Op-ed:
Venezuela...A 'Hostile Act' in the Making?
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio
There's a song by Andrew Lloyd Webber
and Tim Rice about the life of Argentinian leader Eva Perón called
“Don't Cry for Me Argentina”...and today there should be a
new song called “Do Cry for Me Venezuela” for the country
once referred to as the “Venice of the Americas” has
turned into a third world cesspool and done so solely in the name of
socialism.
Socialism...where other people's money
fuels an economy and drives societal norms...that is until you run
out of said other people's money or in the case of Venezuelan
dictator Nikolas Maduro you don't see the handwriting on the
wall...handwriting as in the Venezuelan people have had enough.
Gotten into power in what many
believe was a rigged election, Nikolas Maduro...who followed the
infamous Hugo Chavez into power...started a second term in office on
January 10th of this year in what Venezuelans called a “boycotted
election”...with
many foreign governments refusing to recognize the election
results. In fact, on January 23rd, Maduo's challenger National
Assembly opposition candidate Juan Guaido...whom Maduro describes as
a U.S.-backed puppet...invoked article 233 of the constitution to assume
an interim presidency thus declaring Maduro a usurper. Then he declared
and swore himself in as Venezuela's rightful interim ruler, at which time President Trump publicly recognized Juan
Guaido as Venezuela's duly-elected leader as did other Western
nations, all while Maduro accused Guaido of staging a coup and
ordering his arrest.
But Guaido...whose bank accounts were
immediately frozen...secretly entered into neighboring Columbia
in defiance of both a government travel ban and said orders for his
arrest. And he did so with help from his supporters within
the ranks of Venezuela's armed forces in order to try to bring
humanitarian aid into Venezuela, but sadly, as we all know, his
attempt failed.
And while that first attempt failed,
just this past Tuesday, Juan Guaido announced from Bogota, Columbia
that after his successful meeting with regional leaders and with Vice
President Mike Pence, he will return to Venezuela in the coming days
and resume his political activities in open defiance of a Venezuelan
Supreme Court order. “My role and my duty is to be in Caracas
despite the risks,” this brave man said for Juan Guaido knows well
that he risks being arrested immediately upon his return as long as
Nikolas Muduro remains in power.
But Maduro's days could be
numbered...wishful thinking perhaps...for while some of his own
military have starting to turn on him and defect to neighboring
countries...more on that in a bit...others loyal to Maduro continue
to fire on unarmed civilians who have no way to fight back. And why
is that...because in 2012 dictator-for-life
Hugo Chavez had his “rubber-stamp
legislature”
pass the “Control
of Arms, Munitions and Disarmament Law”...a
law that
stripped Venezuelan citizens of every firearm and round of ammunition
they owned...thus leaving them helpless to defend themselves.
So
while Venezuela's general public foolishly supported said legislation
back then, I wager that now they truly regret that support...support
that translated into nothing but total civilian disarmament...something the Democrats want to do to us here. And we know...or
should know... that a disarmed populace is a dangerous thing
indeed for freedom's basic premise holds that without firearms as a
check against government tyranny all freedoms are lost...something
Venezuelans are now sadly bearing witness to.
And so this once prosperous nation is
now, under Muduro's leadership, in total economic ruin. Simply,
oil-rich Venezuela...an OPEC member...is broke, people are starving,
and even basic supplies and necessities cannot be had anywhere. And
chaos reigns in the streets as the far left of Venezuela's populace
is being fueled on by government lies that it's the U.S...and most
especially President Trump...who is behind all the country's ongoing
economic distress. But nothing could be further from the truth as
it's Nikolas Maduro and his fellow corrupt government cronies who are
the villains here and who are blocking and destroying not only U.S.
humanitarian aid but any and all aid coming into the
country... humanitarian aid government forces are destroying and in
some cases setting fire to instead of it going to Venezuela's
starving people.
And so abject punishment is being
used against starving people who no longer want to support the
government's socialist party line, even while Maduro himself keeps
saying that there is no crisis, there is no food or medicine
shortages. But surely there is for Venezuela remains in a
“hyperinflationary economic meltdown” that has led
to widespread food and medicine shortages throughout the entirety of
the country leaving Venezuela's citizens to wait on “breadlines”
for what little rations there are left to give out.
“Just
days ago,
as the world watched, the tyrant in Caracas danced as his henchmen
burned truckloads of food and medicine, and murdered
civilians”...Saturday was a tragic day for the families of those
who lost their lives...It was also a tragic day for the suffering
people of Venezuela.”
- Vice President Mike Pence speaking in Bogota, Columbia.
And it was that very condemnation
that led directly to last week's violence along Venezuela's frontier
border with Brazil, where in one incident four people where killed by
gunfire and another 24 were injured after “colectivos”...as
in pro-government militias... opened fire on civilians and military
alike. That's in addition to the gunfire near the Simón Bolívar
bridge, where Maduro's forces reportedly also shot off volleys of
tear gas which resulting in dozens of people being treated for tear
gas inhalation as well as for injuries that occurred from the
stampede of those trying to escape. Sporadic gunfire was also being
reported as being heard in other zones near the western border
between the two Latin American countries.
And all this violence has led to at
least two, if not more, Venezuelan national guard soldiers defecting
to Brazil, which is in addition to the 60+ military officials (as I write this) who
have already defected to Colombia after pro-Maduro forces opened fire
at yet still another border crossing near Venezuela's border with Columbia.
So while all this violence directly stems from the many failed
attempts to bring in humanitarian aid from Venezuela's neighboring
countries, it's also a ploy of sorts to test, if you will, the
military’s loyalty to Nikolas Maduro by encouraging his government forces
to disobey the orders to keep the much needed aid out...basically to
end Maduro's cruel means of using starvation as the fastest way to
capitulation.
So while Maduro himself is now saying
that he's cutting off all diplomatic ties with Colombia and that Colombian diplomats will be expelled from Caracas post-haste, his
anger against the U.S. is growing what with Columbia and now Brazil
siding with the U.S. and joining in the call for Maduro and his
socialist government's ouster as well.
And with Maduro now also facing
international pressure to step down after the world was witness to
last week's teargassing and gunning down of civilians as well as
government forces setting fire to and destroying much needed
humanitarian aid, President Trump is rightfully continuing our
support of the people of Venezuela by imposing additions sanctions on
Maduro...specifically sanctions that block oil assets in the U.S.
owned or controlled by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company in order
to cut off Maduro and his cronies from all oil revenue sources,
while at the same to preserving those critical assets for the future
of the Venezuelan people.
And know that President Trump has assured the people of Venezuela that we will continues to provide humanitarian assistance to them and that food and medicine will remain exempt from any sanctions we impose.
So
as Colombia just this past Wednesday, called on the U.N. to
take action to end Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis and bring about
a political transition leading to free elections, some might ask why
all the interest in this one country when other countries are in as a
bad a shape and probably worse.
Do the words the “Monroe
Doctrine” ring a bell...if not let me explain.
The U.S. established diplomatic
relations with Venezuela in 1835, and it would be a huge mistake to
treat the crisis in Venezuela as solely an internal issue with no
“hostile” consequences to the U.S. because “hostile”
consequences to the U.S. are many.
For example, Nikolas Maduro's
government, just like the strong-armed government of his predecessor
Hugo Chavez, is a sponsor of FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Columbia, who are on the FBI terrorist list. This self-proclaimed
Marxist-Leninist organization...Columbia's largest rebel group...not
only continues to try to overthrow the democratic government of
Colombia contrary to their signing a supposed peace deal back in September 2016, but still makes money...lots of
money...from drug trafficking and kidnapping...truly “hostile
acts.”
And while most of us are well aware of the serious drug situation at our southern border, what many of us are not aware of is that two nephews of the first lady of Venezuela were sentenced to 18 years in prison in November 2017 following their convictions in New York on U.S. drug trafficking charges...charges of transporting a very large amount of cocaine into our country...on Maduro's orders perhaps.
And while most of us are well aware of the serious drug situation at our southern border, what many of us are not aware of is that two nephews of the first lady of Venezuela were sentenced to 18 years in prison in November 2017 following their convictions in New York on U.S. drug trafficking charges...charges of transporting a very large amount of cocaine into our country...on Maduro's orders perhaps.
Another example of outright “hostile
acts” towards our country can be seen in the economic policies
of the Maduro government itself, who again like with Chavez's
government, has complete control over Venezuela's key oil industry.
And not only has Muduro seized control of the oil but he has also
seized control of some of the most important adjunct factories in the
country, thus allowing him to institute controlled-price
policies...policies that serve him not us well. And with Venezuela
being the third largest exporter of oil into the U.S. that means that
some American money we pay to Venezuela is surely being used by
Maduro to fund terrorist groups like FARC who are outwardly “hostile”
to American interests, something Maduro relishes in.
Also, not to be forgotten is the
humanitarian abuses themselves...abuses that have already seen more
than three million people fleeing Venezuela since 2015, with that
number increasing to over five million by the end of 2019...so says
the U.N. And guess where a great number of those people are fleeing
to...America. And while not a “hostile act” per se, it
will still put a strain on our economy...an economy already strained
by illegals crossing our border.
But the most “hostile act” of all has yet to fully be
seen for while the unrest in Venezuela continues and as the U.S. is
being blamed for all Venezuela's woes being overlooked is the fact
that America's enemies Russia, China, and even Iran are starting to
make inroads into Venezuela. And their presence being so close to
our our country is the most unsettling “hostile act” of
all.
And what more can I say to that than...amen.
Copyright @ 2019 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.
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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article Navratilova Serves an Navratilova Serves an Ace Against Transgender Athletes.
For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article Navratilova Serves an Navratilova Serves an Ace Against Transgender Athletes.
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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!Friday, March 1st from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Venezuela...A 'Hostile Act' in the making?'; 'Navratilova Serves an Ace Against Transgender Athletes'; and important news of the day.
Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history...or on Tune-In at: https://tunein.com/radio/American-Political-Radio-s273246/
