Trump Bent on Redoubling Venezuela Regime-Change Op, Considering “Military Options”, Naval Blockade

Humiliated by the failure of ill-advised economic warfare and coup attempts

President Donald Trump is frustrated that pressure is building too slowly on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and is still considering military options in the country, including a naval blockade, a senior administration official said.

The U.S. has put several companies that continue to do business in Venezuela on notice, the official said, including India’s Reliance Industries, Spain’s RepsolChevron and Greek shippers. Trump is likely to raise the issue of India’s oil imports from Venezuela with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a two-day visit next week, the official said Friday in a briefing for reporters.

The official asked not to be identified as a condition of participation in the briefing. The Trump administration has long sought to oust Maduro’s regime but has so far failed to replace him with the opposition leader it supports, National Assembly President Juan Guaido. Guaido was a surprise guest of Trump at this month’s State of the Union address.

Trump has ordered his administration to use any tools necessary to build pressure on Maduro with the goal of securing free and fair elections in Venezuela, the official said. The U.S. doesn’t believe that free elections are possible with Maduro in power, the official said.

The U.S. continues to pursue what the official called a “Trump doctrine” to foster democratic governments throughout the Western Hemisphere, akin to the Monroe Doctrine, which warned against European colonization efforts in the Americas two centuries ago. Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua remain impediments, the official said, adding that actions by Russia and China in the region are unacceptable.

The U.S. is also frustrated by Spain, which it believes is too accommodating to Maduro allies whom the U.S. believes seek to engage in illicit activity in the country. Spain has been hesitant to help oust Maduro and remains the biggest barrier in the European Union to the U.S. campaign, the official said.

Trump believes a slow-moving bureaucratic process hasn’t delivered the swift, steady pressure on Maduro he’s sought, the official said. Trump has pressed for Maduro’s ouster since 2017, the official said, but was initially recommended only incremental policy options.

At that time, other Latin American leaders were skeptical and reticent when Trump floated the idea of military action against Maduro, the official said. Now, they acknowledge that military force may be necessary, the official said, describing slow-walking efforts to oust Maduro as unsustainable.

The U.S. will release a Western Hemisphere strategy in about a month outlining its goals in the region, the official said.

Source: Bloomberg


Indeed the evil creep-a-zoid Elliot Abrams is already announcing that to start with more sanctions are on the way:

U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams told Reuters in an interview that there will be more sanctions as Washington plans to go after continued customers of Venezuelan oil, including those in Asia, and target intermediaries helping Caracas hide the origin of its oil.

“The President has made a decision to push harder on the Venezuelan oil sector and we’re going to do it. And what we’re telling people involved in this sector is that they should get out of it,” Abrams said.

Washington’s ramped up pressure campaign is not going to focus solely on Russia, Abrams said, but will also target entities throughout the supply chain.

“Rosneft Trading is a middle-man. What about the customers who are mainly in Asia? We will be talking with them. So it isn’t a Russia focused campaign, it’s focused on the critical points in the petroleum sector from production to shipping to the customers,” he said.

Venezuela’s oil exports last year plummeted 32% to 1.001 million barrels per day, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and state-run PDVSA’s reports. Rosneft was the largest receiver and intermediary with 33.5% of total exports, followed by state-run China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and its units with 11%.

38 Comments
  1. kpevt12 . says

    Did not anyone tell the writer Guido is now nothing in Venezuela but the DC puppet. He was ousted from being the National Assembly President. Guido held his own election and swore himself in again as he usually does. Makes him zero. Do not give Guido any credit of being anything but a CIA plant in Venezuela.

  2. Vera Gottlieb says

    Frigging GRINGOS…mind your own gd business. Clean up your own backyard…plenty of stuff that needs cleaning. Just can’t quit disturbing the shit all over the world, can you?

  3. cechas vodobenikov says

    as the acknowledged founder of modern political sociology, moisede ostrogorski wrote, “of all peoples in an advanced stage of economic civilization amerikans always and everywhere in a hurry to get rich give no thought to remote consequences, they see only present advantages… they do not remember, they do not feel, they live in a materialist dream”….when the empire attempted to embargo Cuba, not only did the USSR extract a guarantee that CubA would not be invaded, the amrrikans were required to remove nukes from Turkish soil…obviously amerikans hate democracy, have no memory—this informs their admiration for the fascist imperialist, bunny sanders, who famously described Hugo Chavez as a “dead dictator”….

  4. XRGRSF says

    Under international law a naval blockade is an act of war. I think that Russia/China, both heavily invested in Venezuela, are not going to tolerate a U$ act of war against one of their allies. Also, with Venezuela now part of China’s economic system, and enjoying full use of the Chinese yuan, there’s very little Trump can do other than bully, threaten, and make a fool of himself…………again.

    1. bob says

      Oh yeah and what exactly is Russia and China gonna do?

      Is Putin gonna send that old rust bucket aircraft carrier across the Atlantic to fight on behalf of Venezuela if there was blockade?

      Good luck with that Putin!I

      As for China they ain’t gonna do anything

      But you miss the point about the dollar its still actually the worlds reserve currency and not the Chinese one, Venezuela hasn’t got jack sh*t to deal with and they know it

      Trump should put the boot in big time, teach Russia a lesson

      1. RedBaron9495 says

        Seriously, there is absolutely nothing to admire about an American society that goes around pillaging and marauding. It only shows a lack of moral development and an inability to solve problems on an intellectual level.

        It baffles me that some people still think invading countries and killing their people is “winning” some sort of contest.

        China is a peaceful country. The last time they went to war was about forty years ago. In that time the USA has gone to war more than twenty times, destabilising countries or overthrowing governments, causing terror groups to fill those voids, while exploiting those countries’ resources.

        Are we expected to think this sort of behaviour is “winning” behaviour?

        Sorry. I refuse to accept the implied positive connotation with war when we start talking about “winning” wars. Nobody wins wars. The more you kill, the more you lose your soul. A soulless society is not a winning society.

        You first have to lose your mind to resort to violence and to start killing other people. In no way are you “winning” when you’ve lost your mind.

        Using diplomacy or trade agreements to resolve problems is how you win. War is nothing but a pointless waste of life.

  5. CHUCKMAN says

    It’s hard to see how anyone still sees a scrap of anything worthy in Trump. His mind resembles toxic sludge.

    And even if he doesn’t take “military measures,” why don’t Americans see what he has been doing already in Venezuela as little different than having started a new war?

    Elliott Abrams has always resembled a nasty frat boy who likes to play dirty jokes on people, the kind of guy who gets a big laugh out of tripping someone on the sidewalk with a stretch of wire.

    When you look at almost all of Trump’s appointments, the Empire is literally being run by psychopaths

    1. Marko Marjanović says

      Plucking Elliot “Death Squads” Abrams from the damp cellar he was safely rotting in and giving him a superpower to unleash on Venezuela, thanks Trump, truly change we can believe in.

      1. Mary E says

        November elections can’t come soon enough in the US…hopefully, there will be a true and good leader who will stop the regime changs that are so carefully put into the hands of the CIA…and the warring for oil that is so surely put into the hands of the Pentagon. Hegemony is an international crime committed only by the US.

        1. XRGRSF says

          The Liberals wont save us. All of the “true, and good leaders” running against Trump have sworn their loyalty to the same Satan that Trump has, Israel. As long as the Jews have their shabbos goy bully, the United States, the evil shall continue.

          1. bob says

            I didn’t know you’d taken lessons in goose stepping?

            Does you’re mother iron your nice black shirt?

            1. Ulricht says

              Thousands are stepping with XRGRSF. Don’t miss out, join up now.

            2. bob says

              I’ll give it a miss thanks

        2. Ulricht says

          Oh dear, Mary, you are a true believer aren’t you?
          It’s a dream, love, just a dream.

        3. David Chu says

          Mary E, you are day dreaming I am sad to say, hoping against hope. There hasn’t been a real Yankee president since they killed JFK and they all know what line to toe. Those “presidents” who followed JFK.

        4. CHUCKMAN says

          You can hope for a good leader, but when it comes to the military-security complex burning through a trillion dollars a year on imperial affairs, don’t expect any real change.

          Tulsi spoke out some and has been exiled by the Democrats from competing for leadership.

          Both parties are in fact imperial/war parties. Democrats only differ by talking about social welfare matters, and it is largely talk. There’s no money for virtually any of it.

          Bernie, a good man in many ways, has not been a regular champion against the military and empire.

          As for the rest, they are literally clones with different hairstyles and wardrobes.

          You can have a decent country or an empire, but you cannot have both. America made its choice long ago.

    2. Ulricht says

      “the Empire is literally being run by psychopaths”
      This is the very nature of empire; dispassionate, sociopathic and controlling.
      Psychopath.

    3. Vera Gottlieb says

      And this is what makes T-Rump so dangerous…dementia, irrationality, super inflated ego.

    4. rightiswrong rightiswrong says

      I wouldn’t agree about Trump, Chuckman, we get to see Hilary still get all worked up by him, so that’s worthy.
      For sure, Trump is an as shole of the highest order, a prize p rick and all that, but it’s great to actually hear the man who Americans voted for, articulate for them, their hopes and dreams.

      If that doesn’t convince the rest of the world just how crazy and delusional the Americans are, then nothing will.

      1. CHUCKMAN says

        The man is killing people in half a dozen places.

        He is definitely threatening a weak world economy with all his sanctions and tariffs and threats and slowing of trade.

        And his deficit spending is at record levels.

        He has recklessly pushed the Fed to keep monetizing assets.

        He keeps friendships with tyrants.

        He has just offered a disgraceful “plan” to make Palestinians a permanent non-citizen underclass in a form of open-air prison, having nothing to do with peace.

        He is an international embarrassment with his crude words and name-calling.

        And he has achieved very little in all his bellowing efforts.

        Take a look at my site:

        https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/

        I see nothing good to say about him.

        1. rightiswrong rightiswrong says

          I agree with all your points, in full.

          Every US president has done the same as him, even worse compared to Nixon.

          Imperialism has many faces, though always the same message. Trump is US hubris at it’s best.

    5. David Chu says

      Correction!

      When you look at almost all of Trump’s appointments, the Empire is literally being run by JEWS!

      1. Vera Gottlieb says

        Spare us your religious bias…

        1. Ulricht says

          Facts, Vera, facts.

          1. Vera Gottlieb says

            And if T-Rump was surrounded by Christians? Would this be pointed out too?

        2. David Chu says

          I am so sorry! I didn’t know that Jews are religious . . .

          1. Ulricht says

            They’re not, they’re machines.

            1. Vera Gottlieb says

              Just like all the other “machines”…

  6. Mary E says

    Those Americans just won’t stop in their illegal quest to rob Venezuela of its oil…
    That country, as we know, has more oil deposits under it than any other in the world….
    and the US has deemed it theirs – by hook or by crook – the hook being the military and crook is understood – out and out armed robbery. Lest they forget, Russia and China have very large monetary investments in Venezuela – and Russian military presence has grown – so the US is playing a very dangerous game – one that they will not win.

    1. Vera Gottlieb says

      I just hope that both Russia and China will stand by Venezuela and pass a clear message to Washington: hands off.

    2. bob says

      Russia are right out on a limb, from a military point of view, so too china

      If you think they can come into Americas back yard in a military way you’re sadly delusional

      The real losers will be Venezuela, not America

      1. Séamus Ó Néill says

        This is not the 1960’s, America, being a bullying, warmongering psychopath, has bases all over the planet. Iran showed just how vulnerable they are….the losses, in one precision attack, were so great that they’re still being hidden from the gullible American public. Russia have very powerful stealth submarines all around America’s coast….if they wanted to and were of the same ilk as the moronic Americans, the US could be destroyed, without nuclear weapons, in minutes !

        1. bob says

          Why don’t they do it then??

          You know all this stuff about how invincible American enemies are so why doesn’t Putin and the theocratic dictatorship in Iran, along with the authoritarian communist Chinese just get on with it?

          You know wouldn’t it be better for the whole world if the aforementioned just had a quick blitzkrieg on America?I

          I think you’ve takin in to much Putin wizbang propaganda!

          1. Séamus Ó Néill says

            Putin, the most intelligent statesman on the planet, has, on numerous occasions, stated that Russia’s weapons are defensive. He has also stated that if Russia or her allies were attacked he would immediately respond, not only to the source of the attack, but to the seat of government of that attack ! America has been in existence for 244 years, it has been continuously at war with someone on the planet for 223 of those years and never won once….. except against 19 part-time policemen and a few chickens in Grenada…..an impressive record. America is now bankrupt and within 10 years it will be a third world cesspit…..it’s already happening, with people openly defecating in the streets like wild animals.

            1. bob says

              typical lazy conclusion to your comment, more likely to be the future of russia, althoughit will take longer than ten years…. obviously your thinking is a creation of yet more hysterical anti western propaganda,some advice though,if america and the west are about to collapse you’ll find north korea very stable,good luck with your move!

            2. Séamus Ó Néill says

              I notice you ignored my assertions about America’s ability to fight a war, its bankruptcy status etc, etc…..I never mentioned the collapse of the west, only America ! You, yourself have been lobotomised by American propaganda, America is not some great democratic nation but a satanic bullying entity, subservient to demonic Israel and led by a buffoon ( Trump ), a self confessed murderer, a compulsive liar, a common thief and a war criminal….you really don’t have a lot going for you !

            3. bob says

              whatever

          2. RedBaron9495 says

            The world is slowly getting fed up of you warmongering Americans….even amongst the populations of NATO allies in Europe from where I’m from!

            I can’t wait for the day….where every American soldier on European soil leaves and goes back home….and all their military bases and naval facilities are closed down.

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