H17077
Headlines : InternationalThe Coming War on Venezuela
What would be the international response to such an incursion? Here there is little ground for optimism. After all, during the 2002 coup against Chávez, that bastion of the American left celebrated the maneuver, declaring that “Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator.” And all this before the concerted psyops campaign deployed against the Venezuelan government in recent years. Now, one democratic candidate spurns facts to declare Chávez a “dictator” while the other, eager to demonstrate his leftist credentials, deems the massively-popular Venezuelan leader a “despotic oil tyrant,” and is promptly pilloried for his soft line.
[Posted By ShiftShapers]Republished from Counterpunch
After the failed 2002 coup, the United States changed its tack slightly, drawing upon the variety of experiences gained in the military overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile and the electoral overthrow of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. While it would be easy to say that this represented a “Nicaraguanization” of U.S. policy in the aftermath of the botched coup, in reality this new policy draws equally heavily on the many other elements that constituted the multifaceted war against Allende, and hence the thesis of the “Chileanization” of Venezuela remains all-too-relevant.
The key institutional devices deployed by the U.S. in its covert support for the coup remained the same in its aftermath: the neoconservative National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), both convenient mechanisms for bypassing Congressional oversight. What was new on this front, as Golinger demonstrates, was the establishment by USAID in the months following the coup of a sinister-sounding Office of Transition Affairs (OTI). Both the NED and USAID (via the OTI) immediately began to shift strategies, providing covert support for the opposition-led bosses lockout of the oil industry which crippled the Venezuelan economy for two months in late 2002 and early 2003, and when…
Posted by ShiftShapers
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Posted by ShiftShapers on Wednesday, March 12th 2008
I’m at a loss people. Where the hell do we start? Will it be easier to end the mind control of the mass media over the majority of lambs, or end the corruption of our hallowed democratic institutions? It all just seems so fucking overwhelming at times. I think if the people were given a glimpse of the truth they might do something, but then again everyone just seems so fucking apathetic…ahh sorry I’m ranting. I hope Chavez, Morales, Ortega, Lula, and all the other semi-progressive leaders of Latin America can actually help bring about a better world for all. Peace..
Fact or fiction?
Colombia ‘seizes Farc uranium’: Freddy Padilla, Colombia’s most senior military commander, said on Wednesday that two informants who had access to a contact known as ‘‘Belisario’‘ alerted military intelligence to the Farc’s possession of radioactive material.
Colombia Officials Find Rebels’ Low-Grade Uranium -AFP: Depleted uranium is a residue of the enriching and reprocessing of uranium. It has a low-level of radioactivity and can be used to make missiles capable of penetrating armor and then bursting into flame.
Chavez hails Brazilian proposal on S American defense council: Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez Wednesday hailed Brazil’s proposal to create a South American defense council, suggesting it could serve as a South Atlantic version of NATO.
It seems to me that
1. The U.S. has no availble troops to threaten Venezuela; all they have are bombs and missiles, which would only disrupt the oil supply.
2. Other South American governments would stand up for Venezuela if the US gets aggressive- one doesn’t need to love Chavez to oppose the US tramping around and creating another Colombia
3. Any signifigant action against Venezuela would raise gasoline prices in America signifigantly, and would recieve very minimal support from a war-weary and increasingly angry US population.
Ecuador threatens diplomatic efforts against Colombia if rebel camp death confirmed: President Rafael Correa on Saturday threatened to seek international condemnation against Colombia if DNA tests confirm that Colombia’s military killed an Ecuadorean citizen during its raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador’s jungle.
Colombian minister: Ecuadorean killed in cross-border raid on rebels: Ecuador briefly mobilized troops to its border with Colombia in the wake of the attack that killed top Colombian rebel commander Raul Reyes and 25 others.
the next American “leader” will let us know who is the next enemy a year or two in office, if it even takes that long.
Other South American governments would stand up for Venezuela if the US gets aggressive
are you inferring America gives a “rats ass” what anyone else really thinks?
bacchus,
1. i totally agree. if the US didn’t have each foot in two bear traps (iraq and afghanistan, they would already be there.
2. don’t count on the little guys around Vzla standing up if the US rears its war machine. too many past massacres. too much history.
3. you nailed that one too. the era of internet has done much to make available truth (and lies). as people get better at using the internet, it is going to get more difficult for administrations to secretly misbehave. the internet is the viet nam reporter of today. the biggest blow to the free flow of information is the clampdown on the internet.
or i suppose… be involved in so many conflicts that it deadens the senses.
are we there yet?