Washington’s bid to “destroy Venezuela” is wrecking the international laws governing relations between all states, Venezuela’s ambassador to Britain Rocio Maneiro warned today.

“Nobody really understands the danger” of the precedent set by the decision by some countries to recognise would-be usurper Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s leader in contravention of all international norms, she warned.

At a press conference in central London, Ms Maneiro said her country was “under siege,” noting that a blockade designed to “break the nation” had already cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives and that “if the nation resists the US military stands ready to act.”

Ms Maneiro detailed the “net” cast by the US to trap Venezuela, including by oil sanctions that cost the country an estimated $6 billion (£4.7bn) in revenues in the first year from August 2017.

The United States banned all air transport with Venezuela on Wednesday over security concerns, further isolating the troubled South American nation…

A disinterested historian — Herodotus raised from the dead — would see this as just the latest volley in a siege tale. America has been trying for ages to topple the regime of President Nicholas Maduro, after trying for years to do the same to his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.

The new play in the Trump era involves recognizing Juan Guaidó as president and starving and sanctioning the country. Maduro, encircled, has been resisting.

The American commercial news landscape, in schism on domestic issues, is in lockstep here. Every article is seen from one angle: Venezuelans under the heel of a dictator who caused the crisis, with the only hope a “humanitarian” intervention by the United States.

Soldiers oversaw rationing of gasoline at service stations in several parts of Venezuela on Sunday as worsening fuel shortages forced angry drivers to wait for hours to fill their tanks, prompting protests in some areas.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro released a video of his first-ever meeting with the representatives of the International Contact Group (ICG), during which the impact of US sanctions on the South American country was discussed.

In early May, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the bloc-backed group, leading efforts to stabilize the crisis in Venezuela, would be considering sending a political mission to Caracas.

The Trump administration has been trying to engineer an unlawful coup and regime change in Venezuela. After U.S. puppet Juan Guaidó declared himself “interim president” of Venezuela on January 23, high Trump officials quickly ratified his declaration. The U.S. government seeks to illegally install Guaidó and a new ambassador in the D.C. embassy as part of its coup attempt.

After cutting off electricity and refusing to allow food and water to the protectors, agents from the Secret Service, State Department and Washington, D.C., police tried to raid the embassy on May 13. They read from an unsigned piece of paper titled “Trespassing Notice,” which stated that the U.S. government recognized Guaidó as president of Venezuela and Carlos Vecchio as Venezuelan ambassador to the United States.

SOURCE: ALJAZEERA

Blood-soaked body of Francisco Romero, fifth journalist to be killed this year, was found on a pavement in his hometown.

A Mexican journalist enrolled in a federal protection programme has been shot dead, the fifth reporter to be killed this year in one of the most dangerous countries for the press.

The blood-soaked body of crime reporter Francisco Romero was found on a pavement outside a nightclub in his hometown of Playa del Carmen along Mexico's Caribbean coast on Thursday, authorities said.

Romero ran a Facebook-based news site called "Ocurrio Aqui" (It Happened Here) that covers local politics and crime and had more than 17,000 followers. He also worked for one of the state's leading newspapers, Quintana Roo Hoy.

The state prosecutor's office opened a homicide investigation, saying Romero had filed a complaint on April 12 over threats he had received. The source of those threats was not specified.

The four remaining "Embassy Collective" activists who were remaining from among dozens of anti-war protesters who had been holed up in the embassy for the prior few weeks were arrested, according to local accounts.

The group had been defending the embassy since April 10 from what they described as a hostile and illegal potential takeover from pro-Guaido opposition supporters camped outside. The Maduro-supporting collective had the blessing of Venezuelan diplomatic authorities.

Subsequently, Carlos Vecchio - the Guaidó-appointed ambassador - tweeted his congratulations that the embassy had been "liberated," further thanking the "Venezuelan diaspora" for helping.

The intimidation tactics by the pro-coup embassy besiegers not only failed to deter the peace activists around the embassy, they left Venezuela’s D.C.-based opposition with a serious PR problem. After a week of hateful outbursts, a handful of marketing strategists emerged as de facto spokespeople for the mob.

After a rough and revealing start, the reins of the campaign to seize Venezuela’s embassy in Washington are being taken over by a group of well-connected marketing and online strategists.

Since Juan Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s interim president, rhetoric emanating from Washington has grown increasingly familiar.

It echoes the bombastic & hollow humanitarian-crisis type of war propaganda which has been used repeatedly in resource-rich nations, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya to Syria. And now we’re seeing it in Venezuela.

The regime-change recipe is straightforward: demonize the leadership and those who defend the country; support an opposition that is inevitably violent and whitewash their crimes; sanction the country & attack the infrastructure to create unbearable conditions; create fake news about humanitarian issues; possibly wage false flag incidents to incriminate the government; control the narrative; and insist that intervention is necessary for the well-being of the people.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a telephone conversation with Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó on Tuesday. Trudeau’s office said Guaidó “conveyed his commitment to holding free and fair elections as soon as possible, in line with the Venezuelan constitution.”

“Canada remains committed to free and fair elections in Venezuela, and we’re working with the Lima Group to strengthen international support for Venezuelans,” Trudeau said on social media after the phone call.

The Lima Group is a coalition of Latin American states and Canada organized in 2017 to find a resolution to the Venezuelan political crisis. The group has expressed support for Guaidó and urged the Venezuelan military to stop propping up socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. The Lima Group’s February declaration of support for Guaidó was not signed by three of its members, namely Guyana, St. Lucia, and Mexico.

Authored by Dave Lindorff via Counterpunch.org,

American media still refer to Juan Guaidó, America’s hand-picked “legitimate leader” or “legitimate president” of Venezuela, as having an “administration.”

The truth is that his “administration” - consisting of advisors and other opposition leaders - are all either arrested and being held by the government, hiding, seeking asylum in various foreign embassies (Spanish, Italian, Brazilian and Argentinian) in the capital of Caracas, or have fled to other countries like Brazil and Colombia.

Guaidó, apparently a government of one, has so far avoided arrest probably because the elected Venezuelan President Maduro doesn’t want to give the US an excuse to try and rescue him, or to launch military actions of some kind against Venezuela as the White House keeps threatening to do.

In clear violation of international law, police broke into Venezuela’s embassy in Washington DC, arresting activists invited by staff. They prevented the building from being seized by US-backed coup leader Juan Guaido’s people.

After spending over a month camped out in the embassy, the final four activists of the Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective have been placed under arrest after police broke down doors and entered the premises on Thursday.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro may flee Venezuela through an underground tunnel network in the event of a U.S. invasion, a former National Guard official revealed on Tuesday.

Former National Guard official Germán Varela told CNN en Español that in the event of the regime collapsing, Maduro and other senior officials have various options at their disposal to escape or seek refuge.

The South American state has recently been suffering from a severe political crisis, which has been gravely worsened by the imposition of American sanctions and Washington's support for the self-proclaimed interim president and opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who is accused of attempting a coup in the country.

The US Department of Transportation has ordered that all air travel between the US and Venezuela, including passenger and cargo flights, be suspended, citing the alleged violence around Venezuelan airports caused by the ongoing political crisis.

"The public interest requires an immediate suspension of foreign air transportation between the United States and Venezuelan airports. Therefore […] I am suspending the authority of all US air carriers and foreign air carriers to provide foreign air transportation to or from Venezuelan airports", Elaine Chao Secretary of Transportation said.

As famed Latin American author Eduardo Galeano once wrote, “every time the US ‘saves’ a country, it converts it into either an insane asylum or a cemetery.” Of course, as we look over the wreckage left by the US in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, we see that this statement is demonstrably true. And yet, now that the US is poised for another intervention, this time in Venezuela, the press is right there again to cheer it along.

A representative of the Venezuelan opposition leader in the US will meet members of the Southern Command next week to discuss strategy for regime change in the Latin American country, Juan Guaido has confirmed.
“The meeting will be held on Monday,” the self-proclaimed interim president said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I understand it will be at the State Department, and our ambassador will tell us what is the result of that meeting.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has denied reports last month that Russian diplomats tried to buy tear gas in Malta and then transfer it to Venezuela.

“The Russian diplomatic mission in Valletta works in strict accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Russian diplomats do not participate in any secret operation,” said a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian ministry stressed that the Maltese authorities did not send their comments on the matter to the Russian embassy in Valletta.

The Trump administration says it is determined to alleviate the plight of the Venezuelan people. And they are suffering. The Hugo Chavez-Nicolas Maduro regime has proved to be a horror show: undemocratic and brutal, ostentatiously destroying the nation’s economy in the name of socialism.

But President Donald Trump cares little for those suffering even more elsewhere. For instance, he backs Saudi Arabia in an aggressive war which has killed tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians. He bestows symbolic hugs on Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who slaughtered hundreds of protestors and jailed tens of thousands of critics, demonstrators, and stray Egyptians caught up in ubiquitous dragnets. For the Trump administration, Venezuela is only about politics. Votes in Florida, specifically.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he had a frank exchange on the situation in Venezuela with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the southern Russian resort of Sochi on Tuesday.

“We had a frank conversation on many issues, including the situation around Venezuela. Russia wants the people of Venezuela to define their own future. In this regard, it is extremely important that all responsible stakeholders in this country start a dialogue between themselves,” the Russian minister told reporters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, further said speaking to the journalist at the press conference following the meeting with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo that threats from US or self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido to legitimate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has nothing to do with democracy.

At the press conference following the bilateral meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists that he and his US counterpart Mike Pompeo have agreed the need to resume communication channels between the two countries.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed hope that despite the disagreement, the US and Russia can continue a dialogue on Venezuela.

The US top diplomat continued by saying that during the talks, he had urged Russia to end its support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but his call was flatly rejected by Moscow.

The US-backed, neoliberal Ecuadorian leader is persecuting Swedish software developer Ola Bini for his political sympathies, censoring critical media, and jailing progressive leadership in a sweeping crackdown.
By Denis Rogatyuk

The arrest, sentencing and the plans for the extradition of Julian Assange from the United Kingdom to the United States continue to provoke waves of condemnation from all around the world, along with disgust at the government of Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno and its increasing subordination to the US.

This was the first time in living memory of many that a government allowed a foreign law enforcement agency to enter its sovereign territory – the Ecuadorian embassy in London – and take into its custody a publisher of journalism, whose status as a refugee had been recognized internationally by the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International and other international organizations.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido confirmed this weekend that his diplomats are seeking to open a direct line of communication with the US military, and would use them for “coordination” of possible military action to impose regime change.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has formally requested the support of US military forces in the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in the South American country, a letter published by his representative Carlos Vecchio said on Monday.

"We welcome strategic and operational planning so that we may fulfill our constitutional obligation to the Venezuelan people in order to alleviate their suffering and restore our democracy", Vecchio said in the letter to the commander of United States Southern Command Admiral Craig Faller.

After last week’s US-backed coup failed to install Juan Guaido in power in Venezuela, Guaido remains keen to be supported by the US, and told Italian newspaper La Stampa that he would “probably accept” a US offer to invade.

US contacts with Venezuelan military figures have increased significantly since last week's attempted coup d'etat by self-proclaimed Interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaido, a US officials told Reuters Friday, the outlet reports.

The official also told the news agency that they were in contact with former Venezuelan general and SEBIN intelligence service head Manuel Cristopher Figuera, who supported Guaido's putsch and subsequently fled the country when it failed, to offer him support, and that the US Treasury had determined that any US or foreign company doing business with Veneuzela's defense or security services would be subject to US sanctions.

A US ship entered the Venezuelan waters, but changed course after communicating with the Venezuelan Navy, the agency said on Friday.

The USCGC James was first noticed by the Venezuelan armed forces on Wednesday. On Thursday, a Venezuelan patrol ship approached the US vessel and convinced it to change course.

"After our radio communications, the USCG James became convinced in the necessity to change its course and left our waters", the Navy said in a statement.

Venezuelen President Nicolas Maduro is busy hunting down allies of opposition leader Juan Guaido's in an attempt at "cleaning house" after recent failed coup events, but this isn't going unnoticed by Washington. The US Treasury on Friday announced possible sanctions on any security forces or officers involved in a revenge crackdown in “a direct response to Sebin’s illegal arrest of National Assembly members” — a reference to the internal intelligence police.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the announcement “puts Venezuela’s military and intelligence services, as well as those who support them, on notice that their continued backing of the illegitimate Maduro regime will be met with serious consequences.”

US State Department head Mike Pompeo has suffered a public meltdown, reacting forcefully that the constitutional government of Venezuela actually arrested a key member of the upper house of parliament (AN) – Edgar Zambrano – who was actively engaged in the treasonous coup, and openly called for the military to violate their sworn oaths. Pompeo reached out to world media, announcing that the Venezuelan courts moves were an “Unacceptable and illegal step”

A deputy to self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, earlier prosecuted for his role in the failed coup attempt on 30 April, has fled to Colombia. This comes after another Guaido's deputy was jailed for treason, conspiracy, and civil rebellion.

Luis Florido announced he has fled Venezuela for neighbouring Colombia, in a video posted on Twitter Friday.

"I am out of the country in Colombia, safe from a regime ready to imprison deputies," said Juan Guaido's deputy in the video.

Thanks in large part to John Bolton, America, the global cop, is back on the beat. This time it’s the Caribbean and the Persian Gulf in a near-simultaneous demonstration of resolve.

For Bolton, President’s Trump national security adviser, Venezuela is an exceptionally appealing target. Juan Guaidó, the democratic socialist who is Washington’s choice to lead Venezuela is dutifully following Bolton’s script asking for US military intervention to install him and his followers in power.

Why not? Venezuela harbors a few hundred Russian Special Operations Soldiers and at least 2,000-3,000 Cubans. Crushing the pathetic Venezuelan Armed Forces would be another exercise in clubbing baby seals on the Iraq or Afghan model.

Venezuela might also be the last place on the planet where a carrier battle group can sit just offshore in support of a marine amphibious assault.

MintPress News journalist Alexander Rubinstein and a reporter for The Grayzone, Anya Parampil, are besieged inside the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, and have been since April 30, in an egregious attack against press freedom. On Wednesday evening, events took a turn for the worse as the Metropolitan DC police cut off the power and water to the building — a violation of international law under the Vienna Diplomatic Conventions, Article 25, which reads, “The receiving State shall accord full facilities for the performance of the functions of the [diplomatic] mission.”

Neocon US Senator and Venezuela regime change crusader Marco Rubio claims China is secretly backing President Nicolas Maduro by 'shutting down the internet' to thwart Washington-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The Chinese are "single-handedly controlling the defensive cyber operations shutting down the internet," Rubio told Breitbart in an interview published Thursday, claiming that thanks to Beijing, opposition leader Juan Guaidó has "no access to the internet. Any time he tries to speak or communicate on social media, they shut down the internet. Literally, every time he holds a rally, they shut down the internet."

As the political crisis in Venezuela has unfolded, much has been said about the Trump administration’s clear interest in the privatization and exploitation of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, by American oil giants like Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Yet the influence of another notorious American company, Monsanto — now a subsidiary of Bayer — has gone largely unmentioned.

While numerous other Latin American nations have become a “free for all” for the biotech company and its affiliates, Venezuela has been one of the few countries to fight Monsanto and other international agrochemical giants and win. However, since that victory — which was won under Chavista rule — the U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition has been working to undo it.

uan Guaido's deputy was arrested Thursday as Venezuelan intelligence agents used a tow truck to drag his car away while he was still inside it.

Guaido, who has been trying to oust President Nicolas Maduro, said Edgar Zambrano had been 'kidnapped' with the US warned of 'consequences' if he is not released.

Zambrano's arrest marks the first of an opposition politician since Guaido tried to instigate a military uprising against Maduro last week that ultimately fizzled out.

Shortly before President Trump tweeted about a meeting with Marco Rubio and Rick Scott where the "terrible abuses by Maduro" were discussed, the Washington Post published an anonymously sourced story claiming that Trump is growing frustrated with the situation in Venezuela, and is blaming aides like Bolton for misleading him about opposition leader Juan Guaido's chances of success.

The socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela shut down three major private airports on Tuesday, shortly before announcing indictments against major opposition figures and amid a cloud of accusations that members of Maduro’s inner circle are ready to abandon him.

Last week, Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó – who Maduro has blocked from governing despite being legally the nation’s head of state – announced that he had convinced the military and its senior leadership to defect from Maduro and accept his leadership. Maduro refused to leave and most of his senior security officials denied that they had ever had conversations with Guaidó or the U.S. government about supporting Maduro’s removal.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeated the false claim that US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido is the ‘duly elected leader’ of Venezuela. Apparently he reads CNN.

Speaking in London after his meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Pompeo told reporters that Venezuelans had chosen Guaido to lead them.

“The Venezuelan people have spoken through through constitutional mechanism, they have put Juan Guaido as their interim president, and he is the duly elected leader there,” Pompeo said, adding that “Maduro is on borrowed time.”

As the political crisis in Venezuela has unfolded, much has been said about the Trump administration’s clear interest in the privatization and exploitation of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, by American oil giants like Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Yet the influence of another notorious American company, Monsanto — now a subsidiary of Bayer — has gone largely unmentioned.

While numerous other Latin American nations have become a “free for all” for the biotech company and its affiliates, Venezuela has been one of the few countries to fight Monsanto and other international agrochemical giants and win. However, since that victory — which was won under Chavista rule — the U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition has been working to undo it.

April 25: Foreign Minister Arreaza Describes Excruciating Suffering of the Venezuelan People Resulting From US Sanctions;

April 26: US Violates its Obligation as UN Host Country and Sanctions the Foreign Minister for Speaking Truth to Power

“We are not only on the wrong side, we are the wrong side.” Pentagon Papers Expert Daniel Elllsberg

“American sanctions are deliberately aiming to wreck Venezuela’s economy and thereby lead to regime change. It’s a fruitless, heartless, illegal, and failed policy, causing grave harm to the Venezuelan people.” Professor Jeffrey Sachs

Since he first stood on a stage Jan. 23 and announced he was seizing the presidency from Nicolas Maduro, Juan Guaido, the 35-year-old head of Venezuela's Congress, has embodied hope for change. With the backing of the U.S. and more than 50 other nations and the adoration of millions he made the country believe his slogan "vamos bien" we're doing well.

But last week's failed military uprising and a spate of violent but fruitless demonstrations have some wondering if Guaido, and the opposition at large, have what it takes to oust Maduro and end 20 years of single-party rule. Suddenly "vamos bien" is becoming harder for some to utter.

Honduras will receive 1,000 Israeli soldiers to train the country's army for border protection, fight against drug trafficking, investigation, and counterterrorism.

A multilateral military treaty between Honduras, Israel, and the United States will see the deployment of 1000 Israeli soldiers at Honduras. They will train the Armed Forces of Honduras (FFAA) and National Police (PN).

The main mission of the troops is to train for border protection to stop migrants fleeing Honduras to the U.S., especially children.

This would be the second time that Honduras is allowing foreign military personnel in the territory and the first time in Israel’s history to send troops abroad.

Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro is partnering with Iran to establish a beachhead for terrorist groups in the Western Hemisphere, Vice President Mike Pence warned Tuesday.

“The Iranian regime has been working with Venezuela’s corrupt dictatorship to establish a safe haven for its terrorist proxies,” Pence said in an address before the Council of the Americas.

After a week of street demonstrations that left four dead and hundreds injured, the Venezuelan people are growing weary of opposition leader Juan Guaido's attempts to win military support for an ant-Maduro insurrection.

And that weariness started to show this weekend, when many questioned the wisdom of returning to the streets on Saturday when Guaido called for another day of street protests, according to the FT. On Twitter, many of Guaido's supporters slammed him for offering up the Venezuelan people as "cannon fodder."

Perhaps sensing the waning support for his campaign, Guaido told the BBC in an interview Monday that he was considering asking the US for support in the form of a boots-on-the-ground military intervention. Speaking to the BBC's Nick Bryant, he said he would "evaluate all options" to finally depose Maduro, while the US has hinted that it "all options are still on the table," hinting that an invasion of Venezuela remained a possibility.

US Vice President Mike Pence is set to offer on Tuesday new incentives to Venezuela's military to turn against President Nicolas Maduro, Reuters reported Monday, citing a senior administration official.

In a speech to the Americas Society at the US Department of State, Pence will also warn that Washington could soon sanction 25 additional magistrates on the Venezuelan supreme court, Reuters reported, citing the official on condition of anonymity.

In addition, the US vice president will also offer assistance for refugees who have fled Venezuela and an economic aid package on a political transition, according to Reuters.

Venezuela's Supreme Court has opened a criminal action against seven opposition politicians for alleged treason and rebellion, the court said in a statement.

The Supreme Court said in a statement that the politicians Henry Ramos Allup, Luis Florido, Marianela Magallanes, José Simón Calzadilla, Américo De Grazia, and Richard Blanco, as well as Andrés Velázquez were accused by the attorney general for the alleged crimes of "treason, conspiracy, instigation of insurrection, military rebellion, conspiracy to commit a crime, usurpation of functions, and public incitement to disobedience".

Some of the accused politicians appeared alongside opposition leader Juan Guaido during the failed military coup on 30 April outside the Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base.

US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido blames “people who failed to follow through” for the demise of last week’s attempt to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro’s government – but believes there’s still hope.

“There were people who failed to follow through,” Guaido told AFP on Monday, but “it doesn’t mean that they won’t do it soon.” The self-appointed interim president didn’t specify who his backers were, but they aren’t the only ones he has blamed for Maduro’s refusal to quietly go away.

Continuing to try to advance the US narrative that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is the “duly elected” president, CNN went to the trouble on Sunday afternoon of inventing an entire election to base this around.

In the CNN report, they declared “pressure is mounting on Maduro to step down, following elections in January in which voters chose opposition leader Juan Guaido over him for president.” There was no election in January.

In reality, Venezuela’s presidential election was held on May 20, 2018. The opposition boycotted the vote, Maduro won with 67.8% of the vote, while Guaido did not participate at all.

A military intervention of Venezuela would be “catastrophic” and it’s understood not only in Europe and Latin America but also in Washington, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said after a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“I don’t see any supporters of a reckless military solution,” in Venezuela either among Latin American countries, Europe or the US, Lavrov said speaking in Rovaniemi, Finland on Monday. A foreign military intervention of Venezuela would be “catastrophic,” the foreign minister said, adding that “everybody understands this.” He expressed hope that the use of force will be averted.

A recent publication by The Hill newspaper claims that the events in Venezuela were a challenge for the administration of US President Donald Trump.

According to the article, the US leader and his National Security adviser, John Bolton, developed a tense relationship due to divergences of opinion about a possible military intervention in Venezuela.

The author cites the example in which Trump claimed that US influence on the formation of foreign state institutions ended, calling for the end of the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of troops from Syria. In contrast, Bolton tries to persuade the country’s leader to use force.

For Paul Pozner, an expert on Venezuelan affairs at Clark University, Trump prefers to join a position that strengthens his position in the US, and interference in Venezuela will have a negative impact on it.

The CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program has helped more than 1.7 million Americans in 25 states and the District of Columbia keep warm since it was launched back in 2005. The program is a partnership between the Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), its subsidiary CITGO and Citizens Energy Corporation, a nonprofit organization founded by former US Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II that provides discounted and free home heating services and supplies to needy households in the United States and abroad. It has been supported from the beginning by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to comment on whether the administration would consult Congress before invading Venezuela, saying “I don’t want to speak to that.”

Pompeo shunned all questions about the role of Congress in a potential Venezuelan war, saying he is confident that President Trump has sufficient authority that whatever he decides will be legal.

This is a serious question constitutionally. Lawmakers note that the power to declare war lies exclusively with Congress. Fresh off of the veto of the Yemen War challenge, there is reason to question if the law matches up to the practical reality of US war-making anymore.

On Tuesday, the Venezuelan opposition, led by self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido, initiated a fresh attempt to oust President Nicolas Maduro, staging a demonstration in front of La Carlota military base in Caracas. Sputnik discussed the Venezuelan crisis with David Lopez Torres, Representative of the association Le Pont to the UN in Geneva.

CNN took the concept of “fake news” to a whole new level with a recent report on Venezuela, in which it claimed that citizens “chose” coup leader Juan Guaido over current president Nicolas Maduro in January “elections.”

In a report on Sunday’s deadly Venezuelan military helicopter crash, CNN wrote that “pressure is mounting” on Maduro to step down “following elections in January in which voters chose opposition leader Juan Guaido over him for president.”

Slight problem there, CNN.

Venezuela did not hold elections in January — and Guaido definitely did not win them. He did, however, try to seize power from Maduro by force in January with US backing — and then again in April. Both coup attempts failed and Maduro remains president with the support of millions of Venezuelans who still back him.

Donald Trump’s US administration is preparing to ramp up its backing of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. But could this be a precursor to direct military intervention? Sputnik spoke with journalist Nick MacWilliam for more.

The US is running an unprecedented campaign to oust legitimate Venezuelan authorities, the Russian Foreign Minister said. He noted it’s typical of Washington to tell nations they are waging war against that US intentions are good.

“The attempts to force the change of government in Caracas have nothing in common with the democratic process and only undermine the prospects of a political solution,” Sergey Lavrov said, during a media conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza in Moscow. He explained that the “unprecedented Washington-led campaign to oust the legitimate government” is “in rude violation of the international law.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has condemned Washington’s “unprecedented campaign” and “irresponsible plans” aimed at toppling the legitimate government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.

“We see an unprecedented US-led campaign aimed at toppling the lawful authority in Venezuela. We condemn this campaign as a blatant violation of all the international laws secured by the UN Charter," Lavrov said at the beginning of a Sunday meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza in Moscow.

“We call on the Americans and all (the countries) who support them to cancel irresponsible plans and act strictly according to the international legislation, as President (Vladimir) Putin said a couple of days ago in a phone conversation with President (Donald) Trump,” he added.

Lavrov is travelling on Monday to Finland, where he is expected to hold rare face-to-face talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul says he is concerned that a “false flag” provocation could be used to ignite war in Venezuela.

The country’s ruling socialist leader Nicolas Maduro is still in power after an attempt by opposition leader Juan Guaido failed to kick-start a military uprising fizzled.

Now Paul says that those who want to see the country plunged into more violence could stage a catalyzing event.

The Venezuelan opposition leader, who proclaimed himself interim president and called on legitimate head of the country Nicolas Maduro to step down, attempted a coup on Tuesday that ended in failure. Meanwhile, US officials have made it clear that all options are “on the table”.

In an interview with the BBC, self-proclaimed Venezuelan leader Juan Guaido stated that it is “responsible to evaluate” the possibility of international intervention when he was asked if he would welcome US military intervention.

"I, as the president in charge of the national parliament, will evaluate all options if necessary”, he told the British broadcaster.

The Grayzone has obtained a list of “key outcomes” on Venezuela deleted out of apparent embarrassment by the State Department. It boasts of wrecking the nation’s economy, destabilizing its military, and puppeteering its political opposition.

The ignorant warmonger masquerading as an American Secretary of State should be arrested for his impersonation of an American government official. Mike Pompeo cannot possibly be the US Secretary of State, because not even Donald Trump would appoint an idiot to this high position who thinks that Article 2 of the Constitution gives the president the authority to declare war and invade other countries.

Here is what the moronic imposter Pompeo said: “The president has his full range of Article 2 authorities and I’m very confident that any action we took in Venezuela would be lawful.” This was Pompeo’s answer when asked if President Trump could intervene in the country’s power struggle without congressional approval.

Head of Venezuela’s armed forces, Padrino, entirely conned Abrams, and the April 30th event was supposed to be major with Padrino backing it. This explanation below uses all the facts, including official statements, and puts them all together. It also is based on highly reputable Spanish sources. Moreover this conforms to how CSS already understands regime-change operations to have been foiled in various places, and significantly as we have written before, in 2002 in Venezuela itself. That is why it is necessary for the military intelligence to work on coup operations, so that they can reverse them.

No, it doesn't appear to be mere hyperbole, considering it's the well-known neocon uber-hawk senator from South Carolina, who like the late John McCain would never waist precious opportunity to put the USA firmly on the war path.

Addressing recent reports that Cuba and Russia have sent troops to Venezuela to prop up embattled President Nicolas Maduro, Sen. Lindsey Graham angrily tweeted Friday, "Where is our aircraft carrier?"

Earlier, unnamed officials told US media that President Trump has expressed a lack of interest in conducting a military operation in Venezuela, with National Security Advisor John Bolton sparring with Pentagon generals over a supposed lack of military options for intervention in the Latin American country.

John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan met in the Pentagon on Friday morning to discuss military options in Venezuela.

Months of insistence in Washington that the people of Venezuela stood by the US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido basically went up in smoke when his ‘Operation Liberty’ fizzled. The question now is whom to blame.

Senior US officials like National Security Advisor John Bolton and special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams expressed confidence in “regime change” in Caracas on Tuesday, named top Venezuelan officials ready to defect, and even spoke of signed documents to that effect.

Yet literally none of this happened, and by the early evening on Tuesday, the handful of Guaido’s armed supporters were seeking sanctuary in foreign embassies.

When a CIA-backed military coup is attempted by a long term CIA puppet, roared on by John Bolton and backed with the offer ofBlackwater mercenaries, in the country with the world’s largest oil reserves, I have no difficulty whatsoever in knowing which side I am on.

Juan Guaido has been groomed for 15 years as a long-term CIA project. His coup attempt yesterday, which so far appears to have stalled, was the culmination of these efforts to return Venezuela’s oil reserves to US hegemony.

Russia is creating a group of countries at the United Nations to contain US plans for possible intervention in Venezuela, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.

“We are mobilizing a group of countries that, like us, respect the UN Charter, to neutralize these plans,” he said when asked by the press about the Russian reaction to a possible US invasion of Venezuela.

According to Lavrov, Moscow hopes that this group will be able to attract considerable support from other members, since the aim of this mobilization is extremely simple: “to uphold the norms and fundamental principles of international law set out in the UN Charter.”

“I wonder how he goes to work every day,” says a longtime aide to John Bolton, “because deep in his heart he believes the President is a moron.”

The joke is on Bolton. Having been handed a near impossible task in overthrowing the leftist regimes of Venezuela and Nicaragua, Bolton and his little neocon cabal have been set up for failure – and Trump doesn’t like failure. When it comes to neocon foreign policy, you can reverse the Trumpism that the President adorns his speeches with: Are you tired of losing yet?

And defeat looms large in the neocon effort to bring down Maduro.

A detailed plan from “UNITED STATES SOUTHERN COMMAND” dated “23 FEBRUARY 2018” was issued with the title “PLAN TO OVERTHROW THE VENEZUELAN DICTATORSHIP ‘MASTERSTROKE’” and is here presented complete.

This document was personally signed by Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, who was the Commander (the chief), at SOUTHCOM, and he was thus the top U.S. military official handling Venezuela. But this was far more than just a military plan. It was comprehensive — directing military, diplomatic, and propaganda, policies — regarding the Trump Administration’s planned “Overthrow” of Venezuela’s Government. His plan has since guided the Administration’s entire operation, including “the capacities of the psychological war,” regarding Venezuela.

As is all too often the case when the United States sets its sights on its next target for war or regime change, the corporate mainstream media – which supposedly exists to speak truth to power – is once again marching in lockstep with the government as it beats the drums of war, this time against Venezuela.

Having cancelled his Europe trip because of ongoing planning on Venezuela, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan held closed-door meetings at the Pentagon on Friday with John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Exact details of the meeting are not being made public, and the State Department didn’t even list the meeting as having taken place. Administration officials, however, said the focus was on discussing various military options for a US invasion of Venezuela.

Perennial hawk John Bolton seems to be salivating at the possibility of the US invading the major South American country, while Pompeo has been telling the press at every opportunity that if the US decides an attack is required “that’s what the United States will do.”

Shanahan continues to brag about the good intelligence the US has on the situation in Venezuela, a claim which must be questioned after this week’s failed coup.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for over an hour on Friday, a significant occurrence for an administration that has been very reticent to engage in dialogues with Russia.

According to White House officials, the focus of the talks was on Venezuela, with Trump making it clear that the “United States stands with the people of Venezuela,” which of course means regime change.

Russia obviously would’ve been aware of that position already, since we’re just days out from a failed US-backed coup in Venezuela. It’s not clear what specifics would have been focused on, but some US officials were blaming Russia for the coup’s failure, which may have been a topic of discussion.

Russia has been backing the Maduro government in Venezuela, while the US has long sought regime change, and since January has recognized the nation’s opposition leader as the rightful president.

Authored by The Saker,

The Empire has suffered painful defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq, but one has to admit that these are “tough” countries to crack. The Empire also appears to have lost control of Libya, but that is another complex country which is very hard to control. We also saw all the pathetic huffing and puffing with the DPRK. But, let’s be honest, the USA never stood a chance to bully the DPRK into submission, nevermind invading or regime-changing it. Syria was much weaker, but here Russia, Iran and Hezbollah did a world class job of repelling all the AngloZionist attacks, political and military. Besides, I for one will never blame Trump for not listening to Bolton and not triggering WWIII over Syria (yet?)

But Venezuela?!

The agreement to print money for Venezuela was not brokered directly between Venezuela and Brazil's respective mints, but rather subcontracted via an unnamed multinational company.

The Brazilian state-owned mint, the Casa da Moeda do Brasil, has recently stopped printing Venezuelan bolivar banknotes, the national currency of the neighboring country, the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reports.

The newspaper notes that the money-printing contract was signed in 2018 and expired in March this year, with Brazil’s mint revealing that the agreement was not made directly with Caracas but rather via a subcontract by an undisclosed "multinational company".

This support for the ongoing coup attempt in Venezuela should stun no one. This comes as Guaido keeps calling for a military coup against the government of President Nicolas Maduro that so far has gone nowhere. The US Vice President's statement of support for the coup plot has also been echoed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton - who else?

It seems the regime-change cult was well prepared for this worsening crisis in its backyard. One day before Guaido's ceremony, on January 22, Vice President Mike Pence used a video address to directly urge Venezuelans to go to the streets to show support for the self-proclaimed president: “We stand with you, and we will stay with you until democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad,” Pence said in his speech.

Both Pence and Pompeo say the US supports the Venezuelan people. In reality, however, they refuse to acknowledge that Maduro was elected by the Venezuelan people.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro told his military on Thursday that the “time has come to fight” against the U.S.-backed opposition, days after opposition leader Juan Guaidó announced the desertion of various military personnel from the regime.

Addressing soldiers at the National Armed Forces Military Academy in Fort Tiuna, the socialist dictator insisted he retains the widespread support of his armed forces, despite the partial military uprising against him.

“Soldiers of the country, the time has come to fight and set the example before the world by defeating attempted coup plotters who sell themselves to Washington dollars,” he declared. “To say that in Venezuela there is a loyal and cohesive armed force like never before.” Maduro continued:

This comes amid the ongoing political standoff in Venezuela, which escalated earlier this week when the country’s opposition leader Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself president earlier this year, unsuccessfully tried to initiate a coup to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The Trump administration wants to find a way to financially support Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido with an “influx of cash”, CNN cited unnamed White House sources as saying.

“They are trying to figure out how do you help the interim government be able to provide paychecks, that kind of stuff, so that there is an ability to say, ‘hey we are a functioning government’. That would include payments to various people, including those in the military,” one source said.

Iran has condemned the recent attempts by the United States to stage a coup against the legitimate government of President Nicolas Maduro, who has been under pressure from US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido to step down.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi warned Washington against any type of meddling in Venezuela, after Caracas announced that it had foiled an attempt by a number of military defectors to overthrow Maduro.

"The Islamic Republic condemns US attempts to stage a coup or any other type of military action in Venezuela," Mousavi said on Thursday night.

The remarks came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and National Security Adviser John Bolton expressed full support for the opposition and announced that the US military was ready to join their anti-Maduro push.

The Empire has suffered painful defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq, but one has to admit that these are “tough” countries to crack. The Empire also appears to have lost control of Libya, but that is another complex country which is very hard to control. We also saw all the pathetic huffing and puffing with the DPRK. But, let’s be honest, the USA never stood a chance to bully the DPRK into submission, nevermind invading or regime-changing it. Syria was much weaker, but here Russia, Iran and Hezbollah did a world class job of repelling all the AngloZionist attacks, political and military. Besides, I for one will never blame Trump for not listening to Bolton and not triggering WWIII over Syria (yet?)

But Venezuela?!

Earlier, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said that Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez had not applied for asylum. Lopez took refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas after fleeing house arrest.

The Supreme Court of Venezuela has issued an arrest warrant for opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, according to a statement released by the court on Twitter.

In the effort to topple Nicolás Maduro, Colombia’s ambassador to the United States once told me, the military men propping up Venezuela’s authoritarian president are like chess pieces.

If they defect from the regime, “you lose that chess piece,” Francisco Santos explained. “They work better from the inside.”

As Tuesday, April 30, began, the United States and its allies thought they finally had checkmate, after months of building up the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president and recruiting more than 50 nations to their cause.

By the end of the day, the board had been flipped upside down, pieces were scattered everywhere, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on CNN blaming the kingmakers, Russia and Cuba, for sabotaging the game.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview said top Venezuelan officials have not been as clear about abandoning President Nicolas Maduro as Trump administration officials had alleged just 24 hours ago.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Tuesday claimed that Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino, Presidential Guard Commander Rafael Hernandez Dala and Supreme Court Chief Judge Maikel Moreno had pledged to support the opposition's attempted coup.

"They made that very clear to other members of the opposition. And today they haven’t indicated that as clearly," Pompeo told NBC News on Wednesday.

If there was a clickbait headline competition, Fox News has just produced one that could easily win it. The network said one of its guests believes Russia has nuclear missiles in Venezuela, and presumably no one but him noticed.

To be clear, there are no Russian nukes in Venezuela, as far as any open evidence or official statements go. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, whose appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday sparked the flashy headline, doesn’t appear to believe there are any either. But that doesn’t stop a really determined traffic-hungry editor from insinuating the opposite.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley slammed Rep. Ilhan Omar after the Minnesota Democrat blamed the current humanitarian crisis in Venezuela on America.

Omar claimed “policies that we [America] have put in place” are to blame for the crisis, adding that “bullying” Nicolas Maduro, the brutal Venezuelan dictator, “does not help.”

“A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela,” Omar alleged. “And we’ve sort of set the stage for where we’re arriving today.”

“This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela, and it certainly does not help and is not in the interest of the United States,” she added.