Venezuela & ALBA Weekly Newsletter

Venezuela & ALBA News 2.16.2024: Venezuela acts against US-backed Coup Attempts; US Retaliates with more Sanctions

World Beyond War Thanks Nicaragua for Standing Against Genocide On behalf of all the caring people of the world, we want to thank the government of Nicaragua for being the first to formally request to intervene at the International Court of Justice in the case brought by South Africa, and in support of holding the government of Israel to account for its violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza. Since South Africa filed its case, and since the court ruled that Israel needed to cease its genocidal actions while the case proceeds, the government of Israel has only escalated its crimes, while openly defying the court — even while relying on weapons, legal immunity, and propaganda support from the U.S. and other Western governments frequently claiming to support a so-called rules-based order.

We citizens of the world who support the actual rule of law appreciate the risks you take in supporting it. All governments commit crimes, making them reluctant to support the prosecution of governmental crimes. All governments are subject to pressure from the U.S. government and its allies, making them reluctant to support this prosecution. But many know what is right. And many may act now that you have gone first. Thank you. We will remember.

TeleSur: Venezuela Government Statement Condemns the Continuing Genocide in Gaza “After pushing an entire people towards the border with Egypt, Israel’s murderous government redoubled its commitment to Palestinian massacre. In one night of terror, it killed over 100 people in Rafah, where around 1.5 million refugees remain. In Rafah there is no water, food, medicine or escape for them. There there is only death and pain imposed by Netanyahu with the permission of the US, the UK and other so-called ‘developed’ nations. The world must demand justice for the martyrdom of the Palestinians.”

Ultima Noticias:  Venezuela Suspends Activities of UN Human Rights Office in Caracas Due to ‘Colonialist Attitude’ Foreign Minister Ivan Gil stated, the office “has been co-opted as an international sounding board to maintain a discourse against the Venezuelan government and the people of Venezuela.” On February 13, the UN body publicly claimed that Rocío San Miguel, detained by law enforcement agencies had a so-called “unknown” whereabouts which would thus classify her detention (according to them) as “forced disappearance,” and urged “for her immediate release and respect for her right to legal defense.” Government statement: “This decision is made due to the improper role that this institution has developed, which, far from showing it as an impartial entity, has led it to become the private law firm of coup plotters and terrorist groups that permanently conspire against the country…. the Office of the High Commissioner has exacerbated its attacks against Venezuela, just at a time when the world is witnessing the genocidal barbarism committed against the Palestinian people, in a context of total impunity favored by the inaction of this international bureaucracy., which without condemning these events or requesting an immediate ceasefire, remains pathetic and inert in the face of the murder of more than 10,000 Palestinian children.”

Teri Mattson interviews Carlos Ron Carlos Ron is Venezuela’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America and President of the Simon Bolivar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples. They dissect issues such as election interference by US and European Union actors, the implications of the Barbados agreement, and the illegal use of unilateral economic sanctions to shape Venezuelan domestic policy, including electoral outcomes.

Roger Harris: Washington Promotes Opposition Candidate, Setting the Stage for Delegitimizing the Venezuelan Presidential Election  Last December, Mario Diaz-Balart) introduced House Resolution 911 designating María Corina Machado as the “official presidential opposition candidate.” …USAID alone pledged $50M to “push” the Venezuelan presidential elections, scheduled for later this year… According to the Venezuelan attorney general, an estimated $19B was embezzled by Guaidó’s “fictitious government.” …Machado called today’s Venezuela the “largest torture center in Latin America,” and accused the Maduro government of “intentionally destroying the quality of life.” Meanwhile, Machado is deeply resented by most in the opposition. “She is a hated figure among the people because of her enthusiastic support and plea for more sanctions that have caused such suffering.”

Atilio Boron: María Corina Machado and the Betrayal of Venezuela The US announced new sanctions against Venezuela after the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice to ratify the disqualification of María Corina Machado as a presidential candidate. What these neo-colonial spokes people do not say is that Machada is being judged by a legislation that is practically a carbon copy of the US one. According to 18 U.S. Code §2381, “Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, takes up arms against the Government of the United States and/or its armed forces; or adheres to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, and offers financial, logistical or any other form of support to a country or organization at war with the US. Whoever commits this offense shall be charged with treason and shall suffer the death penalty, or imprisonment and fine, and disqualification from holding any office in the United States.” Machado appeared on the international scene as an “alternate ambassador” of Panama at the OAS, using that platform to attack the government of President Maduro. Machado was at that time a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, and in a gross act of treason she openly requested before the OAS that it order a foreign military intervention to overthrow President Maduro.

María Corina Machado had already been disqualified from holding public office for a period of 15 years, starting in 2015. Thus, there is nothing new today, since she has already been disqualified for 9 years. Nevertheless, the right wing and the spokespersons of the empire have set her up as a sort of patriotic Joan of Arc when in fact she is a scandalous agent of the empire and an accomplice of the criminal plundering perpetrated against her own country and one of the most important mentors of the plan to overthrow the legitimate government of Maduro.

Ultima Noticias: Venezuela’s Information Minister Criticizes NGO Narratives Regarding Rule of Law; Rocío San Miguel Charged With Treason NGO activist Rocío San Miguel has been arrested for conspiracy and treason for her participation in the “White Bracelet” conspiracy plot, which was aimed at the assassination of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, and Governor Freddy Bernal. Various non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and NED-financed NGO Provea labeled Rocio San Miguel’s arrest as “forced disappearance,” a narrative that was also promoted on social media platforms by far-right figures. “That Amnesty International and Provea, along with other NGOs linked to the US State Department, demonstrate automatic solidarity with those who are being investigated for crimes against the constitutional order in Venezuela, is not a new thing…the shameless narrative with which they attempt to ignore the laws of a country and the legitimacy of a sovereign state does not cease to amaze us.”

Mision Verdad: Robbery Consummated: Chronology of Theft in the EMTRASUR Case

After 20 months of configuring a new act of looting and piracy, it was learned yesterday that the Boeing 747-300M plane owned by the Venezuelan company EMTRASUR has left the city of Buenos Aires bound for the United States, consummating the theft of the aircraft that began on June 8, 2022, when it was detained at the airport by Argentine authorities. We have also witnessed the way in which the extraterritoriality of US laws operates with the consent of national authorities in various countries. Included is a chronology of the case.

Wall Street Journal: How Wall Street Won a Battle Over Venezuelan Sanctions “Bondholders warned Washington that Russia and its allies were benefiting from U.S. trading ban. After the U.S. dropped a broad array of sanctions against Venezuela in October, it warned that it could reimpose all of them, except one. The White House admitted that its ban on buying Venezuelan bonds was a failure that had potentially benefited enemies of the U.S.

“Behind the scenes, a group of powerful Wall Street investors had been feeding Washington a stream of evidence that showed Venezuelan bonds were being traded by investors with ties to Russia. They said Moscow was hoping to gain influence in the U.S.’s backyard…It was the first time the U.S. publicly acknowledged that banning U.S. investors from buying debt of a sanctioned country could backfire. “We ultimately concluded that the sanctions were bad for the United States and good for our adversaries,” a senior U.S. official said. “They had created openings for China and Iran and Russia to be able to expand a strategic foothold in Venezuela.” Unlike the other sanctions that the U.S. government reversed last fall, the debt-trading ban has been permanently removed.” So says the WSJ.

Events

Trips to Nicaragua, Cuba

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