disgraceful that France, Italy, England and Germany all support USA & Guaidó–and yet another in-your-fucking-face-in-broad-daylight American regime change operation. As Prince is quoted in this article as saying, what they really need now is a false flag operation to justify in U.S. corporate propaganda media the need to invade with a mercenary army and finally get rid of Maduro and stick the final stake in the heart of the Bolivarian Revolution, aka South America's long standing efforts to assert autonomy from American colonialism, imperialism, and resource exploitation. Not to mention a more equitable distribution of each S. American countries' wealth, i.e. nationalizing oil, gas and other resources and to stop American oil and gas assholes from taking it all away. It is hard to predict how this ongoing coup attempt will play out. Maduro certainly has the backing of the army and 90% of the population–who know their lives will return to shit if Guaidó becomes puppet dictator for USA, back to the old "banana republic" days. Not unlike the shithole Cuba was before the Cuban Revolution with that death squad asshole Batista at the helm. Holy crap!
Posted by: Deschutes | May 1 2019 9:55 utc | 203
#167 Piotr Berman.
Hi,I don't understand what you are talking about.What is "nefarious "in putting in a link in a comment.I read about it in Circe's reactions to other comments as well.Being very unschooled in computer science I really don't understand what she and you are talking about.Please explain in detail,thank you in advance.
If this problem is so serious,would'nt it be nice to have a separate corner on MoA that explains this to newcomers?Any way,it has never occurred on other websites.
Posted by: willie | May 1 2019 10:14 utc | 204
The courageous Trump and Intrepid Pompeo's threats against Cuba - to establish a total blockade of that State - would seem at first blush to repudiate the "secret" agreement between Kennedy's Government and the Soviets'. Of course it also violates US Law under the Treaty Clause, as the US repudiated war as a method when the Senate ratified the UN Charter. But let's be practical...
This new threat against Cuba may have the perhaps intended result in realpolitik of resulting in the Cubans asking for, and getting, defensive Russian missiles for anti-ship and anti-air, as well as an increased Russian military establishment in the Caribbean. Such missiles of course, these days, would dominate the Caribbean sky. Including much of the Florida sky over US bases in CONUS as well as the beaches - all the littoral... Does the big fella want that?
Pompeo, as a West Point fella, must have forgotten the reliable dictum that no plan survives first contact. All actions have unintended consequences, particularly violence and threats of violence in the political arena and similarly, some might see such threats and actions as "terrorism"... Is this a desirable outcome for the Great Leaders?
Going on, I recommend reading #comment by > WJ | May 1, 2019 1:17:59 AM # 197
Some may, however, imagine that the well-nourished Pompeo and his similarly fed leader, are fools. The objective evidence seems to support the thesis that 197 posited - they're in a panic and in fear.
Fear and Panic are the satellites of Mars, the God of War.
Re-reading the Wiki on the 1962 crises with the Soviets @ Cuba might also be a good idea...
Posted by: Walter | May 1 2019 10:15 utc | 205
I find the analysis of these ploys rather disappointing and wide of the mark.
Yes the situation is rediculus and makes Rube and Pompus look like morons.
But I believe they will achieve desired result - they have blockade on Venezuela they are starving them and depriving them of income and disrupting infrastructure while largely isolating them. Adide from that Maduros doing OK. The analysis here strikes me as distraction from reality. Is that an accident?
Posted by: jared | May 1 2019 10:27 utc | 206
Maduros government is 90lb sickly child with alergies and broken glasses.
US is Arnold Schwartznegger on crack.
There is no one prepared to stand-up for Maduros goverment and why would another government do so.
Putin has his own problems and Xi is more beholden to globalists than even US which is not so much a state as a military serving the global oligarcs.
There are no heros. I wish there were a god. The public is indifferent self abdorbed ignorant.
Posted by: jared | May 1 2019 10:54 utc | 207
William Blum passed away not even five months ago. his master list already needs updating.
Posted by: john | May 1 2019 11:10 utc | 208
jared @206 is disappointed by the analysis offered here, yet is "...stunned that America has devolved to this.
I was going to ask that jared offer his take on reality that is being distracted from to help get the analysis closer to the mark, but if jared thinks this is some new behavior that the Empire of Chaos has just recently devolved to then I am afraid that his analysis is unlikely to add clarity to the discussion.
It is true that some posts here are distractions, but given what the Evil Empire budgets on information warfare, to imagine MoA doesn't have its own personalized teams of US State Department astroturf and hasbara trolls is naive. That is to say that some of the distraction is indeed intentional.
To WJ @197 I would suggest that the Operation Mockingbird mass media has been dialed up to 11. The shrill, jingoist hysteria has been hovering close to 10 for almost 2.5 years straight now and there is not much higher that they can crank it without the population refusing to further suspend disbelief. Is the fact that the organist at the Mighty Wurlitzer of corporate media is taking the risk of pulling out all of the stops a sign of desperation and thus the panic and fear that Walter @205 refers to? Or is the propaganda being shifted into the realm of the absurd more a symptom of arrogance crossed with ignorance and incompetence? Something of the natural consequence of an entire society afflicted with the Dunning-Kruger effect?
Aside: for those confused about links, I provided a couple examples in my post to give you an idea of how it should look when you preview your post (you DO preview your submission before clicking [Post], right?). Instructions for adding links are provided immediately above the text box that you typed your post in.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 1 2019 11:14 utc | 209
WJ @197
Walter @205
Yep, these assholes are all bullies, and they rely on it to control their marks, when the marks do not respond with the desired emotional freakout, they don't know what to do, and they have not thought about it yet either.
They are thinking all the time about what they want to do when it works, like a six-year-old child, who just stuck his hand in the cookie jar.
But this situation now is dangerous, because the usual impulse at this point is to blow up the game board and opponent both. They are already losing the power to bully, if they fail to throw Venezuela up against the wall and slap it around now, it's all over.
But there is no way that trying to take Venezuela by force is going to pay off any time soon, the Venezuelans will fight, and they have friends. It will be anything but short and sweet. Somebody said Zugzwang, that's the word.
Lang is a useful analyst except when it comes to Uncle Sugar. I don't blame him, I remember this country when it still had something good to be said for it, but we kissed all that goodbye with the jingo bullshit around 1976, and it was a totally bipartisan change.
Now I think it is much too late, the only way out is through.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2019 11:22 utc | 210
How about this scenario, it links the Venezuelan action with the efforts against Iran. The US is pumping shale oil and gas at a mad rate (none of it is making a profit). However, the shale resources are not going to last very long, a few more years at best, and the decline in production will be very fast. To take truly aggressive action against Iran the US needs to secure for itself the large oil reserves under Venezuela.
Posted by: Bakerpete | May 1 2019 11:37 utc | 211
MSM still thinks Coup is going strong
When I watched CNN / FOX at daybreak I wondered if Moon had underestimated the coup, I almost fell under their spell (remember they have visuals, visuals are powerful) but then I also remembered who has the better track record. I did notice that much of it was stock footage including the burning aid bus.
I just cannot believe how shamelessly they follow their govt handlers.
Posted by: Christian J Chuba | May 1 2019 11:43 utc | 212
Pat is a conservative so what do you expect? That he supports Maduro?
@Posted by: Ghost Ship | May 1, 2019 4:36:40 AM | 202
Well, he must be a "certain kind" of conservative, since other conservatives do not suppoort coups d´etat, the more "communist" they could perceive other countries´governments in the world today.
We will expect that, as long as he always paints himself as a constitutionalist democrat, he can control his fierce anti-communism ( which clearly still blinds him even at his advanced age )to avoid supporting these clearly fascist adventures.
One wonders why he needs to keep repeating that "analysis does not imply advocacy", with this issue of Venezuela and that of Lebanon. In his post about alleged sentiment of "self-importance" of Lebanon and US indiference for that Middle Eastern country, he deleted some posts by an arab poster who simply was debunking others´ unfounded assertions about Hezbollah related to the polemic Magnier´s article and contradicting some of Lang´s own statements.
Democracy and free speech, as happanes in a general way with the US as a country, seems to be only valid and allowed when it is for him and his country. You can wish for your country what you would deem more convenient ( especially at tax level when you are retired with good savings after generous wages/income from US defense administration and then trading privately with war and security issues.. ) and at the same time respect what sovereign nations choose democratically for them.
We would expect at least some honesty from whom passes all day giving master classes on that.
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 11:46 utc | 213
@204 willie
Because we are on a new page the thread column i.e. are normal again. When you enclose a long link into your comment it widens the margins and makes the thread impossible to read and comment on. You have to use the html tags on the top right above the comment box. Don't know why it happens here and not other sites, but if the rest of us have to explain the is to someone each time they mess up the thread...I give up! Do a PREVIEW when you put in a link especially a long one. If it goes off the right side of the column USE THE TAGS ABOVE. THAT'S ALL. SHEESH!
Posted by: Circe | May 1 2019 12:01 utc | 214
Sorry about typos. I didn't proof; I'm tired of repeating this. Thankfully the thread returned to normal on this page. The previous one was impossible! Unfortunately it will happen again because someone will post a long link again without using tags. I give up.
Posted by: Circe | May 1 2019 12:06 utc | 215
Every failed coup-attempt further proves Pompeo is one impotent hippo.
Sorry to be blunt, but that's my mood today.
Posted by: bjd | May 1 2019 12:22 utc | 216
If you didn't already think the NYT and WaPo are wholly pwned subsidiaries of the CIA, read this:
Zero Percent of Elite Commentators Oppose Regime Change in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, in Paris, Labour Day/Gilets Jaunes turnout is huge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzl6m_2_YH8
Posted by: bjd | May 1 2019 12:48 utc | 217
#167 Piotr Berman.
Hi,I don't understand what you are talking about.What is "nefarious "in putting in a link in a comment.I
Posted by: willie | May 1, 2019 6:14:59 AM | 204
The way a page looks in a browser depends on several aspects, and in the case of links, the safe and nicely looking method is to use "a" tag. I myself had a huge problem that went away, but the reason it went away may depend on the updated browser.
NEWS FLASH: you will not get updated browser for older computers and perhaps older smart phones. New software is often not compatible with older chips. Of course, a wealthy person may purchase new equipment regularly and avoid the problem, but a progressive and/or polite person makes allowances to fellow participants. In any case, it is not strange that only some people have problems.
NEWS FLASH: step-by-step link editing. Method that we try to deprecate:
1. Swipe the url from the browser using mouse, clicking etc. so it can be pasted into the comment, in MaxOS, .
2. Start a new line in the comment window by hitting
3. Paste (in MacOS,
Method that looks nicely for EVERYONE:
1, 2, as before.
3a. In the new line type < a href="">Look at this marvelous link I have find< /a> <-- space after < is added so you see it verbatim, YOU do not type these spaces.
3b. You paste after positioning the cursor between the quotes. Voila!
Actually, the usual practice is to embed "a" tag in a sentence, the text between the tags can be short, even one word or one letter.
Beside being polite, it ACTUALLY LOOKS BETTER!
Please try it!
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 1 2019 12:52 utc | 218
So if the link I wish to post is www.aclu.org I make it as follows:
1. First I copy and paste the A HREF tag itself as indicated above the comment box the last tag listed under "Allowed HTML Tags" .
2. Then I paste the link I want between the two quotation marks in the A HREF tag
www.aclu.org
3. Then I add text that helps define the link between the 2nd > and before the closed tag at the end
go to the American Civil Liberties Union website
4. the final result will appear like this in your comment and no matter how long the link address it will be closed by the tag and will no longer explode the margins
go to the the American Civil Liberties Union website
Clicking on the underlined text takes one to the link you created. If you notice in the media all links appear this way so not only will you be considerate of others' viewing exerience you will also be following international alt media journalistic protocol.
It takes only a few seconds and presents your comment in a much more sophisticated manner than just copy/pasting a link from the URL.
Thanks for your consideration.
Posted by: donkeytale | May 1 2019 12:52 utc | 219
There is a simple explanation for why these regime-change efforts are so ineffectual: however bombastic they might be Trump, Bolton and Pompous are too squeamish to do the necessary dirty work.
I mean, look at how Barry and Hillary went about their regime-change stuff.
The Ukrainian government says "no thanks" to an EU economic package?
No problem. Some indiscriminate sniper fire will soon fix that, and still leave time for Nuland to go around handing out the cookies.
The Libyan government is past its use-by date, and those gold reserves are sooo shiny?
No problem. Some indiscriminate bombing and some deft bayonet work will sort that out, and Cankles can have a good cackle about it.
As far as that Administration goes it was "terminate with extreme prejudice".
As far as this bunch of powder-puffs go then the most extreme thing they can bring themselves to do is to.... throw the light-switch to the "off" position a few times, as if flicking the lights on/off/on/off quickly enough will scare the willies out of the Venezuelans.
They are incapable of getting the job done because they are unwilling to get their hands dirty, unlike just about every US Administration going back at least as far as Teddy Roosevelt.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | May 1 2019 12:53 utc | 220
every day the children suffer and starve are beaten by the hezbollah irainian trained thugs in caracas the uk,usa and israel norway should teach mad dog maduro that new hitlers will not be toileraterated.
venusaria must be liberalated now
Posted by: lileth | May 1 2019 13:03 utc | 222
@lileth (222)
Report to your local psycho-analyst post haste.
Posted by: bjd | May 1 2019 13:07 utc | 223
seeing the images of the malnourishmented babies the kinder in rags reminds me of the polish jewish ghettos under the nazi beasts.
shirley we should demand a coal allition of the willings to crush the evil doers in caracas town and other environs near the problem anti semetic areas already
Posted by: heiney | May 1 2019 13:10 utc | 224
@heiney (224)
Report to your local hasbara-analyst post haste.
Posted by: bjd | May 1 2019 13:15 utc | 225
shows that the US State is desperate to effect this coup as quickly as possible--and possibly too quickly for efficient operational success. Why the rush?
@Posted by: WJ | May 1, 2019 1:17:59 AM | 197
Because Guiado´s condition as president of National Assembly ( in rebellion )expires in December, hence the rush....
On the alleged war on Lebanon this summer, there seems to be a coordinated effort on strangling Hezbollah economically, and through it Lebanon, as Hezbollah is an important part of Lebanese society and a majority part at Lebanese parliament. This is part of the same economic war, as that being exerted on Venezuela.
Efforts to curtail Hezbollah´s funds, even recurring ot the old Far West methods on publishing reward paskines, and at the same time curtail Lebanon´s ecomomy by ruining the tourism season, to put presure on Lebanese politicians and society to sell Hezbollah and the country to US exploitation, are being clearly made, after requirements by Pompeo, "solicited" in menacing tone, were rejected by Lebanese authorities who met him.
I still have to understand why Magnier published such article, preciselly now, so timely with Pompeo´s visit´s requests under menace.... I mjust say he had a lot of credibility with me, but now he has lost it completely. Always wondered who this man realy is, but now I start having a slight idea.
On Pompeo´s requests, they were clearly broadcasted by new channel Al Mayadeen Spanish which completely debunks Pat Langs´ allegations on US absolute indiference towards Lebanon ( why would he insist on that? Is he still on active duty? or, it is his clear grudges towards arabs in general, which he can hardly conceal? ):
Washington and the plan to economically collapse Lebanon
Transcript´s translation:
Today we will talk about the economic crisis in Lebanon, caused by the US.Washington wants to destroy Lebanon through an economic crisis.
In 1991, and a few months after the US-led Gulf War against the Republic of Iraq, in response to the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait, the USSR collapsed.
After these two great events, they began to talk about peace in the Middle East, between the Arabs and Israel.Lebanon had to prepare for peace with Israel, and meanwhile, for the New Middle East. Since then, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri announced the plan 2000, in which Lebanon was supposed to be the link between Western capital and Arab states. Therefore, successive governments after 1992 tried to transform the structure of the Lebanese economy to make this economy perform this financial role of services, exaggerating the role of banks and reducing the role of the sectors of industrial and agricultural production.
As a result of this hasty transformation, the government had to borrow from abroad, which led to an increase in Lebanon's debt from a few billion dollars in 1992 to more than 100 billion dollars in 2019, which is twice the existing GDP, one of the highest debts in the world.
Meanwhile, the political class bet that this debt could be paid once the New Middle East was established, according to the principle, "land in exchange for peace".
But what the Americans have not told the Arabs, including the Lebanese, is that this peace in the Middle East would lead to a radical change in their political map, and this would be through the division of the Arab countries and the redesign of its borders, especially in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and occupied Palestine.US intentions were evident after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and then after the outbreak of the crisis in the Arab world after 2011, including the Syrian crisis.
Therefore, among the means to impose US hegemony on the Arab countries, including Lebanon, is to sink these countries into debt, a reason why Lebanon had access to loans to be willing to accept any US request, whatever it is.Recently, there have been events in the region, which have caused the hopes of the United States not to achieve what they wanted in the Middle East, mainly after the firmness shown by Syria in the attempt to overthrow it.
This occurs at a time when the US felt that the global balance of power began to tend strongly to its disadvantage and that time is not in its favor.
This is why he hastened to liquidate the Palestinian cause, by adopting the "Deal of the Century", an agreement that takes away the right of the Palestinians to have a state in the West Bank and Gaza.When talking about establishing an alliance and economic integration between Iran, Iraq and Siria, the US has demonstrated the need to turn Lebanon into an obstacle for this Eurasian axis and prevent it from reaching the eastern Mediterranean.
From this moment, comes the visit of the North American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to Lebanon, to ask the Lebanese leaders to isolate Hezbollah and accept assent.
Through this, Washigton also wants the Syrian refugees to be resettled in Lebanon, to make a demographic change in this country, which would become a majority hostile to the Syrian state, a fact that contributes to the creation of this obstacle in the face of Eurasian axis.
During the visit, the Lebanese leadership, or at least President Michel Aoun and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, rejected US pressure. This is why the US has put pressure on the Lebanese economy, which is at a critical stage. While no promise of prosperity has been fulfilled through the expected peace, the Lebanese state could not pay its debts.
Even oil and gas that have been discovered have not yet been extracted due to US pressure on foreign companies that plan to invest in Lebanon.
This is done so that the country can not meet its debts and remain hostage to the United States.
As a result of this, came the decisions of The Cedar Conference, which impose restrictions on the Lebanese economy and public spending to address the debt accumulation crisis and because the country is dominated by a class of financial and real estate speculators that have refused to impose taxes on their profits.
However, the problem is that among those who refused to impose taxes on the main financial speculators is the Free Patriotic Movement, led by Minister Gebrain Bassil, who placed himself on the sidelines of the Future Movement, led by the Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and other parties of the Lebanese authority that express the interests of these capitalists.Now Lebanon is facing an economic crisis, a crisis that can reach the level of the Greek crisis, but its result could be the total destruction of the country in order to implement the American projects.
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 13:19 utc | 226
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 30, 2019 7:07:25 PM | 154
Unfortunately, Circe never actually explained the problem.
Posted by: willie | Apr 30, 2019 7:24:07 PM | 158
It's a lie!
Fake news to cover failed coup! Venezuela, Russia respond to Pompeo’s claim Maduro almost fled
https://www.rt.com/news/458016-maduro-slams-pompeo-flee-country/
Maduro's Trucks running over protesters
The favorite footage by far on the coup is showing military trucks in a circular pattern hitting about 3 people on a highway and portraying this as a massacre. It's possible that they were trying to prevent a crowd from crossing and did this because they did not have tear gas and did not want to shoot them but since everything they show on the MSM is a lie I would not be surprised if the lie was even more treacherous.
Does anyone else have more info on the TRUCK MASSACRE?
Posted by: Christian J Chuba | May 1 2019 13:46 utc | 229
Amongst the requests by Pompeo to the Lebanese authorities, apart from selling Hezbollah to the wolves and resettle Syrian refugees permanenetly in Lebanese territory, there were some others. Too much for alleged indiference...
Real objectives of Pompeo's visit to Lebanon. Analysis Dr. Jamal Wakim
Little by little, the hidden reasons for the visit of the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo and his assistants to the Middle East, David Heel, to Lebanon, come to light. The information available up to now is the following:1º) In a threatening way, the US asked the Lebanese to accept the demarcation of their land and maritime borders with occupied Palestine in order to achieve the ambitions of the Israeli enemy in the land, water and wealth of the Cedars´ country.
2nd) Resettlement and nationalization of our Palestinian refugee brothers in the Lebanon, undermining their right of return. All this is part of the so-called "Deal of the Century" that the US administration seeks to implement.
3rd) Expand the US military base in Lebanon, and precisely, in the area of Hamat, without any legal instrument to also include other areas of Batroun, Jbeil, Byblos.
4th) In exchange for all this, the United States promises to help Lebanon in order to alleviate the burden and the volume of the public debt.
Therefore, are we already aware of the economic and financial policy that had been applied in Lebanon since 1993, under the title of "Economic Recovery Plan"?
Several political sectors expressed their rejection of all the aforementioned American requests, and appealed to all the patriotic forces to unite and respond to these demands by all available means.
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 13:49 utc | 230
@ Circe. My Dear, the implied assumption that the "instructions" on how to post referrals w/o the urlz which you (and some others) object to is an incorrect assumption. I read these instructions and do not understand them, I do not know how to comply with your ardent objections.
Kindly provide some useful assistance to us, the lesser mortals, rather than making non-valid assumptions as to both motive and clarity.
Circe, tell us retards how to help you. If that's what you want...but of course since you claim magical power, if we assume that's why you favor the name "Circe", perhaps you could simply wish the urls away...
Would using tinyurl help? I am entirely at your service.
BTW, "Walter" means "ruler of the army", and I ain't. I have no army, and if I had I would pay the boys off and send 'em home to farm.
Rather otherwise, and old grey Quaker. I am in the Quaker way, blunt, and good-natured. But I object to fighting words and accusations, especially false or careless accusations.
Posted by: Walter | May 1 2019 14:00 utc | 231
What does it take to topple the government in a banana republic? What we have seen is an experiment if one machine gun and one crate of bananas can suffice. Imagine the savings in Pentagon budget that could be possible.
Conspiracy theory: some dark forces within US government could not tolerate such efficiency. The experiment was doomed.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 1 2019 14:01 utc | 232
This is interesting:
Bolton declined to discuss possible actions — military or otherwise — but reiterated that “all options” are on the table as President Donald J. Trump monitors developments “minute by minute.”He said he was waiting for key power brokers including Padrino, Supreme Court chief justice Maikel Moreno and head of the presidential guard to make good on their commitments to achieve the peaceful transfer of power to Guaidó.
“All agreed that Maduro had to go. They need to be able to act this afternoon, or this evening, to help bring other military forces to the side of the interim president,” Bolton said. “If this effort fails, (Venezuela) will sink into a dictatorship from which there are very few possible alternatives.”
Violence Rocks Venezuela as Guaido Urges Uprising
Were they suckered into this?
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2019 14:03 utc | 233
It's a difficult dilemma. Ort @ 82 wrote.
I too thought best to let Random-Guy run free and idiotic.
Now perhaps is the time to declare him mentally challenged and thus under house arrest for his own and wife, kiddo - s, safety and protection? Ha ha.
Guaido is just an opportunity for Bolton to stir up trouble.
He has never been part of a CIA long term regime change plan.
Michael @ 133. Yes, imho. So, won't work.
This whole op was doomed to failure from the start (as I posted right away, though itoldyaso is tiresome) .. ce n’est pas sérieux (not serious)
Behold the death twitches of a dying empire.
Remember, the coup against Chavez in 2002 didn’t work either. I forget the details now. Obviously the circumstances were different, can some historian draw some insight? karlof maybe.
Posted by: Noirette | May 1 2019 14:06 utc | 234
Real News Network has this on Maduro 'fleeing':
https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-guaido-military-uprising
mr quido is a hero for us alls he looks like my favorite sports star colin kapernack the quatered back that had to retire for kneeling on the pitch for simply wanting to be free he also looks like my favorite presdunt evers baracka obarmas.
in years to come quido name will be up theirs with roas luxenborg,spactacus weintraub and john mccain and menechem begin as a vision narys already
Posted by: menim | May 1 2019 14:14 utc | 236
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1, 2019 10:03:56 AM | 233
If you've read John Stockwell's 'In search of Enemies'(Norton) or 'The Iran Contra Connection'by Marshall, Dale Scott and Jane Hunter (Southend Press), you would know just how useless CIA agents are. They rely on locals who are on the payroll (a $100 a month is a lot in Venezuela or Mexico) and they stay on the payroll as long as they 'deliver', so it's to the agent's advantage to make things up to keep the moolah flowing. Stockwell is especially good on this. The more 'commies' they identify ups the flow of cash from DC.
I've heard reports this morning on Radio Sputnik that U.S. aircraft carriers are on the way. Any truth in those reports?
Posted by: lysias | May 1 2019 14:36 utc | 238
Barovsky @237:
I have not read Stockwell, mostly I read news these days. I've been watching it all of my life.
I have a very low opinion of spooks in general, but even allowing that they might have their place at times - some useful purpose - they must be the best for that to be so. The good ones you never hear about. That is not our time-serving careerists here, at all. Just like the military. It's all about being on TV now, getting that good pension and membership in the club.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2019 14:42 utc | 239
The MSM is owned by Disney, GE, and a conglomeration of wingnut war profiteers. They don't mind parroting any nonsense as long as it promotes war, poverty, destruction and Capitalism (corporate profits - the American way of life).
Billionaires are really cool and patriotic people. Just as nice as poor people, but richer. - Creepy Uncle Joe
Posted by: fastfreddy | May 1 2019 14:50 utc | 240
I think the small force on the bridge was designed to deceive - that it was just the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the force was hidden and dispersed amongst civilians, primed to shoot both sides like Maidan causing massive casualties. The absurdly small force on the bridge was designed to invite the government to react - then the much larger hidden force would be activated with lethal consequences. As always, the Russians were able to see through the plot, and probably had sigint on it.
Posted by: BM | May 1 2019 14:54 utc | 241
I think Bemildred @233 might be suggesting deliberate disinfo by Padrino, Moreno and Hernandez Dala tricking the CIA into premature ejaculation. I must admit that if I were in a position of authority in Venezuela before now that I would have been mighty tempted to respond to CIA efforts to recruit me with great enthusiasm. I would take enormous pleasure in spinning yarns for the delusional little tykes at Langley that confirmed their wildest fantasies, reassuring them that I had the entire military ready to turn on the government at the drop of a crimson MAGA hat. Then on the date that the CIA planned to shoot their wad I would turn off my phone, crack open that bottle of cognac that I had been saving for special occasions, turn on the TV, and kick back and enjoy the show.
Or maybe I would leave my phone on and tell the CIA when they call "Of course the military is on your side, Christopher! Didn't Buffy tell you? And Maduro has already fled to Moscow with his tail between his legs. What's the holdup on your side of this operation?"
Yes, the temptation to play with the feeble, cricket-triggered minds of sophomorically arrogant fools would be overwhelming.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 1 2019 14:56 utc | 242
The pro regime change bots are out in force all over the internet!
Posted by: Tim | May 1 2019 15:04 utc | 243
Noirette | May 1, 2019 10:06:55 AM | 234
> Remember, the coup against Chavez in 2002 didn’t work either. I forget the details now. Obviously the circumstances were different, can some historian draw some insight? <
see here, and here for additional background/history.
Posted by: Desolation Row | May 1 2019 15:05 utc | 244
Christian J Chuba @ 229
One of the same type of armored vehicles is in the background of the video of Guaido talking that b linked to. Also, I came across this video of soldiers removing people from one of those armored vehicles at gunpoint. Hard to draw any definite conclusions, but I wouldn't be surprised if the drivers are aligned with Guaido.
Posted by: integer | May 1 2019 15:08 utc | 245
uncle tungsten: "I NEVER use safari as it is junk. I trust we are not pandering to lowest common denominator for problem resolution here."
I wholeheartedly concure. With all of the far better browser options now available for iOS, why would anyone stick with Apple's purposely hobbled and sandboxed in function and features, bundled browser. Laziness perhaps!
Warning to all of you still stuck on an inferior mobile Apple browser: This following is a non-HTML formatted, copy & pasted link on your alternative browser options that can actually handle it in iOS: https://fossbytes.com/best-iphone-web-browser-apps-safari-alternatives/
Posted by: time2wakeupnow | May 1 2019 15:18 utc | 246
William Gruff @242
Well it would explain a lot:
Pompeo to speak with Lavrov on Venezuela
"Pompeo on Tuesday accused Russia of intervening when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was prepared to leave the country in the face of a call for an uprising by opposition leader Juan Guaido."
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2019 15:23 utc | 247
William Gruff @242
Another one:
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton says that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is surrounded by "scorpions in a bottle" and it's only a matter of time before he leaves power.Bolton says key figures in Maduro's leadership, including the defense minister and head of the presidential guard, have been "outed" as dealing with the opposition, which is led by Juan Guaidó, the National Assembly president who is recognized by the U.S. and scores of other countries as Venezuela's legitimate president.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bolton said he doesn't think Maduro can look at his defense minister any longer and trust him, and claimed the socialist leader spent most of Tuesday at a military prison in Caracas that the U.S. says is a key Cuban command post in Venezuela "because he doubted the loyalty of the Venezuelan armed forces."
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2019 15:32 utc | 248
If the U.S. and/or its Guaidoist allies were engaging in secret negotiations with key figures in the Venezuelan government, would they makes that fact public?
Posted by: lysias | May 1 2019 15:37 utc | 249
@202 ghost ship.. regarding - what did i expect? - true..these military brats are always happy with prep for war, thoughts of war, and war on the brain generally 24/7.. they lose touch with reality quite quickly.. and i really agree with @213 sasha's comments...
@bjd - lol...
Posted by: james | May 1 2019 15:43 utc | 250
"In a recent speech at Texas University Pompeo finally told the truth about the CIA and the neocons – they lie and cheat and steal."
Posted by: james | May 1 2019 15:46 utc | 251
the press idiots here are calling it an "attempted rebellion" now and showing footage of maybe six guys shooting on the bridge. not sure how "moderate" they're supposed to be. and of course it opened with "the government of canada is calling for maduro to step down!" they seem to think that would go as swimmingly as the coup in ukraine, maybe? tardy to the party as usual. luckily the MSM/cable twats in the states are consumed with the barr "hearings". good to see "not giving up on incredibly stupid scams" is still a bipartisan affair.
Posted by: the pair | May 1 2019 15:59 utc | 252
My spot check in Polish media. WP (Virtual Poland) is a web publication that belongs to a German company, but it has no paywall and seems to allow comments to EVERY article without moderation. Today three titles on Venezuela, I will translate one and few comments.
Kryzys w Wenezueli. Prezydent kraju chciał zbiec na Kubę [Title: Crisis in Venezuela. President wanted to flee to Cuba]
69 osób zostało rannych podczas starć z policją, do których doszło w Wenezueli. Dwie osoby miały zostać postrzelone. Amerykanie ujawnili, że prezydent kraju Nicolas Maduro chciał uciec do Hawany. [Abstract: 69 persons wounded in clashes with police during events in Venezuela. Two persons were shot. Americans disclosed that Pres. Maduro wanted to flee to Havana.
Comments
TOP rated: To think that Venezuela tried to move away from petrodollars, hamburgers already put there their dirty fingers
Russians disclosed that Macron wanted to flee to Israel, but Americans have talked him out of it (with a poster id suggesting an unbelievable story)
Highly rated, poster id WELL INFORMED: Confabulation. Pompeo lied in his tweet and servile media eagerly repeat the falsehood. Fact: police restored the order, misled officers left the traitor and coup-ster (?) Guaido. Twenty remained with him, subsequent coup attempt that failed. Surely Uncle Sam works on another. BTW, how desperate they have to be if their foreign minister resorts to a transparent lie before the whole world.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 1 2019 16:00 utc | 253
The coup leader Leopoldo López, promoter of the La Salida, plan that caused 43 deaths in the guarimbas, was received at the Spanish embassy in Caracas, after breaking the domiciliary arrest and participating in the failed coup that could end in a bloodbath. Unheard. It should be noted that Luis Arroyo, PSOE advisor, revealed that Voluntad Paramilitar( party to which the coup participant Leopoldo López belongs ) has received funding from "cooperation funds" by the Spanish regime through AECID. Via @ggohom
https://twitter.com/LOQUEDIGAELFMI/status/1123535307171934208
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 16:23 utc | 254
Sasha @213,
Pat Lang is a non-interventionist. He does not support any US military action against Venezuela. He addresses this question explicitly in the comments section of the post.
Posted by: WJ | May 1 2019 16:26 utc | 255
I would like to suggest that Maduro is behaving correctly in not arresting Guyaido by offering an analogy from the old television series Gunsmoke. In an episode I saw recently on DVD, a bad guy hired a professional killer to kill the good guy. Sheriff Dillon found out and told the good guy that the only way he would survive is to hand over his gun. The good guy was loathe to do it, being a man, but he finally relented. This was all according to the "code of the west" which said that a professional killer was innocent of murder if the other guy drew first but it would be murder if the other guy was unarmed.
The analogy is: the bad guy is the CIA, the professional killer is the US military, the good guy is Maduro, and Matt Dillon is Putin.
If Maduro is goaded into acting against the coup plotters, he will be right, dead right, and the killers will claim self defense.
Posted by: TheBAG | May 1 2019 16:28 utc | 256
El Pais, pamphlet of the Prisa Group from Bilderberg Group, reiterates its support for the change of regime in Venezuela to the dictation of Washington following the CIA's coup manuals that fabricated the crude assembly on the death of Bin Laden being "thrown into the sea." Media terrorism.@elpais_opinion: Juan Jesus Aznaárez: "Without the intervention of the US marines, or the kidnapping of the Chavista leadership in a surgical operation like the one that ended with Bin Laden, it will hardly be possible to overthrow Nicolás Maduro".
https://twitter.com/LOQUEDIGAELFMI/status/1123600786406150145
This is happening in the MSM and governments of EU. They are already aware of the impossibility of overthrowing Maduro and claim for harsher measures...Of course, this isolated opinions are being broadcasted to create the fake impression of a wide support for an scalating scenario.
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 16:39 utc | 257
@Posted by: WJ | May 1, 2019 12:26:57 PM | 255
Well, what I understood is that he is against "failed" chapuza US military interventions, what he hates, to my view, after reading him a while, is losing, but he "would love seeing the "communist" government of Maduro out".
How would he be thinking of achieving that, once the support of the people has proved beyond doubt and duress, I wonder...
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 16:46 utc | 258
Don't understand why the US does not just use diplomacy.
Accept other countries sovereignty and play well with others.
Am sure will see much better results than trying to hit them over the head.
Am sure other countries will make lucrative deals if approached in friendly manner.
This complete capitulation or else approach just entrenches other countries further, creates resentment, and makes it more difficult to make good deals in the future. The last 40 years have been a complete disaster for US diplomacy.
Posted by: Joe | May 1 2019 16:48 utc | 259
The classist British tabloid The Guardian ( partners of progresist Ignacio Escolar , member of the Alternatives Foundation, linked to the PSOE ) can not cop with Nicolás Maduro being elected president of Venezuela as a bus driver.
https://twitter.com/LOQUEDIGAELFMI/status/1123610221593661440
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 16:55 utc | 260
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1, 2019 10:42:30 AM | 239
you really should read Stockwell! He was station chief in Angola during the SA attacks on the country. In Search of Enemies is superb, Stockwell was a genuine progressive, anti-imperialist who saw and wrote how the CIA works destabilising countries.
For a £1.50
Happy Law Day!
No, really. This is one more example of Uncle Sam's Exceptionalism. While the rest of the world is commemorating the Haymarket (Chicago) Massacre of 1886, us 'mericans are being exhorted by Dear Leaders to reaffirm our "loyalty to the United States and of their rededication to the ideals of equality and justice under law in their relations with each other and with other countries". (36 U.S.C. § 113)
Of course most of my fellow peons have never heard of the Haymarket Massacre, the struggle for the eight hour work day, or even Law Day. And any holiday containing words like "international" and "workers" can only be a communist plot. Obviously.
Posted by: Trailer Trash | May 1 2019 17:01 utc | 262
lysias asks @249 "If the U.S. and/or its Guaidoist allies were engaging in secret negotiations with key figures in the Venezuelan government, would they makes that fact public?
Answer? Yes.
First, do not overestimate these people's intelligence. You may think "Well, Bolton and Pompeo have risen to positions of power in the most powerful country in the world! They must be smart to accomplish that!" but these people are actually very simple-minded. They achieve these positions of power through loyalty to oligarchs, not any sort of demonstrated ability, and those oligarchs are themselves not terribly bright.
Clearly the individuals that Bolton claimed had turned on the Venezuelan government failed to deliver what they had promised. There are three possible causes for this: 1) These individuals had "lost their nerve" and decided not to go ahead with the coup or 2) The people named by Bolton never intended to go along with the coup and were just playing with Bolton's shriveled little mind. Possibility 3) is that they had never been in contact with the CIA or Bolton and Bolton just claimed that they had in an weak attempt to sow distrust and discord within the Venezuelan government.
If either of the first two possibilities above happen to be the case, then Bolton & Co. would play the only card he has: Outing the individuals in the hopes that exposure could force them to obey. With cover blown Bolton might feel that they would believe their only chance to survive would be to cling to Uncle Slaughter's apron strings (to a degree idiots like Bolton and Pompeo believe their own propaganda about the Venezuelan government being some sort of "brutal dictatorship").
The important takeaway here is that Bolton's outing of these guys was a desperate "Hail Mary play". It was a last ditch effort to get the coup back on track. It proves that the coup failed at one of its most fundamental levels and right from the beginning. It is my opinion that these guys were never actually planning to go forward with a coup and were just seeding disinformation to the CIA.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 1 2019 17:12 utc | 264
Venezuela Newslinks 1 May 2019
Updated throughout the day
https://williambowles.info/2019/05/01/venezuela-newslinks-1-may-2019/
Pat Lang's reference to the Bay of Pigs may yet prove prescient, as a White House meeting on Venezuela is scheduled for 2PM EST. In 1961, Kennedy came under enormous pressure to respond to the invasion's lack of success with overt application of the US military. Trump may well come under the same pressure here, particularly as Bolton has been framing events as a "now or never" moment. He is also hitting on the "our hemisphere" meme, which might be something that Trump can be sold on. That said, Lopez' disappearance first into the Chilean embassy, and then redirecting to Spain's, has a distinct improvised feel about it - suggesting that whatever the plotters thought was going to happen failed miserably. The obvious lack of public support for the Guaido gambit should also brake more reckless ambitions, as any operation to remove the sitting government would also require some form of occupation which has not been prepared for.
There might, working with regional partners, be an effort to partition a region of the country, to be used as a base for an armed insurgency. But the fact that Lopez sought refuge within just a few hours highlights the opposition's very weak position.
Posted by: jayc | May 1 2019 17:27 utc | 266
William Gruff @264
Yep, I was thinking #3 most likely, except for the plaintive tone in Pompeo and Bolton's complaints. They look more like chumps than Machievellis.
Trump the Chump.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 1 2019 17:31 utc | 267
The "Coup" fizzled because it wasn't a coup, it was just another attempt to get the military to switch sides and to get more people out on the streets. He was STILL calling for peaceful protests and for a peaceful transition with new elections.
Just because the US press decided to call it a coup doens't make it one. The opposition was calling it a constitutional crises and they were NOT calling for a violence.
As for Trump, he's just happy to see energy prices go up, the longer this remains a mess the better it is for his economic plan. It's the same in regards to Iran and the sanctions against Russian exports to Europe. The fracking boom goes away with low energy prices and that would kill our own economic recovery.
Trump is not going to invade but he is more than happy to help manufacture a crisis to keep oil prices high and as we clearly see, he can do that with sanctions and bullying.
No I don't agree with this policy. In fact I don't agree with any president sanctioning our businesses or with "protecting" them, not anymore than I agree with Socialist fucktards like Maduro or Chavez who sanction(ed) anyone anywhere at anytime. (That's what socialism is by the way, one HUGE sanction against anyone who wants to do business in any normal fashion.) So while Trump is wrong for putting these sanctions in place, Maduro is 100% hypocritical to complain about sanctions. No Socialist on the face of the Earth ever gets to complain about Sanctions, not when they in fact sanction every single one of their own people continuously.
It was not a coup, Trump's not going to invade and Maduro is still a fuckhead. He should call for new elections because he illegally stole the last one and that is a fact, no matter what the progressive press says. The leftwingnuts can't get over the fact that their new socialist paradise sucks and that it collapsed DESPITE the US being their #1 customer for decades after the takeover.
Don't buy into the Left wing wacko's press, this Regime is just as fucked as every other Socialist regime we have ever seen. They shot, cooked and fed the golden goose to the people and now they themselves are on the chopping block. They will be gone one way or another simply because of their own corruption and inability to organize a nation in a way that actually provides prosperity. That will be their undoing regardless of what anyone else does to hasten these events.
Maduro is a fuckhead but his regime should be allowed to collapse all on his own, he doesn't need our help to fuck up more, he's got that part down pat.
Posted by: Brad Smith | May 1 2019 17:32 utc | 268
...
Does anyone else have more info on the TRUCK MASSACRE?
Posted by: Christian J Chuba | May 1, 2019 9:46:05 AM | 229
b has updated the original April 30 post several times, as promised.
In his 17.00 utc update (below the pic of the 2 Super Heroes) there is this machine translated statement...
"A small group, tiny military and police officers decided to kidnap SOME GNB vehicles, armaments and ammunition. They broke in this morning and they bet on the Altamira dealer."
Assuming "kidnap" = "hijack" then the white armoured vehicles criss-crossing the highway traffic island to scare a mob are probably driven by Guyaido-ites and the event is staged.
Persuasive evidence that it's a staged event was provided by ABC.net.au's "news" report which described the event as "military vehicles being driven into a crowd AT FULL SPEED" which is clearly a gross overstatement.
See also > Posted by: integer | May 1, 2019 11:08:41 AM | 245
which refers to "video of soldiers removing people from one of those armored vehicles at gunpoint."
It doesn't matter who was being dragged from them. It's 'evidence' that armored vehicles fell into the 'wrong' hands.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | May 1 2019 17:36 utc | 269
Ron Paul Warns: "Hapless" Guaido Now "Worth More Dead Than Alive" To Washington's Venezuelan Coup-Creators
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-01/ron-paul-warns-hapless-guaido-now-worth-more-dead-alive-washingtons-venezuelan-coup
McAdams pointed out that Guaido himself, with his record of failing to mobilize the protest against the Maduro government, could be a target for such a provocation.He has been a kind of a hapless figure so far. He calls for mass protests and no one shows up. I don’t think he realizes right now that he is actually now worth more dead than alive not only to the CIA, but also to his own opposition people. A shot in the crowd or something like that to take Guaido out. It might shock you, Dr. Paul, but the CIA is pretty good at this kind of things.
Posted by: librul | May 1 2019 17:36 utc | 270
BS @ 268.
Awesome initials. Suits you to a tee.
PS; Trump wants the price of oil lower.
Posted by: arby | May 1 2019 17:41 utc | 271
"The "Coup" fizzled because it wasn't a coup, it was just another attempt to get the military to switch sides"
LMAO! See how stupid these State Department trolls are? This clown thinks there is a difference between a country's military turning against the government and a coup. Idiots like this can only get hired if their bosses are even dumber than they are, and that dynamic holds true for every level of management up to Pompeo himself. Every rung up the bureaucracy ladder takes you into territory where brain cells are more rarefied.
Posted by: William Gruff | May 1 2019 17:46 utc | 272
Posted by: Brad Smith | May 1, 2019 1:32:53 PM | 268
Vltchek called it a 'coup-let'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=bUz09WAxdyY&app=desktop
Just as soon as any leader makes any tangible effort to help the common people, he is declared to be a socialist and he is perpetually assaulted by the USA, its puppet states, the Vatican and organized crime.
Capitalism forbids any tangible economic effort to assist the poor, the working poor or the erstwhile middle class.
It instead loves to devour them.
Posted by: fastfreddy | May 1 2019 17:51 utc | 274
A list of Maduro's statements-
https://twitter.com/MV_Eng/status/1123398000015966208
Posted by: arby | May 1 2019 17:57 utc | 275
@268 I can't help but think of the Finnish and thier anti business shenanigans
Posted by: Some Random Passer-by | May 1 2019 18:17 utc | 276
Military of Guaido steal vehicles from Maduro's military and then with them run over their own supporters of Guaido and blame Maduro and thus create a conflict of civil war and media ask for intervention from the US.Military of Guaido run over with stolen military vehicles to their own supporters to blame Maduro and create a civil war.
https://twitter.com/Mx_SinCorruptos/status/1123277898398539776
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 18:18 utc | 277
@ Brad Smith with the rant about socialism
Please go read about Tacoma Power as a successful example of that socialism you so hate.
And stop driving on any American streets because they are ALL the fruit of socialism
I suggest neurofeedback to help you heal your social hurt, whatever it might be. It is healing my traumatic brain injury
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 1 2019 18:20 utc | 278
BTW, Fox News just did a piece on Guaido, trashing him, saying he has no popular support! I have the video but don't know how to put it up here, or even if I can
@Posted by: Brad Smith | May 1, 2019 1:32:53 PM | 268
By the way, and the humanitarian crisis due to famine when it ended @jguaido? April 25, 2019: In Venezuela, pre-sale of Avengers collapses movie ticket offices with mile lines.
https://twitter.com/Mx_SinCorruptos/status/1123304116682469378
Posted by: Sasha | May 1 2019 18:41 utc | 281
For reference, in cronological tweet order, the armored cars can be seen:
(tweeted at 4:43 am - 30 Apr 2019) - (Caracas 6:43 am) - Under control of purple arm band military (handheld)
https://twitter.com/ThomasVLinge/status/1123191262465744897
(tweeted at 6:03 am - 30 Apr 2019) - (Caracas 9:03 am) - On a takeover, unclear which side is which (handheld)
https://twitter.com/ThomasVLinge/status/1123211270654779392
(tweeted at 8:30 am - 30 Apr 2019) - (Caracas 11:30 am) - Backtracking before presumed opposition (handheld)
https://twitter.com/ThomasVLinge/status/1123248260766892035
(tweeted at 8:45 am - 30 Apr 2019) - (Caracas 11:45 am) - On a runover (Noticias Caracol - Colombian TV)
https://twitter.com/NoticiasCaracol/status/1123252161138262017/video/1
(tweeted at 8:46 am - 30 Apr 2019) - (Caracas 11:46 am) - Before the runover? (Reuters TV)
https://twitter.com/invenezuelablog/status/1123252185079394314
(tweeted at 9:08 am - 30 Apr 2019) - (Caracas 12:08 am) - On a runover (NTN24 - Colombian TV - actual Caracas time can be seen in this video)
https://twitter.com/ThomasVLinge/status/1123257929006747648
Posted by: Vasco da Gama | May 1 2019 19:09 utc | 282
TT - 262
Being from Chicago, I know Haymarket. In fact in the bookcase to my left is “Haymarket Revisited” by Wm Adelman. I also read a biography of Albert Parsons some years ago but forget the author. Maybe it was by his wife.
He was hanged for his troubles in agitating for better working conditions.
Posted by: Bart Hansen | May 1 2019 19:44 utc | 283
@bjd | May 1, 2019 9:07:59 AM | 223
I know that Charles Drake's ('ello playmates) posts under all his various nom d'absurdias is not to everyone's taste, but I for one love his stream of consciousness meta-reality. Far too creative for hasbara!
...new hitlers will not be toileraterated.
venusaria must be liberalated now
Brilliant! Sheer Edward Lear!
Posted by: Ross | May 1 2019 20:00 utc | 284
Yesterday on Tucker Carlson Tonight 4/30/19 he pointed out many of the blowbacks from the US violent toppling of governments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7k5Vdh7Q5g
Unfortunately, he failed to counter many of the false statements by the US apologists during this segment. Even retired Colonel Douglas MacGregor who opposed intervention in Venezuela claimed that Venezuela was behind the trans-shipment of cocaine via the Mexican corridor (time stamp 14:32+). The truth is that between 93-94% of the cocaine that was seized came from Columbia and to a much smaller extent from Ecuador. Of the 6-7% of the cocaine seized in the Caribbean corridor the majority the remainder came from Columbia with smaller quantities originating from Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-drugs-are-getting-smuggled-from-south-america-to-the-us-2017-9
Apparently, the US arranged to subvert the Venezuelan intelligence command (Sebin) to replace General Gustavo Gonzalez Lopez with General Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera who led the platoon of troops and bodyguards that tried to overthrow the Venezuelan government. The “revolution” plan was apparently backed up by 50 US and allied warships with Class A transponders offshore of Venezuela. In addition, two US aircraft carrier battle groups appear to be heading toward South America to backup this buildup. Fortunately, Guido (white dog) and his allies have failed for now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP3LOGFgvgw
Posted by: Krollchem | May 1 2019 20:13 utc | 285
The CIA and its partners in organized crime with the Sovereign Vatican Bank and subsidiaries (15 percent off the top) as money launderer is the biggest Cocaine and Heroine Trafficker the world has ever known.
The War On Drugs facilitated one of the greatest cons in history. It rivals the con of 2008, the real estate mortgage, CDO CDS pump and dump (greatest ponzi scheme in world history) which put the erstwhile Trump voters out of their own trailers (Dubya Bush's Ownership Society!) and into their mothers' trailers.
Also classic misdirection to point to Venezuela a big drug dealer.
These arseholes are shameless, but we already knew that.
Also, Trump wears adult diapers.
Posted by: fastfreddy | May 1 2019 20:27 utc | 286
Since there's a new thread on Venezuela I'm not too bothered with going further OT in response to a few comments. I hope it's not too annoying.
On Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon:
The following could certainly be wrong but I recently read somewhere (RT I think) that Hezbollah found it very unlikely that Israel would launch any war soon and said something akin to "the Israel army show no signs of being prepared (or preparing) for war". Maybe it has changed or was wrong to begin with, I don't know but if there is anybody in western Asia (a much better description isn't it?) who would know and also know how to deal with either possibility then it would be Hezbollah so I'm not worried. As for everything else Lebanon will simply move towards Russia and China as and when they deem it necessary and the US can continue to isolate itself.
To Hoarsewhisperer about suppressors:
1. It can be difficult to stick with it and always remember to use it but suppressor is a much better name than silencer because shooting with them isn't silent unlike what Hollywood and movies make people believe but instead only less hearing loss inducing, guns are noisy :)
2. It is true that there's less point in using suppressors with normal ammunition in normal guns if the purpose is only to be as quiet as possible but if you want to protect your hearing their use is still advisable.
3. However one can either buy or make sub-sonic ammunition (ie.: traveling slower than the speed of sound) for any pistol or rifle caliber if one finds it useful and if in case the gun is semi-automatic or automatic it can still operate its mechanisms with the reduced power available. With sub-sonic ammunition suppressors work much better.
4. People say that for assassination the CIA used to (and probably still) prefer using a suppressor with LR22 caliber (among the smallest calibers) rifles and pistols because this can be easily mistaken for something else than a shot being fired or be simply inaudible if one is far enough away from the shooter. They're not powerful but an additional positive of that is that they're also "clean and tidy" because they often won't manage to make an exit wound (from a bullet leaving through the other side of a body) which makes everything even less instantly noticeable.
5. With regards to sound if one disregards the sound of firing (this sound is local to the position of the shooter) the actual sound of a bullet alone traveling through air is a very quiet snap (sharp like a whip but quieter) as the sonic shockwave travels past you. It is the release of overpressure at the end of the barrel of a rifle or other gun which makes all the rest of any noise at the moment the bullet leaves the barrel, not the bullet itself. This means that if the shooter is far enough away or if the soundwaves from the shooter is blocked or reflected away from you by buildings or geography (like if performing target duty in a trench below the targets) you hear only the snap and nothing else if the target is only framed paper.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | May 1 2019 20:37 utc | 287
Barovsky, librul, Krollchem please use html tags on your links. This page was
perfectly readable earlier. Brodsky, you messed up page one and now this one!
Posted by: Circe | May 1 2019 21:34 utc | 288
Correction: Barovsky
I taught myself to do it
with b's instructions above.
Posted by: Circe | May 1 2019 21:37 utc | 289
b, excellent coverage of events in Venezuela, congrats.
Posted by: Canthama | May 1 2019 21:41 utc | 290
Circe@289
Looks like you are using a crappy browser as word wrap of URLs work in Foxfire. The comments look fine on my system. Try Firefox and the problem will go away for you. Chill.
Posted by: Krollchem | May 2 2019 3:22 utc | 291
@90 NOBTS
"Random Guy Doe," good one. I myself prefer "self-declared President Guano," which I first saw used by another Mooner.
'Guano,' as you may know, is the digestive output of certain South American sea-birds, much valued for fertilizer.
Posted by: therobin | May 2 2019 6:38 utc | 292
To Piotr Berman,Circe,Donkeytale and others bothered by "long linking".
Thank you very much for your extensive explanations,which on first sight,due to my poor cyber-comprehension,are still more or less hermetic to me.I copies them,and put them in my bloc-notes,for further study and consideration.In the mean time I won't link any links at all,for the time necessary to understand,promised.I don't wanna spoil others' viewing of this wonderful and healthy website.
Still,Piotr,I find it quite harsh to see my name mentioned in one breath and phrase,and with the same qualification "vilains of the day" as Guaido's and Pompeo's,I hope you can understand....
OT.Could it be that Pompeo and Bolton have been lured into this half bake action by interference of those two russians comedians that have put on quiproquo's with Macron,Porochenko ad some other politicians ? That would be fantastic!
Posted by: willie | May 2 2019 7:37 utc | 293
A friend has suggested to me that this report of a lynching incident shows the coup's impact expanded beyond the immediate area of the Altamira neighborhood:
Posted by: John Anthony La Pietra | May 3 2019 0:29 utc | 295
Random GuyDog barks but doesn't bite. As post number 8, above, points out, the real root of evil is Harvard University.
Posted by: Debra L. Carr de Legorreta | May 4 2019 8:17 utc | 296
I can't believe Maduro was able to beat this challenge.
This was a text book CIA coup attempt like they done all over the world starting with Mossadegh and Arbenz.
Posted by: Fernando Martinez | Apr 30, 2019 4:06:58 PM | 104
Read about several "assisted" coups in Latin America. It is by no means an automatic and easy process. Of course, if the proper military -- as opposed to national police etc. -- decides to perform a golpe, then it is rather quick more often than note. When the military is indifferent but bribable, like in Guatemala 1951, then it takes more time, a coup against the military would require very wide support of the population to have any chances.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 5 2019 1:03 utc | 297
The comments to this entry are closed.
As for all the calls here for Guaido and Lopez to be arrested, forget it. Leave that pair of clowns out there running around like headless chickens and continuing to fuck up on a monumental scale. Lopez and Guaido are big-time losers and the American masses only like winners. If they are incarcerated or worse, that small part of the Venezuelan opposition they control might end up with a leader who is part way competent. The VG ran an almost perfect counter-coup operation so I hope they don't fuck up at the end.
Talking of winners, the Democratic party had the opportunity here to put space between them and the Republicans on the electoral battlefield, but no, the idiots just tried to out-Trump Trump. What a bunch of losers (except for Sanders, Gabbard and the handful of other influential Democrats who opposed the Corporate Democrats on this).
Posted by: Ghost Ship | May 1 2019 8:16 utc | 201