MoA—While U.S. coup plotting against Venezuela goes back to at least 1998 when the deceased President Chavez won his first election, the actual planning for this coup attempt was only done during the last two months. There are many holes in the plan and it involves a lot of wishful thinking. That might give the Maduro government openings to deflect the attack.
VASSAL STATES
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MoA—All ‘western’ media repeat the claim that the U.S. sponsored dude claimed the presidency based on article 233 of the constitution. But none of them refute that obviously false claim. Article 233 of the constitution (pdf) of Venezuela details the procedures for the case that the president “becomes permanently unavailable” [or incapacitated] which Nicolas Maduro obviously is not. Moreover the next in place if the president becomes unavailable is the vice president, not the leader of the National Assembly. The dude has no legal basis to claim the presidency.
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Attempted Coup in Venezuela with Abby Martin, Greg Wilpert, Paul Jay. (Video & Text)
56 minutes readPAUL JAY: Just as an important thing to keep our eye on, Mexico did not recognize this illegal president. Other than Brazil, Mexico is the next big giant in North America/Latin America, it’s got a foot in both, really. AMLO and this new progressive government in Mexico, we need to keep an eye on how much might they be able to help Venezuela. And I don’t know what their capability is, but it’s a very big economy and politically very important in the region. And the fact that Mexico is in a position now to stand up to U.S. policy in Latin America, this is a very important and perhaps very positive feature of this whole issue.
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Former U.N. Expert: The U.S. Is Violating International Law by Attempting a Coup in Venezuela
39 minutes readALFRED DE ZAYAS—But my concern—and I think it is a concern of every person who believes in democracy and in the rule of law—is to calm the waters. My concern is to avoid a civil war. One thing that I told members of the opposition is that you simply cannot topple the government, and Maduro is not simply going to roll over. I mean, there are 7, 8, 9 million Venezuelans who are committed Chavistas, and you have to take them into account. What are you going to do with them if you topple the government through a coup d’état? What are you going to do with these people? These people are most likely going to fight.
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‘Resistance’ Media Side With Trump to Promote Coup in Venezuela
22 minutes readALAN MACLEOD—After winning re-election in 2018, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was recently sworn in for a second term. However, Trump has taken the extraordinary step of declaring the elections void, condemning the “illegitimate Maduro regime.” He also arranged to have National Assembly head Juan Guaidó—someone who has never even run for president, whom even the New York Times(1/22/19) describes as “virtually unheard-of”—name himself the country’s new leader. This has spurred the Venezuelan right wing onto the streets to try to force Maduro out of office, leading to the deaths of 14 people in the first two nights of clashes between large pro- and anti-government demonstrations. Last year, the Trump administration preemptively declared as fraudulent the elections they had previously been demanding, instructing the opposition (whom the US has been funding for two decades) to boycott the process.