total economic terrorism waged on Venezuela: submit or face the consequences

‘Food Shipment Destined for Venezuela Seized Due to US Blockade’, August 7, 2019, telesurenglish.com

“Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez denounced Wednesday that a ship containing 25 thousand tons of soy-made products has been seized in the Panama Canal due to the U.S. blockade while calling on the United Nations to take action against the “serious aggression” that impede Venezuela “right to food”.
“Venezuela denounces before the world that a boat that holds 25 thousand tons of tons of soy, for food production in our country, has been seized in the Panama Canal, due to the criminal blockade imposed by Donald Trump,” the vice president said in a tweet.

“Venezuela calls on the UN to stop this serious aggression by DonaldTrump’s govt against our country, which constitutes a massive violation of the human rights of the entire Venezuelan people, by attempting to impede their right to food.”

In a subsequent tweet, the Venezuelan senior official explained that the owner of the vessel carrying the merchandise of food was informed by the insurance company that it was prevented from moving that cargo to Venezuela.”

The background:

‘Washington Escalates Venezuela Sanctions into Full-Fledged Embargo’, Aug 6th 2019; The latest measures amount to a total trade embargo impacting both US and foreign entities, venezuelanalysis.com

“An executive order signed by Trump on Monday declares all Venezuelan state assets in the US “blocked,” prohibiting them from being “transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in” unless specific exemptions are issued by the Treasury Department. All transactions with Venezuelan state entities are likewise forbidden.

Crucially, the executive order likewise authorizes the Treasury Department to issue secondary sanctions against non-US third parties deemed to have “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services” to the Venezuelan government.

While previous executive orders had already laid the legal basis for secondary sanctions against foreign actors dealing with Venezuela’s state oil, mining, and banking sectors, the present White House decree expands the blacklist to encompass all business with the Venezuelan state.

“We are sending a signal to third parties that want to do business with the Maduro regime: Proceed with extreme caution,” stated US National Security Advisor John Bolton, adding that those who flout sanctions “risk [their] business interests with the United States.” [snip]

“Bolton made the remarks during a gathering of fifty-six countries that recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s “interim president” in Lima, Peru on Tuesday. President Nicolas Maduro continues to be recognized by Russia, China, the United Nations, and the rest of the international community [*see coverage below] below.

At the conference, Bolton threatened Moscow and Beijing not to “double-down” in support of the Maduro administration, which he described as “now join[ing] that exclusive club of rogue states.” [snip]

“Monday’s embargo follows months of escalating sanctions from the Treasury Department against key sectors of the Venezuelan economy, including mining, banking, and especially oil. Washington targeted Caracas’ main source of foreign currency with an embargo in late January, while also imposing restrictions on Venezuela’s ability to import diluents and fuel. More recently, the Treasury Department sanctioned the government’s CLAP subsidized food program.”

*See: ‘120 Countries Defend Venezuela at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Caracas’, July 20, 2019, June 21, 2019, resumen-english.org

Popularresistance.org, Aug. 6, 2019 adds more:

“The executive order blocks the Venezuelan government from having access to any of its property in the United States or any property that enters the United States. It also contains very broad language that allows the Treasury Secretary, in consultation with the State Department, to block any person who is considered to be:

“owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.”

And it imposes a travel ban, under the discretion of the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, to block anyone from entering the United States who supports the elected government of Venezuela.

According to Reuters, John Bolton told the meeting in Lima, Peru that “U.S. authorities can now target and sanction anyone, including foreigners, who support Maduro’s government.” This action is being taken by the United States to further its attempts at regime change in Venezuela since multiple coup attempts and other interferences have failed to date.”

‘Chancellor Arreaza Rejects Savagery Used by the US in its Threat of Naval Blockade against Venezuela (Video)’, August 5, 2019, orinocotribune.com

“In an interview granted on Friday to the Caracas based network Telesur, Arreaza cataloged this measure as “crimes against humanity” because if implemented it would violate “the human rights of 30 million Venezuelans” and will have a great effect on the country’s economy.

He also attacked the US Administration for using “savagery” precisely when the Government and the opposition sectors are struggling to get points of possible agreement in the negotiations they have held in Barbados, under the mediation of Norway.

RELATED CONTENT: ‘Venezuela “Ready for Battle” if Trump Imposes Blockade – Maduro’, August 7, 2019

“They are making us all go hungry, suffering. They are attacking the stomach and the life of the people thinking that they will not resist, but the people trust in their government, in the State,” he emphasized while criticizing Washington’s sanctions against Caracas that according to a recent study prepared by [CEPR] economists Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachsen, have killed some 40,000 Venezuelans in the last two years.

In reaction to Trump’s new threats, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called on the nation on Friday to prepare for battle and said his government will denounce the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to the United States for its policy of threats and pressure.”

Venezuelan VP Rejects US Blockade, Calls for Unity’, telesurenglish, August 6, 2019

“She said that although the opposition says the measures are against President Nicolas Maduro, the U.S. blockade affects all Venezuelans.

The Venezuelan government has rejected the blockade ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said Tuesday and defined the blockade as an attack against the entire country.

“He has taken the most dangerous steps against our country to lay the foundations for absolute suffocation against Venezuela,” Vice President Rodríguez warned.

She went on to say that although the opposition says the measures are against President Nicolas Maduro, the U.S. blockade affects all Venezuelans.”

“Is it really [about] Maduro? Or is it a total financial blockade against Venezuela? If you financially close Venezuela, how will the country buy its food and medicines?” she asked.”

‘Washington orders international embargo on Venezuela, threatens invasion’, Andrea Lobo, 7 August 2019, wsws.org

“In other words, US imperialism is starving Venezuelans into submission in order to install a puppet regime under Juan Guaidó to gain full control of the largest proven oil reserves on the planet. Above all, the move is aimed at overthrowing a key Western Hemisphere economic and political ally of Washington’s declared geopolitical rivals, Russia and China.” [snip]

I think that Lobo’s wrong about the ‘above all aim’…

“Ahead of the meeting [in Peru], the US envoy to Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, a war criminal from his involvement in covering up genocide and other abuses during the Central American civil wars in the 1980s, gave an interview to the Peruvian daily El Comercio. “We are following the options we have,” he declared. “If you had told George Bush Sr. in 1988 that he would invade Panama, he would have called it madness. But two or three years later, it happened. So, no one knows what will happen in the future, but it’s not today’s policy.”

The summit was organized by Washington to threaten the world into obeying the US blockade against Venezuela. US National Security Advisor John Bolton told the conference: “We are sending a signal to third parties that want to do business with the Maduro regime: Proceed with extreme caution. There is no need to risk your business interests with the United States for the purposes of profiting from a corrupt and dying regime.” [snip]

“Around the time of the change in policy, in December 2017, the White House published a new National Security Strategy proclaiming openly “great-power competition” against the “revisionist powers” of China and Russia as its central priority. “Both China and Russia support the dictatorship in Venezuela and are seeking to expand military linkages and arms sales across the region,” the document warned. Thus, in one of its “priority actions,” the document said, “We will isolate governments that refuse to act as responsible partners in advancing hemispheric peace and prosperity,” referring to Cuba and Venezuela.” [snip]

“Guaidó’s self-proclamation as president in January saw an aggressive expansion of sanctions, this time directly aimed against PdVSA. Exemptions for several US companies doing business with PdVSA or its branch in the US, Citgo, ended on July 27, while sanctions were recently placed on the Russian Evrofinance Mosnarbank and several shipping companies associated with Venezuelan oil exports.

International reserves in Venezuela are virtually gone, beginning the year at $8.75 billion but facing a deepening crisis and a World Bank ruling ordering Venezuela to pay $8 billion in compensation to ConocoPhillips for expropriations in 2007. On April 10, the International Monetary Fund cut access to a $400 million credit line. Venezuela’s oil production has fallen from 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2015 to 734,000 bpd in June.

Earlier this year, the UN requested a fund of $738 million chiefly to aid the millions of migrants that have escaped Venezuela, but by July international donors had only provided 23.7 percent.”

NPR Shreds Ethics Handbook to Normalize Regime Change in Venezuela’, Lucas Koerner, August 6, 2019, TRNN   (loads of examples)

Rebuilding the Hegemony of Chavismo: A Conversation with Gerardo Rojas (Part I),  an intellectual committed to the communal project talks about the contradictions that the popular movement is facing in Venezuela today, venezuelanaysis.com, August 4, 2019

@AmbJohnBolton Aug 6  “Productive day at the International Conference for Democracy in Venezuela working w/ our regional partners & allies who are united in supporting Interim President Guaido & Venezuelans. The intl. community remains committed to increasing pressure on the regime until Maduro goes”

@AmbJohnBolton Aug 6   “Pleased to meet with FM Faurie of Argentina today. Argentina’s steadfast support for Interim President Guaido is a testament to its commitment to defending freedom and democracy in Latin America. We support Argentina’s efforts to reform its economy and increase prosperity.”

@AmbJohnBolton Aug 5   “Great discussion today with FM Araujo of Brazil. FM Araujo is in Lima to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela. Brazil is a crucial partner for democracy, prosperity, and freedom in the hemisphere and around the globe.”

(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)