US Navy carries out "freedom of navigation" operation off coast of Venezuela

 (July 17) The US Navy has sent another warship, the USS Pinckney to sail off the coast of Venezuela for what it euphemistically terms a "freedom of navigation" exercise.

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The freedom of navigation operations are meant to contest claims to territorial waters

The US has commonly used this type of operation against China. For example in late April the US Navy carried out such an operation in the Spratly Islands: "The guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill on Wednesday "asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the Spratly Islands, consistent with international law," said Cmdr. Reann Mommsen, a spokesperson for the Navy's 7th Fleet, in a statement."

The US Southern Command said in a statement: "Today, the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) challenged Venezuela's excessive maritime claim in international waters during a successful freedom of navigation operation in the Caribbean Sea."

This is second US Navy operation in Venezuela

This is the second freedom of navigation operation against Venezuela within the last three weeks. Navy officials claim that they do not like what they call the "excessive maritime claims" of what they call the illegal regime of President Maduro. The US and many of its allies recognize the self-declared Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela as part of a US-led coup against Maduro which has been unsuccessful so far. The PInckney was sent to challenge Venezuelan claims.

On June 23, the US Navy carried out a similar Freedom of Navigation exercise, deploying the guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze off the Venezuelan coast. The US claims its warship was more than 12 miles off the Venezuelan coast in international waters and was in compliance with international law.

Venezuela objects but without any result

Venezuela warned after the last US operation that they considered the incursion of the US ships a provocation. The US appears to be betting that this time Venezuela will again do nothing or at least anything of significance. Venezuela no doubt wants to avoid outright war with the US and would not want to encourage hawks in the US administration.

The US plan

The US is banking upon Venezuela not acting to defend their territorial water claims. This will be used to argue that their claims are not justified. US Admiral Craig Faller says the US will continue to carry out freedom of navigation operations to show that the territorial water claims of Venezuela are unlawful.

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Previously published in the Digital Journal

Sillvercorp USA sought investors for the takeover of Venezuela

(May 12)  With the release of documents regarding planning for the failed incursion into Venezuela last week it turns out that Silvercorp USA was searching for investors into the takeover of Venezuela.

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Plan was to takeover Venezuela on behalf coup leader Juan Guaido

The documents implied Silvercorp USA the attack planner had ties to the Trump Administration. Silvercorp hoped to raise $750 million to finance the Venezuelan coup led by Guaido. Guaido announced himself interim president and was recognized immediately by the US and many other countries.

Once the operation was successful, the government would take over the oilfields and turn a profit for the coup government. One of the investors approached claimed the Sivercorp head Jordan Goudreau said the scheme had the backing of the US State Department.

The botched attack

The budget of the plan called for funding and equipment for hundreds of people and a 30 day operation. However, Venezuela was able to foil a main part of the operation within hours capturing a mere few dozen plotters. Those captured said that the plan was to kidnap Venezuelan President Maduro take the Caracas airport and fly Maduro to the US where they would collect the $15 million bounty the US offered for his arrest. It does not appear that the plotters even came close to achieving their aims.

Venezuelan authorities arrested more than a dozen people including two Americans who worked for Silvercorp USA. A recent article reports: "Maduro showed what he said were the US passports and other identification cards belonging to Airan Berry and Luke Denman, who he said were in custody and had been working with Jordan Goudreau, an American military veteran who leads a Florida-based security company called Silvercorp USA." The two Americans appeared on TV in Venezuela and admitted they were given the task of kidnapping and flying out Maduro and bringing Guaido into power.

US denies any involvement

When asked about the documents and the appearance of two Americans who described the plot a US State Department spokesperson said: : “There is a major disinformation campaign underway by the Maduro regime, making it difficult to separate facts from propaganda.” Even though there is no definitive proof that the US was directly involved Silvercorp is portraying it as such and certainly the US has been trying for ages to find some way of mounting a coup against the Maduro government.

President Maduro said that even informal communications between Venezuela and the US have gone dead since the failed operation. There had always been links previously Maduro claimed in an interview on TV but now there was total silence.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US denies any involvement in failed Venezuela coup attempt

(May 9) President Trump said that the US had nothing to do with the recent failed attack on Venezuela and that he personally knew nothing about it. He mocked the attack as a failed operation by a rogue group from other countries.

Trump said: "I know nothing about it. I think the government has nothing to do with it at all, and I have to find out what happened. If we ever did anything with Venezuela, it wouldn't be that way. It would be slightly different. It would be called an invasion...I saw the pictures on a beach. It wasn't led by General George Washington, obviously." The US has repeatedly threatened threatened regime change in Venezuela to topple President Maduro for over a year now.

Trump even offers $15 million bounty on Maduro arrest information

The Trump administration is offering a $15 million reward for information that leads to the arrest of Maduro. Maduro has been indicted in the US on charges related to the use of cocaine as a weapon against Americans. Mike Pompeo US Secretary of State claimed: "The Venezuelan people deserve a transparent, responsible, representative government that serves the needs of the people – and that does not betray the trust of the people by condoning or employing public officials that engage in illicit narcotics trafficking."

Evidence that the US was involved 

The US has arguably been involved with attempts to overthrow a Venezuelan government before in 2002 when there was a failed coup against the Chavez government. The latest plot was led by two US veterans, and that plot was run by US-based Silvercorp. The plot was said to be mounted on behalf of Juan Guaido the self-declared interim president of Venezuela. He is recognized as the legitimate president by the US and many of it allies. The US supports Guaido taking over the country. The US has been financing Guaido's activities and no doubt it also in part helped pay for the Silvercorp operation. While the US may not have been directly involved there is evidence that it was indirectly. The Washington Post said that a former US soldier who was captured in the failed raid claimed that he was contracted by a Florida security firm to seize control of the Caracas airport kidnap Maduro and bring in a plane to fly him to the US. The Post also had a document indicating that members of the Venezuelan opposition had negotiated a $213 million deal with Florida-based Siilvercorp USA to invade the country and overthrow Maduro. No doubt some of the opposition funds were provided by the USA. 

Venezuela wants extradition from US of the plan master mind

Jordan Goudreau, a US military veteran and head of the Silvercorp USA has claimed responsibility for the plan. Venezuela's chief prosecutor Tarek Saab wants Goudreau and two Venezuelans suspected as being involved in the plan to be extradited to Venezuela. Saab claims Miami-based political strategist Juan Rendon and the exiled legislator Sergio Vergara were also involved in the plot. The foiled operation left eight people dead and more than a dozen in jail, including two US citizens involved.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US has new plan for regime change in Venezuela

(April 9) The self-declared interim president of Venezuela Juan Guaido who is supported by the US and many of its allies originated the idea that the US might be able somehow to use the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to secure regime change in Venezuela.

The Guaido project has failed so far

While the US and many other countries recognized Guaido as interim president of Venezuela after he declared himself president in early 2019. For a year now the US has been pressing to help Guaido gain actual control of the country and depose president Nicolas Maduro so far Maduro has kept a firm hold on power. Attempts to turn the military against him have failed as have other strategies. Now the US has decided on a new plan which has less to do with ensuring that Guaido becomes president than a hope that Maduro will lose the presidency.

The new US plan

The plan is called "The Democratic Transition Framework for Venezuela". Under the plan both Guaido and Maduro would step down and a five-member governing council would govern until presidential elections could be held. As an incentive the Trump administration would be prepared to lift the crippling sanctions it has imposed upon Venezuela providing Venezuelan leaders cooperate with the plan.

The US complains bitterly that countries such as Russia interfere in its elections. However with Venezuela the US has supported a coup attempt, imposed sanctions, and threatened military intervention, as if this is quite normal given that Maduro who was elected is often described as a dictator. Now it feels that it is quite in order that it order Maduro to step down and tells the country how it is to be run before presidential elections. The US does not want to influence political outcomes but dictate what Venezuela must do.

The US special envoy Elliot Abrams told a briefing at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that US officials hoped that the US plan would trigger discussion among top officials in Maduro's inner circle given that the country faces massive economic and humanitarian problems that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak. In other words, the plan is to use the misery in Venezuela that is to a considerable degree caused by US actions to turn Maduro's close allies into accepting the US command that he relinquish the presidency, and in return the US will help alleviate some of the misery it is causing.

Abrams said: “Our hope is that so many people in Venezuela … inside the government will look at the proposal and maybe say, ‘Well, Maduro needs to leave power, but we are treated reasonably."

Instead of easing sanctions so that Venezuela can suffer less from the COVID-19 pandemic the US uses lifting them as a bribe to try and persuade Venezuela to accede to US demands.

Venezuela rejects US plan

After a week no one in the government has praised the plan. The Maduro government rejected the plan. The US claims it expected this. Abrams said that he hoped the US proposal would be discussed as the negative effects of the COVID-19 epidemic loomed. He said that he hoped officials would decide that accepting US demands would be the best way to ensure international aid. In other words the US expects Maduro supporters to turn against him in order to obtain relief from the misery and hardships that the US is forcing upon Venezuela while they lack the resources to fight a pandemic; This is the US version of humanitarian aid.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

US Senators introduce bill to reauthorize sanctions against Venezuela

(  December 7, 2019) US Senators Marco Rubio a Republican and Bob Mendez a Democrat introduced a reauthorization of the euphemistically titled "Venezuela Defence of Human Rights and Civil Society Act"that passed in 2014 and was reauthorized in 2016.

The bill resulted in targeted sanctions on the Nicolaris Maduro government in Veneuzela. The reauthorization would extend current sanctions on Venezuela that were first passed by president Obama for another 2 years.The entire bill can be found here.

Senator Menendez said: “Now is not the time for the international community to give up on the Venezuelan people; now is the time to be consistent, bold and forward-thinking in crafting a diplomatic strategy that increases international pressure on Maduro and helps forge a peaceful and democratic solution to this crisis."

Scandals tarnishing credibility of coup leader Juan Guaido fail to weaken US support

Among other issues Guaido is expected to have worked with the US and Exxon Mobil: "Caracas, Venezuela. September 6th, 2019. Prosecutors in the Venezuelan government said on Friday they plan to charge opposition leader Juan Guiado who in late April attempted what many experts say was coup, with high treason after acquiring audio evidence that suggests a conspiracy with Exxon Mobil and the United States."

Guaido associates have also been charged with absconding with aid funds:"A new investigation has exposed members of Venezuelan coup leader Juan Guaidó’s inner circle for embezzling tens of thousands of dollars designated for humanitarian aid and spending it on luxury goods and lavish accommodations for themselves. Guaidó had been aware of the fraud for weeks and stubbornly defended his cohorts until a leak from Colombian intelligence forced him to acknowledge the scandal."

There are a number of other scandals as well so many that even the anti-Maduro Organization of American States (OAS) is launching an investigation. A recent article concludes; "It is hard to see how an already deflated Guaidó will be able to recover from this massive blow to his credibility as a self-proclaimed reformer. While Guaidó’s support in the streets of Venezuela is rapidly deteriorating, the Trump administration has yet to address the scandal and continues to voice strong support for their man in Caracas."

Yet Mendez, Rubio and other US Senators continue with the view that US sanctions are the route to providing Venezuela "democratic order and the rule of law and a peaceful democratic solution to the crisis" Yet the US is supporting a coup against the democratically elected Maduro. However, the US along with many other countries reject the elections.

A recent article notes that there were more than a hundred international observers who claimed the election was quite legitimate:"Whether he had any right to declare the re-election of Maduro illegitimate, one that was confirmed free and clear of corruption by a corps of over 100 international election observers, and whether he had any right to declare himself Interim President, are questions that have gone unanswered by pro-Guaido politicians in Washington. "

.Maduro has survived so far

UN economists estimates that US sanctions and other economic weapons used against the Maduro government have caused more than 40,000 deaths by starvation and deprivation since US sanctions began. While Maduro has dropped in approval ratings US actions have also galvanized a large core of supporters including in the military who have strongly supported Maduro and opposed US actions.

Guaido's attempts at protests to overthrow Maduro have failed miserably as have attempts to get the military to change sides. Yet numerous countries including Canada continue to support Guaido no doubtful fearful of making the US angry at them.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

The US has deployed 600 troops to Guayana bordering Venezuela adding more tension to the area

(September 5) The US has been working with Colombia, Brazil and other regional partners to plan ways of crushing Venezuela's economy in an attempt to force Venezuelan President Maduro to step down and so as to install the US-led coup headed by Juan Guaido.

US troops now virtually surround Venezuela

A recent article notes: "US troops have been deployed in Guyana, which is located east of Venezuela. With US allies Brazil bordering to the south and Colombia to the west, Maduro is under more pressure as a quarter of his citizens suffer in dire poverty. With Chinese and Russian influence increasing in Guyana, Trump hopes the deployment of US air force will strengthen the relationship between the two countries."

Troops are to provide humanitarian aid for now

This is the first time in a decade that US troops have been deployed to Guyana. The deployment for four months is led by the US Air Force and is called New Horizons humanitarian outreach. However it is reported as being a stepping stone towards a prolonged relationship with the Guyana military forces. The US also wants to counter the increasing Russian and Chinese influence in the area.

US wants close ties with Guyana and its military

Major General Andrew Croft of the US Air Force said in an interview: "Guyana sits is in a strategic location on the north edge of South America and on the Caribbean. That's what makes it important. Also, as political change happens in the nation and they become more aligned with us, it's important for us to make those personal relationships not only through the embassy, but also through the military and the Guyana defense force, which is currently about 3,000 strong with the intent to nearly double it in the upcoming years."

Croft also said that the US troops will also serve as an insurance policy if conflicts break out in the area. They could obviously help create another front if the US decided to intervene militarily in Venezuela. Croft warned about the increasing presence of China and Russia in South America mentioning that Guyana uses Huawei communications networks. Both Russia and China are heavily invested in bauxite mines who mainly mine for aluminium.

US supporting attempted coup

In January of this year Juan Guaido leader of the Venezuelan opposition declared himself president and claimed that Maduro's reelection as president was illegitimate. He was immediately backed by the US and most of its allies including Canada. US opponents China and Russia side with Maduro as does Turkey.

US has now created more favorable conditions for a military intervention

A recent article concludes: "With Guyana secured, the US military has effectively surrounded Venezuela with personnel building up in Colombia and Brazil; both countries border Venezuela. The groundwork for a military intervention is being set; it's only a matter of time before an invasion could be seen. "

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Trump had considered a full naval blockade of Venezuela

US officials report that President Trump has raised the idea of imposing a full naval blockade on Venezuela several times during the last year and a half as a way of forcing regime change on the government of Nicolas Maduro.

In recent weeks Trump has again raised the issue

In recent weeks Trump is said to have said that the US navy could prevent all ships from entering and exiting Venezuela. One person claims that Trump has said "we should get the ships out there" and " prevent anything from going in". Trump has already told media that a blockade is an option. There is no full naval blockade as yet although the US uses pressure wherever it can to stop countries and companies from doing business with Venezuela and has sanctions against the country. A list of all the actions and sanctions can be found here.

The White House has so far had no comments on the reports. A blockade would be a considerable escalation of Trump's actions against Maduro. Some countries might very well ignore the blockade. What will happen if Russian or Chinese vessels use military vessels to escort their ships through the blockade?

Trump supports Juan Guaido as president and his coup

Since the start of the year when Juan Guaido proclaimed himself as president Trump along with many other countries support Guaido as interim president and his supporters in a coup against president Nicolas Maduro. There have been several attempts to overthrow Maduro and to entice the armed forces to join the opposition but so far all have failed.

Attempts to break the stalemate

Earlier in the year there were talks in Norway and at them the Maduro government offered to hold early elections: "Inside an Oslo hotel in May, negotiators for President Nicolás Maduro made a startling offer. The opposition and the United States were demanding new presidential elections. The Maduro loyalists — who were in Norway with the opposition for mediated talks — had signaled their willingness to hold such a vote within nine to 12 months."

The negotiations are likely to be fruitless as the two sides are too far apart on the conditions for the elections. Maduro's negotiators want removal of US sanctions as part of any deal and that Maduro should stay in power until the new vote is held. However, the US vows not to remove sanctions until Maduro leaves power. The US has offered Maduro security guarantees if he agrees both to a new vote and to go into exile.

Recently there has been communication between the US and an important Venezuelan official Diosdado Cabello: "The United States has opened up secret communications with Venezuela's socialist party boss, as members of President Nicolas Maduro's inner circle seek guarantees they would not face retribution if they cede to growing demands to remove him, a senior US administration official has told the Associated Press news agency.""

The US is obviously trying to arrange guarantees for the security of top Venezuelan officials should they give in to US demands and force Maduro to resign. This is just another of the US tactics to achieve regime change.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

President Trump bans American use of Venezuelan petro cryptocoin

On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order that bans the use of Venezuela's new crypto coin the Petro. The ban prohibits all U.S. transactions in digital currencies that benefit the Venezuelan government.

The U.S. position

Already, back in February, the U.S. Treasury warned domestic investors not to touch the Petro in case it violated U.S. sanctions noting that the Petro could be considered as extending credit to the Venezuelan government and could put an investor at legal risk.

The U.S. announcement claims that the Petro is designed to get around U.S. sanctions. President Maduro himself has said that the Petro in part is meant to overcome "the financial blockade".

Jerry Brito executive director of the Coin Center think tank said: “While Venezuela’s attempt to issue a cryptocurrency is novel, there’s nothing new about the U.S. restricting financial dealings with sanctioned countries. Issuing a cryptocurrency is not going to help Venezuela escape sanctions.” Some countries other than the U.S. and investors in other countries may still invest in the Petro.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the U.S. ban aims at "restoring Venezuelan democracy, combating the kleptocracy of the Maduro regime and responding to the humanitarian crisis caused by Maduro's economic policy." This is a tall order to be achieved by banning a petrocoin whose effectiveness remains yet to be seen. It is not at all clear how it could respond to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. If anything it could cause more hardship. Indeed the idea seems to be to make sure the sanctions are effective in helping to inflict hardship on the regime.

The Venezuelan reaction

The Maduro government said that the US ban was "gross meddling" and akin to " new imperial aggression" against the country's "financial and economic system".

The government said that it will continue to promote blockchain technology and make the Petro one of the most solid and reliable crypto currencies in the world.

The Petro

Last February, Venezuela became the first county to launch its own digital currency. Note that the currency is not legal tender except that it can be used to pay taxes. The Marshall Islands is the first country to issue a cryptocoin that will be legal tender, the Sovereign as reported in a recent Digital Journal article.

Critics claim that the currency is actually a cash levy to help pay off Venezuela's large foreign debt of $150 billion. It is not at all clear if it can actually do this. Since November 2017 Venezuela has been in "selective fault" on some of its foreign debt by not repaying bondholders.

However, President Maduro boasted that the government earned $735 million on the first day the coin was launched but this has not been verified independently. The government claims that the Petro is backed by the country's extensive oil reserves but it is not clear exactly how. The Venezuelan bolivar has sunk in value creating rampant inflation. A bolivar is worth at present 0.00003 of a U.S. dollar.

In announcing the creation of the petro, Maduro claimed that it would allow Venezuela to "advance in issues of monetary sovereignty" and would make "new forms of international financing available to the country". It seems the petro has not done so yet.

Details of the petro issue

On January 5th this year, Maduro announced that Venezuela would issue 100 million petro tokens of a value just over $60 billion. The government also established an advisory group called VIBE said to provide "an institutional, political and legal base to launch the petro".

In order to deal with market skepticism about the value of the Petro which was placed around $60 dollars US, VIBE recommended a private offering of $2.3 billion of the Petros at a discount of up to 60 percent. A further $2.7 billion were to be offered to the public a month later. The rest of the coins would shared between the government and VIBE.

VIBE also recommended that the government accept tax payments in Petro as well as allow the state oil company to incorporate cryptocurrencies in its dealing with foreign countries.

The Petro pre-sale

The sale began on February 20 and ended on the 19th of March. 38.4 million tokens were made available. There is some confusion about whether the currency used the Ethereum platform or that of NEM. The coins are already created by the Venezuelan government not mined so that new tokens cannot be created. Just the 100 million can be put into circulation.

Contradictory descriptions of the petro

Critics point out that there seems to be no use for the petro except to pay fees and taxes to the Venezuelan government. However, the Venezuelan government might disagree in that the sale of the coin is said to have raised considerable funds. The government hopes to use the petro in other transactions such as involving the oil trade but so far this appears not to be happening.

The Venezuelan National Assembly headed by the opposition say the petro is an illegal debt issuance by the government which it will not recognize.

Weiss Cryptocurrency Ratings claims the white paper explaining the petro does not show how the petro is actually backed by oil or any other standard. The company concludes that the petro is not backed by any general international standard and that the petro "is a worthless token".

The company does not recognize the petro as a cryptocurrency but as a fiat currency issued by the government. The company also claims counter to what Maduro says that the government hasn't raised a dime from sale of the coin. This contradicts Maduro's statement that it raised hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Brooking Institution is also negative saying: "it is relatively unsurprising that a dictatorship with little reserve currency ... has resorted to a deceitful means like introducing the petro ... [t]he petro ... exists to create foreign currency reserves from thin air". The Institution warned that sanctioned countries "might pursue the same fraudulent strategy as Venezuela: create a cryptocurrency tied to a government-controlled asset, raise money in violation of sanctions, and proceed to manipulate that cryptocurrency’s value to maximize profit"

Russia has already announced it will create a CryptoRuble. Another important aspect of the situation is that payments can be made anonymously so that sanctions can be subverted.

Several economists were critical of the petro. Steve Hanke predicted that the coin would likely end up in the graveyard and Paul Leidenz suggested that the petro could encourage further inflation. Washington Post reporter Matt O'Brien said that the petro might be the most obviously horrible investment ever.

The government's positive picture

The Venezuelan newspaper reports that the government claims that the sale of the coin in the last seven days has raised $3 billion from a total of 127 countries. The money will be used to cover the financial needs of Venezuela according to the government. Poland, one of the countries listed claimed it had no interest in the petro. Apparently Russia helped Venezuela with its launch.

The state-owned radio station Radio Mundial confirmed the $3 billion figure. The website of the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information also reported the same figure but quoting Maduro. No doubt the figure should be taken with more than a grain of salt but then some opposition remarks are equally extreme.

There is a government site for registering to buy the petro.

Previously published in Digital Journal

US declares Venezuela a national security threat when it is the other way around

President Obama signed an executive order declaring Venezuela a national security threat, and also ordered sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials.

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The executive order was said to target people who had undermined the democratic process or institutions, had committed acts of violence or abuse of human rights, been involved in public corruption, or prohibition of freedom of expression. So why is President el-Sissi of Egypt not being sanctioned since he certainly committed acts of violence and prohibits freedom of expression? Venezuela's real problem is that it has challenged U.S. policies. None of these reasons for these sanctions show that Venezuela is a threat to U.S. security. The targeted sanctions implement the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014, a bill that Obama had signed on December 18, 2014.

The declaration was accompanied by the inevitable moralistic justification:"Venezuelan officials past and present who violate the human rights of Venezuelan citizens and engage in acts of public corruption will not be welcome here, and we now have the tools to block their assets and their use of U.S. financial systems. We are deeply concerned by the Venezuelan government's efforts to escalate intimidation of its political opponents. Venezuela's problems cannot be solved by criminalizing dissent."The U.S. has supported governments in Afghanistan in which corruption was endemic. It supports governments such as Saudi Arabia which will not allow demonstrations and where insulting the monarch is a crime. Of course the Reuters article has no mention of an earlier coup attempt. The degree of U.S. involvement is not clear but certainly they knew about it and must have known that Chavez did not resign but was captured and held by the military.They went along with the lie that he resigned. I enclose a video on the failed coup back in 2002.

This is not to say that there is no repression in Venezuela or no corrupt politicians. Conditions in Venezuela are quite poor, due to a considerable extent, to a huge drop in oil prices. However, the government was facing public unrest and demonstrations when the 2002 coup was mounted. The video above shows how some private TV stations manipulated footage to portray Chavez supporters in the worst light. Of course manipulation of footage is common to both sides. The prize-winning documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised that I have appended, also has bits that are edited at times to provide a narrative favourable to Chavez. Some of the evidence for the US role in the 2002 failed coup can be found in this article.

Critics claim that instead of dealing with his economic problems Maduro is busy inventing plots against the government. Some evidence of U.S. attempts to destabilize the regime is provided in this article. There is wide coverage in Venezuela of what is called the Blue Coup plot. The Mayor of Caracas is accused of being implicated: February 19th 2015 (venezuelanalysis.com) Venezuelan opposition Mayor and longtime rightwing politician, Antonio Ledezma, has been arrested by the country’s intelligence services, SEBIN, for his alleged role in plotting to stage a coup against the democratically elected government of Nicolas Maduro.Ledezma was also involved in the 2002 failed coup. On February 11th, he circulated a statement signed by other opposition politicians as well:The document calls on Venezuelans to unite behind a plan to remove elected President Nicolas Maduro and sets out an action programme for the would be provisional government. This includes facilitating the return of “exiled” Venezuelans, prosecuting current members of government and reaching out to international financial lending agencies such as the International Monetary Fund.

More recently, Maduro on TV provided more evidence for the plot:President Maduro played the audio of a conversation held between Carlos Manuel Osuna Saraco, a former Venezuelan politician living in New York, and a soldier, in which Osuna dictates the statement that the rebel soldiers should read out during the coup.While some of this may be fabricated such details are not worth reporting in most of the mainstream press. Just say that Maduro is making up coup plots to divert attention from his political and economic problems and to blame others for them.

There is no doubt that there is unrest in Venezuela as inflation has risen 70 percent as the value of the currency has dropped by 20 percent and the price of oil has plummeted, leaving the government less money to fund its programs. The approval rating of Maduro is only in the low twenties. If there is a coup the U.S. will blame it on the Venezuelan government and it will be no time before the U.S. meets any new leader. While the U.S. now has a lot of its own oil, it would probably be happy if it could get better deal for purchasing Venezuelan oil.