If you have a proven war criminal with blood from several continents in his hands, what do you do with him?
a) Send him to jail and/or the ICC
b) At least make sure he's nowhere near public office again
c) Give him another high-ranking post
d) Give him a column on foreign policy
For people with minimum levels of decency and sanity, it'll be a combination of a) and b). But since we're talking about Washington DC, it's of course c) and d). Case in point this disgraceful human being that is Elliott Abrams and his column at @thehill thehill.com/opinion/intern…
For those who don't recall, Trump dusted off Abrams to be his special Vzla envoy b/c war crimes needed committing. The Central America death squad veteran was a key figure in the (failed) coup efforts and murderous sanctions policy. He faced little to no backlash from the media
Then Trump, Abrams and co. were replaced by an imperialist troupe that gets an even friendlier corporate media treatment on Vzla. Was that the end of Abrams? Of course not! Now he's writing about how he's worried about "democracy" because irony was killed by imperialism long ago
The article is full of gems, and Abrams is as dull as you'd expect a war criminal to be. Funny that he calls the Guaidó band of idiots the "democratic opposition". You know, the guy who proclaimed himself president, appoints buddies to made-up jobs and refuses to run in elections
Abrams is despondent that Biden hasn't appointed special officials for Vzla. If someone wants to organize a coup, who do they talk to? It's a nightmare. Then the usual talking points about "political prisoners" and "free press". There aren't enough air-quotes for this b.s.
The former Trump appointee then insists that murderous sanctions need to stay in place until the empire can frame the negotiations as a victory, but is also preparing for "defeat" if the interim gov't disappears or the hardliners decide to run in elections
Turning massive defeats into victories is a DC specialty these days. Abrams tries to do that w/ the negotiations, claiming they mean Maduro recognizes that Guaidó exists. What about the nonsense of these morons being the govt, and calling Maduro "former president of Vzla"?
Abrams' column is like the love child of war crimes and American exceptionalism. The best of both worlds, really.
Make sure you follow VA on your favorite platforms. Come for the accurate reporting, stay for the war criminal takedowns #SanctionsKill
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The US will ride this spectacular trainwreck of nonsense known as the @jguaido pretend presidency into the sunset. Though Biden has allegedly put an expiration date on this circus, US officials will try and stave off the inevitable disaster
The latest development has been yet another extension of a Treasury license banning any transactions with the PDVSA 2020 bond until January 2022. There have been similar ones banning corporations from seizing Vzlan assets without special permission
This is a story w/ equal parts sanctions and opposition tomfoolery. Why are these Treasury licenses relevant? In a word: Citgo (Vzlan US-based oil subsidiary). The PDVSA 2020 bond has defaulted and Citgo shares were pledged as collateral. So bondholders want to seize Citgo shares
Venezuelan writer Luis Britto García sheds light on the country's participative democracy and current political battles: venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15314
Also, here are some links to stories we covered this week. THREAD 👇
Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami denounced Colombia’s move to takeover agrochemical producer Monómeros as a “flagrant theft of a Venezuelan asset.”
Monómeros, frozen and handed to Guaidó in 2019, is a gov't priority in ongoing talks with the opposition. venezuelanalysis.com/news/15316
“We’ve done it again in Mexico,” said @jorgerpsuv, head of the gov’t delegation, after signing two agreements with the US-backed opposition.
The parties would look to secure access to the IMF's Special Drawing Rights to "increase social coverage." venezuelanalysis.com/news/15310
One thing we really don't get is how bigwigs and pundits think (or pretend) the US being despised all over the world is some kind of misunderstanding. Or a product of "misinformation campaigns." Case in point is Washington's stance regarding Venezuela's ongoing dialogue (thread)
Ladies and gentlemen, here's fake ambassador to Vzla James "Jimmy" Story (he has an office in Colombia) saying the US and its puppets are considering *new sanctions* if they don't like how the negotiation process is going. Yes, this is not a joke #SanctionsKill
Story funnily talks about the "interim president" when not even the opposition delegation uses this ridiculous term anymore. Also, the EU and Canada have nothing to be proud about in their history, but even for their standards it's a bit too low to be lapdogs to these shenanigans
If we ranked the biggest imperialist cheerleaders on the Hill, Bob Menéndez would be near the top (halfwit Marco Rubio is the runaway leader). Case in point is this statement by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee w/ the ever eager acolytes (thread) foreign.senate.gov/press/chair/re…
First off, a salute to countries like the Baltics who took a break from whitewashing and glorifying their nazi-collaborating pasts to lend a hand to the murderous empire du jour. The statement is a litany of outrageous nonsense, or half-decent jokes depending on how you read it
"We express our support for Vzla’s National Unity Platform,as it represents the will of the Vzlan people" Really? This platform didn't exist until 2 weeks ago when the opp. realized it needed a name. Also, empires + puppets talking about "will of the Vzlan people", never gets old
Back in action! Wonderful news that the Venezuelan Productive Workers' Army has engaged in a "productive battle" once again after a long hiatus due to the crisis and later the pandemic. The volunteer workers have been in the Che Guevara Commune (Mérida state) this week (cont)
They have been hard at work repairing/improving the industrial machinery and infrastructure at the Che Guevara Commune's coffee production cooperative. As always, a lot of emphasis on maintenance and safety. Here are some photos
The Productive Workers' Army is an awesome and inspiring organization. A group of volunteer workers that visits state companies or grassroots organizations to repair and boost their productive capabilities. Follow this link to know more about them venezuelanalysis.com/video/14589
What happens when you sanction a country's main industry and source of foreign income? Say, Venezuela’s oil sector.
An entire population is punished and thousands die, that's what happens. We break down the US oil sanctions in this brand-new infographic. 🧵👇
In 2017, the US levied financial sanctions against PDVSA, followed by an oil embargo in 2019.
While Venezuela's crisis began in 2014 with the global drop in oil prices, economists argue that the level of suffering Venezuelans experience today is primarily due to sanctions.👇
In 2019, Washington seized the CITGO refinery, Venezuela's most important asset abroad.
The Trump administration also imposed a blanket ban on all dealings with Caracas and a diluent ban further crippled the country’s oil output and fuel production. 👇