Venezuela is done....

[Ryan Ruck]

Picture evidence leads me to believe we may need to open our borders to a very, very select few refugees from this terrible crisis...

[American Patriot]

I see one.... lol

[Ryan Ruck]

Trump Says He Won’t Rule Out Military Response To Venezuela

August 12, 2017

President Donald Trump said Friday that he wouldn’t rule out military action against Venezuela in response to the country’s descent into political chaos following President Nicolas Maduro’s power grab.

Speaking to reporters at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Trump bemoaned the country’s growing humanitarian crisis and declared that all options remain on the table — including a potential military intervention.

“We have many options for Venezuela and by the way, I’m not going to rule out a military option,” Trump volunteered, adding, “A military operation and military option is certainly something that we could pursue.”

Trump’s comment mark a serious escalation in rhetoric for the U.S., which has up until now stressed a regional approach that encourages Latin American allies to escalate pressure on the Maduro regime. Hours before Trump’s comments, a senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity stressed that approach while briefing reporters on Vice President Mike Pence’s upcoming trip to the region later this week.

Venezuela’s defense minister called Trump’s talk of a military intervention an act of “craziness” and “supreme extremism.”

Gen. Vladimir Padrino, a close ally of Maduro, said, “With this extremist elite that’s in charge in the U.S., who knows what will happen to the world?”

The White House later released a statement saying it had rejected a request from Maduro to speak by phone with Trump. The statement said, “Trump will gladly speak with the leader of Venezuela as soon as democracy is restored in that country.”

The Trump administration has slapped a series of sanctions against Maduro and more than two dozen current and former Venezuelan officials in response to a crackdown on opposition leaders and the recent election of a constitutional assembly charged with rewriting the country’s constitution.

But even as the list of targeted individuals has grown longer, promised economic sanctions have yet to materialize amid an outcry by U.S. oil companies over the likelihood that a potential ban on petroleum imports from Venezuela — the third-largest supplier to the U.S. — would hurt U.S. jobs and drive up gas costs.

Trump’s comments are sure to focus new attention on Pence’s upcoming six-day tour of the region, which will include stops in Cartagena, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and Panama City. Pence is set to arrive in Colombia on Sunday and is expected to meet with each of the countries’ leaders, deliver a major speech on U.S.-Latin American relations and tour the newly-expanded Panama canal.

The trip was already sure to be dominated by discussion of Venezuela, with Pence expected to call on the leaders to continue to pressure the Maduro government and encourage others in the region to do the same.

But Trump’s comments are likely to upend the conversations, with leaders potentially pressing Pence for reassurance that Trump won’t go through with his military threat.

“The Vice President’s trip will highlight the divide between the past and present of Latin America,” said Jarrod Agen, a Pence spokesman, in a statement sent before Trump’s comments. “Venezuela represents the past, with the failed path of tyranny and oppression, but Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama represent the future of freedom, opportunity and prosperity.”

Trump’s threat of military intervention in Venezuela also seems to contradict the advice of his top national security adviser. Citing the resentment stirred in Latin America by the long U.S. history of military interventions in the region, General H.R. McMaster said he didn’t want to give Maduro any ammunition to blame the “Yankees” for the “tragedy” that has befallen the oil-rich nation.

“You’ve seen Maduro have some lame attempts to try to do that already,” McMaster said in an interview that aired last Saturday on MSNBC.

Rather than send in the Marines, McMaster said it was important for the U.S. and its neighbors to speak with a single voice in defense of Venezuela’s democracy.

“It’s important for us to place responsibility for this catastrophe on Maduro’s shoulders. He is the one who has caused it, and he’s the one who’s perpetuating it,” he said.

Almost since Maduro took office in 2013, he has been warning of U.S. military designs on Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves.

But most Venezuelans tended to shrug the accusations off as diversionary tactics of an unpopular leader. One website even emerged to keep track of the multiple conspiracy theories spread on state media and Maduro’s frequent harangues against Washington.

But Trump’s comments that he won’t rule out a “military option” in Venezuela may yet validate those claims in the eyes of some government supporters.

In eastern Caracas, the center of months of deadly anti-government protests, residents reacted with a mix of disbelief and frustration with Trump’s remarks, which they fear will embolden the weakened Maduro and distract attention from his abuses.

“Of course we don’t support violence, but look at all the violence we’re already suffering,” said Irali Medina, an office administrator, pointing to the spot where a university student was killed recently by a tear gas canister fired by national guardsmen controlling protesters.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Mark Wright said the Defense Department continuously conducts contingency planning for possible military actions all around the world. “Our job is to be prepared and be able to offer those options to the president,” he said.

Still, a senior U.S. official said the Pentagon is unaware of any coming military action in Venezuela. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.

[Ryan Ruck]

Trump Refused Phone Call With Venezuelan President

August 11, 2017

President Trump declined to speak with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday after the South American leader requested a phone call with him, the White House said in a statement.

"Since the start of this Administration, President Trump has asked that Maduro respect Venezuela’s constitution, hold free and fair elections, release political prisoners, cease all human rights violations, and stop oppressing Venezuela’s great people," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

"The Maduro regime has refused to heed this call, which has been echoed around the region and the world. Instead Maduro has chosen the path of dictatorship."

"The United States stands with the people of Venezuela in the face of their continued oppression by the Maduro regime," she added. "President Trump will gladly speak with the leader of Venezuela as soon as democracy is restored in that country."

Trump said Friday that he had not ruled out possible military action in Venezuela in response to growing political and social turmoil in the country.

It is not clear if Maduro requested the phone call with Trump before or after the president's remarks. A White House spokeswoman did not immediately return The Hill's request for comment.

Shortly after Trump raised the possibility of a military solution in Venezuela Friday, the Pentagon issued a statement saying that it hadn't received orders regarding Venezuela.

[vector7]

Venezuela standoff turns deadly as troops block aid delivery

CUCUTA – The Associated Press



A supporter of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido kneels in front of members of Venezuela's Bolivarian National Police standing guard at the Francisco de Paula Santander International Bridge between Cucuta in Colombia and Ureña in Venezuela, on Feb. 23. (Schneyder Mendoza / AFP)

A U.S.-backed drive to deliver foreign aid to Venezuela met strong resistance as troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro blocked the convoys at the border and fired tear gas on protesters in clashes that left two people dead and some 300 injured.

As night fell on Feb. 23, opposition leader Juan Guaido refrained from asking supporters to continue risking their lives trying to break through the government's barricades at the Colombian and Brazilian borders. Instead, he said he would meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Feb. 25 in Bogota at an emergency meeting of mostly conservative Latin American governments to discuss Venezuela's crisis.

But he did make one last appeal to troops to let the aid in and urged the international community to keep "all options open" in the fight to oust Maduro given the violence on Feb. 23.

"How many of you national guardsmen have a sick mother? How many have kids in school without food," he said, standing alongside a warehouse in the Colombian city of Cucuta where 600 tons of mostly U.S.-supplied boxes of food and medicine have been stockpiled. "You don't owe any obedience to a sadist...who celebrates the denial of humanitarian aid the country needs."

Earlier, Maduro, who considers the aid part of a coup plot and has refused to let it in, struck a defiant tone, breaking diplomatic relations with Colombia, accusing its "fascist" government of serving as a staging ground for a U.S.-led effort to oust him from power and possibly a military invasion.
"My patience has run out," Maduro said, speaking at a rally of red-shirted supporters in Caracas and giving Colombian diplomats 24 hours to leave the country.

Throughout the turbulent day on Feb. 23, as police and protesters squared off on two bridges connecting Venezuela to Colombia, Guaido made repeated calls for the military to join him in the fight against Maduro's "dictatorship." Colombian authorities said more than 60 soldiers answered his call, deserting their posts in often-gripping fashion, though most were lower in rank and didn't appear to dent the higher command's continued loyalty to Maduro's socialist government.

In one dramatic high point, a group of activists led by exiled lawmakers managed to escort three flatbed trucks of aid past the halfway point into Venezuela when they were repelled by security forces. In a flash the cargo caught fire, with some eyewitnesses claiming the National Guardsmen doused a tarp covering the boxes with gas before setting it on fire. As a black cloud rose above, the activists - protecting their faces from the fumes with vinegar-soaked cloths - unloaded the boxes by hand in a human chain stretching back to the Colombian side of the bridge.

"They burned the aid and fired on their own people," said 39-year-old David Hernandez, who was hit in the forehead with a tear gas canister that left a bloody wound and growing welt. "That's the definition of dictatorship."

For weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and its regional allies have been amassing emergency food and medical supplies on three of Venezuela's borders with the aim of launching a "humanitarian avalanche." It comes exactly one month after Guaido, in a direct challenge to Maduro's rule, declared himself interim president at an outdoor rally.

Even as the 35-year-old lawmaker has won the backing of more than 50 governments around the world, he's so far been unable to cause a major rift inside the military - Maduro's last-remaining plank of support in a country ravaged by hyperinflation and widespread shortages.
On Feb. 23, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Venezuelan security forces to "do the right thing" by allowing humanitarian assistance into the country.

Analysts warn that there may be no clear victor and humanitarian groups have criticized the opposition as using the aid as a political weapon.
International leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are appealing for the sides to avoid violence. But at least two people were killed and another 21 injured in the town of Santa Elena de Uairen, near the border with Brazil, according to local health officials.



Venezuelan soldiers clash with protesters along the border between Venezuela and Brazil in Pacaraima, Brazil on Feb. 23. (Ricardo Moraes / Reuters)

[vector7]

Wake up America...
Watch Venezuelan Immigrant Criticize Democrat Presidential Hopefuls For Socialist Policies, Then the CNN (Communist News Network) Host Correct Him and Quickly Shut Down the Interview

TheDC Shorts
Uploaded on Feb 24, 2019

CNN anchor Dave Briggs quickly defended Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders when Venezuelan immigrant Daniel Di Martino claimed that socialist policies in the U.S. would lead us down the same road as Venezuela.

This starts at around 3:00 minutes in the video.

[Ryan Ruck]

BREAKING: US Navy deploys two aircraft carriers, both southbound, one from each coast, amid Venezuela crisis.

— BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) April 30, 2019

[Ryan Ruck]

Pompeo Claims Russia Stopped Maduro Leaving Venezuela For Cuba

April 30, 2019

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed Tuesday that embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was preparing to leave the country for Cuba, but was talked out of it by Russia.

"We've watched throughout the day, it's been a long time since anyone's seen Maduro," Pompeo said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room."

"He had an airplane on the tarmac, he was ready to leave this morning as we understand it and the Russians indicated he should stay."

"He was headed for Havana," Pompeo said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested that Pompeo's claim was false, telling CNN, "Washington tried its best to demoralize the Venezuelan army and now used fakes as a part of information war."

'Operation Freedom'

Pompeo's comments followed a bombshell revelation by national security adviser John Bolton, who claimed for the first time that some of Maduro's closest allies had been talking to the opposition about ousting him and giving their support to National Assembly interim president Juan Guaido.

"We think it's still very important for key figures in the regime who have been talking to the opposition over these last three months to make good on their commitment to achieve the peaceful transfer of power from the Maduro" regime, Bolton told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday as clashes intensified between regime forces and opposition groups in Caracas.

"All agreed Maduro had to go," Bolton said.

The claims by Pompeo and Bolton amount to an extraordinary move by the US to divide and pressure the Maduro regime after Trump administration officials said they were surprised by Guaido, who pushed up by a day his dawn announcement that he was "beginning the final phase of Operation Freedom" in an escalation of his bid to oust Maduro.

Pompeo reiterated US support for opposition leader Guaido amid an escalating situation in Venezuela. On Tuesday morning, Guaido, standing alongside a group of soldiers in Caracas, announced an uprising, calling it "Operation Freedom," and urged his supporters to take to the streets in an effort to oust Maduro. Confrontations between the two sides turned violent, with at least 71 people being taken to a medical center in the Venezuelan capital.

'Fire up the plane'

Pompeo said he would urge Maduro to "fire up the plane," warning that "the cost for he and those who protect him will continue to increase."

"The harm that he will bring to them will only increase. We implore him, it's time for him to leave, it's time for him to depart Venezuela, and we would urge him to do this at the earliest possible moment," he said.

However, the secretary of state refused to say whether Maduro would be permitted to safely depart for Cuba, instead saying that "Mr. Maduro understands what will happen if he gets on that airplane."

"He knows our expectations," Pompeo said when repeatedly pressed on the question.

While Pompeo noted that the US has told Russia and Cuba that their support for the embattled Venezuelan leader is "unacceptable," he would not say whether he holds Russia responsible for the violence or whether US President Donald Trump had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue.

"I don't want to get into all of the conversations that have been held between us and other parties," Pompeo told CNN. "Suffice it to say, I am confident that the Russians understand the American position on this and understand the harm that is being inflicted on the Venezuelan people."

'The stakes are very high'

Administration officials said talks between senior regime officials and the opposition had been taking place for the last few months and would have allowed them to keep their positions after a transfer of power. Bolton mentioned Vladimir Padrino, Venezuela's minister of defense, as well as Maikel Moreno, the chief judge of the country's Supreme Court, and Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala, the commander of presidential guard.

But after Guaido made his announcement, flanked by opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and men in military uniforms, support from the regime officials didn't materialize. Bolton, describing the situation as "a very delicate moment," went before the cameras to name the officials and give them a deadline.

"They need to be able to act this afternoon or this evening to help bring other forces to the side of the interim president," Bolton declared. "They committed to support ousting Maduro and it's time for them now, if the Cubans will let them, to do it to fulfill their commitments."

Bolton and other administration officials didn't provide any proof that the three members of Maduro's inner circle were considering switching allegiance. But he went before the microphones at a critical moment.

"The stakes are very high for Guaido and Lopez," said Kevin Ivers, a Latin American expert and vice president of the DCI Group. "Now the regime has the authority to arrest and possibly kill them, which could be the end of what started in January, with Guaido's move to declare himself president."

Chile's foreign minister tweeted confirmation of media reports that Lopez, his wife and daughter had sought refuge with the Chilean government, going to the ambassador's residence in Caracas.

'A very, very big day'

"If this effort fails today and they are captured I think it could be a very, very serious setback for any legitimate effort to overthrow the regime or restore democracy," Ivers said, "so today is a very, very big day."

Bolton's announcement was both an attempt at damage control in a highly fluid and combustible environment as well as an attempt to strike a blow at the Venezuelan government, said Peter Schechter, a Latin America expert and executive producer of the foreign policy podcast Altamar.

"He's trying to divide the Maduro government and create suspicions and foment all kinds of insider divisions, because the one thing that's kept this government together is that they're all fearful of being extradited to the United States, so they're all trying to do this together," said Schechter.

The disclosures about high level Maduro allies -- particularly Padrino, who is seen as the personal guarantor of Maduro's years-long hold on power -- is extraordinary, said Ivers.

"I have no doubt any of these conversations happened behind the scenes," Ivers said. "That makes absolute sense, but there had never been any indications until now that such efforts had come close to bearing fruit. This would be extraordinary news. It was clearly a message directed at the Venezuelans regime and at specific figures in the Venezuelan regime."

In a statement early Tuesday, Padrino reiterated his loyalty to Maduro. The defense secretary has also been named economic and trade czar, giving him effective control over the flow of goods across the border, including drugs, a lucrative position that is meant to reward him for his loyalty, analysts say.

Bolton warned that if opposition forces fail in their efforts to oust Maduro, the country will sink even deeper into a dictatorship.

"If this effort fails, they will sink into a dictatorship from which there are very few alternatives," Bolton said, adding that President Donald Trump "wants to see a peaceful transfer of power."

'A very delicate moment'

"It's a very delicate moment," he said.

At this delicate moment, Guaido surprised the US, said Elliot Abrams, the State Department envoy on Venezuela. He said the US had been told that Guaido would call for protestors to take to the streets on Wednesday's May Day holiday, and that they hadn't been aware the opposition leader would move forward on Tuesday.

Abrams confirmed there have been high-level negotiations going on inside Venezuela between the opposition camp and regime officials, including the head of the Supreme Court, the defense minister and the head of security.

"In the last month or two, there have been some interesting negotiations among Venezuelans inside the regime and out of the regime about returning to the constitution," Abrams said, mentioning Moreno, as well as Padrino and Hernandez, who are both under US sanctions.

"As I recall of the agreements, all of them were going to retain their positions," Abrams said. He said the US had not been a party to the talks.

"They negotiated for a long time about the means of restoring democracy, but it seems that today they're not going forward, at least as of 3 pm, with the agreements they made," Abrams said. "But we will see what happens in the rest of the day. If you've seen the TV screens, you've know that things are very far from calm and settled in not only Caracas, but around the country."

Abrams said that the worry that Guaido would be arrested "always exists." Pompeo warned that such a move would be considered "a major escalation." The US-educated 35-year-old launched his campaign to return Venezuela to democracy in January.

Indeed, this is a "now or never moment for Guaido," said Michael McCarthy, the CEO of Caracas Wire, "because it's evident he's reaching the end of his honeymoon." Maduro had seemingly retained hold on crucial military support.

McCarthy described Guaido's move as "high stakes," and said the US approach has been equally so, with its tendency "to talk tough on this issue."

Indeed, both Bolton and Pompeo said "all options" remain on the table. When pressed by Blitzer, Pompeo said the administration stood behind that threat. "The President has made very clear that all options are on the table, that includes a military option," Pompeo said, adding that he's "hoping" it won't be necessary.

"I don't think anyone should be fooled that if the President makes that decision" the United States military "has the capacity to execute."

Many analysts, however, said it was unlikely the administration would use military force.

Planning for 'the day after'

"While the US has never taken the military option off the table, the US doesn't have forces in the area sufficient for an invasion," said Ivers. "It would be far more difficult even than Iraq. The terrain, the number of Venezuelan forces, it would have been a much bloodier conflict."

And Ivers added that armed US intervention -- something Guaido supporters have said they do not want -- "would have meant an end to international support for Guaido, but they always left it on the table to ensure the regime knew they meant business, this was a serious effort, not just for show."

Bolton said the US would continue "planning for what we call 'the day after,' the day after Maduro," adding that "it's been very much on our mind. ... Those plans are moving ahead, we're trying to refine them," he said.

In the meantime, Risa Grais-Targow, director of the Latin America program at the Eurasia Group, wrote that key "signposts to watch in the coming hours and days are additional defections from within the armed forces, not only in terms of the number, but also in terms of the profile of figures who are defecting."

A key variable, she said, will be whether those figures command troops, whether those troops are loyal to them, how many of them there are and their ability to threaten the government militarily.

[Ryan Ruck]

Other potential indicators of the US invasion of Venezuela:

���� American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier (#ARC) RoRo Honor (IMO:9126297|MMSI:367063280) departed on 2019-04-29; now shadowing the carrier strike group.#MaritimeSecurityProgram #MSP #AIS ⚓https://t.co/Kr6xKO9gEk pic.twitter.com/egRkA5dHwX

— Steffan Watkins (@steffanwatkins) April 30, 2019

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia will create a group of countries to counter military intervention in Venezuela, it is already being formed in the UN - Lavrov https://t.co/wZLxewWgPG #Venezuela

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) May 2, 2019

[Ryan Ruck]

#UPDATE: Reports of Russian personnel arriving by Venezuelan AF plane to Coro, taking position in the Girardot Battalion & in oil refineries of the Paraguaná Peninsula. "They occupy a whole floor in the Cumberland hotel near the Coro airport" sources say https://t.co/7AdoL8UmJC

— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) May 3, 2019