Monday, January 25, 2016

Venezuela & Syria

Counter-Revolution Threatens Venezuela, Latin America and the World
Syrian Arab Army on the Move




    After a long vacation I am back. Actually I was tempted to return immediately as no sooner did i begin my vacation then first Turkey shot down a Russian jet over northern Syria, and then the disastrous Venezuelan election results were announced. The first event was merely a temporary outrage which of course could have sparked a nuclear war if Russia had responded in kind although I doubt the west would really have gone to war if a turkish jet had been shot down in revenge. However the Venezuelan elections results could have much more terrible and lasting results. Venezuela may become the site of a full blown civil war. Fascism looms again over the entire continent indeed much of the world. Venezuela is merely the most vital country under siege. Argentina has already been lost. Fascism has already begun it's rampage there with the election of Macri. In Brazil Dilma Roussef is under threat of impeachment. Ecuador is threatened by a color revolution. Even South Africa is under threat the west plots the overthrow of Jacob Zuma. Four out of the Five BRICS countries are under open siege. Russia is involved in two proxy wars with the west in Ukraine and Syria. Plus Russia like China is under economic war. In fact Venezuela was merely collateral damage in the economic war Wall Street and the Saudis are waging on Russia and Iran which sent oil prices plunging last year. China was also the victim of wall street swindlers last year who crashed the Chinese stock market. And of course the US and it's proxies are trying to encircle bully and provoke China in the South China Sea. The BRICS nations which were beginning to challenge the Washington consensus have clearly been targeted for destruction. Russia and China will prove very difficult to destabilize but Brazil and South Africa are more vulnerable especially Brazil where after loosing the elections the right are trying to topple Rousseff based on trumped up corruption charges. The empire of Chaos is trying to murder the future destroy any hope of an alternative to their system of greed and exploitation. Of course in launching this economic war they are going to bring untold misery to their own citizens as well Pepe Escobar warns that they plan to crash the Global economy as part of their plans to destabilize Russia, China and indeed the entire world. Venezuela because of the folly of it's voters has become the central front in this war for the future what I call World War 4. The only good news is that Syria that land of heroes has with Russian aid been making slow but steady progress in ejecting the terrorists. And in Yemen which is under a criminal siege meant to starve the entire country, which has been relentlessly bombed, the spirit of resistance refuses to die and the Saudi invasion has suffered humiliating defeats.


   Apart from the victories in Yemen and Syria there was more bad news for the rest of the world which I probably won't have time to deal with so I'll mention now. Well actually North Korea tested an H-Bomb which should give the empire of Chaos some bad dreams which is good news. Now for the bad news Hannibal Gaddafi was brutally kidnapped and tortured and interrogated over the mysterious disappearance of Amal movement founder Musa Sadr in Libya in 1978. It was a disgrace that this vendetta should be pursued by Hezbollah against someone who battled the exact same terrorist enemy in Libya that Hezbollah is fighting in Syria and Lebanon. The Gaddafi family has suffered more then enough already and in truth Libya was betrayed with no one coming to it's aid Including Iran, Hezbollah, or Syria, as well as Russia or China an ugly fact discussed in length by Gerald A Perreira. At least Syria is demanding his release from Lebanon since he was treacherously kidnapped while a guest of Syria. He remains imprisoned and in poor health we must demand his release. The Fascists in Ukraine cut off power to Crimea in the middle of winter. Terrorists attacked Chinese and Russian interests in Mali. Newly freed Burkina Faso which managed to overthrow the Blaise Compradore regime last year reawakening the great spirit of Thomas Sankara, was also hit with a terrorist attack. The Saudis bribed Nigerian military to carry out a massacre on the followers of Sheikh Zakzaky who had been inspired by the example of the Iranian Revolution to convert to Shia Islam. Zakzaky was arrested his followers massacred merely to send a message to Iran. The Saudis also executed Sheikh Nimr the respected leader of the Shiite opposition in Saudi Arabia to the insane Saudi Monarchs for advocating peaceful democratic reforms. In Iran the Saudi embassy was burned to the ground by angry crowds in revenge. The Saudis responded by bombing the Iranian embassy in Yemen. Thus as if their massive crimes in Syria and Yemen were not enough the Saudis have found new infamies to commit. Since Saudi Arabia's Monarchs are also partly responsible for the success of the counter-revolution in Venezuela they deserve the hatred of all progressive humanity for their actions. We can only hope that they bring disaster on themselves with their oil price games, and wars on Syria and Yemen. According to Pepe Escobar there is a strong possibility of a coup in Saudi Arabia in the coming year. Down with the Saudi Monarchy!


   First before I begin to discuss Venezuela I should mention the work of one my old favorites Eric Draitser of stopimperialism.org and one of new favorites Caleb Maupin of calebmaupin.info who along with Isolina De La Cruz went down to Venezuela to observe the election, the results of the economic war on Venezuela, as well as meeting with those still deeply committed to the Bolivarian Socialist Revolution. I highly recommend you check out their work on the Venezuela which provide a vivid picture of life there and the dangers which now face the Bolivarian Revolution. Of course the main english language source for news on Venezuela is  http://venezuelanalysis.com . I will be relying heavily on their work for my discussion of Venezuela.


   Venezuela has been a victim of a covert destabilization campaigns since Chavez first came to power in 1999. Economic warfare, sanctions, coup attempts, psychological operations, even armed incursions by Colombian death squads and drug gangs. Corrupt elements inside the Venezuelan government make a fortune sabotaging the economy as do the Venezuelan oligarchs. For example the government subsidizes food and gasoline so that the price is low enough for the poor majority. The corrupt elements buy up these products cheap then smuggle them across the Colombian border sell them for much more making huge profits and as an added bonus from the oligarchs perspective this also creates huge shortages in Venezuela. Currency scams are also a great way to make a fortune while also producing massive inflation. With the massive drop in oil prices government revenue has also dropped and it can no longer compensate for the effects of these schemes. Thus Venezuelans face long lines and scarcities as the rich hoard  goods intentionally shut down distribution and production of vital products. For example Eric Draitser was unable to find deodorant or sunscreen during his two weeks in the country despite a constant search. Of course no sooner did the opposition win the parliamentary elections then goods began to appear back on the shelves. Maduro was unable to find an effective solution to the economic war. As a result the PSUV received a massive punishment vote in the elections. This was a foolish and dangerous move Venezuela is not an ordinary country where the two sides in an election are only slightly different. While the PSUV the United Socialist Party of Venezuela isn't perfect and needs to get rid of some of the corrupt and opportunistic elements who always join any successful revolution it is trying to build a whole new society. The opposition on the other hand are merely Oligarchs and their hangers on willing tools of the CIA, the US State Department, the NED and other notorious criminal organizations who have spread war fascism and genocide all over the globe. Take Ukraine for a prime example my first article on recent news "Blood in the Streets" from February 2014 was actually about both countries both being targeted for destabilization. Venezuela survived and as a result only 43 people died  during the western back Guarimbas a fascist terror campaign of the rich against the poor a terrible tragedy but nothing compared to what Ukraine would suffer where thousands would die and over a million people would be turned into refugees. (In Mexico in 2014 43 also died at the hands of fascist gangsters at Ayotzinapa inspiring a nationwide struggle for justice but actually between 50,000-100,000 have died in the US backed war there in recent years) Syria is an even more horrifying example of  what the CIA is capable of. By Voting the opposition into power the people of Venezuela have unwittingly invited the CIA to come and destroy their country.  Venezuela suffered a much milder form of repression then much of Latin America during the cold war. It had the illusion of democracy instead of the ruthless open dictatorships of places like Argentina or Chile. However if the Opposition win this coming power struggle with the Maduro Government they will then move to crush the millions of loyal Chavistas It will be a bloodbath in Argentina things have already gone extremely ugly with police terrorizing protestors and suspected CIA agents being given important government posts.


    Thankfully the opposition have not won yet. Maduro still holds the presidency and has strong constituitional powers to resist the coming counter revolution. The Supreme court is on Maduro's side.  The army is loyal to the Bolivarian cause and is trained in Cuba. Above all there are millions of revolutionary minded Venezuelans who are willing to fight to defend the gains of the revolution. Even if Maduro should fall there is a strong chance that the people will one day reverse the counter-revolutionary changes. In Nicaragua for instance after heroically resisting a bloody covert war, they also succumbed to the economic war waged on the country and voted in the NED/CIA backed UNO destroying the Sandinista revolution. Yet today in Nicaragua  the Sandinistas are back in power. However as I said if the opposition ever come to power they will attempt to crush the chavistas in the bloodiest manner possible. That is how america wages it's dirty wars in fact next door in Colombia tens of thousands have died millions have been turned into refugees as part of "Plan Colombia." (See My October 2015 "Operation Condor" for a full description of how America wages it's dirty wars in Latin America) Maduro must use every means possible to prevent the opposition from seizing power. Venezuela is in danger of falling into civil war. Of course it is likely that Maduro plans to allow the opposition the opportunity to alienate the people before he decides to take decisive action. More then Venezuela is at stake all of Latin America is in danger of being drowned in this counter-revolutionary tidal wave. Venezuela is an inspiration to people around the world. When the Berlin wall fell and everyone was declaring capitalism triumphant it was in Venezuela that the people rose up February 27 1989 on the Caracazo the opening battle of World War 4. (World War 3 was "The Cold War" I call our current wars World War 4) Hundreds were slaughtered in order to put down this first uprising against the neo-liberal new world order. However this failure inspired Hugo Chavez to attempt to seize power in 1992 and while this also was a failure initially by catapulting Chavez into the public eye it allowed him to later run for president and win coming to power in 1999 and changing the course of history. Chavez would not only revolutionize Venezuela he would inspire most of Latin America to break free from US domination. Now all of that is under threat. Venezuela is the hope of the world and must be defended at all costs. The struggle in Venezuela has reached a new and dangerous and Venezuela has become the central front in World War 4 I'll be following events there closely.


    Meanwhile the situation in Syria has continued to improve despite some outrageous provocations from the Empire of Chaos and it's allies. There was of course the ambush and shoot down of the Russian Jet. Their followed the cowardly murder of the pilot Col. Oleg Peshkov as he parachuted but the heroic rescue of the navigator Constan Murakhtin in a joint operation of Russian air forces and Iranian, Hezbollah and SAA Special forces. Next the Americans bombed the Syrians at their Deir Ez-Zor Base which is deep in ISIS held territory the Americans bombed then ISIS attacked but the SAA heroically managed to repel them. Actually the city of  Deir Ez-zor is currently under constant attack as the empire of chaos seeks to destroy this important SAA foothold in ISIS controlled Eastern Syria. The Israelis also bombed Hezbollah killing a veteran resistance commander who spent years in an Israeli prison.


   However aside from these cowardly provocations, the war in Syria has been going well major gains have been made in Allepo and Latakia provinces, the city of Homs has been freed. City after city, village after village have been freed. It was announced a couple weeks ago that Since the start of the Russian air campaign the SAA have liberated 217 villages and regained control of 10,000 sq KM of territory. They have also been having a great deal of success in killing off important Terrorist commanders. Every week seems to bring new victories and more dead terrorist leaders. Latakia is now almost completely under government control. Meanwhile Yemen is turning into Saudi Arabia's Vietnam (Or Afghanistan) hopefully losing two wars plus waging self destructive economic war on the planet at wall streets bidding will begin to take it's toll on the Saudi's and the other gulf monarchs.

   I would go into a lot more detail but I am a bit exhausted at this point the transition from my long vacation to writing again was a little taxing although I am glad to be back.  So instead let me recommend some books I read over my "Winter Break." First anyone wishing to understand modern Syria should immediately go out and get a copy of "Asad: Struggle for the Middle East" By Patrick Seale. It traces the complex story of the rise of Hafez al-Assad to power and his struggle with Israel and America for control of the Middle East. For more on Syria Global Research has published a number of chapters from Prof. Tim Anderson's upcoming book the "Dirty War on Syria" which are a must read. For anyone seeking to understand the long history of America's covert wars and terrorist campaigns "Instruments of Statecraft US Guerrilla Warfare, Counter-Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism 1940-1990" By Michael McClintock is another must read. I also read "Changing Venezuela By Taking Power" By Gregory Wilpert provides good info on the first half of Hugo Chavez's leadership, although more radical readers will smile at some of his naiveté and either laugh out loud or throw down the book in disgust at other parts. On a more fun note I read the "Comte of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas an under rated classic on the advice of a comrade. I hadn't read a french novel in two years because I'm usually doing research for this blog so it was a joy to savor this decadent novel of revenge.




Sources



The main English language source for news on Venezuela is

   http://venezuelanalysis.com

 Tortilla Con Sal did an important interview with Gerald A. Perreira last year on racism and the war on Libya that discussed the disappearance of Imam Musa Sadr as well as why Libya was betrayed by the axis of resistance

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/08/01/libya-racism-and-anti-imperialism-discussion-with-gerald-a-perreira/

Eric Draitser's site is Stop Imperialism I also advise you to subscribe to his Youtube channel

http://stopimperialism.org

Caleb Maupin's site he also has a great Youtube channel

http://calebmaupin.info

More on the Hannibal Gaddafi case

https://jamahiriyanewsagency.wordpress.com/?s=+++هانيبال+القذافي

And The Tim Anderson Archive at Global Research

http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/tim-anderson

Follow Pepe Escobar on Face Book he has done some great articles on the saudis like this one

http://sputniknews.com/columnists/20160121/1033486596/secret-behind-next-global-crash.html

Nil Nikandrov on Argentina

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/us-agents-are-filling-key-posts-in-argentina/