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Treasury Sanctions the President of Venezuela

August 1, 2017

Treasury Sanctions the President of Venezuela, U.S. Department of the Treasury via Global Security.org, July 31, 2017

As a result of today’s actions, all assets of Nicolas Maduro subject to U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from dealing with him.

“Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people. By sanctioning Maduro, the United States makes clear our opposition to the policies of his regime and our support for the people of Venezuela who seek to return their country to a full and prosperous democracy,” said Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. “Anyone who participates in this illegitimate ANC could be exposed to future U.S. sanctions for their role in undermining democratic processes and institutions in Venezuela.”

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Washington — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13692, which authorizes sanctions against current or former officials of the Government of Venezuela and others undermining democracy in Venezuela. These sanctions come a day after the Maduro government held elections for a National Constituent Assembly (Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, or ANC) that aspires illegitimately to usurp the constitutional role of the democratically elected National Assembly, rewrite the constitution, and impose an authoritarian regime on the people of Venezuela. As such, it represents a rupture in Venezuela’s constitutional and democratic order. The Maduro administration has proceeded with the ANC even though Venezuelans and democratic governments worldwide have overwhelmingly opposed it as a fundamental assault on the freedoms of the Venezuelan people. The creation of the ANC follows years of Maduro’s efforts to undermine Venezuela’s democracy and the rule of law.

As a result of today’s actions, all assets of Nicolas Maduro subject to U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from dealing with him.

“Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people. By sanctioning Maduro, the United States makes clear our opposition to the policies of his regime and our support for the people of Venezuela who seek to return their country to a full and prosperous democracy,” said Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. “Anyone who participates in this illegitimate ANC could be exposed to future U.S. sanctions for their role in undermining democratic processes and institutions in Venezuela.”

Nicolas Maduro was elected President of Venezuela on April 14, 2013, following the death of former President Hugo Chavez. Maduro held previous roles in the Venezuelan government, including as Executive Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Under Maduro, the Venezuelan government has deliberately and repeatedly abused the rights of citizens through the use of violence, repression, and criminalization of demonstrations. At his direction, the regime’s security forces have systematically repressed and criminalized opposition parties through arbitrary detention, military prosecution of civilians, and the excessive use of force against demonstrators. Any member of the opposition or critic of the regime risks being detained, imprisoned, assaulted, tortured, and assassinated.

In addition to committing widespread human rights abuses, Maduro’s regime has mismanaged the economy and engaged in systemic corruption. Despite having among the world’s largest oil reserves, tens of millions of Venezuelans are going hungry because the Government refuses to import sufficient food for the Venezuelan people, engages in rampant corruption around currency and the exchange rate regime, and rejects offers of humanitarian aid.

Treasury undertook the action, in consultation with the State Department, pursuant to Executive Order 13692. The U.S. government and democratic governments worldwide continue to call on the Venezuelan government to halt the ANC process and allow Venezuela’s democratic processes and institutions to function as intended. We urge those who were elected to the Constituent Assembly to decline to take office.

Categories: Maduro, U.S. Treasury Dept., Venezelan National Constituent Assembly, Venezuela - sanctions, Venezuelan dictatorship
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Venezuela Is Now Either Cuba Or North Korea

July 31, 2017

Venezuela Is Now Either Cuba Or North Korea, Hot Air, Jazz Shaw, July 31, 2017

Sometimes I really hate it when I’m right. The “vote” in Venezuela yesterday went largely as expected, with the government of tyrant Nicolas Maduro claiming that upwards of eight million people voted to essentially wipe out the elected legislature and replace it with some window dressing which essentially makes him dictator of the country. This is a condition which could last for his entire life unless his people manage to find a way to oust him from office.

The vote was, of course, largely a sham. And as NBC News was reporting throughout the day, many of the polling places were frequently empty as Maduro’s many opponents boycotted the bogus proceedings.

Many polling stations were largely empty and more than 70 percent of the country was opposed to the vote in the first place, according to opinion surveys. Critics called it a naked power grab by President Nicolas Maduro.

As protesters clashed with police across the increasingly volatile country, only about 9 percent of eligible voters went to the polls, Delsa Solórzano, a prominent leader of the opposition party Un Nuevo Tiempo, said at a news conference Sunday night.

The country’s election authorities, meanwhile, put the number of voters at 8.1 million, equaling a 41.5 percent turnout.

Noticing something of a disparity there? Nearly three quarters of the country was opposed to and sitting out the vote according to recent polls. Election monitors put the turnout at 9% (which actually might be on the low side) and yet Maduro’s “election officials” said it was over 40%. Even if that was a valid figure, that’s still pretty low for something this historic in terms of completely reshaping the country’s government structure.

CNN describes just how much power Maduro has now and also grimly notes that the body count went up as even more protesters – including two teenagers – were slaughtered by his militias.

The election will allow Maduro to replace Venezuela’s current legislative body — the National Assembly — with the new assembly, which would be made up 545 members, all nominated by his administration.

Deadly clashes between protesters and police marred Sunday’s vote, which followed weeks of violent street protests in which many people have been killed or injured. On Sunday the death toll rose sharply with at least six people — including two teenagers — killed at protests and a National Guard officer also reported dead by the attorney general’s office.

More than 8,089,000 people or about 41.53% of registered Venezuelan voters cast ballots Sunday, according to Venezuela’s National Electoral Council.

Now the rest of the world has to decide what, if anything, to do about it. As far as the United States goes, our U.N. Ambassador, Nikki Haley immediately declared the vote to be “a sham” and said that the United States “would not accept the results.” Our State Department put out a statement condemning the results as well and promising a “strong and swift response”, though in somewhat gentler terms. But what does that mean? More sanctions? I’m not sure Maduro particularly cares at this point.

Unless there’s a drastic (and probably violent) change in course, the stage seems to be set. Maduro has completed his takeover and will now be able to rule essentially as a dictator. He’ll probably gather the support of a few other authoritarian regimes, but even that will be limited until he can get his oil production back up. (Assuming he can manage it.) For now, Venezuela will likely become a hermit kingdom, much in the style of either Fidel Castro’s Cuba during the early years or North Korea’s present regime. And the real losers in all of this will be the Venezuelan people. They are currently starving while living on some of the richest farmland on the continent and their government is almost bankrupt while sitting atop some of the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world. These are the fruits of socialism. Watch closely if you are cheering for similar policies in the United States.

Categories: Maduro, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly
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To sanction [Venezuela], or not

July 25, 2017

To sanction, or not, Venezuela News and Views, Daniel Duquenal, July 24, 2017

So the talk is on sanctions again since the US/Trump have announced that they are considering strong sanctions if Maduro insists on electing a constitutional assembly next Sunday.

What I am dismayed for is to read that some people that should know better do not want sanctions. One example is Moises Naím who is usually so right on things but who is not quite this time around (1). The argument advanced by those who oppose sanctions are that 1) they do not work 2) they hurt the population more than the regime and 3) they can boost the regime if this one can wrap itself in the flag of nationalism.

Yes and no, and the more so in the case of Venezuela.  Let’s try to clarify ideas as I did for the electoral fraud of next Sunday.

We cannot judge Venezuelan situation on the basis of other examples because the conditions are unique. Venezuela is actually a war torn economy upon which not a single bomb has fallen. As such the population is already going through lack of food, lack of medicine, lack of basic services, and all getting worse by the day. Any of those refusing sanctions should explain to us how things can get much worse. Yes, they can, we can get outright killed but that could also happen without sanctions.

Would sanctions work? It depends on two things, which type of sanction and the will to enforce them. I agree with Naim on this part: for Trump to stop Venezuelan oil imports would not do much and if anything gain sympathy for the regime. But there are other options with oil. The one I would like is to forbid the sale of gasoline and gasoline components to Venezuela. The shortages of gas would certainly affect us a lot, but would also affect the regime a lot.  It would be difficult for the regime to replace its US purchases because they would need to sell oil to the US, get paid and only then buy cash in hand from other countries since the regime has no more credit. Buying gas and condiments to the US can be a much easier swap, faster to obtain for a country who lacks of everything but gas. You know where our priorities are…….

But I digress. My point is that there are different type of sanctions, some that may actually be more effective than stopping oil purchases. It could be even as simple as a 2 dollar tax per barrel on Venezuelan import to finance shale oil exploration. Venezuela financing the competition that would put it out of the market. No embargo, we can still sell oil to the US…..

But would those sanctions be used effectively by the regime? At first maybe. But a little bit only. The regime has spent so much time attacking the evil empire in the North and yet nobody associates the current crisis with the United States. Well, outside of the yellow dog chavistas.  What worked for the Castros will not work as easily for chavismo. Too many inside chavismo are aware that the crisis comes from the corruption and incompetence and the “I do not give a shit” attitude of the camarilla around Maduro and the army.  On this I am not as sanguine as Moises Naim.  The regime has wrapped itself too much around the flag for 18 years. The poor thing is just worn out.

Finally the “it does not work” argument. Well, it did work for South Africa. The salt boycott of India is a strategy that a determined people can use though in Venezuela people hate sacrifices of any type: pais de antojados.  It failed in Cuba because the US made it unilateral without managing to get real allies first, a mistake it did not do with Iran or Russia.

I suppose that what I am trying to say is that sanctions would more likely fail because of the nature of the Venezuelan people than the sanctions themselves. We do not want to suffer even though we self inflicted our current suffering.  But it is “ours” so at some level people do not mind as much as they should.  I know, there is no logic but that is the way people are here. My house keeper speaks volumes against Maduro and food shortages. And yet she has to go to her first protest march. She has no time. She is afraid of tear gas. She does not fit in. She whatever excuse, but I have heard her swear at Maduro when she comes back from a food line empty handed. Go figure.

So what to do?  Sanctions we must receive. But they should be bold and harsh against anyone in the regime, the type of sanctions that will make it impossible for them to leave Venezuela or enjoy the loot outside of Venezuela.  Also Venezuela should be excluded from as many organizations as possible under the excuse of pariah state. These humiliations will pay off. Mercosur is already on its way to boot Venezuela out.

Unfortunately there will be a need for sanctions that piss off el pueblo, who will be hurt anyway by the sanctions against the regime personnel who will try to compensate their overseas losses by further looting inside.  In Cuba the people never had a choice as to whether support Castro against the US and the embargo. In Venezuela we still can do it and should be told so.

So, messers Trump and Rubio, bring sanctions out. Just do not start with oil embargo.

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1) While I was looking for the reference for the Naim article I fell upon this pretty despicable piece of anti Semitic garbage. The web page Entorno Inteligente that once upon a time was worth checking up has become a haven of the worst kind of chavismo. That entry shows you how far on the deep end chavismo has gone.

Categories: Venezelan National Constituent Assembly, Venezuela - sanctions, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan economy
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Venezuela’s Maduro: All Judges Named by Parliament to Be Arrested

July 24, 2017

Venezuela’s Maduro: All Judges Named by Parliament to Be Arrested, Latin American Herald Tribune, July 24, 2017

CARACAS – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday that he considers the 33 judges named last week by the opposition-controlled Parliament to replace the current government-supporting justices of the Supreme Court to be “illegitimate,” adding that they will be arrested “one by one” and that their assets and bank accounts will be frozen.

“These people whom they named, (are) usurpers. They will all be arrested, one by one, one after another. They will all be made prisoners and the assets of all of them will be frozen, their bank accounts and everything, and nobody is going to defend them,” said Maduro on his weekly public television program.

One of those judges, Angel Zerpa, was arrested on Saturday by agents of Venezuela’s Sebin intelligence agency in an operation called “state terrorism” by Parliament, which has accused the high court justices of being the Maduro government’s judicial arm.

“Now they’re committing the enormous error of creating a parallel state, which is a wicked, stupid, childish thing,” said Maduro, alluding to the judicial nominations made by Parliament.

The Venezuelan opposition on Friday approved the new magistrates a few weeks after Attorney General Luisa Ortega unsuccessfully challenged the naming of the 33 justices who currently occupy the high court for alleged irregularities in their selection.

The current justices were designated in 2015 by the then-government-supporting Parliament in a process lasting just a few days right after the opposition’s legislative election victory but before the new majority took over the legislature.

By attempting to replace those magistrates, opposition lawmakers say they are seeking to reestablish “constitutionality” in Venezuela, which has been compromised – according to government detractors – by several Supreme Court rulings punishing Parliament after declaring it to be in “contempt.”

Categories: Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan Parliament, Venezuelan Supreme Court
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The [Venezuelan] constituent assembly electoral fraud

July 23, 2017

The constituent assembly electoral fraud, Venezuela News and Views, Daniel Duquenal, July 22, 2017

The opposition has no choice. Not only it cannot validate such an election by participating in it, but it is obliged by principles, ethics, human rights and simple decency to oppose it in any way it can. Even if this implies violence at the end of the road.

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After finishing a series of posts to explain how we have reached the current situation I thought that it may be good to have targeted entries as we get ready for July 30.  Let’s start with the constitutional assembly to be elected on July 30th, if the regime has its way.

Regardless of the legality and scope of that assembly the very electoral system to be used makes it totally unacceptable and forces the opposition to a confrontation. Here is an incomplete laundry list of all that is wrong with the constitutional assembly voting system:

A: the electoral body

*Not all votes are equal. If you vote in Baruta district (235.000 electors) you need at least thirteen of you to compensate for a single vote from, say, Buroz district (17.000 electors).   That is right, one vote of a Buroz denizen is equal to 13 votes of a Baruta denizen and they are both in the SAME state. No need even for an inter state comparison. Why? Because the election to the assembly is one representative per district, regardless of population.

*Not even all districts are equal! All capital districts have for some unexplained reason the right to elect two representatives. Considering that capital districts voted overwhelmingly for the opposition in 2001 it is one way to limit the possible voting impact. In effect to win the two seats you need to double the votes of the other party. So the opposition, if it participated in the vote, would see that advantage neutralized in part.  But that is not all, the capital city is not necessarily the biggest district of the state.  For example in Trujillo the capital has 43.000 electors for two seats and the main city Valera 104.000 electors for a single seat.

*Some people get to vote twice.  The election includes the election of people by specified constituencies based on their social composition. For example registered students get to vote for their additional representatives. Or retirees for theirs.  Which means that if you are not assigned to one of these lists then you get to vote only once and everybody else twice. Amen of the inequalities within these social groups that are impossible to measure exactly considering the paucity of information in the electoral board, CNE, web page.

*The regime is the one who decides who goes where in the sectoral vote. The regime requested lists from organizations to build up the sectorial lists of electors; but as a matter of fact the only organizations that the regime recognized are those already controlled by the regime. As such many students do not get to vote, many trade union activists do not get to vote, many electors from consejos comunales do not get to vote. In the case of the consejos the regime never recognized many of them because their elected council did not yield a result that pleased the regime.

It has been calculated that even if the opposition decided to participate in the election the regime would get a majority of seats with as little as 30% of the vote. Between the sectoral lists and the districts that are tightly controlled by the regime through dependency of el pueblo for basic food, 60% of the vote would not be enough for the opposition to get a majority.

But the problem to begin with is that even if the opposition would have wanted to participate it couldn’t have done so with fainess.

B: the electoral fraud

*What already existed for material fraud is still valid.  By this I refer to the material advantage of the regime. The CNE has allowed in all elections the regime to use freely the resources of the state for the electoral campaigns of the regime’s candidates.  To man the meetings state vehicles are freely used, state/taxpayer is freely used, goodies are distributed, etc…

*What already existed for media fraud is still valid, and then some more. In past campaigns the opposition had an extremely limited access to state media and a limited access to the remaining private media. In addition the regime abused of its cadena privilege which means that it did hours and hours of simultaneous broadcast on all TV and radio stations in favor of the regime. This time around there are more cadenas and less newspapers than before.  In short, outside of social media the opposition cannot raise its voice much, if at all.  More damningly the regime can freely insult and lie about the opposition and this one cannot reply, cannot debate.  If you are not on internet, or on cable TV with foreign channels, in most of the country you hear only the regime voice.

*Electoral system proofing has not been done. Normally there are a series of steps the CNE takes to prove that the election is fair. These include surveys of electoral machines, public testings, auditing of electoral rolls, etc. None of these has been done even if the CNE claims it did. No witness for these.  No published days when these tests were done.

*The secret of the vote is compromised.  The regime has been going full drive into promoting the “carnet de la patria” as the valid document to control the chavista masses (or exchavista but still in need of social programs). Thus the perception exists that those with the carnet de la patria will have their vote monitored, or at the very least would be found out if they decided to abstain.

*Electoral blackmail is the norm. More than ever el pueblo is threatened with reprisals if the regime does not win the election. And the reprisals will go against those who do not show upo to vote. The blackmail and scare tactics are full throttle and the opposition cannot combat them.

*Multiple vote by regime adherents is a given. The regime has decided to do without the inking of the fingers of those who vote, one of the lone ways to ensure that nobody can vote twice.  But that is not all, Now, under the excuse of violence the regime has decided to create special voting centers outside of “violence zone”. That is, if you support the regime and do not feel free to vote for it at you normal voting stations you can go to one of those special centers. The thing here is that these centres are set on the run and the controls are not explained. This reeks of major ballot stuffing.

*No electoral control.  Since the opposition will not participate then there will be no witnesses inside the polling stations. Note that to send witnesses you need to run in the election. It is difficult for people to just enter to observe the voting day and the counting. And if they were allowed to enter their opinions and input would be nil and they could be chased out.

*Not even visual control. The regime has decided that the “protection” area for the voting center will go from 100 yards to 500. In other words the press will not be able to film close enough to figure out whether there will be people voting and in what numbers. Thus it will be easier to pad results as participating estimations will be very difficult to do.

*There is no set voting hours. The regime has played loose and fast with voting schedules even if the voting stations are empty. The reason is that because of the fingerprinting identification the regime can now in real time who came to vote. The establishment of the carnet de la patria was also a way to renew the registration of all the people who depend from some form of social benefit, even if these benefits are not reaching them anymore.  As such the regime knows the adresses of those who have not showed up to vote by noon and thus has plenty of time to seek them and force them to come and vote. If voting hours need to extended so be it.  Needless to say that those dragged from home to vote will be easily scared into voting for the regime.

Conclusion.

It is clear, perfectly clear that the voting system is absolutely unfair, totally biased to favor the regime. Even with its best effort the opposition cannot win this election. It could still win a referendum or a normal election since at least it would have witnesses in the voting centers and the representation would be proportionate to the actual population. But this time around all has been designed for the regime to win the election even if it is trashed at the level of the popular vote.

The opposition has no choice. Not only it cannot validate such an election by participating in it, but it is obliged by principles, ethics, human rights and simple decency to oppose it in any way it can. Even if this implies violence at the end of the road.

Categories: Venezuelan constitution, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly, Venezuelan revolution
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World Leaders Must Recognize Results of Venezuelan Popular Consultation and Actively Support the Country’s Opposition

July 18, 2017

World Leaders Must Recognize Results of Venezuelan Popular Consultation and Actively Support the Country’s Opposition, Center for Security Policy, Luis Fleischman, July 17, 2017

(Please see also, Trump Warns Venezuela: ‘US Will Take Strong & Swift Economic Actions’ — DM)

Latin American leaders and President Trump must make a courageous decision now. The world will hopefully follow.

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The Venezuelan opposition scored a major victory on Sunday July 16th, as millions of Venezuelans rejected the regime of Nicolas Maduro in a popular referendum.

This referendum, also called a “popular consultation” in legal terms, was organized by the Venezuelan opposition, approved by the legislative power (which is in the hands of the opposition), and disapproved by the Electoral National Council or CNE (which is totally being ran as a puppet of the Maduro government).

This public consultation was initiated by the opposition after three months of popular protests against the regime of Nicolas Maduro that left 100 people dead, including a woman killed on the day of the vote by government thugs, also known as “colectivos.”  The idea of the referendum is embedded in Article 71 of the Venezuelan constitution of 1999 approved and supported by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez. According to this constitutional article, “issues of special national importance can be subjected to popular referendum either by initiative of the President, by a vote by the majority of the members of the National Assembly, or by a petition of a minimum of 10% of those who are registered to vote.

Likewise, the referendum finds ground in article 350 of the constitution that allows civil disobedience or non-recognition of a regime or authority whose behavior contradicts the values and principles of the Republic, fails to guarantee democratic governance, or undermines the rights of Venezuelan citizens.

The referendum was also conducted in reaction to Maduro’s call for a new constituent assembly that would reform the current constitution. Maduro’s constitutional reform has been widely interpreted as an attempt to consolidate the de-facto dictatorship he has imposed on the Venezuelan people. In fact, it is an anti-constitutional constitution.

Thus, the referendum sought to reject Maduro’s “constitutional” initiative by asking the question, “Do you reject the constitutional assembly without the previous approval of the people of Venezuela?” The consultation also poses the question, “are the Venezuelan Armed Forces to obey the 1999 Constitution and abide by the decisions of the National Assembly?”

This second question is the result of the fact that throughout the years the Chavez and Maduro regimes have co-opted the armed forces by purging certain officers and promoting others in order to subordinate the armed forces to the political project of the regime. Thus, the Armed Forces have ceased to be subjected to the constitution and the laws of the state and instead they have become tools of the regime’s prerogatives and arbitrary will.

The last question asked of the citizens is if they approve that the renewal of the public powers and the restoration of free elections is to be followed by a government of national unity.

The third question, in fact, asked the people if they are interested in new free elections that could lead to a transition from the current authoritarian rule.

The referendum was not approved by the CNE. Therefore, this body has claimed the result of the consultation is not binding. On the other hand, the opposition claims the results should be binding because the National Assembly has the constitutional authority to convene it.

Regardless of whether the Maduro government recognizes this referendum or not, or whether its results are legally binding or not, in a country where the government itself is illegitimate, the referendum reflects this very illegitimacy.

Interestingly enough, when the CNE decided not to provide its stamp of approval to the referendum, it also remained powerless to conduct any type of fraud. Elections organized and approved by the government have always been suspected of being fraudulent. In fact, in the last parliamentary election, where the opposition  won the majority, Maduro attempted to manipulate the results. However, such move was halted by the Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino, most probably afraid of a popular uprising.

Now after Sunday’s victory, the National Assembly feels it has a mandate to name a new transitional government, new ministers, new electoral authorities, and new Supreme Court justices.  (The “zero hour”)

This “zero hour” also means that the population is encouraged to resist and strike until the Maduro regime collapses.

But the “zero hour” also applies to us, the international community, and to the United States in particular.

This time the overwhelming defeat suffered by the Maduro government reflects the real will of the people and most importantly, their courage to express rejection of the Venezuelan dictatorship. The world must see this and react with the moral integrity that the situation requires. Respect the results of this referendum and support the opposition.

Latin American countries and the entire international community, including the United States, must recognize the results of the popular consultation as legitimate.  Latin American presidents that supported OAS action on Venezuela must be the first ones to do it.

The world needs to proceed to apply sanctions, particularly mega sanctions. President Donald Trump must set the pace. Freeze the assets of CITGO, the American branch of the Venezuelan oil-giant PDVSA, and the main lobbying force in the U.S. on behalf of this dictatorship that is also a narco-state with ties to terrorists. The political and military leadership of Venezuela must be isolated, sanctioned, and their assets must be frozen. Dissidence must be encouraged among those who are part of the government.  There have been already some acts of desertion within Chavista ranks, and this popular consultation may bring more defectors.

Latin American leaders and President Trump must make a courageous decision now. The world will hopefully follow.

Categories: Free world, Trump and Venezuela, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly, Venezuelan revolution
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Trump Warns Venezuela: ‘US Will Take Strong & Swift Economic Actions’

July 18, 2017

Trump Warns Venezuela: ‘US Will Take Strong & Swift Economic Actions’, Latin American Herald Tribune, July 18, 2017

Statement from President Donald J. Trump

Yesterday, the Venezuelan people again made clear that they stand for democracy, freedom, and rule of law. Yet their strong and courageous actions continue to be ignored by a bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator.

The United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles. If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and swift economic actions.

The United States once again calls for free and fair elections and stands with the people of Venezuela in their quest to restore their country to a full and prosperous democracy.

By Heather Nauert
Spokesperson
US Department of State

The United States applauds the courage and determination of Venezuelans who exercised their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in defense of their democracy on July 16. Yesterday’s vote was a massive repudiation of the proposed National Constituent Assembly, which would undermine Venezuela’s democratic institutions. The vote by millions of Venezuelans was an unequivocal affirmation in support of free and fair elections as well as respect for the existing constitution.

Further, we condemn the loss of life in Catia, Caracas and deplore the violence. We call on the Venezuelan government to bring the attackers to justice.

Millions of Venezuelans’ voices must not be ignored. The United States calls on the Government of Venezuela to abandon the proposed National Constituent Assembly. We encourage governments in the hemisphere and around the world to call on President Maduro to suspend this process which only seeks to undermine democracy in Venezuela.

As the President stated earlier today, the United States is prepared to take strong and swift economic actions if the Government of Venezuela proceeds with the National Constituent Assembly action.

Venezuela’s Hydrogen Bomb – 30 June 2017 by Latin American Herald Tribune on Scribd

 

Categories: Trump and Venezuela, Venezelan National Constituent Assembly, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan revolution
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UNHCR: Number of Venezuelans Applying for Asylum in 2017 Has Soared

July 15, 2017

UNHCR: Number of Venezuelans Applying for Asylum in 2017 Has Soared, Latin American Herald Tribune, July 15, 2017

GENEVA – Asylum requests lodged by Venezuelan citizens so far in the first half of 2017 have almost doubled the number recorded during the whole of the previous year, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.

Some 27,000 Venezuelans applied for asylum in countries around the world during 2016, but in just the first six months of 2017, the figure had soared to 52,000, the UNHCR said in a statement, adding the principal destination for fleeing citizens were the United States, which received 18,300 asylum seekers, Brazil (12,960), Argentina (11,735) and Spain (4,300).

“The above figures represent only a fraction of the total number of Venezuelans who may be in need of international protection, as many do not register as asylum seekers, despite the fact that many have indicated that they fled because of violence and insecurity, as well as an inability to meet daily subsistence needs,” the UNHCR warned.

The refugee agency said that although many Venezuelans who have fled their country enjoyed temporary residence in South American countries because of a tradition of solidarity in the continent, bureaucracy and other obstacles to being granted asylum meant many remained in an irregular situation.

The UNHCR was working with authorities in neighboring Colombia, where an estimated 300,000 Venezuelans were estimated to be seeking refuge, as well as in Trinidad and Tobago (40,000) and Brazil (30,000), in order speed up registrations and provide basic humanitarian aid.

The UNHCR said it was concerned by the activities of armed groups and gangs exploiting fleeing Venezuelans.

Indigenous communities displaced along Venezuela’s border with Brazil and Colombia were also at risk of having their human rights breached, the UN body said.

The UNHCR urged all concerned States to protect the rights of Venezuelans and draw up measures to facilitate their asylum applications.

It also called on Venezuelans seeking refuge abroad to register as asylum seekers through the appropriate official channels.

Categories: Asylum seekers, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan economy
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From official terror to article 350 – 5) taking off Ortega before 350

July 5, 2017

From official terror to article 350 – 5) taking off Ortega before 350, Venezuela News and Views, Daniel duquenal, July 4, 2017

Writing this series of articles with long delays in between actually helped me a lot, proving that procrastination pays: the events of today establish beyond doubt that civil rebellion is the lone thing left for the Venezuelan population at large. I say “at large” in all confidence as there are no serious pollsters, even among those who predicted Chavez victories years ago, that give the regime and Maduro much more that 20%.  And this assuming that they can correct for the fear factor in their polling. The evidence is clear: even in a bad day the opposition drags quickly to the streets, in almost any Venezuelan city, more people to protest than the regime as a whole can do just in Caracas for support, after days of preparation.

We are not discussing anymore the regime “rights” to remain in office: that ship sailed long ago even though it is still trying to find the shipping lane between Saint Vincent and Mustique. But that is another story; today not even Salvador and Ecuador are unconditional allies

Before we get into the application of article 350, let me summarize briefly what has happened in the recent days. The whole show has been around the regime trying to eliminate Luisa Ortega, the nation’s general prosecutor, the head of the lone organization allowed to investigate any civilian criminal conduct. Clearly, that she has separated from the regime is unacceptable because, well, the regime has too much to hide, and will have much more to hide as criminal repression progresses.

So, when she became unreliable in April the regime decided, violating once again the 1999 constitution, to send protesting civilians to military courts because they supposedly committed treason. Never mind that even treason has to be tried in civilian courts when civilians commit this, the whole point was to sow terror in protesters, and browbeat Ortega, taking away from her competencies. Let’s note that no matter her role as regime enforcer in the past she would still make a more just prosecutor than any military court in Venezuela….  But let’s not digress.

Since then the escalation was on, from both sides.

Ortega from mild discreet criticism went to address the opposition controlled National Assembly on Monday July 3. Her prudence was good as the opposition could not digest too fast the woman that had offered the rigged evidence for the rigged trial of Leopoldo Lopez. But the opposition, at least the thinking one, realizes that today we cannot be picky about our allies, be it Trump taking a selfie with Leopoldo’s wife, be it Ortega jailing Lilian’s husband. We are all growing up.

The regime cannot make a solid case against Luisa Ortega. After all, trying to make a rational case against her in seeking her removal from office would be akin to a political hara-kiri from nearly two decades of injustice in Venezuela. So in true form the regime decided that she was a liar and possibly mad. For that the regime got its worst piece of garbage, representative Carroña Carreño to present a petition of destitution against Ortega which details are irrelevant for you to know since the result is already known: within hours she will be removed from office even though the constitution does not allow it the way the regime is operating against her.  But who’s counting?

So today we had Ortega refusing to go to her accusation hearing on the grounds that she did not recognize the court as illegitimate and out of constitution, Carroña Carreño outperforming himself and the two sad sacks of the “citizen power” demanding to pass a lie detector. A useless performance since both of them have been liars for so long that I bet their body has ceased to recognize whether they are lying.

I will leave at that. The point is made, the regime will do anything, ANYTHING to retain power.  You have on one side the AC shows in courts like today but you have on the other side the paramilitary colectivos of the regime which have been unleashed finally over the population, even using official transport….

The heat was on today.  There was a programmed “trancazo” from noon to 6 PM.  Since I live in El Cafetal, a nexus of resistance, they did not need me to block the local avenues, nor could I go elsewhere to help. So I made it home back before noon. As I went for a short nap I was frightened by the amount of gun shots coming from the Caracas valley. I heard dozens and dozens, perhaps hundreds, of shots as pellets or tear gas grenades were shot a protesters blocking highways….  I gathered they came mostly from Petare, La Urbina, El Marques and La California.  Repression is not anymore just in Altamira…

Categories: Venezuelan constitution, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan rebellion
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As Venezuela’s people cry out for help, the United States has options

June 30, 2017

As Venezuela’s people cry out for help, the United States has options, Center for Security Policy, Nancy Menges Luis Fleischman, June 29, 2017

Venezuela is imploding as its political institutions are crumbling and its people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition. There is a level of desperation that goes unanswered. The government shoots people without mercy as was recently the case with a young 22 year old man. Leopoldo Lopez, an opposition leader and political prisoner, complained about being tortured in jail. Seventy six people have died at the hands of government forces since protests began. Hunger prevails as a result of shortages, and this issue is affecting thousands of people including children.

The country’s attorney general, a former supporter of Chavez and Maduro, has said that in Venezuela the judiciary receives orders directly from the intelligence service (SEBIN). Likewise, she criticized the process of constitutional reform as an attempt to institutionalize a dictatorship. She has been fired and threatened by the government with punitive action. Indeed, a Constitutional Assembly has been convened for the end of July to carry out this attempt at institutionalizing Venezuela’s dictatorship.

It is again obvious as it has been all along that the dialogue with the Maduro government will never take place. Maduro is determined to hold on to power. If he does, Venezuela is likely to become even more of a criminal state. As oil production diminishes due to mismanagement, it is likely that Venezuela will become even more dependent for income on transnational crime, thus multiplying the problems the region has faced for decades.

Last week the government of Colombia extradited to the U.S. a Venezuelan military officer, Yazensky Lamas, who used planes that belonged to Colombian drug cartels in order to transport huge amounts of cocaine to the United States. Lamas conducted more than 100 flights from Venezuelan soil to Central America and the U.S.

Of course, this arrest is only the tip of the iceberg in a country where politicians and military officers are heavily involved in drug trafficking.

But a most troublesome episode recently took place during the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The central theme of the General Assembly on June 21st and 22nd in Cancun, Mexico, was Venezuela. Hours before the summit began, countries of the region thought they would have the majority of 23 countries needed by law to pass a resolution on Venezuela. The new resolution drafted and led by Mexico already contained a compromise from resolutions previously proposed. It did not mention the demand to release political prisoners. Instead of rejecting Maduro’s authoritarian “constitutional reform’, the resolution merely urges Venezuela to reconsider it. Likewise, the resolution called for the commencement of dialogue between the government and the opposition. This demand is futile and irrelevant as Maduro will never compromise his power nor discuss holding elections.

While the Mexican Foreign Minister was already celebrating, in advance of the passing of the resolution, the Venezuelan delegation began lobbying the other countries of the region. The Venezuelan delegation was the largest one, and it targeted the Caribbean countries, which together owed more than 2 billion dollars to Venezuela. In the end, only six Caribbean countries voted in support of the resolution. Several of them who promised to support the resolution ended up abstaining.

Even though Mexico’s resolution was weak, Venezuela survived. Venezuela applied heavy pressure using the debt owed to them as leverage. To add insult to injury, the Venezuelan foreign minister, Delcy Rodriguez, mockingly said after the vote “you wanted a timetable for elections. You got it. It is July 30.” This assertion was in reference to the constitutional assembly aimed at strengthening Maduro’s oppressive rule.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson decided at the last moment not to participate in the general assembly and instead sent his deputy, John Sullivan. Some of the countries believed that if Tillerson had been there the results would have been different. Obviously, Tillerson was not aware of how much countries of the region look up to the U.S. Yet, not all might be lost. The good news is that even though the OAS resolution did not secure the 23 country majority needed, it reached a majority, nonetheless. As it was mentioned previously, the resolution would have been useless in practice. So, not to be bound by it may be even better.

The fact that the majority of Latin American countries stood against Venezuela gives legitimacy to the United States to carry out unilateral sanctions against that country. The U.S policy of “leading from behind” has been ineffective. A more corpulent strategy is needed. If the United States wants to be effective, it must impose crippling sanctions on Venezuela’s political and military leadership. It should use Interpol to arrest and deport any Venezuelan involved in crimes as happened with Mr. Lamas. It must freeze Venezuelan assets in the U.S. and not allow CITGO to continue its operations in the country.

Whereas an oil embargo could increase government and military-sponsored crime, the U.S. should make clear that the regime will pay a heavy price for their crimes. In addition, the United States must actively implement extradition agreements with countries of the region as it has done with Colombia. Likewise, it must forbid American companies from doing business with Venezuelan institutions associated with the regime. The recent purchase of Venezuelan bonds by Goldman Sachs is an outrage that represents the softness with which the government of the United States has treated Venezuela.

However, the Trump Administration has the power conferred by Congress to apply sanctions as it sees fit. Therefore, it should bring sanctions against high level Venezuelan officials, including travel bans. In addition, it can freeze assets linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his top officials and can forbid business transactions with Venezuela-government related bodies.

Also, the U.S needs to encourage dissidence. The more military officers and others who abandon Maduro, the better. Maybe some incentives need to be offered to those who abandon Maduro.

The region is hungry for real American leadership. The Trump Administration has the legitimacy as well as the moral obligation to do so for the region and for the security of the United States.

Categories: US options on Venezuela, Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan economy
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