The US Drive for Hegemony Over Venezuela
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Republicans and undemocratic Dems are united for flagrantly unlawful regime change in Venezuela - ignoring the UN Charter, other international law, and the US Constitution.
There's no ambiguity about the rule of law. UN Charter Article 2 states "(a)ll Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state..."
Except in self-defense if attacked, clearly not the issue in Venezuela, no nation may legally interfere in the internal affairs of others - what the US does repeatedly by naked aggression, color revolutions, and old-fashioned coup d'etats, what's in play against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
International laws, treaties, conventions, and agreements are automatically US law under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2).
Republicans and Dems operate by their own rules alone. On Venezuela, their preferred regime change tactics alone differed so far, their objective the same.
Trump hardliners appear willing to stop at nothing to achieve their aims, Dems supporting the coup, perhaps by military intervention if other tactics in play fail.
Events ahead will determine Venezuela's future. At stake is protecting and preserving Bolivarian social democracy or its destruction by US rage to control the country and its vast oil reserves, the world's largest, the main reason for what's going on.
Key for democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro is maintaining military support. Losing it would mean game over, the US gaining another imperial trophy, a repeat of what's gone on since the 19th century in most hemispheric countries and many others worldwide.
Washington aims to control all countries, their resources and populations, its back yard considered planet earth, not just Latin and Central America, how both extremist wings of its war party operate.
Trump regime hardliners and their designated puppet Juan Guaido are pressuring Venezuela's military commanders to support the US attempted coup, Guaido saying:
"We have been in talks with government officials, civilian and military men...This is a very delicate subject involving personal security. We are meeting with them, but discreetly."
Separately via Twitter he said "(o)n Wednesday, a mass public demonstration will be held, and I call on the people of Venezuela to take to the streets" - more rallies to follow, key for Maduro is mobilizing larger ones, supporting his legitimacy as president and Bolivarianism.
During Saturday's Security Council session, Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia denounced the Trump regime's coup attempt, demanding an answer from Pompeo he didn't get, saying:
Senior US officials "have been dropping clear hints about the use of force (against Venezuela), speculating about 'options on the table.' "
"Taking advantage of Mr. Pompeo's presence, we want to ask directly whether it means that the United States is ready to use military force against a sovereign state under a bogus pretext."
"It is here in this hall we need to hear a definite answer: if Washington intends once again to violate the UN Charter?"
That's precisely what's going on by failing to recognize Maduro's legitimacy, illegally designating Guaido as interim puppet president.
The Trump regime's military option is ominously on the table. Senator Lindsey Graham said the following about a conversation he had with Trump in mid-January:
"(Trump) said '(w)hat do you think about using military force?' I said...you need to go slow on that. That could be problematic. (H)e said...I'm surprised. You want to invade everybody.' "
"And I said, 'I don't want to invade everybody. I only want to use the military when our national security interests are threatened.' "
Separately, Graham stressed that DLT is "really hawkish" on Venezuela. So far, events are playing out short of a military option.
Clearly Trump regime hardliners, and their new point man for regime change in Venezuela, convicted neocon Iran/Contra co-conspirator, death squad supporter Elliot Abrams, aim to get the country's military commanders on board against Maduro, an objective not achieved so far.
Pushing for this will surely continue, using time-tested tactics, including bribes, pressure and threats - what hasn't worked in Venezuela for the past 20 years. It's unknown if they'll succeed in the coming days, weeks or longer.
Much rides on how things play out ahead. Washington's military option is always on the table, notably when publicly declared like now, the scenario by brute force having played out many times before.
Trump's hawkish geopolitical team threatens all sovereign independent countries. DLT is in trouble at home. With Dems controlling the House, his domestic agenda is stymied.
The vast majority of Republicans and Dems, along with the US major media, support regime change in Venezuela, including by what's unfolding - an old-fashioned coup d'etat attempt, a longstanding US specialty.
Small numbers of Dems alone oppose Trump's recognition of Guaido as interim (puppet) president, including Rep. Tulsi Gabbard saying:
"The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don't want other countries to choose our leaders - so we have to stop trying to choose theirs."
She and a few other Dems are voices in the wilderness, a US coup attempt overwhelmingly supported in Washington.
America's most popular con man Bernie Sanders has been saying one thing and doing another for over 30 years in public office, proving he's a self-serving dirty politician like virtually all others in Washington.
His revolutionary, man-of-the-people rhetoric is empty, his soul for sale at the right price, voting nearly always with other undemocratic Dems, supporting what he rhetorically opposes.
Earlier he called democratically elected and reelected Hugo Chavez a "dictator." He opposes democratically elected and reelected Maduro.
Last week he falsely accused him of "waging a violent crackdown on Venezuelan civil society, violat(ing) the constitution by dissolving the National Assembly, and was re-elected last year in an election that many observers said was fraudulent."
All of the above are shameful Big Lies. Sanders rhetorically stopped short of supporting Trump's coup attempt. Given his hostility toward democratically elected Venezuelan leaders, he'll like endorse Guaido if Maduro is toppled, violently or otherwise.
For the past 20 years, US regimes since the Clinton co-presidency sought to replace Bolivarian social democracy with US-controlled fascist tyranny.
What's going on now represents the most serious threat to its survival. A separate article stressed the importance of organized people resistance against what's going on.
It's the most effective way, likely the only way, to preserve and protect Venezuelan social democracy - as long as the country's military commanders remain on board.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Photo: By Cancillería del Ecuador - http://bit.ly/2Wlr0wp, CC BY-SA 2.0, http://bit.ly/2RlTa6P
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