Venezuela

US Compels Small African Country To Imprison Venezuelan Diplomat

June 13, 2021 Roger Harris, Popular Resistance. Resist! Alex Saab, Extradition, US Sanctions, Venezuela

Upon landing in Cabo Verde, Saab was forcibly removed from the plane, imprisoned, and held under torturous conditions. A year later, Saab, who is a lawfully appointed diplomatic agent of Venezuela, remains illegally imprisoned and is fighting extradition to the US. Saab faces US charges with a maximum penalty of 160 years imprisonment. To put Saab’s potential sentence into perspective, the reportedly rogue Cabo Verde soldier who murdered eleven in the 2016 Monte Tchota massacre on the Cape Verdean island of Santiago received a 35-year sentence. Although Saab had not violated any law in Cabo Verde, the US has been able to exert enormous pressure on one of the smallest countries in the world to detain Saab.

New York Times Admits US Sanctions Are Destroying Venezuela

June 12, 2021 Peter Bolton, Counterpunch. Educate! Media, US Imperialism, US Sanctions, Venezuela

The facile right-wing talking point that the economic crisis facing Venezuela “proves” that “socialism always ends in failure” has become so hackneyed by overuse that it has attained its own tongue-in-cheek name. The ad Venezuelum, as it has come to be known, has slowly developed into such a tedious and predictable right-wing tactic that it seems to now serve as an all-purpose retort to try to discredit even the most modest of left-of-center proposals. In October 2018, for instance, then-President Trump responded to a plan by progressive Democrats in congress to introduce a bill to establish a system of universal public healthcare – something which every industrialized country other than the US already has – by stating: “It’s going to be a disaster for our country. It will turn our country into a Venezuela.”

Venezuela’s Oil Production Bounces Back

June 12, 2021 Andreína Chávez Alava, Venezuelanalysis. Educate! Energy, Environment, Oil, Venezuela

Guayaquil, Ecuador – Venezuela’s crude output increased in May, recovering from the previous month’s fall. The latest Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) monthly report placed the Caribbean country’s May production at 531,000 oil barrels per day (bpd), a rebound from April’s 486,000 bpd, according to secondary sources. In contrast, state oil company PDVSA communicated a higher number of 582,000 bpd. The May figures are the highest in 12 months and put the nation back in the steady growth trend it has been experiencing since the beginning of the year after reaching historic lows in the second half of 2020.

Switzerland’s UBS Blocks And Holds Venezuela’s COVAX Payments

June 11, 2021 Lucía Eugenia Córdova, Orinoco Tribune. Educate! COVID-19, US Sanctions, Vaccine apartheid, Venezuela

In an official communication issued on June 7, the COVAX initiative notified the Government of Venezuela that UBS bank (United Bank Switzerland) blocked and put “under investigation” the last four payments made by Venezuela to complete the financial requirements for COVID-19 vaccines. This news was reported to the nation this Wednesday, June 10, by the Executive Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez, during an international academic conference entitled “Unilateral Coercive Measures: Disrespect of International Law and Grave Human Consequences.” Rodríguez stated that the letter, addressed to the Venezuelan ambassador in Geneva, Héctor Constant Rosales, by Santiago Cornejo from COVAX, specified that the final four payments were blocked.

US Kidnaps Venezuelan Diplomat: Alex Saab’s Case

June 7, 2021 Anya Parampil, The Grayzone. Resistance Report Alex Saab, Extradition, US Imperialism, Venezuela

Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with attorney Femi Falana about the shocking case of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who has been kidnapped for the crime of violating illegal sanctions in order to feed his country. Under pressure from the United States, Cape Verdean authorities arrested Saab in June of 2020 when he stopped in the country to refuel his plane while en route to a humanitarian mission in Iran. The US is seeking to extradite Saab over money laundering charges, however Falana explains why the case is invalid, accusing the US of practicing "gangsterism". The US is persecuting Saab over his work in securing items for Venezuela's CLAP program, which delivers basic goods to 6 million households on a monthly basis for virtually no cost.

Save Alex Saab

June 6, 2021 Solidarity Center. Resist! Alex Saab, Extradition, US Sanctions, Venezuela

U.S. authorities ordered his arrest, and Alex Saab was pulled off a plane on June 12, 2020, during a refuelling stop in the Republic of Cabo Verde, an island nation off Africa’s West Coast. Saab, a Venezuelan diplomat to the African Union, was on a humanitarian mission to Iran at the time of his seizure to arrange emergency shipments of food, medicine, and essential supplies for Venezuela. Detained and imprisoned in total isolation and darkness in Cabo Verde for the past year, Saab has also been tortured. Saab is battling cancer and urgently needs to be cared for by his doctors in Venezuela. The U.S. sanctioned Saab for his diplomatic role purchasing essential supplies for Venezuela and indicted him for building houses for the less well-off, calling his work “money laundering.”

#FreeAlexSaab Delegation: First Day In Cabo Verde

June 5, 2021 Roger Harris, Popular Resistance. Organize! Alex Saab, Extradition, Sanctions, Venezuela

Sal Island, Cabo Verde - In their first full day in Cabo Verde, the emergency human rights delegation met with Saab’s lawyer and the Venezuelan ambassador, tried to meet with the local police commander, and saw firsthand the prison-house where Mr. Saab is jailed, though the heavily armed guards prevented a visit. Our delegation consists of Cabo Verdean Bishop Felipe Teixeira, Cabo Verdean politician Pericles Tavares, Sara Flounders of International Action Center, and Roger Harris of Task Force on the Americas. A year ago, immediately after Alex Saab’s plane was diverted to Cabo Verde for a technical fueling stop and he was forcibly taken off the plane.

The Violence And Economic Destruction Caused By US Sanctions In Venezuela

May 25, 2021 Gregory Wilpert and Joe Sammut, Venezuelanalysis. Educate! Finance and the Economy, US Sanctions, Venezuela

US economic sanctions against Venezuela are a violent and illegal form of coercion, seeking regime change through collective punishment of the civilian population. The motives are fairly clear from the public statements of US officials. The number of Venezuelans who have died as a result of these sanctions has been estimated in the tens of thousands, and this has certainly increased substantially over the past two and a half years that have elapsed since the last available mortality data

Mision Arbol: Ecosocialism In An Oil-Rich Nation

May 21, 2021 Dakotah Lily, Popular Resistance. Create! climate crisis, Ecosocialism, Environment, Venezuela

President Chavez was ahead of his time for a head of state, but was merely reiterating what thousands of activists and thinkers had been saying for decades. “But wait!” many readers and commentators alike may say; “Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution exported oil, so any claims of environmentalism must just be talk!”. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as I will show in the following article how Chavez, his successor Nicolas Maduro, and the Bolivarian process as a whole has an outstanding record in terms of combating climate change and defending the environment. The environment is the beginning and end of all life on Earth, as many Socialists have been saying for centuries. This article's main focus is on the creation and maintenance of the Arbol (Tree) mission.

USAID Admits To Venezuela Regime Change Fraud

May 6, 2021 Anya Parampil, The Grayzone. Resistance Report State Department, US Regime Change, USAID, Venezuela

Red Lines host Anya Parampil explores a new report issued by USAID's Office of the Inspector General which admits the agency's policy on Venezuela was driven by the State Department and National Security Council's push for regime change. The report specifically investigated USAID's attempt to use the US military to force aid through Venezuela's border with Colombia on February 23, 2019. Anya highlights the most interesting findings in the audit, including that USAID failed to put proper fraud controls in place in order to appease US officials seeking to overthrow Venezuela's elected government.

Venezuela Reiterates Its Commitment To Human Rights And Justice

May 6, 2021 By José Luis Granados Ceja, Venezuelanalysis. Create! Accountability, Human Rights, International Criminal Court, Venezuela

Mexico City, Mexico - The Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office submitted an updated report to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 30 detailing its efforts to address alleged human rights abuses by state officials. In September 2018, Venezuela’s right-wing opposition, with support from the US and a handful of allied countries, filed a suit before the ICC accusing the Nicolás Maduro government of being responsible for “crimes against humanity” during violent anti-government protests in 2017. Attorney General Tarek William Saab said his office had engaged in “meticulous” work to defend human rights. He noted that during his nearly four-year tenure, 716 state security officials had been indicted in relation to alleged human rights abuses, with a further 40 civilians also charged in connection to these cases. The judicial processes have yielded a reported 153 convictions so far.

Government Report Documents US Responsibility For Venezuela’s Humanitarian Dilemma

May 2, 2021 Roger Harris, Popular Resistance. Educate! Congress, US Regime Change, US Sanctions, Venezuela

The US government blames the crisis on the mismanagement and corruption of the Venezuelan government headed by Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan government faults the US and its allies for imposing sanctions, unilateral coercive measures illegal under international law. An official US Congressional Research Service report issued April 28, Venezuela: Background and US Relations, suggests the Venezuelan government has valid arguments that it is being strangulated by US sanctions. According to the report: It is difficult to attribute precisely the extent of Venezuela’s economic collapse that is due to US sanctions versus broad economic mismanagement.

Venezuela Border Conflict Mixes Drug Trafficking And Regime-Change

April 17, 2021 W. T. Whitney, Jr., Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Colombia, Military, Narcotics trafficking, Venezuela

Beginning in mid-March, Venezuelan army units have been attacking and expelling Colombian operatives active in Apure state. These have long used Venezuela’s border region to prepare cocaine arriving from Colombia and ship it to the United States and Europe. The fighting has subsided; eight Venezuelan troops were killed. Seeking safety, 3,500 Venezuelans crossed the Meta River—an Orinoco tributary—to Arauca in Colombia. The bi-national border is unmonitored and long enough, at 1367 miles, to encourage smuggling and the undocumented passage of cross-border travelers, in this instance the embattled Colombians in Apure. Among these are armed paramilitaries, bands of former FARC-EP insurgents and narcotraffickers—pilots, truckers, laboratory workers, and more.

Network In Defense Of Humanity Rejects Aggressions By Armed Groups

April 10, 2021 Network in Defense of Humanity, Resumen English. Educate! Colombia, Paramilitaries, United Nations, Venezuela

The Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity, in view of the confrontations that began on March 21 between the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and irregular armed groups in La Victoria, Apure State, near the Colombian border, declares: -It is an insistently repeated historical fact that irregular armed groups from Colombia, sometimes with the complicit tolerance, sometimes with the connivance, and sometimes with the declared support of the government of that country, crossing into Venezuela’s borders to commit common crimes and destabilize the legitimate government. -We are listing here some regrettable examples of these intrusions including the invasion of a force of a thousand Colombians with false Venezuelan flags across the Táchira border under...

The Capitol Raid And Pandemic Can Help Us Empathize With Venezuelans

April 8, 2021 Leonardo Flores, Popular Resistance. Educate! Capitol, US Imperialism, US Sanctions, Venezuela

The January 6th raid on the Capitol and the pandemic that has upended the lives of every American seemingly have nothing to do with Venezuela. But the effects they had on U.S. political and economic stability offer a glimpse into what Venezuelans have been going through for the past several years of failed coups and sanctions. Remember how January 6th felt? The shock, confusion and fear. The constant refreshing of Twitter feeds or eyes glued to cable news, watching a bunch of extremists attempt to overthrow the government. The not knowing what was going to happen next and whether it would impact our daily lives. For Venezuelans, there is no one “January 6.” There are at least half a dozen.

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