Venezuelans take their holiday traditions very seriously, from delicious hallacas to the wonderful gaita songs from western Venezuela. But there's another cherished tradition that is becoming a fixture: opposition infighting. Yes, grab your virtual popcorn and follow us 🧵🧵🧵
The latest bombshell is that @JulioBorges, a moronic, unrepentant coup plotter, is resigning as fake foreign minister in the make-believe @jguaido "interim govt." Funny that Borges used to be a reality tv judge and yet that's only the 2nd most ridiculous thing in his CV
Apart from resigning, Borges is calling for an end to the circus known as "interim government", citing "disgusting and sickening corruption" from Guaidó and his party. He argued that the Vzlan opposition needs a reboot given "contradictions and a lack of strategy"
Borges will present his case before the (expired) 2015 National Assembly. So, to sum up, a person with a make-believe job will lobby for the end of an imaginary structure before a no-longer-existing political body. We give you the US-backed Venezuelan opposition, ladies and gents
Borges is one of many calling for Guaidó's head. While they're right that his selfproclaimedness has shown a staggering level of idiocy, the "corruption" concerns are disingenuous.All opposition forces enjoyed the party, only now they realize they can heap all the blame on Guaidó
All this jockeying for position comes as the US is about to decide whether this nonsense of an "interim govt" continues or not. Because puppets have their strings pulled in Washington. So it's like a bunch of capos lobbying the mob boss, only they're all legendary morons
On the surface, one more year of pointless Guaidó infomercials doesn't seem so relevant. But behind this veneer of nonsense there are billion-dollar assets at stake, like CITGO. So Guaidó staying on can ensure that US corporations can get their hands on these Venezuelan assets
For more on CITGO and the opposition's antics, check out the following thread
The Venezuelan National Assembly approved a reform to the country’s Hydrocarbon Law in its first discussion. A second discussion and final vote are expected soon. This is arguably the country’s most important piece of legislation, so let’s look at what’s at stake 🧵🧵🧵
Some background: Venezuela’s present energy legislation was established under the Hugo Chávez govts. It was first approved in 2001 and later had some amendments. In essence, it reaffirmed the state’s sovereignty over natural resources and established control over the oil industry
Chávez’s reforms mandate that state oil company PDVSA hold majority stakes (in some cases at least 60%) and run oilfield operations. Taxes on oil profits were set 50%, royalties were raised (in some cases from 1%) to 30% across the board
The bar is always high (or low, rather), but every now and then the New York Times delivers an all-time masterpiece of journalistic dishonesty and pliant service to US imperialism. This is a piece about (imaginary ties) between Hezbollah and Venezuela: 🧵 archive.is/FPrMQ
First off, the US kidnapped/abducted Maduro. But US exceptionalism runs so deep that corporate stenographers believe Washington can just "seize" foreign leaders. But the relevant part here is that all we have here are claims by Rubio and US officials
This section is just empty fluff meant to malign Iran and Venezuela. Notice the nonsense of saying the countries are "bound by anti-American ideology" like it's some kind of bad taste in music, as opposed to the result of decades of imperialist attacks
A controversial afternoon (on Twitter) after the orangeman-in-chief lashed out at Colombia after the Petro government refused to accept repatriation flights with shackled migrants in military airplanes. Trump threatened tariffs and sanctions, Petro replied defiantly
Trump's disgusting (even by his standards) xenophobic and imperialist antics barely a week into his term have drawn fierce rebukes across the hemisphere. Honduran President Xiomara Castro called for an extraordinary summit in a few days
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro also voice his support, telling his Colombian counterpart he can count on the "strength and experience" of the Venezuelan people and calling for further regional unity
🧵When it comes to reporting about Venezuela, there is no corporate outlet even remotely close to the level of dishonesty of the New York Times. Seriously, it's one piece of misrepresented bullsh*t after another. Follow this thread as we break it down
This is the piece:
The article is not to be taken seriously b/c it starts from a blatant lie. US "prodding" has nothing to do with Venezuela holding elections. It is dictated by the Constitution that they be held this year and they were never in doubt shorturl.at/LFusR
Anyone not high on Western exceptionalism would actually be ashamed of their government meddling in other countries' affairs. But alas, this is the NYT.
In corporate media spiel, "restoring democracy" just means a US puppet being back in the presidential palace
🧵🧵The border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana has flared up recently, leading to a war of words, increased military deployment and increasing signs of US intervention. We have prepared an infographic to explain the history and context of the controversy (thread)
The Essequibo Strip is a sparsely populated, 160,000 square km region spanning to the west of the Essequibo River. It has been the subject of centuries of dispute which, sadly, have never taken into account the indigenous population
Instead, it has always been pretty much about resources. Gold mining is what drove British expansion westward (more on this below), and the recent discoveries of massive oil deposits led to Venezuela and Guyana raising tensions too
About time... Spain's @el_pais reports that the $3 billion in frozen Vzlan assets will soon be released. This was agreed to between the Venezuelan govt and opposition last November! But this thread is to point out the dishonest b.s. from the Spanish establishment's mouthpiece 🧵
This is the article in question:
It essentially relies on anonymous sources who say that the funds will soon be released. El País then covers this fairly straightforward report in a cloak of lies and misconceptionsenglish.elpais.com/international/…
So it begins. How dare Maduro want to access Venezuelan funds? Then it's incredibly disingenuous and racist to claim the govt wants to fix schools/hospitals to "polish its image." If a western govt builds a hospital, it's laudable. If Vzla does it it's to fool voters. GTFOH