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  1. #651
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Can't you fucking read or something?
    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    you're either being obtuse or you're a fucking moron
    ...I've always admired your patience with different opinions......

  2. #652
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    ...I've always admired your patience with different opinions......
    Selective opinions.

  3. #653
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    I think you're missing the blackmail element of it because you're either being obtuse or you're a fucking moron, not that it matters which.
    On the Ropes again

  4. #654
    Member elche's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Chavez was, because he was a populist and destroyed the country in the process.

    Maduro isn't. He essentially blackmailed people into voting for him by threatening to starve them.
    Completely false. Under Chavez, Venezuela had the highest standard of living in S. America, despite all the efforts of the US to crush them.
    Maduro was elected and confirmed elected by UN observers in 2013 and 2018, contrary to the fascist right wing and their running dogs trying to overthrow Maduro. Venezuela has a long history of adhering to the principles of democracy. In fact, Jimmy Carter has declared that Venezuela’s electoral system the best in the world.

  5. #655
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    Quote Originally Posted by elche View Post
    Venezuela had the highest standard of living in S. America, despite all the efforts of the US to crush them.
    It reminds me another "rogue" country, its name starts with "L", ending by "ibya"... (what standard of living do they have now?)

  6. #656
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    (what standard of living do they have now?)
    Who is they? The country was a colonial construct.

    You support colonisation and monopolkapitalistic-western-indiscriminately-designed borders?

  7. #657
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by elche View Post
    Completely false. Under Chavez, Venezuela had the highest standard of living in S. America, despite all the efforts of the US to crush them.
    Maduro was elected and confirmed elected by UN observers in 2013 and 2018, contrary to the fascist right wing and their running dogs trying to overthrow Maduro. Venezuela has a long history of adhering to the principles of democracy. In fact, Jimmy Carter has declared that Venezuela’s electoral system the best in the world.
    Under Chavez, Venezuela went from being one of the richest countries in the world to an indebted shithole. He destroyed the very industry that had them where they are. Their oil production was at its peak when he took over, and he wrecked it.

    Clearly you know fuck all about Chavez or what he did, so I would suggest you go off and do some reading and then come back when you're better informed.

  8. #658
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    ^Why? In Cuba it had worked after 60 years of isolation, hadn't it?

    And they have now doctors exported to other - not so fortunate countries...

    (but they still haven't been so developed to have Food Stamps...)

  9. #659
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    ^Why? In Cuba it had worked after 60 years of isolation, hadn't it?
    Cuba has an oil industry? Oh, Klondyke . . . you're special

    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    And they have now doctors exported to other - not so fortunate countries...
    They've had that for decades and have been renowned for that . . . and you really thin that's a recent thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    (but they still haven't been so developed to have Food Stamps...)
    I'm glad you brought up Cuba . . . in a thread about Venezuela. This is a country I've been to and adored . . . still do. Some of Fidel's achievements were splendid, others atrocious . . . like 'elections'. You seem to have a thing for dictatorships . . . need a strong man or strongman to lead you? Do you share daddy issues with chico?

  10. #660
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    ^
    It has to be a wonderful sense of life when just awaiting what others are posting, then commenting "wittily" on it.

    And when adding few more adjectives, something like "thick", "thin" (to name just the very few I can find in my dictionary) it surely feel good about himself, a really wonderful achievement for the well accomplished day...

  11. #661
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    It has to be a wonderful sense of life when just awaiting what others are posting, then commenting "wittily" on it.
    Whereas you post in a vacuum?

  12. #662
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Whereas you post in a vacuum?
    No he posts from the troll farm in Saint Petersburg.

    Internet Research Agency - Wikipedia

  13. #663
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Under Chavez, Venezuela went from being one of the richest countries in the world to an indebted shithole. He destroyed the very industry that had them where they are. Their oil production was at its peak when he took over, and he wrecked it.

    Clearly you know fuck all about Chavez or what he did, so I would suggest you go off and do some reading and then come back when you're better informed.
    You epitomize the loud mouthed, opinionated ignoramus. You haven't a clue about Venezuela, let alone Chavez, as demonstrated by your clumsy lies and cheap right wing US rhetoric.

  14. #664
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    It is actually shocking to realise that the oil boom put a trillion dollars into Venezuelan coffers under Chavez and paid off its debts, but thanks to him destroying PDVSA and the entire industry, and Maduro borrowing against future oil production when it was $100/bbl+ and having to pay it back at the current rate, Venezuela is $100 billion in the hole and has no real way of getting out of it with the current bunch of crooks in charge.

    And apparently that is "clumsy lies and cheap US rhetoric" to the stupid.


  15. #665
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    And apparently that is "clumsy lies and cheap US rhetoric" to the stupid.
    You should add: "It'll all improve, if only the Miami based Elite came back".

    They are known and respected philanthropists

  16. #666
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by helge View Post
    You should add: "It'll all improve, if only the Miami based Elite came back".

    They are known and respected philanthropists
    I should think so too the amount of money they've robbed off the poor fuckers.

  17. #667
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    Venezuela court jails two U.S. ex-soldiers for 20 years after failed incursion
    by Reuters
    Saturday, 8 August 2020

    CARACAS, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan court sentenced two former U.S. soldiers to 20 years in prison for their role in a failed incursion aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro in early May, chief prosecutor Tarek Saab said late on Friday.

    Former Green Berets Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, admitted to participating in the May 4 operation, Saab wrote on his Twitter account.

    "Said gentlemen ADMITTED to having committed the crimes," he wrote, adding that the trials were ongoing for dozens of others captured.

    Denman and Berry were charged with conspiracy, terrorism and illicit weapons trafficking, Saab wrote.

    Alfonso Medina, a lawyer for the two, said their legal team was not allowed into the courtroom. The two men were not available for comment.

    The sea incursion launched from Colombia, known as Operation Gideon, left at least eight dead.

    Maduro's government said it arrested a group of conspirators that included Denman and Berry near the isolated coastal town of Chuao.

    U.S. special forces veteran Jordan Goudreau, who ran Silvercorp USA, a private Florida-based security firm, has claimed responsibility for the raid.

    Denman appeared in a video on Venezuelan state TV days after their capture, saying they had been contracted by Silvercorp USA to train 50 to 60 Venezuelans in Colombia, seize control of Caracas' airport and bring in a plane to fly Maduro to the United States.

    Opposition leader Juan Guaido's office said Guaido had known about the operation since October, but did not finance or order it.

    Maduro, who describes Guaido as a Washington puppet, has said that President Donald Trump's government backed the operation.

    The Trump administration has denied any direct involvement. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the U.S. government would use "every tool" to secure the U.S. citizens' return. (Reporting by Sarah Kinosian; Editing by Nick Macfie)

    Venezuela court jails two U.S. ex-soldiers for 20 years ...

  18. #668
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    Elliott Abrams Failed Trump's Mission to Overthrow Venezuela—Now He Will Take On Iran

    President Donald Trump's pick to compel Iran into changing its strategy has quit amid a failure to foster diplomacy with the longtime foe and may be replaced by the White House's point person for Venezuela, another country whose embattled government has resisted a "maximum pressure" campaign by the United States.

    Elliott Abrams, a Washington veteran who rose to prominence in the 1980s with his staunch interventionist, anti-communist stances in Latin America and until now served as Trump's special representative to Venezuela will replace Brian Hook, who was appointed in the wake of the U.S. exit from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, the State Department confirmed in a statement.


    State Department special representative for Venezuela Elliot Abrams testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill August 4, in Washington. Senators questioned Abrams and Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean Joshua Hodges about the United States' continued support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó .

    The selection signifies a hardline push for the administration against Iran in the final months of Trump's first term as the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power continues to defy U.S. attempts to force it to change what Washington calls Tehran's "malign behavior" across the Middle East.

    Prior to the State Department statement, Hook told the New York Times on Wednesday that he was preparing to resign from his position. "There is never a good time to leave," Hook told the publication in an interview published Thursday.

    Hook argued that while the Trump administration was unable to secure a new agreement to replace the 2015 pact still maintained by Iran as well as China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom, the U.S. was able to drain the Islamic Republic financially through sanctions.

    "Sometimes it's the journey and sometimes it's the destination," Hook told the Times.

    Abrams first served President Ronald Reagan, where as the designated diplomat for Inter-American Affairs, he played a role in the Iran-Contra Affair that saw former President Ronald Reagan administration officials sell arms to Iran in exchange for funds to be given to insurgents battling the socialist government of Nicaragua. He was pardoned by Reagan's successor President George H.W. Bush for lying to lawmakers about his knowledge of the scandal.

    Abrams went on to serve Bush's son, former President George W. Bush, as deputy national security adviser. Abrams had espoused hawkish views against Iraq from the 1990s on and oversee the war until former President Barack Obama came to office in 2009.

    Under Trump, Elliot was slated to return to his roots in taking on socialist leaders in Latin America. His appointment came just two days after Trump announced the U.S. would recognize opposition-controlled National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó as acting leader of Venezuela, severing ties with President Nicolás Maduro in January of last year.

    Maduro replaced United Socialist Party founder Hugo Chávez after his death in 2013 and inherited a booming economy that quickly fell into decline. Like Chavez before him, Maduro accused the U.S. of trying to unseat him and, amid accusations of corruption, Trump instituted sanctions against Venezuela in August 2017, around the same time a modest economic recovery fell back into sharp decline.

    Maduro's election the following year was mired with allegations of fraud, which served as Guaidó's claim to the presidency in January 2019. While the U.S. and partners, mostly across Latin America and Europe, back Guaidó, a number of other countries such as Russia, China and Iran still recognize Maduro as leader, as does the United Nations.

    Having resisted heavier sanctions and an attempted coup, Maduro's resilience has frustrated officials and lawmakers in Washington alike, especially after Guaidó announced he would boycott upcoming elections in Venezuela.

    "We just have to be clear that our Venezuela policy over the last year and a half has been an unmitigated disaster," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut told Abrams at a congressional hearing on Tuesday. "If we aren't honest about that, then we can't self-correct."

    While Abrams defended what he called "a positive formula" to bring democracy to Venezuela, he now had an entirely new set of issues to deal with: attempting to pressure Iran to the negotiating table just months before the U.S. national election in November and to convince countries into supporting an extension of a U.N. arms embargo on Tehran set to expire in October.

    Hook had recently traveled to North Africa, the Middle East and Europe to try to influence countries in backing the U.S. initiative and finally appealed to the international community at the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday, the same day he reportedly told the Times he was resigning.

    A defining factor of the "maximum pressure" campaigns launched against both Iran and Venezuela is the term "all options are on the table," words repeated by both Hook and Abrams.

    Elliott Abrams Failed Trump's Mission to Overthrow Venezuela—Now He Will Take On Iran

  19. #669
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Another bit of distraction. What's interesting is in the last line of this story.

    Venezuela doesn't have the money for major infrastructure projects, so how much more of their future oil production is going to be leveraged and who to?

    I could take a wild guess.



    Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that a “U.S. spy” was captured while spying on the largest refining complex in the country, which is going through a severe fuel shortage crisis.

    In a live broadcast on state television, Maduro said the man was arrested on Thursday in the northwest state of Falcon where he was spying on the Amuay and Cardon oil refineries.


    They captured “a marine, who was serving as a marine on CIA bases in Iraq,” Maduro said. “He was captured with specialized weapons, he was captured with large amounts of cash, large amounts of dollars and other items.”

    Maduro did not give further details, but said the detainee was giving a statement in custody.


    Neither the U.S. State Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.

    Amuay and Cardon make up the Paraguana Refining Center, which has a nominal processing capacity of 971,000 barrels per day. Both have experienced multiple outages in recent years that the opposition blames on mismanagement and lack of maintenance.

    Word of the alleged U.S. spy came after a Venezuelan court last month sentenced two former U.S. Green Berets to 20 years in prison for their role in a failed incursion in May.


    Separately during Friday’s broadcast, Maduro said that in recent days security forces had also foiled a plot to cause an explosion at another oil refinery, El Palito in Carabobo state. He did not elaborate.

    Hit by U.S. sanctions that have exacerbated acute fuel shortages, the government on Friday announced a new fuel distribution initiative and
    said it was planning new refining projects, without providing further details.

    ‘U.S. spy’ captured near Venezuela’s largest oil refinery, Maduro says - National | Globalnews.ca

  20. #670
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    U.S. media, pols rage after Venezuelans defy U.S. empire to re-elect socialists



    President Nicolas Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) are celebrating today, after a clear victory in yesterday’s National Assembly elections. The elections, boycotted by many major right-wing opposition groups, but still participated in by over 100 political parties, ended with the PSUV and its allies receiving an estimated 67.6% of the votes cast, meaning they will control a two-thirds supermajority of the 277-seat National Assembly, the only major body that was controlled by anti-government forces.

    “We have recovered the national assembly with the majority vote of the Venezuelan people,” Maduro said in his victory speech. “It’s a great victory without a doubt for democracy,” he added, also announcing that the government had delivered the 3.3 million houses for the needy that it promised when it launched the Great Venezuelan Housing Mission program in 2011.

    Self-declared opposition president Juan Guaidó, a former leader of the National Assembly himself, did not see the result in the same way, seemingly calling for another coup on Saturday. “The rejection of the regime and its fraud united us, now we must respond in the street. December 12 will mobilize us like the immense majority of us who want to choose their future,” he announced on social media.

    Yet even his backers in the Western press fear the result has neutralized him. The Guardian, for example, wrote that yesterday’s events “deal a further blow to Guaidó’s flagging crusade,” quoting bitterly anti-Maduro figure Phil Gunson, who said that “the coalition around Guaidó is really crumbling.”
    Full Article- MR Online | U.S. media, pols rage after Venezuelans defy U.S. empire to re-elect socialists



  21. #671
    last farang standing
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    Quote Originally Posted by elche View Post
    Completely false. Under Chavez, Venezuela had the highest standard of living in S. America, despite all the efforts of the US to crush them.
    Maduro was elected and confirmed elected by UN observers in 2013 and 2018, contrary to the fascist right wing and their running dogs trying to overthrow Maduro. Venezuela has a long history of adhering to the principles of democracy. In fact, Jimmy Carter has declared that Venezuela’s electoral system the best in the world.
    Quote Originally Posted by elche View Post
    You epitomize the loud mouthed, opinionated ignoramus. You haven't a clue about Venezuela, let alone Chavez, as demonstrated by your clumsy lies and cheap right wing US rhetoric.
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    U.S. media, pols rage after Venezuelans defy U.S. empire to re-elect socialists



    President Nicolas Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) are celebrating today, after a clear victory in yesterday’s National Assembly elections. The elections, boycotted by many major right-wing opposition groups, but still participated in by over 100 political parties, ended with the PSUV and its allies receiving an estimated 67.6% of the votes cast, meaning they will control a two-thirds supermajority of the 277-seat National Assembly, the only major body that was controlled by anti-government forces.

    “We have recovered the national assembly with the majority vote of the Venezuelan people,” Maduro said in his victory speech. “It’s a great victory without a doubt for democracy,” he added, also announcing that the government had delivered the 3.3 million houses for the needy that it promised when it launched the Great Venezuelan Housing Mission program in 2011.

    Self-declared opposition president Juan Guaidó, a former leader of the National Assembly himself, did not see the result in the same way, seemingly calling for another coup on Saturday. “The rejection of the regime and its fraud united us, now we must respond in the street. December 12 will mobilize us like the immense majority of us who want to choose their future,” he announced on social media.

    Yet even his backers in the Western press fear the result has neutralized him. The Guardian, for example, wrote that yesterday’s events “deal a further blow to Guaidó’s flagging crusade,” quoting bitterly anti-Maduro figure Phil Gunson, who said that “the coalition around Guaidó is really crumbling.”
    Full Article- MR Online | U.S. media, pols rage after Venezuelans defy U.S. empire to re-elect socialists


    At the risk of repeating myself. May I refer you to post no 283. I would like to hear your explanation or maybe its just fake news for the poor maligned Maduro.

  22. #672
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    The people have spoken, and significantly. How foolish does the US look backing Guaido now?

    Ultimately, however, while turnout was relatively low, the ruling socialist party has gained a supermajority in the one body the opposition-controlled, handing them a clear victory and the U.S. government a defeat. Added to the return of democracy to Bolivia in October and a leftist election victory in Guyana earlier this year, 2020 has not been a good year for Washington in Latin America.


    "Art of the Deal", e'hhh donald. Seriously inept at foreign policy.

  23. #673
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    President Nicolas Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) are celebrating today,
    However, after all, it's not such a landslide - and transparent - victory like in (please no names here)...

  24. #674
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    (please no names here)
    Ok . . . but why mention it in the first place?

    Oh, you mean Russia . . .


  25. #675
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    It's always the same old dumbarses that are too stupid to see how tight a grip Maduro has got on the Venezuelan political apparatus, and for sure none of them will know that he used that apparatus to take over three major opposition parties last summer while they were wittering on about something else.

    There has not been a free and fair election in Venezuela since the one the swept him to power on the expected wave of support fueled by Chavez' death.

    I though Chavez was bad for the country in what he did to its oil industry, but Maduro is the worst kind of parasite.

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