jeezum crow; time to head back to VZ…& Iran…& China again?

First, Las Vegas bookies are only offering 1-3 odds on bets that the will CIA take out one of its own (Juan Guaido) in a false flag event since the most recent version of the coup…has failed as well.  Guaisoistas don’t even mind betting against the odds, even if they only get a buck on their $3 bets, a peso on a 3 peso bet: the stubs will be divine memorabilia.

Offered with no comment: from Amerika’s chief diplomat: ‘Any US action in Venezuela would be lawful’: Pompeo drums up invasion option after failed coup’, 5 May, 2019, RT.com, essentially: Cuz we say so.

From telesurenglish, May 6: US Gloats Own Actions to Economically Ruin Venezuela’

“The United States (U.S) government’s involvement in the destabilization attempts against Venezuela can no longer be denied or ignored after a document has resurfaced regarding its central role in the operations aimed to oust the legitimate and democratically elected government of the Latin American nation.”

Telesur is reporting that the grayzone project had noted that the US State Dept. had deleted the document ‘after its release “after realizing the incriminating nature of its error”.

“Although true, teleSUR found that the document is still published in its entirety in the official website of the U.S. Embassy in Brazil.”

https://br.usembassy.gov/western-hemisphere-fact-sheet-u-s-actions-on-venezuela/

“The document details that the U.S. government has made over 150 sanction designations to individuals and entities in Venezuela since 2017 via Executive Orders (E.O.) and the so-called Kingpin Act. This includes 10 sets of designations in 2019 alone to multiple individuals, entities, and listings of properties.

It continues to list the State Department’s self-described “key outcomes for 2019” which include an economic hit list describing the illegal seizure of the refiner Citgo, over US$3.2 billion in overseas assets frozen, the political pressure to deter third parties to take Venezuelan gold and buy the country’s oil.”

““They’re proud of saying that we are destroying the economy of our neighbor; we are proud that we destroyed the political system of our neighbor; we are proud that they are suffering. They are saying we are waging war against Venezuela,” Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations Samuel Moncada told The Grayzone.”

The Head Cheese of US Gunboat Diplomacy was due to meet with actual diplomat Sergey Lavrov yesterday in Finland to discuss Venezuela, among other things. 

From telesurenglish (by far the best coverage I could find): May 6: After Pompeo Meeting, Russia’s Lavrov Says US Military Action in Venezuela Would Be ‘Catastrophic’

“The two men met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland.

Lavrov told reporters his meeting had been constructive and that the two top diplomats had made decent progress when it came to discussing strategic nuclear stability.

Lavrov also said he was sure that Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump would have another chance to meet again after their summit in Helsinki last year.

“We strongly oppose military actions wherever they violate international law, the use of force can be authorized only by the U.N. Security Council or the force can be used in response to an aggression against a sovereign state, nothing similar is Watch in Venezuela,” Lavrov told reporters.” [snip]

“”We reviewed several regional situations that are on the current agenda, international relations in general, and we discussed issues related to strategic stability,.”

In reference to the situation in Venezuela, Lavrov stressed that “among my contacts with American, European and Latin American colleagues I do not see supporters of a reckless military solution .”

He added that he hopes that this understanding “becomes a practical policy, and that there is no military solution, because it would be catastrophic.”

The U.S. secretary of state said that the two had discussed Venezuela and that Washington wants Cuba, Iran and Russia out of the OPEC nation.

He added that the United States has seen activity from Iran that indicated a possible “escalation,” one day after the United States said it would send a carrier strike group to the Middle East to counter a “credible threat by Iranian regime forces.”

And of course Bombastic Bolton as well:

‘US threatens Iran with war’, wsws.org, 7 May 2019

“Will US bombs and missiles soon be raining down on Iran? The dispatch of US warplanes and an aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf region with the express aim of sending “a clear and unmistakable message” that Washington is ready to attack Iran, along with other bellicose US actions, indicates that preparations are far advanced for a provocation that could—and most likely would—trigger a catastrophic war.

On Sunday evening, US National Security Adviser John Bolton announced that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and US Air Force bombers were being deployed to threaten Iran. Claiming that there were “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings,” Bolton vowed “that any attack on United States interests or those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.” “We are fully prepared,” added Bolton, “to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces.”

Bolton’s threats were echoed by fellow anti-Iran war-hawk, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He too advanced a sweeping justification for possible military action against Iran, including any “attack” on US “interests” and those of its allies by a long and diverse list of groups that Washington castigates Tehran for backing, from Shia militias in Iraq and Houthi fighters in Yemen to the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

“We will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests,” Pompeo told reporters late Sunday, “The fact that those actions take place, if they do, by some third-party proxy, whether that’s a Shia militia group or the Houthis or Hezbollah, we will hold the Iranians—Iranian leadership—directly accountable for that.”

“Washington’s preparations for a military provocation against Iran and proclamation of a total banking and energy embargo on Iran in defiance of the world is part of a dramatic escalation of US aggression and militarism around the world, with Washington acting as a power unto itself, dictating to foe and ostensible friend alike.

The Trump administration is escalating its offensive against Iran even as it brandishes the threat of a military assault on Venezuela aimed at completing its regime-change coup against the country’s elected president, Nicolas Maduro.”

Oh, my; it’s a hair-raisingly long piece, as it needed to be; check out the rest when you have time.

A top Russian MP responded, RT.com, May 6 2019:

““We can’t be idle, we must beat the alarm and take a stand against such behavior from Washington in all international organizations, especially in BRICS,” Leonid Slutsky said, after the deployment of the naval force was announced by US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Though Bolton insisted that the US “is not seeking war with the Iranian regime,” he warned that the carrier group that will soon arrive in the Persian Gulf is “fully prepared to respond to any attack” by Tehran.

Slutsky, head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said that Bolton had failed to provide a clear explanation for the move, despite calling Tehran a threat.

“These signals, along with Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal and its declaration of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, lead to further escalation,” he said.”

And of course: further muscular Gunboat Diplomacy aimed at the Great Competitor China:

(Additional jaw-droppingly hideous stories of violence, as well as inspirational videos from the Embassy Collective are here).

‘(On May 1) Carlos Vecchio, Guaido’s fake “ambassador” showed up, with the intention of taking over the embassy.

‘We are asking people to come to DC to surround this embassy with love and resistance. Let’s show that love will prevail.’

(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)