‘Ya Casi Venezuela’ Signifies a Crossroads for the Opposition

With a campaign of intrigue on social media launched on September 16, the US businessman and founder of the infamous mercenary company Blackwater, Erik Prince, promoted a plan to raise funds to prepare an eventual armed invasion of Venezuela and the overthrow of its authorities. Although Prince has not fully claimed responsibility for the campaign, he has been one of its most prominent spokespersons.

‘Ya Casi Venezuela’ Signifies a Crossroads for the Opposition

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Attorney General’s Office Is Investigating ‘Ya Casi Venezuela’ Coup Plot

Venezuela’s Minister of Interior: María Corina Machado is Behind Latest Terrorist Plot (along w/ Erik Prince)

Venezuela’s Minister of Interior: María Corina Machado is Behind Latest Terrorist Plot (along w/ Erik Prince)

Source

The Venezuelan minister for interior, justice and peace, Diosdado Cabello, emphasized that behind the entire mercenary operation reported on Saturday is the ultra-right-winger María Corina Machado*. Machado is also fighting with the fugitive from justice, Leopoldo López**, said Cabello, for control of the money of the new mercenary operation against Venezuela.

In a special interview with the Telesur channel, Cabello said on Saturday, September 14, “They call it the ‘liberation of Venezuela;’ they are fighting over who controls it.”

Far-right Venezuelans based in the United States have launched a campaign named “Ya Casi Venezuela” (“we are almost ready, Venezuela”) where they announced that the mercenary tycoon Erik Prince will begin a massive fundraising effort to collect US 600 million dollars to organize a mercenary operation to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranked Chavista leaders.

Prince’s operation, according to many analysts, is directly linked with the new mercenary plot unveiled in Venezuela where US and Spanish intelligence operatives have been captured.

Venezuela’s Minister of Interior: María Corina Machado is Behind Latest Terrorist Plot

Erik Prince’s full interview on Ya Casi Venezuela is here. He says that they’ve currently raised $100 million. More notes are at the bottom of the next page.

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Maduro, an Expert in Defense and Counterattack

Original source

Maduro, an Expert in Defense and Counterattack

The parallel government strategy

One of the key maneuvers was the statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, recognizing opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the elections, openly contradicting the official result given by the only competent body in the matter, the National Electoral Council (CNE), which proclaimed Maduro the winner.

Faced with what appeared to be a repeat of the interim government of former lawmaker Juan Guaidó (who proclaimed himself president in 2019 and was endorsed by Washington, the European Union, and neighboring Latin American countries), Maduro launched a torpedo at the imperial waterline: if the U.S. does not recognize his victory, the energy contracts awarded to U.S. companies will be handed over to companies from the BRICS group, which Venezuela is hoping to join soon.

They need to throw out the Gene Sharp playbook.

Related:

198. Dual sovereignty and parallel government – from Gene Sharpe’s “198 METHODS OF NONVIOLENT ACTION”

Guarimba is a ‘protest method’ devised by Venezuelan opposition member, Robert Alonso (who collaborated with the CIA to train terrorists). It was ‘inspired’ by Gene Sharp’s book, From Dictatorship to Democracy (see my ‘front organizations’ page for more on Sharp).

As predicted: violence by the far-right Venezuelan opposition breaks out across Caracas

Maduro vs. US Election Interference: A Battle for Venezuela’s Future

With upcoming elections scheduled for July 28, the United States is working overtime to dislodge the socialist government of Nicolás Maduro. Ten individuals are vying for the position, including nine in opposition to Maduro, who heads a coalition of 13 leftist groups.

Maduro vs. US Election Interference: A Battle for Venezuela’s Future

Related:

Venezuela: Chavismo on course to another victory

Apparently, Alan hasn’t seen that the Biden administration has using Lula and Gustavo Petro as intermediaries to interfere in Venezuelan politics:

PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

Juan Guaidó (I call him Greedo) has made an appearance on Colombian media, as well.

PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Deputy Iris Varela warned that the Venezuelan far-right opposition belonging to the Unitary Platform (PUD), together with international news agencies, has a plan to announce alleged electoral results ahead of time on this Sunday, July 28. In Venezuela, the electoral law only allows the National Electoral Council (CNE) to announce electoral results. Only afterwards are media outlets permitted to disclose their estimates.

PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

Related:

Venezuela: Maduro Denounces Far-Right Sabotage as Machado Issues Election Day Instructions

An allegedly leaked report from pro-opposition pollster Datanálisis predicted a narrow Maduro victory on July 28.

The U.S. is going to dispute the election results and claim that Edmundo González won! The Biden Administration has already been using Lula and Gustavo Petro as intermediaries to interfere in Venezuelan politics!

How to Stop a Coup by Mark Feierstein (USAID)

That said, the United States and other countries could do a lot over the next few days to promote a legitimate election and a democratic transition. Indeed, Washington has already made important contributions to this complex process. Negotiations with the Venezuelan government and the skillful leveraging of economic sanctions persuaded the regime to permit the opposition primary in October. That vote established María Corina Machado as the undisputed opposition leader, forged unity among opposition parties, and revived the Venezuelan people’s confidence in elections as the best way to resolve the country’s prolonged political, economic, and humanitarian crises. The administration wisely coordinated those diplomatic efforts with Colombia and Brazil, whose leftist leaders have greater access to the Maduro regime. To be sure, Presidents Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil have been inconsistent in their support for democracy in Venezuela. Yet their intermittent interventions have been timely and consequential. Were it not for Lula’s engagement, for example, the regime likely would have derailed González’s candidacy, as it did to Machado and the opposition’s second choice, Corina Yoris.

“The Venezuelan opposition is increasingly optimistic that its unity candidate Edmundo González will win the July 28 contest by such an ample margin that Maduro would have no choice but to acknowledge the outcome.”

Essequibo: Guyana may “ask UN member states to take military action to force Venezuela to comply with the ICJ order”

Guyana to take Venezuela to UN Security Council after Maduro’s announcements about Essequibo; GDF contacts US Department of Defence

Dr Ali added that there was “nothing to fear” as Guyana’s international partners and international community “are ready to support us.” He said the Guyana Defence Force was “on full alert” and has contacted the Florida-based United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), one of the 11 unified combatant commands in the US Department of Defense. “The Guyana Defence Force is on full alert and has engaged its military counterparts including the US Southern Command,” he said, without elaborating. Dr Ali added that the US, United Kingdom, Brazil and France as well as the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guitteres have been contacted. “By defying the court. Venezuela has rejected international law, the rule of law generally fundamental justice and morality and the preservation of international peace and security. They have literally declared themselves an outlaw nation,” he said.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall earlier Tuesday said the UN Security Council could be asked to approve economic sanctions on Venezuela or ask UN member states to take military action to force Venezuela to comply with the ICJ order that Venezuela must not take any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby Guyana administers and exercises control over Essequibo.

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Notes: Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister, Amery Browne, has said that it’s a violation of the Caribbean Community’s policy for them to mediate a solution. Guyana was a founding member of CARICOM. Their aim was “to use [CARICOM] as leverage against Venezuela” and to prohibit them “from pursuing its Essequibo territorial claim”. [source]

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Stephen Sefton & Camila Escalante on Boric’s new progressive bloc

Progressive political figures with an orientation more favorable to Washington are forming a new alliance of South American parties and are deliberately excluding the forces that are leading the continent’s liberation processes. Don DeBar interviewed Nicaraguan writer Stephen Sefton and Latin America correspondent Camila Escalante on KPFK Pacifica Radio. Below is a transcription of last week’s segment.

Stephen Sefton & Camila Escalante on Boric’s new progressive bloc

Venezuela: Opposition Parties Oust Guaidó as ‘Interim President’

Venezuela: Opposition Parties Oust Guaidó as ‘Interim President’

The parallel AN will appoint a five-person “Administration and Asset Protection Council” to manage resources. The “interim government” had recurring budgets assigned by the US Treasury Department, drawing funds from frozen accounts belonging to the Venezuelan state. Last week, the US Senate approved US $50 million for “democracy promotion” programs in Venezuela for 2023.

At the time of writing, the US has yet to comment on the reconfiguration of the opposition structures. However, the proposal was reportedly run by US officials during meetings with opposition representatives in Washington.

In the run-up to Thursday’s vote, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols stated in an interview that the Biden administration would follow whatever the anti-government majority decided. An anonymous spokesperson from the US National Security Council likewise told Reuters that the White House would continue recognizing the “interim government” “regardless of the form it takes.”

Next up: Leopoldo López or Henrique Capriles?!

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