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Venezuela

Statement: U.S Military Threat Against Iranian Tankers

Iran’s daring decision to dispatch five oil tankers carrying the much-needed fuel for the struggling people of Venezuela is a definitive challenge to U.S. government’s illegal policy of unilateral economic sanctions and its naval blockade of Venezuela. Iran’s action has created a decisive test of the Trump administration’s willingness to continue its violations of international law and the UN Charter by taking military action against Iranian tankers. The U.S. Peace Council strongly condemns any military actions against the Iranian tankers and calls upon and the Trump administration and the U.S. government to put an end to its violations of the UN Charter immediately. As Iranian tankers approach Venezuelan waters — the first tanker is expected to enter Venezuelan territorial waters on Sunday — the Trump administration is scrambling to decide how to respond to a challenge that can determine the future of its policy of unilateral coercive measures against one-quarter of humanity.

US Blocks UNSC Draft Resolution Denouncing Paramilitary Incursion Into Venezuela

Russia, China and other countries criticized violations of Venezuelan sovereignty. The United States rejected a Russia-proposed UN Security Council (UNSC) draft condemning a recent coup attempt in Venezuela. During a virtual session of the UNSC on Wednesday, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy presented a resolution calling on member states to reject the “use of force… terrorism in all its forms and manifestations… [and] the use of mercenaries.” On May 3 and 4, Venezuelan forces neutralized two speedboats carrying armed groups off the country’s Caribbean coast. US special forces veteran Jordan Goudreau claimed to have orchestrated the 60-man incursion together with retired Venezuelan Major General Cliver Alcala, which was aimed at overthrowing the Maduro government.

Memo To The President: Avoid Hostilities Over Iranian Fuel Shipment To Venezuela

As former intelligence officers and other national security practitioners with many decades of experience, we understand the frustration your Administration feels as its “maximum pressure” campaign to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro enters its 17th month without much progress. Our purpose is not to defend Maduro, whose economic performance has alienated many and compounded Venezuela’s problems. Rather, we wish to ensure that you are aware of the possible pitfalls of the general threatening to use “maximum pressure” and “all means necessary” to effect “regime change” in Venezuela. In our view, any U.S. attempt to interdict access of the Iranian ships to Venezuela will be widely seen as an act of war. It could conceivably lead to unprecedented retaliation in places as far away as the Persian Gulf — events that the U.S. will not be able to fully control.

US Threatens To Prevent Iranian-Venezuelan Mutual Assistance

Five Iranian supertankers, filled with approximately 45.5 million gallons of gasoline and related fuel products are presently crossing the Atlantic with Venezuela their likely ultimate destination. US authorities speculate that Venezuela will pay for these shipments in gold. Venezuela and Iran, both subject to crippling US sanctions, are natural allies in the struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic while providing food and medical supplies for their peoples. If Washington deploys the navy to block these commercial vessels from arriving at their destination, it could ignite a serious international conflict.

Iran Vows ‘Decisive Response’ To US Threats

Tehran has issued a formal warning to Washington over threats to five of its tankers currently en route to Venezuela. On Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister summoned the Swiss ambassador representing US interests in Tehran, vowing that any hostile action would be met with a "quick and decisive response.” The vessels, which set sail from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, are reportedly carrying at least US $45.5 million in gasoline and other products. One of the tankers, Clavel, is presently sailing through the western Mediterranean, according to data from tracking websites. Last week, Reuters reported that US authorities are mulling actions against Iran over the latter’s fuel shipments to Venezuela. The Trump administration has targeted Venezuela with crushing economic sanctions, including an oil embargo blocking fuel exports to the Caribbean country as well as a blanket ban on dealings with Venezuelan state entities.

Washington Places Cuba And Venezuela On ‘Terror’ List

Less than two weeks after an abortive mercenary invasion aimed at overthrowing Venezuela’s government and murdering its president that was hatched by the Trump White House, the US State Department on Wednesday renewed it classification of the country as “not fully cooperating” with Washington’s global war on terrorism. Also added to the list was Cuba, whose embassy in Washington was targeted by a gunman armed with an automatic weapon on April 30, an act that elicited not a word of condemnation from the Trump administration. This marked the first time that Cuba has been placed on the list since 2015 when it was removed as part of negotiations between US President Barack Obama and Cuba’s Raul Castro on the normalization of relations between the two countries.

Guaido’s Leadership In Question Following Failed Coup Attempt

Opposition leaders have reportedly lobbied Washington to change its Venezuela policy and replace Juan Guaido as head of the anti-government bloc. Bloomberg cited anonymous sources Friday claiming that opposition lawmakers have contacted the State Department to request “a change of direction, even leadership.” Several sources told the wire service that the opposition should return to talks with the Maduro government, including regarding parliamentary elections scheduled for this year. Guaido has ruled out elections while Maduro remains in office as well as renewed negotiations with his administration. Opposition lawmakers likewise stressed that “planning needs to be moved from Washington to Caracas,” arguing that Trump’s electoral calculus vis-a-vis Florida is driving the administration’s Venezuela policy.

Rally: End Sanctions, Save Lives! No US Sponsored Attacks On Venezuela!

Saturday, a group of activists from the Latin America Solidarity Coalition of WMASS, Green Rainbow Party Pioneer Valley Chapter, Western Massachusetts Codepink, and Massachusetts Peace Action demonstrated on the Coolidge Bridge in Northampton calling for an end to US the sanctions against Venezuela, and an end to US sponsored coup d’états and mercenaries attacks of Venezuela in an attempt to assassinate President Maduro. In a statement to the press the organizers of the demonstration said: On May 3, 2020, more than 100 heavily armed mercenaries employed by an American contractor, a US Green Berets veteran, landed in several locations on the Venezuelan coast. The mercenaries arrived in heavily armed boats from Colombia where they had been training for the past five months.

Defying US Sanctions, Iran Tanker To Deliver Fuel To Venezuela

A fuel tanker loaded at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas is making its way to Venezuela, according to vessel tracking data issued by Refinitiv Icon, in defiance of the US-imposed sanctions on both countries, including on their respective oil industries. Venezuela, which is already in a crisis, is currently suffering from a shortage of gasoline. The Iranian-flagged tanker “Clafel” reportedly crossed the Suez Canal yesterday, having been loaded with fuel in Iran at the end of March. The Venezuelan-owned PDVSA oil company and the country’s Ministry of Oil did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment, nor has the US State Department. Haaretz also reports that four other vessels of the same size, each flagged by Iran and originating from the same port, are due to cross the Atlantic Ocean, with their final destinations not established.

US Imperialism’s Decomposition Accelerates

On May 3rd a bunch of mercenaries, led by Rambo-like US soldiers of fortune attempted to disembark on the coastal town of Macuto in the La Guaira state in Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, in a so-called Operation Gedeon.  Their leader, ‘contractor’ Jordan Goudreau, CEO of US ‘security company’, SilverCorp, in interview with Miami-based extreme right wing Venezuelan opposition journalist, Patricia Poleo, candidly explained that the aim of their military incursion against the South American nation was to attack the presidential palace so as to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro and install a de facto Guaidó-led government. Goudreau claimed to have deployed a mercenary force of 300 to carry out the military ‘mission’. The mercenaries received training in at least three camps in Riohacha, Colombia, had the full support of the Colombian government that has declared explicitly its desire to overthrow the government of President Maduro.

Corporate Media Don’t Think Americans Paid To Invade Venezuela Count Are Mercenaries

When an attempted invasion of Venezuela launched from the shores of Colombia was foiled on May 3, after armed commandos were intercepted at Venezuela’s coastline of La Guira, it seemed undeniable that the heavily armed men, possessing satellite phones and uniforms with the US flag emblazoned on them, had been paid to take part in a coup attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government (People’s Dispatch, 5/6/20). In recent reports regarding the Bay of Pigs–style invasion, however, the term “mercenary” was accompanied by scare quotes, as if these men could only be seen that way from the perspective of an Official US EnemyTM (whose perspective is always illegitimate in the eyes of corporate media).

Botched Infiltration Of Venezuela Leaves Guaidó Tainted Beyond Repair

The latest chapter in the ongoing effort to overthrow the Venezuelan government reads like a bad spy thriller: a group of mercenaries piloted speedboats from Colombia to Venezuela; half of them were killed or captured by Venezuelan security forces immediately upon landing, while the other half – apparently delayed by mechanical issues with their boat – surrendered to local police and militia the next day. Thirty-nine attackers have been captured so far, including two Americans, both former special forces soldiers. Their plan was to capture or kill high-value targets, including Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Instead, it failed miserably and raised more concerns about the leadership of opposition figure Juan Guaidó.

US Wants Release Of Two Veterans Who Led Failed Coup Attempt In Venezuela

Imperial overreach was on full display this week as the US government demanded that a pair of US citizens — former Special Forces soldiers leading a 60-man invasion of Venezuela with the goal of fomenting a coup and/or capturing or killing that country’s elected president — be released from arrest and returned to the US. Bad enough that the US almost certainly knew in advance about this invasion which involved multiple simultaneous border crossings and beach landings by mercenary forces, many of them reportedly sketchy former Venezuelan soldiers involved in the drug trade, who were on a payroll as soldiers-for-hire. But how about the gall to also claim that when the effort fails, the intended victim of the coup, Venezuela, has no legitimate right to punish the perpetrators, but must release them to their home country, the US — a country that has for years been trying to oust Venezuela’s elected government?

Venezuela Makes Fresh Arrests as Opposition Splinters over Failed Coup

The Venezuelan government announced 16 new arrests in the aftermath of a thwarted invasion attempt last week. Two separate raids on Sunday resulted in three and eight arrests, respectively. There were three other arrests on Saturday and two on Friday, bringing the total of those detained to 39. Among those arrested were two ex-green berets, who confessed to Venezuelan authorities that their mission was to secure the Maiquetia international airport, kidnap Maduro, and transport him to the United States. They have been charged with terrorism, conspiracy and arms trafficking. The detained Venezuelans were charged with conspiracy with a foreign government, treason, terrorism, among others.

The Hidden Plot Of The New Failed US Attempt Against Venezuela

The Venezuelan civil-military deployment is on high alert to the development of what is not yet over. According to the government, 56 mercenaries tried to enter the country, 54 Venezuelans and two Americans, some of whom have been arrested and others killed in Sunday morning’s confrontation. The objective of these groups was to attack the DGCIM, SEBIN and the Miraflores Palace. The structuring of the final plan to asphyxiate Venezuela The strategy of Caracas is to deactivate the actions before they happen, to avoid the execution of the coup plans. The captures, so far, have been early: before the mercenary’s entry and during the arrival of part of the boats. Venezuela is facing a new phase of an uninterrupted siege. The bet of the United States is to achieve that the set of variables with guerilla type attacks to finally succeed in overthrowing Nicolás Maduro so that the restoration and revenge foreseen within the strategy designed from Washington can begin.
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