🧵The Juan Guaidó experience has been full of what we could (generously) call "unconventional" antics. Pointless infomercials, a banana-fueled coup attempt, a pathetic mercenary invasion, etc. Now w/ the focus on Vzlan foreign assets, the self-proclaimed one continues to surprise Image
Vzla is facing a bunch of legal cases thanks to pro-corporate int'l arbitration tribunals. The "interim govt", the one "recognized" in US courts, has decided that its strategy is going to be "when the creditors arrive let's just turn off the lights and pretend we're not home" Image
Yes, you read it right. The US-backed Venezuelan opposition (or its representation) is simply not showing up in court. This allows judges to greenlight corporations' efforts to collect the arbitration awards by moving to seize Venezuelan assets (more on this below) Image
The latest case involved three Cayman Islands-based subsidiaries of the Pharo group, a hedge fund. The corporations want to collect on defaulted Venezuelan bonds (sanctions meant the govt was no longer able to service debt), with amounts+interest totaling a whopping $1.2 billion Image
Though the Pharo case is not covered, we recommend this piece by @frrodriguezc on the international arbitration award disputes in US courts and the opposition's actions. It's long and in Spanish, but very insightful

franciscorodriguez.net/2021/10/15/se-…
This small town crook behavior from Guaidó and acolytes came into the spotlight when they failed to respond in a case involving ConocoPhillips and a massive $8.5 billion award, probably more than all the other pending amounts combined. This piece has more:
venezuelanalysis.com/news/15340
The US puppet and some people in made-up posts issued some less-than-convincing arguments that there was nothing to argue, they wanted to save attorney fees and there's an effort to have the award annulled at a World Bank tribunal. None of the alternatives seem very plausible Image
The no-show invited extra scrutiny because just days before a Delaware court document relating to yet another legal battle to collect on international arbitration awards mentioned a $1.3 billion agreement between the Guaidó make-believe administration and... ConocoPhillips Image
The made-up government tied itself into a knot in its denial, the court's "special master" asked to strike that part from the report without any real explanation. This led to the plausible speculation that it wasn't a formal "agreement" as much as a wink-wink understanding Image
This theory is not conjured from thin air. José Ignacio Hernández, former pretend "special attorney general" in Guaidó's make-believe administration, mentioned an understanding with Conoco in a leaked audio. Small detail: Hernández actually worked for corporations suing Vzla Image
At this point there's a temptation to shrug and tell the latest creditor to grab a ticket and wait in line. Between bondholders and arbitration awards,the amounts already exceed what Vzla's most prized foreign asset (Citgo) is valued at. It's hard to picture the company surviving Image
For now, paradoxically, it's the US Treasury Department keeping the corporations at bay with orders blocking the seizure of Venezuelan assets without special permission. But there are signs that these protections will be lifted in 2022, and the vultures are already lining up Image
This takes us to "interim president" and part-time used car salesman @jguaido. It's not unreasonable, and we bet our imaginary farm, that he'll land a sweet gig as a non-executive corporate board member. Or in a bs corporate-funded "democracy promotion" NGO. You read it here 1st! Image

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More from @venanalysis

22 Oct
When it comes to ConocoPhillips, the US-backed Venezuelan opposition is a gift that keeps on giving. And giving here means giving the oil giant ever better chances of seizing billions-worth of Venezuelan assets. Legendary incompetence or something more? Let's take a look 🧵🧵🧵 Image
The latest development is that the ICSID (World Bank arbitration tribunal) has suspended proceedings to annul an $8.5B award given to ConocoPhillips for a 2007 nationalization of its assets. Why? Because the Juan Guaidó merry band of idiots did not fulfill its payment obligations Image
This is especially significant because the US-backed pretend administration caught a lot of heat for not showing up in a DC court where ConocoPhillips is looking to have its award enforced. We explained it at length in this piece
venezuelanalysis.com/news/15340
Read 14 tweets
20 Oct
On #20Oct, 2012, Hugo Chávez gave his last public speech packed with self-criticism and strategic lines on Venezuela's transition towards socialism.

The 3h+ long historic broadcast is considered his political testament, with Chavista people baptizing it "Strike at the Helm." 🧵 Image
Hugo Chávez's "Strike at the Helm" speech focused on a new cycle of the Bolivarian Process, with the leader calling for "radicalization" and turning the wheel towards socialism by transforming the economic landscape from the bottom-up.

Social property was key in Chávez' vision. Image
"Is building a highway the goal?" asked Chávez, "Or is it changing the entire geographical-human, socio-territorial and cultural relationship with its surroundings the goal?"

The Vzlan leader demanded territorializing the socialist model to break away from the capitalist logic. Image
Read 7 tweets
9 Oct
Well, that didn't take long. It seemed like the European Union was taking a step forward and striking a better tone than Washington by sending an observation mission to the upcoming regional elections. But no, this decadent colonial mentality came to the fore in no time (thread)
There's (justified) controversy about statements made today by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. In some pointless forum, Borrell said the EU is in Venezuela to "accompany" the opposition and that its presence "offers" guarantees to the opposition. Plain cheerleading really
The EU mission is (in theory?) meant to observe the election, and this high-profile suit says they want to hold the opposition's hand through this traumatic experience that is an election. Moreover, Borrell says it's the EU report that'll determine the "legitimacy" of the process
Read 7 tweets
8 Oct
Reuters has been a reliable regime-change enthusiast, but it used to have a more "sophisticated" bias than other corporate outlets. Not anymore. The level of dishonesty is just staggering, even in a piece with just a handful of paragraphs (thread)
reuters.com/world/americas…
This is one of the recurring lies. The heroic Vzlan opposition, backed by the generosity of Washington and Bogotá, wanted to bring "humanitarian aid" into Venezuela, and Maduro the monster blocked it. Surely the world's benevolent empire is justified in trying to oust him
Sadly for corporate journos, the truth is different. The Red Cross refused to take part b/c the operation was "not humanitarian aid." USAID itself said the aid would only feed 5,000 Vzlans for a few days. It was a circus meant to trigger a break in the armed forces, and it failed
Read 8 tweets
5 Oct
Corporate media outlets have pulled a muscle patting themselves on the back over the fancy titled "Pandora Papers". Will the world's mighty tremble w/ bombshell "revelations"? No, not really. Whatever it is they're selling, we're not buying. Here's a thread on it 💸🧵
In Latin America we've discovered things that weren't hard to guess. Billionaire Chilean president Piñera has used tax havens. As have Chicago boy Paulo Guedes (Brasil) and Colombian ex-presidents. Also some Russians so Putin can be used on the cover
Unlike Wikileaks revelations where wrongdoing by the world's most powerful actors was laid bare for all to see, the Pandora Papers (like other "papers") reach us after going through the digestive tract of the corporate media. So don't expect the status quo to be challenged at all
Read 14 tweets
4 Oct
#whatsappdown #facebookdown #instagramdown With Zuckerberg's stuff having some (ahem) technical difficulties, why not check out some VA content you might have missed?
Our latest interview featured anthropologists Iraida Vargas and Mario Sanoja. In a really interesting conversation, they make the case that Venezuela's modern-day popular power efforts build on a long history of rebellious and communal roots. Read it here: venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/153…
Venezuela still has one of the continent's most backward penal codes when it comes to abortion. Feminist movements have been organizing to make sure that changes soon. Find out more in this report: venezuelanalysis.com/news/15336
Read 5 tweets

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