{"id":131358,"date":"2019-04-15T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=131358"},"modified":"2019-04-22T09:56:25","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T08:56:25","slug":"trump-regime-escalates-sanctions-war-on-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/04\/trump-regime-escalates-sanctions-war-on-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Regime Escalates Sanctions War on Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

8 Apr 2019 – <\/em>Sanctions are ineffective as a regime change tool, harming targeted economies and populations, achieving little more.<\/p>\n

Yet they\u2019re a US favorite, used repeatedly against targeted countries like Venezuela, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and many others.<\/p>\n

When unilaterally imposed, they\u2019re flagrantly illegal, never a consideration for US hardliners, operating by their own rules exclusively.<\/p>\n

On Friday [5 Apr], the Trump regime\u2019s Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two companies and 35 vessels transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba\u2014their legal right.<\/p>\n

Sanctioned companies are Liberia-registered Ballito Bay Shipping Incorporated and Greek-registered ProPer In Management Incorporated.<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin turned truth on its head saying, \u201cCuba has been an underlying force fueling Venezuela\u2019s descent into crisis [sic]. Treasury is taking action against vessels and entities transporting oil, providing a lifeline to keep\u2026illegitimate Maduro\u2026afloat [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n

Further US sanctions on Venezuela\u2019s oil sector were imposed, a Trump regime official saying, We acted upon a request from the Venezuelan National Assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s Supreme Court ruled its actions \u201cnull and void\u201d for illegally seating three MPs accused of electoral fraud.<\/p>\n

According to the Trump regime official, \u201cwe are continuing to tighten the noose\u2026for the financial strangulation of Maduro and his cronies. We will continue moving in that direction. We will continue to see action coming in days and weeks ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to the Trump regime\u2019s latest illegal action, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said \u201cwhile [it]\u00a0boasts of defending economic and commercial principles, it announced sanctions today against Venezuelan vessels and transportation in order to affect the delivery of oil to its sister Republic of Cuba,\u201d adding, \u201cThe Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the new attack by the [Trump regime] against the Venezuelan oil industry and its economic sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

It illegally attacks the \u201cmost basic economic and commercial rights, and questions how a member country of the World Trade Organization and so-called \u2018defender of liberal principles\u2019 would impose such measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sanctions \u201caim to do harm, not only to the countries of Venezuela and Cuba, but also the businesses and commercial associations that should instead benefit from international protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter what actions the Trump regime takes against sovereign Venezuela and its allies, \u201cno act of imperialism will stop the cooperation between free and independent countries,\u201d Arreaza stressed.<\/p>\n

Establishment media cheered the Trump regime\u2019s illegal action. The NYT quoted Mike Pence saying, \u201cVenezuela\u2019s oil belongs to the Venezuelan people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t a clue about how sovereign Venezuela operates, using most of its revenues for helping its people by providing vital social services.<\/p>\n

In the US they\u2019re fast eroding, its discretionary income used largely for militarism, war making, and corporate handouts, its ordinary people increasingly exploited.<\/p>\n

The Times lied claiming Venezuela \u201cprovides oil to Cuba in exchange for intelligence and counterintelligence services while the Venezuelan people lack food, medicine and clean water\u201d\u2014typical Times rubbish, supporting lawless Trump regime actions instead of responsibly denouncing them.<\/p>\n

For the first time since March 29, the Wall Street Journal discussed Venezuela, covering the same issue, saying Trump regime sanctions on Venezuela\u2019s oil industry aim \u201cto cripple\u201d Maduro\u2019s government, DJT hardliners turning truth on its head calling it illegitimate and corrupt, according to the Journal.<\/p>\n

Venezuela and Cuba are longstanding allies. US actions won\u2019t change things. Their governments will continue working cooperatively together, as well as with Russia, China, and other nations.<\/p>\n

The neocon\/CIA house organ Washington Post didn\u2019t cover the latest US sanctions on Venezuela in its Saturday edition.<\/p>\n

It featured Big Lies about its health system, falsely claiming it\u2019s \u201cin utter collapse,\u201d a bald-faced Big Lie.<\/p>\n

It cited propaganda by Human Rights Watch, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, opposing Bolivarian social democracy, supporting regime change in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Relying on opposition sources, not information from reliable ones, they created the illusion of a deeply troubled Venezuelan health system\u2014greatly aided by Russia, China and Cuba.<\/p>\n

WaPo falsely claimed Maduro \u201crefused to allow anything beyond a trickle of assistance to enter the country\u201d\u2014another bald-faced Big Lie.<\/p>\n

It quoted Trump regime point man for regime change in Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, turning truth on its head saying. \u201cThe United States continues to seek ways to provide humanitarian assistance for the Venezuelan people.\u201d<\/p>\n

US sanctions war and other toughness aim to inflict pain and suffering on the Venezuelan people.<\/p>\n

Instead of winning over greater numbers from Maduro to Guaido, things so far are polar opposite.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of Venezuelans want the country\u2019s social democracy preserved and protected. They strongly oppose foreign interference, overwhelmingly against military force.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Stephen Lendman<\/em> lives in Chicago. His new book as editor and contributor is titled <\/em>Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III<\/a>. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 intrepidreport.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 Apr 2019 – Sanctions are ineffective as a regime change tool, harming targeted economies and populations, achieving little more. Yet they\u2019re a US favorite, used repeatedly against targeted countries like Venezuela, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and many others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":121903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america","category-latin-america-and-the-caribbean"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}