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  1. #51
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Russia is deploying nuclear-capable Tu-160 Blackjack bombers to Venezuela this week as part of an increasingly provocative pattern of bomber training flights, according to American defense officials.
    Oh the fucking irony:

    “The Russian and Venezuelan people should see this for what it is: two corrupt governments squandering public funds, and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer,” Pompeo stated.


  2. #52
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    ^In contrast to other govt - looking for (how many ?) lost trillions $ to be able to improve the rates of the 40 millions Food Stamp receivers...
    (and cancelling the military exercises on the other end of the world)

  3. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Have you ever heard of Brazil? Chile?
    .....


  4. #54
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    If you were planning a trip to Angel Falls, you might have to take a long bus ride.

    U.S. EMBASSY IN CARACAS ISSUES ALERT REGARDING INDEFINITE CLOSURE OF CANAIMA AIRPORT
    (SVCN/CAJ)
    On 10 December 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas issued an alert that reads in part as
    follows:
     Location: Canaima Airport, Canaima National Park, Bolivar State
     Event: Local authorities have closed Canaima Airport indefinitely due to a protest.
    This airport is the entry point to reach Angel Falls.” (10 Dec 2018)

  5. #55
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    A brave man. What are the chances he ends up in jail, on the run or simply dead?

    CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — When Venezuelans rang in the new year, few in the crisis-wracked nation had even heard of Juan Guaido.


    Two weeks later, the young backbench lawmaker has emerged as a key power broker as he leads the opposition-controlled congress in a high-stakes standoff with socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who is increasingly seen as a dictator both at home and abroad.

    “Guaido for president!” people shouted Friday at the largest street rally in over a year to take on Maduro, eagerly waiting for the fresh-faced 35-year-old to speak. “Out with Maduro!”


    As Venezuela’s economic crisis deepens, with masses fleeing the country to escape runaway inflation on pace to surpass 23 million percent, many are desperate for a new leader to rescue the once-wealthy oil nation from two decades of socialist rule.

    Dozens of countries, including the United States, denounced Maduro as illegitimate as he took the oath Thursday for a second, six-year term.

    Into that void stepped Guaido.

    An industrial engineer who cut his political teeth in a student protest movement a decade ago, he was elected to the National Assembly in 2015, and in its first session this year was named its leader.

    Maduro in a Friday night TV address from the presidential palace made light of Guaido’s newcomer status, feigning confusion over whether his name was “Guaido” or “Guaire,” a notoriously polluted river that runs through Caracas.

    “A lot of people in Venezuela are going to ask what is this ‘Guaido’?” Maduro joked.

    However, the perils of tangling with Maduro are no laughing matter. Shortly after he was elected head of the National Assembly, the rival constitutional assembly controlled by Maduro’s allies threatened Guaido and others with an investigation for treason.


    That’s the same charge that landed in jail another up-and-coming opponent, Juan Requenses, following a drone attack on Maduro in August. Requenses has yet to have a public hearing, nor have prosecutors presented any evidence in the case.

    Venezuela’s feared SEBIN intelligence police pulled Guaido from his vehicle Sunday as he headed to a town hall meeting and briefly detained him.


    The challenge for Guaido is to find a way to avoid being permanently arrested while keeping together a fractious opposition coalition, some of whose leaders are urging him to invoke an article of the constitution to declare himself interim president in direct defiance of the “illegitimate” Maduro.

    Luis Vicente Leon, head of the Caracas-based polling firm Datanalisis, said such a radical approach is popular among the restive grassroots, exiles and their conservative foreign backers. But it won’t necessarily loosen Maduro’s powerful grip on Venezuela’s institutions, oil wealth and especially the military — the traditional arbiter of political disputes.

    “If he decides to do it, part of the opposition will say he’s crazy, and if he doesn’t, part will say he’s a coward,” Leon said. “Meanwhile, Maduro is waiting on the side to take advantage of the situation.”


    The architect of Guaido’s meteoric rise is Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuela’s most popular opposition leader, who is muzzled under house arrest and considered by government opponents to be a political prisoner.

    At a time when many had written off the National Assembly, which was stripped of its last bit of power after the government set up the rival constitutional assembly in 2017, Lopez maneuvered behind the scenes for his Popular Will party to assume the presidency of the gutted legislature.


    He then tapped Guaido, serving his first full term as a lawmaker, who rose to the helm of their party in Venezuela after eight more senior politicians sitting on Popular Will’s national board were exiled since 2014.


    Guaido has been a loyal acolyte of Lopez for years, standing beside him at a 2014 news conference when the activist announced a strategy of anti-Maduro unrest. What was called “The Exit” bitterly divided the opposition because it came less than a year into Maduro’s presidency, when support for his rule was still strong.


    The two talk a half dozen times each day, and not a single speech or move isn’t coordinated with Lopez first, said one ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the internal proceedings.


    Because Guaido was unknown, Leon said that he hadn’t even measured Guaido’s approval ratings, like he does numerous other politicians. But he plans to start doing so this week.

    Critics say Guaido lacks a political vision, pointing to his rambling debut speech as the legislature’s president, which was full of rhetorical barbs aimed at the “usurper” Maduro but short on specifics on how to get out of the malaise.


    Still, others see his youth and relative inexperience as breathing life into the beaten-down opposition, making Maduro’s frequent diatribes that it is dominated by elitist relics from Venezuela’s pre-revolutionary past harder to stick.


    Guaido told The Associated Press in a recent interview he doesn’t fear running into the same fate as his political allies. He pointed to scars on his neck caused by rubber bullets fired during 2017 street demonstrations against Maduro.


    “I still have projectiles lodged here,” he said.


    Guaido has endured hardships for much of his life. At age 15, shortly after Maduro’s mentor, the late Hugo Chavez, assumed the presidency and ushered in a socialist overhaul, Guaido and his family survived a torrential mudslide that killed thousands and left many more homeless in the port city of La Guaira, a short distance from Caracas and home to the capital’s airport.

    “We are survivors,” he said. “If they take Juan Guaido prisoner, someone else will emerge, because our generation won’t give up.”


    Like Lopez, the wiry Guaido prides himself an athlete and is a devotee of his hometown’s Sharks — a perennial loser in the Venezuelan baseball league. He and his wife, a fellow activist, have a daughter named for Francisco Miranda, a precursor to Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar.


    While in congress, Guaido earned a reputation as a hard worker and consensus-builder while serving as the head of the comptroller commission that investigates allegations of government corruption.


    Now he is drawing attention on the international stage. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the presidents of Colombia and Chile have each called him in recent days to offer support.


    Luis Almagro, the head of the Organization of American States, went even further, recognizing him as Venezuela’s interim president — a title Guaido himself has been careful to avoid embracing. “You have our support,” Almagro tweeted.


    And on Saturday, the U.S. State Department issued a statement explicitly calling for a new government in Venezuela.


    But for the frontal assault on Maduro’s authority to succeed, Venezuelans fearful of taking to the streets again after past uprisings ended in violent crackdowns and bitter divisions must be prepared to risk it all again.


    To that end, Guaido urged during Friday’s rally for Venezuelans to join him in a nationwide demonstration on the historically fraught date of Jan. 23 — the anniversary of a 1958 popular uprising that overthrew military dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez.


    “The constitution gives me the legitimacy to carry out the charge of the presidency over the country to call elections,” Guaido said. “But I need backing from the citizens to make it a reality.”

    https://apnews.com/143774a1887345c2983513327dc85a62


  6. #56
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    A brave man. What are the chances he ends up in jail, on the run or simply dead?
    What are the chances Maduro ends up dead? Bolton, Haley and Pompeo want him gone.

  7. #57
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SKkin View Post
    What are the chances Maduro ends up dead? Bolton, Haley and Pompeo want him gone.
    Venezuela to import oil products-2457438-5426496948-tin_f-gif
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Venezuela to import oil products-2457438-5426496948-tin_f-gif  

  8. #58

  9. #59
    Thailand Expat Airportwo's Avatar
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    ^^
    Venezuela to import oil products-download-png
    Lets be honest theres not too many folks good old "Bomber Bolton" wants to share this earth with !
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Venezuela to import oil products-download-png  

  10. #60
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Venezuela opposition leader briefly detained after challenging Maduro

    Juan Guaidó was seized after he declared himself ready to assume the presidency in a bold challenge to its leader Nicolás Maduro

    Venezuelan secret police seized and then swiftly released a prominent opposition leader, less than 48 hours after he declared himself ready to assume the presidency of his crisis-stricken country in a bold challenge to its leader Nicolás Maduro.

    Juan Guaidó, the 35-year-old head of Venezuela’s opposition-run parliament, was reportedly taken by agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) on Sunday morning as he travelled north out of the capital, Caracas.

    On Friday the politician threw down the gauntlet to Hugo Chávez’s heir, telling a rally Maduro was an illegitimate “usurper” and declaring that he therefore had the constitutional right to assume leadership of the country until fresh elections were held. Several regional powers, including Brazil and Colombia, voiced support for that move.

    A video circulating on social media showed the moment of Guaidó’s detention, which sparked an immediate wave of international criticism.

    The head of the Organisation of American States expressed his “absolute condemnation” of what he called “the kidnapping of Venezuela’s interim president”. “The international community must stop the crimes of Maduro and his goons,” Luis Almagro tweeted.

    The United States secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, denounced the “arbitrary detention”, adding: “The US and world are watching”.

    Two foreign journalists – from the Colombian broadcaster Caracol and CNN’s Spanish language channel, CNN en Español – were also reported to have been detained.

    However, less than an hour after the first reports of Guaidó’s detention he was released. “I am with him already,” tweeted the politician’s wife, Fabiana Rosales, adding: “The dictatorship will not crush his fighting spirit.”

    Stalin González, another prominent opposition leader, tweeted: “They will not scare us with acts of violence and arbitrariness. We will carry on fighting until we achieve the change Venezuela needs.”

    Venezuela’s communications minister, Jorge Rodríguez, told state media the detention was a “unilateral and irregular” act carried out by rogue agents who were being investigated and dismissed.

    On Friday Venezuela’s chavista prison minister, María Iris Varela Rangel, had tweeted a warning to Guaidó after his challenge to her leader: “I’ve already prepared your cell and your uniform, I hope you name your cabinet quickly so I know who is going down with you.”

    Addressing a rally of supporters following his release, Guaidó painted his brief detention as the result of infighting between members of Maduro’s panicked administration. “Look what they are doing. They are desperate in [the presidential palace] Miraflores! They don’t know who is giving the orders!” he said, calling on Venezuelan citizens and members of the armed forces to unite against Maduro.

    “We are survivors. Not victims!” Guaidó said, repeating a call for renewed street protests.

    The secret police operation brought to a close a dramatic week for the oil-rich South American nation which appeared to signal the start of a new and potentially tumultuous phase in Venezuela’s economic and political crisis.

    On Thursday, Maduro, who assumed leadership of Chávez’s Bolivarian revolution after his 2013 death, shrugged off a storm of international condemnation to start his second six-year term in office.

    But with Venezuela’s economic collapse accelerating and international pressure mounting as Latin America swings back to the political right, many doubt Maduro will cling to power for that long.

    Maduro mocked Guaidó on Friday at a summit of Latin American leftists in Caracas, claiming most citizens did not even know who he was.

    “It is a show … a Hollywood-esque show,” Maduro said of his opponent’s bid to replace him.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-guaido-maduro

  11. #61
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Oh for god's sake yes they don't like him.

    Do you think they are going to kill him you idiot?

  12. #62
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Do you think they are going to kill him you idiot?
    Nah..."we'd" never do anything like that.



    "but was forced to cut back"

  13. #63
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SKkin View Post
    Nah..."we'd" never do anything like that.



    "but was forced to cut back"
    You appear to be trapped in the 70's.

    Are you some kind of retarded aging beatnik?

  14. #64
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    ^So "forced to cut back" means stopped altogether to you. Got it.


  15. #65
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SKkin View Post
    ^So "forced to cut back" means stopped altogether to you. Got it.

    Oh god another waffler.

  16. #66
    Thailand Expat russellsimpson's Avatar
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    I smell an American backed coup on the near term horizon.

  17. #67
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by russellsimpson View Post
    I smell an American backed coup on the near term horizon.
    People are starving while Maduro and his cronies live the high life. Three million Venezuelans have left the country to try and find work and food.

    He has replaced two branches of government with lackeys.

    Would replacing that bunch of arseholes be a bad thing?

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    People are starving while Maduro and his cronies live the high life.
    Unlike in other countries where the leaders starve similarly like their 40 million citizens starving on Food Stamps...

  19. #69
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by russellsimpson View Post
    I smell an American backed coup
    Nah, just send food stamps.

  20. #70
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    ^However, the "Food Stamps" are so undignified, so we better speak about SNAP "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program". The folks need just "Supplements" to their plentiful food...

  21. #71
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Nah, just send food stamps.
    Better still, send food.

  22. #72
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Why Nicolas Maduro is not the legitimate President of Venezuela

    BY SIMONETTA SPAVIERI / 17 JANUARY 2019


    On January 10, Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a second term (2019-2025) as president of Venezuela.


    Juan Guaido, the president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, stated the next day that he could assume the presidency of the country as the only option left with any real democratic legitimacy, if the people and the military supported him.


    It is indeed true that Maduro’s presidency lacks legitimacy in several important respects.

    Fraudulent elections


    Venezuelan presidential elections were brought ahead of time and took place in May 2018. The Opposition did not participate as there were no conditions available to guarantee that these elections would be free and fair. 68% abstained from the elections, according to the available data. Moreover, the elections were not convened by the National Electoral Council but by the regime-controlled National Constituent Assembly and ,most of the international community did not recognize the electoral results as valid.


    Illegal Constituent National Assembly


    The National Constituent Assembly, which called the presidential elections, was fraudulently voted in on the 30 July 2017 and is acting as a power above the Venezuelan constitution. The electoral rules were then completely changed in summary fashion and the company Smartmatic, which runs vote-counting machines, went on to denounce the election as a fraud. The establishment of the Constituent Assembly was, in effect, a power grab led by Venezuela’s ruling elite to shut down nine months of opposition protest and to obscure the legitimacy of the 16th July opposition-led referendum initiative.


    Illegitimate supreme court

    Maduro was sworn in before an illegitimate supreme court, instead of the legislative body. Before new members came in after the 2015 elections, the National Assembly (then largely supportive of the government) appointed new judges loyal to the government. This ‘supreme court’ later stripped the Opposition-led Assembly of any real authority in 2017.


    This illegitimate supreme court continues its duties but it cannot be regarded as an independent institution. The president of the court, Maikel Moreno, has been convicted of two murders. One of the justices, Christian Zerpa recently asked for exile in the US and confirmed that Venezuela does not have separation of powers. The opposition-led National Assembly have nominated an alternate supreme court, which now operates from exile.


    Lack of international recognition


    The heads of state of Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were the only international representatives attending Maduro’s inauguration. China and Russia sent low-level representatives.


    Latin American nations have clubbed together to launch a diplomatic effort to restore democracy in Venezuela through The Lima Group. With the notable exception of Mexico, The Lima Group have stated that they do not recognize Maduro as president.


    The US and the EU have issued similar statements and UK Minister Sir Alan Duncan has tweeted stating that Venezuelans deserve a real chance to determine their future. The OAS president and Brazil have congratulated and recognized the opposition MP Juan Guaido as the new president of Venezuela.


    2018 was marked by the worst economic and social crisis in Venezuela’s history, with inflation reaching about 1 million percent. The country lost half of its GDP and oil production dropping to 650 million barrels per day in 10 months. Venezuelans are living through a full-scale humanitarian crisis.


    Maduro’s survival strategies have included allowing the displacement of the Venezuelan population (up to 3 million refugees according to UNHCR), defaulting on international debt, cutting off imports, politicizing subsidized goods and promoting the devastation of the Amazonian basin for gold.


    Most of his tactics will be further constrained in 2019, as the economics are clearly unsustainable. However, if Maduro succeeds – as he has so far – to survive politically, Venezuela may well stay in a state of anarchy, international isolation and economic deprivation.


    The courageous actions of Juan Guaido and a new opposition strategy may bring further pressure on the government along with further international isolation.


    The Opposition needs to regroup. Government tactics, such as persecution, imprisonment and torture of leaders, have divided them. Protests are called for on the 23rd January, a symbolic date for Venezuelans as on that day in 1958, protests helped oust the last country’s dictatorship.

    However, the destruction of chavismo can only be achieved with support of some elements of the military or from insiders in the ruling elite. A historic rupture, no matter what it’s form, whether negotiated or forceful, is needed to restore our democracy and our political institutions.

    https://reaction.life/nicolas-maduro...ent-venezuela/

  23. #73
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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  24. #74
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    I did. Comedy gold.

  25. #75
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Warming up for the revolution against the corrupt dictator. Sadly Maduro has gone to great lengths to keep the military well paid accomplices.


    Venezuela plunged deeper into turmoil on Monday as security forces put down a pre-dawn uprising by national guardsmen that triggered violent street protests and the Supreme Court outlawed the opposition-controlled congress' defiant new leadership.


    The mutiny triggered protests in a poor neighborhood just a few miles (kilometers) from Venezuela's presidential palace. It was dispersed with tear gas as residents set fire to a barricade of trash and chanted demands that President Nicolas Maduro leave power.

    The military said in a statement said that it had recovered all the weapons and captured those involved in what it described as "treasonous" acts motivated by "obscure interests tied to the far right."


    It said at around 2:50 a.m. (06:50 GMT), a small group of guardsmen took captive a captain in charge of a police station in western Caracas and then moved across the capital in two military trucks to the poor neighborhood of Petare, where they stole a cache of weapons from another outpost.


    They were caught a few hours later at a national guard outpost 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Miraflores presidential palace.


    https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-co...sters-60518711

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