Attempted Coup And Misguided U.S. Sanctions in Venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

Attempted Coup And Misguided U.S. Sanctions in Venezuela
March 12, 2015 · by COHA ·

On February 11, 2015, the government of President Nicolas Maduro, along with a number of his senior officials, declared that Venezuela had faced an attempted coup. Contrarily, the mainstream media in the United States and in Europe viewed such allegations as ridiculous, opposing the arrest of alleged conspirators, calling these arrests human rights violations. However, the history of coups and attempted coups in Latin America since 2002 proves paramount, and there is significant evidence to support their reality.1 Recent diplomatic moves carried out by United States President Obama impose sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials and qualify the country as a “national security threat,” calling attention to a growing isolation of the United States within the hemisphere.2 With the exception of Canada, every other government in the region has condemned U.S. interference in Venezuela through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas, UNASUR).3

History of coups in Latin America

According to Maurice Lemoine with Le Monde Diplo, as a member of the counter-hegemonic organization the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América, or ALBA), Honduras has been a laboratory for such “constitutional coups”.4 This type of coup is typically tolerated by the international community and leads to the “forced resignation” of elected and legitimate authorities by eliciting the support of the private media, the military, and the corporate sector.5

Former president of Honduras Zelaya wanted to hold a non-binding consultation to convene a national constituent assembly, and pressure his political opponents into redrafting the Constitution.6 However, the political opposition to President Zelaya, consisting mostly of conservatives, claimed that the president was looking to secure his re-election, and also violating the Constitution in doing so. Thus, the opposition staged a coup against Zelaya to protect their economic and political security.

This coup enjoyed support from the Honduran Supreme Court, which had ordered to place President Zelaya under military arrest and exile him to Costa Rica, considering his decision to held a referendum un-constitutional. Romeo Vasquez, a Honduran general, subsequently took power, and immediately transferred it to the president of the country’s Congress, Roberto Micheletti. Vaquez’s actions attempted to mask the military’s participation in the coup by placing it under civilian control causing it to appear “constitutional.”7 In the meantime, the Honduran Supreme Court stated that President Zelaya was “abusing his authority” and committing “treason against the fatherland” because he could not constitutionally hold a referendum.8 However, the President maintained that he was merely trying to seek non-binding consultation and not a referendum, insinuating the hypocrisy of the Supreme Court.

More:
http://www.coha.org/attempted-coup-and-misguided-u-s-sanctions-in-venezuela/

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Amazing how we see these Governmental changes taking place,

and our organs of Propaganda spew the fallacy of internal strife. When in reality,it is our own Government that is creating the change form the outside,by using sanctions or trade restrictions or any means possible to effect the change. The truth be known,it has more to do with stealing that Countries Mineral Wealth or a take over of it's Banking System by one our Wall Street thieves. Some days it is hard to support our President when these things go down. And then one has to come to the realization that our Multinational Corporations call the shots and that plans to take down a Foreign Government are years in the planning and any one who challenges these ideals is banished to no mans land of Politics. Harry Truman was so right on when he wanted to dismantle CIA and other secret U.S. government groups,predicting turmoil around the Globe in future decades.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. there are no trade restrictions on Venezuela. The US is Venezuela's largest

trading partner.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Yes,you are right about the Trade.

And the Trade is mostly Oil and Rare Earth Minerals. Our Sanctions are on the dollars that flow back as the result of this trade. Notice how our state department was working to help some Military Flunky do our bidding. There is no secret in Washington that the Monied Elite wanted Chavez out,how dare he give land to the poor or better their life styles,and in that,out little Monkey's went about destabilizing Venezuela's Leadership. BTW,home heating Oil for the needy in New England,that really pissed off the East Coast Oil Dealers,how dare some Commie from Venezuela give our poor anything.

[Bacchus4.0]

4. The US is the largest partner in both exports and imports. Ven exports is mostly oil.

On the other hand, Ven imports a variety of products from the US. Food and related supplies is particularly important. The US and Colombia are the largest suppliers of food to Venezuela, while being the two countries also consistently blamed by Ven for all their problems. If either of those countries wanted to actually hurt Venezuela, they could cut off the food supply.

Ven is no longer giving away oil or heavily subsidizing oil to many of their neighbors as they need the money from their resources for themselves. The US production of oil recently has markedly reduced costs here in the US and everywhere greatly benefitting the US consumer particularly those of modest means. The Ven government does not like this and wants prices to rise.

Venezuela is nearly a failed state due to the policies of the chavista government, not the US.

[hack89]

5. The sanctions are on a handful of government officials

they do not impact the flow of dollars back to Venezuela- that debacle is entirely due to government policies.