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  1. #51
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Russian military planes land near Caracas




    Two Russian military planes landed in Venezuela's main airport on Saturday, reportedly carrying dozens of troops and large amounts of equipment.
    The planes were sent to "fulfil technical military contracts", Russia's Sputnik news agency reported.


    Javier Mayorca, a Venezuelan journalist, wrote on Twitter that he saw about 100 troops and 35 tonnes of equipment offloaded from the planes.


    It comes three months after the two nations held joint military exercises.


    Russia has long been an ally of Venezuela, lending the South American nation billions of dollars and backing its oil industry and military. Russia has also vocally opposed moves from the US to sanction the government of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.







    Mr Mayorca said on Twitter that a Russian air force Antonov-124 cargo plane and a smaller jet landed near Caracas on Saturday.


    He said that Russian General Vasily Tonkoshkurov led the troops off one of the planes.

    Ties between Moscow and Venezuela have strengthened in recent months, amid worsening relations between the US and Venezuela. In December, Russia sent two air force jets there as part of a military exercise.

    Russia has condemned other foreign powers for backing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in January.

    President Maduro has accused Mr Guaidó of trying to mount a coup against him with the help of "US imperialists".


    The Kremlin echoed that line, accusing Mr Guaidó of an "illegal attempt to seize power" backed by the United States and pledging to do "everything required" to support Mr Maduro.


    A message to Washington


    Russia is intent on demonstrating the limits of US policy towards Venezuela.


    The Trump administration is pushing for regime change and the re-establishment of democracy.


    But Moscow - a long-standing ally of the Venezuelan authorities - has provided the embattled Maduro regime with diplomatic, economic and military support.


    Last December two Russian Tu-160 long-range bombers touched down in Caracas prompting a war of words between Washington and Moscow. There have been joint military exercises too.


    While it is not clear what equipment these latest military flights may have been carrying, they send an additional message to Washington.


    Mr Trump has refused to rule out military action against the Maduro government.


    The Russian President Vladimir Putin is putting down another marker, emphasising that Venezuela is Russia's ally and it is not going to give up this small foothold in Latin America.


    It is another example of Mr Putin applying limited means to challenge US policy goals.

    What's the background?

    Mr Maduro narrowly won a presidential election in April 2013 after the death of his mentor, President Hugo Chávez. He was elected to a second term in May 2018 in an election which has been widely criticised by international observers.


    Venezuela has experienced economic collapse, with severe food shortages and inflation reaching at least 800,000% last year.


    Mr Guaidó has accused President Maduro of being unfit for office, and won the support of many in the country as well as US and EU leaders.


    The Maduro government is becoming increasingly isolated as more and more countries blame it for the economic crisis, which has prompted more than three million people to leave Venezuela.


    Meanwhile, Moscow has expanded co-operation with Caracas in recent years - increasing arms sales and extending credit.








    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47688711

  2. #52
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    The US can sit back and wait. Unless Russia is prepared to pour more in, they ain't getting their money back.


    I mean really, lending Venezuela more money for oil? How is that going to help?

  3. #53
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    Thanks God the Russians have arrived to save the day

    The only thing better would be a joint Russia/China venture

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    This is a NEWS thread. NEWS about VENEZUELA.
    Yes News, ...not made up US propaganda articles about fictional baby incubators ....to distract everyone away from the fact that Venezuela has the largest proven oilfield on the planet and the US is falling over themsevles to get their hands on it.

  4. #54
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foobar View Post
    Thanks God the Russians have arrived to save the day

    The only thing better would be a joint Russia/China venture

    Yes News, ...not made up US propaganda articles about fictional baby incubators ....to distract everyone away from the fact that Venezuela has the largest proven oilfield on the planet and the US is falling over themsevles to get their hands on it.
    They've probably got half of one because they owe it to China and Russia.

    It's basically Russia and China's money that Chavismo is pissing away now.

    Of course all of that goes over your head, you stupid little boy.

  5. #55
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Oh dear, things get even worse for Chavismo. Not only is revenue dropping, but he has to give even more to Vlad and Winnie the Pooh.


    Oil prices slip amid worries of severe economic slowdown
    Henning Gloystein


    SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Monday, with concerns of a sharp economic slowdown outweighing supply disruptions from OPEC’s production cutbacks and from U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.


    Brent crude oil futures were at $66.73 per barrel at 0752 GMT, down 30 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close.


    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $58.69 per barrel, down 35 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their previous settlement.


    Both crude oil price benchmarks have slumped by almost 3 percent since last week hitting their highest since November 2018.


    Concerns about a potential U.S. recession emerged Friday after cautious remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve caused 10-year treasury yields to slip below the three-month rate for the first time since 2007.


    Historically, an inverted yield curve - where long-term rates fall below short-term - has signalled an upcoming recession.


    Adding to concerns of a widespread global downturn, manufacturing output data from Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, shrunk for the third straight month.


    Stocks sink on 'amber warning' for U.S. growth


    “Estimates for growth and earnings have been revised down materially across all major regions,” said U.S. bank Morgan Stanley.


    ANZ bank said the darkening economic outlook “overshadowed the supply-side issues” the oil market was facing amid supply cuts led by producer club OPEC as well as the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran.


    The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-affiliated allies such as Russia, together referred to as ‘OPEC+’, have pledged to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil supply this year to prop up markets, with OPEC’s de-facto leader seen to be pushing for a crude price of over $70 per barrel.


    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil/oil-prices-drop-almost-1-percent-on-concerns-recession-may-be-looming-idUKKCN1R601P?rpc=401&

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Concerns about a potential U.S. recession emerged Friday after cautious remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve caused 10-year treasury yields to slip below the three-month rate for the first time since 2007.


    Historically, an inverted yield curve - where long-term rates fall below short-term - has signalled an upcoming recession.
    Yes, sounds like the US have their own issues...

  7. #57
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foobar View Post
    Yes, sounds like the US have their own issues...

    Everyone will have.

    Well, except me.


  8. #58
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    ^All warm and snug in your little barbaric dictatorship

  9. #59
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foobar View Post
    ^All warm and snug in your little barbaric dictatorship
    I prefer to think of them as "benevolent oligarchies", but you'll have to look that up.

  10. #60
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    I'm sure you do all kinds of moral gymnastics to spin your own hypocrisy to yourself.

    Amnesty International wouldn't recognise Sharia Law as benevolent, especially if you are female, gay or just want to hold hands in public, single mothers go to jail, and that's before we get to the flogging, stoning and death penalty.

    Venezuela is a liberal, laid back, progressive, democratic paradise in comparison.

  11. #61
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foobar View Post
    I'm sure you do all kinds of moral gymnastics to spin your own hypocrisy to yourself.

    Amnesty International wouldn't recognise Sharia Law as benevolent, especially if you are female, gay or just want to hold hands in public, single mothers go to jail, and that's before we get to the flogging, stoning and death penalty.

    Venezuela is a liberal, laid back, progressive, democratic paradise in comparison.
    You've never actually been to the Middle East have you, stupid little boy?


  12. #62
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    (CARACAS, Venezuela) — A new power outage spread across much of Venezuela on Monday, knocking communications offline and stirring fears of a repeat of the chaos almost two weeks ago during the nation’s largest-ever blackout.


    The outage began shortly after 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) and appeared to have affected as many as 16 of Venezuela’s 23 states, according to reports on social media.

    As with the previous outage, the government of President Nicolas Maduro sought to blame U.S.-backed opponents, accusing them of sabotaging the Guri dam, source of the bulk of Venezuela’s electricity.


    They said the “attack” had already been controlled, with service restored in many areas and others expected to come online in the coming hours.


    “The damage that took 5 or 6 days to repair in the electrical system after the first attack carried out by the right-wing we recovered today in a few hours,” Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said in a televised address.


    But those reassurances, similar to ones last time around, did little to calm the anger of residents in Caracas who filled traffic-clogged streets as they walked home after subway service in the capital was suspended


    Like other small business owners, 27-year-old restaurant manager Lilian Hernandez was bracing for the worst even as service started flickering back on in parts of Caracas.


    “We Venezuelans suffer all kinds of problems,” said Hernandez, who had just recently managed to restock food that spoiled during the previous outage.


    Netblocks, a non-government group based in Europe that monitors internet censorship, said outage had knocked offline around 57 percent of Venezuela’s telecommunications infrastructure.


    The Trump administration, which has made no secret of its desire to remove Maduro, has denied any role in the outages. Electricity experts and opposition leader Juan Guaido faults years of government graft and incompetence.


    “This outage is evidence that the dictator is incapable of resolving the crisis,” Guaido wrote on Twitter Monday.


    Meanwhile, as Venezuela’s economic and political crisis deepens, many seem resigned to continuous disruptions in their daily routines.


    “The important thing is for people not to get desperate,” said William Rodriguez, who sells books at a kiosk under a downtown highway overpass.


    Also Monday, the rift between Russia and the United States over how to resolve the crisis in Venezuela widened following the arrival of Russian military personnel to support Maduro.


    In a telephone call, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that “the United States and regional countries will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela,” the State Department said. Pompeo said “the continued insertion of Russian military personnel” in Venezuela could prolong the country’s problems and urged Russia “to cease its unconstructive behavior.”


    Lavrov countered during the call that “Washington’s attempts to organize a coup in Venezuela and the threats directed against its legitimate government represent a violation of the U.N Charter and blunt interference into internal affairs of a sovereign nation,” according to the Russian foreign ministry.


    Pompeo’s call to Lavrov came after a Venezuelan official said Russian aircraft arrived in Caracas this past weekend as part of ongoing military cooperation. Reports that two Russian air force planes arrived could not be independently confirmed.


    The U.S. and dozens of other countries support Guaido, who says Maduro’s re-election last year was rigged. Maduro alleges the U.S. and Guaido are plotting a coup.

    http://time.com/5558590/venezeula-new-blackouts/

  13. #63
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Oh dear, things get even worse for Chavismo
    I'm sure the ameristani fracking companies, financiers and shareholders are, "just loving", lower energy prices.

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    “the United States and regional countries will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela,”
    Oh dear an ameristani politician threatening a country, in a NEWS thread,

    Any official announcement by it's "Regional Countries"/subsidiary branch offices. When will they stop being ameristani regional puppets and head office assign more competent "regional" management.
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  14. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Mike Pompeo...urged Russia “to cease its unconstructive behavior.”
    How generous and kind that somebody is here to calm the situation with a "constructive behavior"...

  15. #65
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  16. #66
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Oh dear an ameristani politician threatening a country, in a NEWS thread,
    It is a news report. Are you off your meds again?

  17. #67
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Venezuela has reached the latter stages of socialism, with devalued money littering the streets, and with starving citizens being forced to eat rotten meat from the garbage. Citizens opposed to Nicolas Maduro’s socialist experiment are protesting in the streets, and Maduro regime forces are shooting them.

    It’s likely the days of the Maduro regime are coming to a close, however, with the Trump administration recognizing Juan Guaido as the acting president of Venezuela.

    Yet, the future of Venezuela could still swing in either direction


    There’s an old Chinese saying that a sick man will seek any doctor, and as the Venezuelan people and their new government look to any solution to fix their political troubles they’ve turned their eyes to China.


    Guaido’s head of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) for the interim government, Ricardo Hausmann, believes that China could play a “large role” in rebuilding Venezuela. He also called on the Chinese regime to communicate with Guaido.




    “China needs to assure its energy supplies and Venezuela has very large oil reserves, probably the largest in the world,” Hausmann said, according to the
    South China Morning Post.


    He added that after Maduro is removed, “Venezuela is a country that needs to be reconstructed. China can have a very large role to play in that process.”

    The Chinese regime has an established record of using loans and infrastructure projects in its Belt and Road initiative to lock countries down in debt traps. Included on the list of nations that have fallen into these traps are Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and many others.


    The Philippines was well on its way towards one of the Chinese regime’s debt traps, but recently announced it found a way to potentially pay off its debt before it’s too late.


    Bloomberg
    reported on March 27 that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte “now faces concern that he’s agreed to unfavorable terms while taking on China-funded infrastructure projects including dams, roads and rails.”




    In Sri Lanka in 2005, local officials turned to China for economic help in order to recover from damage caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The Chinese regime was quick to jump on the offer, and gave over $1.1 billion to build its Hambantota Port. When Sri Lanka couldn’t repay the loan, the Chinese regime repaid itself by taking control of the port.


    During his election in 2015, Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena addressed the looming crisis of China’s debt traps. In his election manifesto, he
    said the “credit money received from abroad” was a “mega ransom that goes to a few individuals,” and was resulting in Sri Lanka’s property falling into “the hands of foreigners.”


    “If this trend continues for another six years our country would become a colony, and we would become slaves,” he wrote.


    The Chinese regime is playing a careful game in Venezuela. On the business side it isn’t demonstrating much interest. The Chinese regime denied Hausmann’s visa to attend the annual IADB conference, which is this year being held in Chengdu, China. (IADB is the largest lender to Latin America, and is headquartered in Washington.)

    Yet on the military side, the Chinese regime is playing a different tune that demonstrates its clear interest in shaping the future of Venezuela.




    Russia recently deployed troops to Venezuela, and both Russia and China are backing the Maduro regime—going against the stance of the United States that the opposition faction under Guaido is the official acting government.


    In response to Russia’s military deployment, John Bolton, the U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs,
    tweeted that “The United States will not tolerate hostile foreign military powers meddling with the Western Hemisphere’s shared goals of democracy, security, and the rule of law. The Venezuelan military must stand with the people of Venezuela.”


    Then, in response to Russia sending military troops to Venezuela, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang criticized the United States for opposing Russia’s actions. He said, according to
    Newsweek, that Latin America is not “a certain country’s backyard.”


    Of course, Venezuela has for a very long time been China’s backyard—alongside the rest of the Socialist countries in Latin America that broke from the U.S.-led model with the “pink tide” in the 1990s and 2000s.


    And the Chinese regime doesn’t seem keen on losing this. Shuang stated, “China would like to work with the international community to help Venezuela restore stability at an early date.” What he meant here by “international community” was unlikely the U.S. response, which he criticized, but instead the Russian response of sending troops.


    China quietly walked Venezuela into the state of crisis. During a 2017 Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Evan Ellis, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explained how Russia and China were behind the Maduro regime.

    “I would like to emphasize how both Russia and China, in the pursuit of their commercial and strategic interests in Venezuela, have provided capital, goods, services, and political backing that has indirectly enabled the populist regime to ignore and ultimately destroy the mechanisms of democratic accountability,” he said.


    Ellis then explained the process that China and Russia used to keep the Maduro regime afloat, and how the Chinese regime in particular used this to gain control over key Venezuelan infrastructure.


    The chaos in Venezuela fits in with a long-established strategy that Russia and China know all too well, and both have played a large role in walking the Maduro regime along to its present state.


    When it comes to subversion, also known as active measures, the Soviet model developed along four stages:

    demoralization to alter the thinking and will of the population; destablization to break the foundations of the society; the creation of a crisis; then a manufactured response to that crisis to seize control of the targeted nation known as “normalization.”


    Venezuela now sits at the stage of chaos, and Russia and China are looking to “normalize” the situation.


    Ellis stated in 2017: “I believe that Russia and China as much as everyone else wants a transition away from the Maduro regime. But what they want to transition to is very different.


    “I believe that they are hoping they can get a transition to an equally anti-U.S. authoritarian regime that will let them legally legitimize their holdings.”


    Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way. Guaido sits at a crossroads between the U.S. model and the China model, and the United States is left with a choice on how to respond to Russia’s troop deployment. These factors will have a large role in determining Venezuela’s future.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/with-china-cash-venezuela-could-go-from-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire_2856415.html

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Venezuela has reached the latter stages of socialism, with devalued money littering the streets, and with starving citizens being forced to eat rotten meat from the garbage.

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    ^
    The funniest bit imo is the reference to "Socialism"

    Bit of a buzz word at the moment.

    Derided and despicable in the eyes of the globalist elite.

    But yet, when you look at the dictionary definition,

    socialism[soh-shuh-liz-uh m]

    noun

    a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

    It's exactly what the planet needs.

  20. #70
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Shining Light View Post
    ^
    The funniest bit imo is the reference to "Socialism"

    Bit of a buzz word at the moment.

    Derided and despicable in the eyes of the globalist elite.

    But yet, when you look at the dictionary definition,

    socialism[soh-shuh-liz-uh m]

    noun

    a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

    It's exactly what the planet needs.
    Maybe it is, but as a political system it is an abject failure.

    We've known this since before Orwell published Animal Farm.

    It invariably ends up in an oligarchy or dictatorship.

    Not that capitalism is going to save the planet either.

  21. #71
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    ^The usual nonsense from Lord HawHaw

    Ssssh dont mention China, one of the most powerful countries in the world atm ..a socialist/communist country currently wiping the floor with all capitalist nations, including America.

  22. #72
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    Its somehow ironic HawHaw mentions Orwell

    As used in 1984, the concept of doublethink is the ability to hold two completely contradictory thoughts simultaneously while believing both of them to be true


    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Maybe it is, but as a political system it is an abject failure.

    We've known this since before Orwell published Animal Farm.

    It invariably ends up in an oligarchy or dictatorship.
    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    I prefer to think of them as "benevolent oligarchies", but you'll have to look that up.
    Yes, that right folks, HawHaw pours scorn on socialism in Venezuela but happy to defend Sharia law...all on the same forum page without blinking

  23. #73
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    Venezuela really does not need US help to stuff things up, they are doing this quite successfully themselves. Why don't they stick to their tried and true model of destroying regimes that are doing overall quite well for their citizens, like Libya, Iraq & Syria. Has there been a change of policy?

  24. #74
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    While I admit that Chavez and Maduro seem to have badly mismanaged the county, everyone seems to forget that most of Venezuela's Government income came from oil sales, rather than other taxes. Remember what happened to the price of oil in recent years?
    Venezuela Crisis-oil-prices-jpg


    They tried to institute socialist measures at the same time their income dropped by about 50%. So, is it a failure of socialism or a failure of their government income.

    Remember, Norway is basically a socialist country and a lot of their socialist policies were started when they were flush with North Sea Oil.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Venezuela Crisis-oil-prices-jpg  

  25. #75
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foobar View Post
    ^The usual nonsense from Lord HawHaw

    Ssssh dont mention China, one of the most powerful countries in the world atm ..a socialist/communist country currently wiping the floor with all capitalist nations, including America.
    Stupid little boys excels himself.

    "It's exactly what the planet needs".


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