De-dollarization, Venezuela, and the Pentagon’s New Budgetary Axis of Evil

When President Nicolas Maduro announced toward the end of September that Venezuela would no longer sell oil in dollars, but in a ‘basket of currencies’, including yuan, rubles, and gold, the Western world tried to pretend it was of no consequence.

From Mision Verdad’s ‘‘What Does the Sale of Venezuelan Oil in Currencies Other Than the US Dollar Mean?, Sept. 29, 2017:

“In a working meeting with business people on the Constituent Plan for Peace and Economic Prosperity, [Vice President  Tareck Al] Aissami said, “We have to throw off the yoke of the dollar”, arguing that anyone wanting to bid in auctions of the Floating Exchange Rate System (DICOM) should switch their bank accounts to another currency. Aissami added, “We’re doing no more auctions in dollars, those auctions are over”. He emphasized that these measures are meant to counteract economic sanctions imposed by the US.

Aissami also said that Venezuelan citizens promoting the sanctions would face trial, adding that Venezuela is closing existing bank accounts and migrating them to other banks around the world, whom he thanked for their assistance. He reported that, “In the public banking system we already have partner banks in all those countries” (Russia, China, India, Europe).”

And of course Vladimir Putin had announced during his August visit to china that “the petrodollar system should be a thing of the past”. Given the Western sanctions policy against his country, he added, “Russia is discussing the use of national currencies in swap agreements with various countries.”

Mision Verdad narrates the history of the petrodollar, and explains why both the petrodollar and the US military were keenly employed on the road to the Empire’s current domination, and what’s happened along the way to those who er…resisted Rule by Petrodollar, as the threat to the hegemonic currency grows.

“Libyan leader Muammar al Gaddhafi was overthrown and brutally murdered when he decided to sell oil in euros, and then to replace the euro by introducing a gold dinar currency.

That meant the emergence of a national leader with 150 tons of gold reserves proposing to sell oil in exchange for real gold, which is why then French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, “Libya is putting at risk global financial stability” which is based on an unsupported currency of benefit only to US consumers.

Along with some banks and energy companies operating in their countries, China, Russia and Iran are following a de-dollarization policy to escape US domination. In 2014, the Russian treasury announced a plan to increase the participation of ruble-based contracts while, last May, at the Shanghai Summit, Russia committed to selling China US$400 billion of natural gas over the next 30 years, invoiced in rubles and the yuan. It has been called “the deal of the century”.

The authors describe how many other nations, banks, and energy companies are now making deals in non-dollar currencies, including Canada, Qatar, etc. including discussions within the EU, Iran, and UK to deal in yuan or other currencies as well.

Meaning that threats to the Blessed by God Imperial project must be stopped; there is no possibility of yielding to a multi-polar world.  Recent Imperial ‘War by other means’ hasn’t yielded the fruits the hegemon had hoped for…so far.

Enter Dr. Texas Military Weapons Mac Thornberry and (ahem) Congress, and the military budget: ‘US Congress Asks Pentagon to Prepare to Intervene in Venezuela’ by Mision Verdad, Oct. 3, 2017

“As the various components of the U.S. offensive against Venezuela take shape, the U.S. political establishment is also planning their budget for 2018. It includes a line item they call “the situation in Venezuela” from a military point of view. On the webpage of the U.S. Congress, there is a proposed law called (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018).

This proposed law was introduced in the House of Representatives last June 7th and approved on July 14th by a large majority. Last September 18th it was passed by the U.S. Senate (Vote Counts: YEAs 89, NAYs 8, Not Voting 3), so it only remains to be signed by the President in the White House before becoming law.”

Now in order to buttress the threats in VZ, as well as a line item, two reports were produced to justify ‘the need’.

“The first of these reports, made available in the House of Representatives last July 6, has a section on page 179 entitled specifically “Venezuela Security and Stability”. The report was presented by the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee and says this about Venezuela:

““The committee is concerned about the growing economic and political unrest occurring in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under President Nicolas Maduro. With reports of famine, political uncertainty and corruption, a disintegrating economy, and undue violent government action against its citizens, the committee is concerned that instability in Venezuela could lead to a government collapse and failed state. In addition, this instability could result in portions of the Venezuelan population migrating to neighboring countries, including the Republic of Colombia, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Peru, and the Federative Republic of Brazil, seeking humanitarian relief. The effects of a large-scale humanitarian crisis in the region could be catastrophic.

The committee is concerned about U.S. Government contingency planning if a collapse of the Venezuelan Government and economy occurs. Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with other Federal Government agencies and departments that the Secretary deems appropriate, to provide a briefing, which may be classified, to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than September 30, 2017, on U.S. Government contingency plans for a potential humanitarian and migration crisis in Venezuela if its Government and economy collapse, to include the Department of Defense’s roles and responsibilities and assets that would contribute to such plans.”

Well, sure and that’s the True Reason, in’t it?  ‘Migration crisis’, ha ha.  The bolded nations are definitely on record against the Maduro ‘regime’, as is most of the OAS, so they are likely whispering in Mac’s (and other critters’) ears.  But of course Rexxon Tillerson and Orange Julius have already laid the framework for ‘intervention as a last resort’, but recently added VZ to his travel ban list.  Rexxon of course, has Venezuela in his sites, thus the military’s (and apparently Congress’s), due to the vast untapped offshore resources off the coast of VZ, the so called disputed ‘Liza Projects’.  Rexxon has already awarded contracts to drill, baby,drill for Guyana.  But wait!  There’s more!

“In its section “Title XII—Matters Relating To Foreign Nations”, Mac Thornberry’s proposed budgetary law includes “Subtitle C—Matters Relating to Syria, Iraq, and Iran” whose “SEC. 1234. Modification and additional elements in annual report on the military power of Iran” includes the following text naming Venezuela as a country cooperating militarily with Iran.

“(7) An assessment of military-to-military cooperation between Iran and foreign counties, including Cuba, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and any other country designated by the Secretary of Defense with additional reference to cooperation and collaboration on the development of nuclear, biological, chemical, and advanced conventional weapons, weapon systems, and delivery vehicles.”

This literally means that Congress is asking James Mattis, U.S. Secretary of Defense, to evaluate Venezuela from a military point of view and thus take into account that Venezuela forms part of an emerging bloc with Iran, Russia and China calling into question U.S. global hegemony.”

So the support by the US, CIA, and friends in the attempted putsches didn’t ‘work’, thus more and more sanctions, boycotts, and fines to ruin the economy further, necessitate a military intervention, see?

“The profile of the report by the House of Representative’s Armed Services Committee matches the precedents that lead to the interventions in Iraq and Libya, both of which followed financial boycotts and penalties targeting the leadership of those countries as a pretext to “protect” the populations, suffering from U.S. sanctions, via outright bombardment

In the light of these Congressional moves, the “military option” which Trump has mentioned is far from being some crazy comment or out-of-place remark, but a carefully put together political plan, taking shape and methodically checking off its procedural stages.”

As far as ‘The War Party’, both aisles are War Pigs, remember?  Obomba was the first to declare Venezuela ‘a national security risk to the US of A’ (because: socialism, of course), and the Blue Team made sure to give Herr Trump an additional $50 billion more than what he’d…er…asked for, because: Russia.  Now there’s a psy-op that won’t be tamed; it’s far too useful in so many directions.

But let’s see whassup at the State Dept.on Twitter, okay?