VENEZUELA ANTHOLOGY #12,
January 7, 2026
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture
of Peace, Justice, Ecology, and Democracy
What’s at Stake:
“Over the weekend, Trump
DID start an illegal war with Venezuela, which he freely admits is aimed at
controlling their oil reserves (possibly the
largest in the world). He has since talked about expanding the war to other
countries and expanded on his plans to have a puppet government operate at the
behest of major US oil companies like Chevron.”
#11 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2026/01/omni-venezuela-anthology-11-january-4.html
SOURCES
Adalah Justice Project
Common Dreams
Consortium News
Drew and the crew at 198 Methods
Geopolitical Economy Report
Justice Democrats
mronline.org
Scott Ritter
teleSUR Desk
Veterans for Peace
Marianne Williamson
Veterans for Peace Webinars
Jeffrey Sachs Briefs UN on Venezuela
Ben Norton on US Empire
Trump Warns Pres. of Colombia
Jon Queally on US Oligarchy of Oil Execs
Scott Ritter on the Kidnapping of a President
Marianne Williamson on the Donroe Doctrine
Etc.
TEXTS VENEZUELA ANTHOLOGY #12
[#11 Contains articles written in Dec. 2025 and
Jan. 2026. Articles in #12 carry
on from Jan. ]
VETERANS FOR PEACE
“Jeffrey Sachs Briefs
UN on
US Aggression in Venezuela. “ Consortium News (1-5-26).
The author advises the Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities by
immediately affirming a series of actions in response to the U.S. attacks on
Venezuela. Read
here...
The following remarks, as prepared for
presentation, were made by Jeffrey D. Sachs, president of the U.N. Sustainable
Development Solutions Network and director of the Center for Sustainable
Development at Columbia University, during an emergency meeting
of the U.N. Security Council on Mondayin New
York City.
By Jeffrey D. Sachs
Common Dreams
Distinguished Members of the Security
Council,
The issue before the Council today is
not the character of the government of Venezuela.
The issue is whether any Member State — by force, coercion,
or economic strangulation — has the right to determine Venezuela’s political
future or to exercise control over its affairs.
This question goes directly to Article 2(4) of the United
Nations Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force
against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
The Council must decide whether that prohibition is to be
upheld or abandoned.
Abandoning it would carry consequences of the gravest kind.
Background & Context
Since 1947, United
States foreign policy has repeatedly employed force, covert
action and political manipulation to bring about regime change in other
countries. This is a matter of carefully documented historical record. In her
book Covert Regime Change (2018), political scientist Lindsey
O’Rourke documents 70 attempted U.S. regime-change operations between 1947 and
1989 alone.
These practices did not end with the Cold
War. Since 1989, major United States regime-change operations
undertaken without authorization by the Security Council have included, among
the most consequential: Iraq (2003), Libya (2011), Syria (from
2011), Honduras (2009), Ukraine (2014),
and Venezuela (from 2002 onward).
Saddam Hussein’s statue toppled in Baghdad shortly after
the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. (Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons)
The methods employed are well established and well
documented. They include open warfare; covert intelligence operations;
instigation of unrest; support for armed groups; manipulation of mass and social
media; bribery of military and civilian officials; targeted
assassinations; false-flag operations; and economic warfare aimed at collapsing
civilian life.
These measures are illegal under the U.N. Charter, and they
typically result is ongoing violence, lethal conflict, political instability
and deep suffering of the civilian population.
The Case of Venezuela
Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s U.N. envoy, briefing the
Security Council meeting on Monday. (UN Photo/Mark Garten)
The recent United States record with respect to Venezuela
is clear.
In April 2002, the United States knew of and approved an
attempted coup against the Venezuelan government.
In the 2010s, the United States funded civil society groups
actively engaged in anti-government protests,
notably in 2014. When the government cracked down on the protests, the U.S.
followed with a series of sanctions.
In 2015, President Barrack Obama declared Venezuela to be “an unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United
States.”
In 2017, at a dinner with Latin American leaders on the
margins of the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump openly discussed the
option of the U.S. invading Venezuela to overthrow the government.
During 2017 to 2020, the U.S. imposed sweeping sanctions on
the state oil company. Oil production fell by 75
percent from 2016 to 2020, and real GDP per capita (PPP) declined by 62
percent.
The U.N. General Assembly has repeatedly voted
overwhelmingly against such unilateral coercive measures. Under international law, only the Security Council has
the authority to impose such sanctions.
On 23 January 2019, the United States unilaterally
recognized Juan Guaidó as “interim president” of Venezuela and on 28 January
2019 froze approximately $7 billion of Venezuelan sovereign assets held abroad
and gave Guaidó authority over certain assets.
These actions form part of a continuous United States
regime-change effort spanning more than two decades.
Recent US Global Escalation
In the past year, the United States has carried out bombing
operations in seven countries, none of which were authorized by the Security
Council and none of which were undertaken in lawful self-defense under the
Charter. The targeted countries include Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia,
Syria, Yemen, and now Venezuela.
In the past month, President Trump has issued direct
threats against at least six U.N. member states, including Colombia, Denmark,
Iran, Mexico, Nigeria and of course Venezuela. These threats are summarized in
Annex I to this statement.
What is at Stake Today
Members of the Council are not called upon to judge Nicolás
Maduro.
They are not called upon to assess whether the recent
United States attack and ongoing naval quarantine of Venezuela result in
freedom or in subjugation.
Members of the Council are called upon to defend
international law, and specifically the United Nations Charter.
The realist school of international relations, articulated
most brilliantly by John Mearsheimer, accurately describes the condition of
international anarchy as “the tragedy of great power politics.” Realism is
therefore a description of geopolitics, not a solution for peace. Its own
conclusion is that international anarchy leads to tragedy.
In the aftermath of World War I, the League of Nations was
created to end the tragedy through the application of international law. Yet
the world’s leading nations failed to defend international law in the 1930s,
leading to renewed global war.
The United Nations emerged from that catastrophe as
humanity’s second great effort to place international law above anarchy. In the
words of the Charter, the UN was created
“to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,
which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.”
Given that we are in the nuclear age, failure cannot be
repeated. Humanity would perish. There would be no third chance.
Measures Required of the Security
Council
To fulfill its responsibilities under the Charter, the
Security Council should immediately affirm the following actions:
- The United States shall immediately cease and desist
from all explicit and implicit threats or use of force against Venezuela.
- The United States shall terminate its naval quarantine
and all related coercive military measures undertaken in the absence of
authorization by the Security Council.
- The United States shall immediately withdraw its
military forces from within and along the perimeter of Venezuela,
including intelligence, naval, air, and other forward-deployed assets
positioned for coercive purposes.
- Venezuela shall adhere to the U.N. Charter and to
the human rights protected in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- The Secretary-General shall immediately appoint a
Special Envoy, mandated to engage relevant Venezuelan and international
stakeholders and to report back to the Security Council within 14 days
with recommendations consistent with the Charter of the United Nations,
and the Security Council shall remain urgently seized of this matter.
- All Member States shall refrain from unilateral
threats, coercive measures, or armed actions undertaken outside the
authority of the Security Council, in strict conformity with the Charter.
In Closing
Mr. President, Distinguished Members,
Peace and the survival of humanity depend on whether the
United Nations Charter remains a living instrument of international law or is
allowed to wither into irrelevance.
That is the choice before this Council today.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a university
professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia
University, where he directed The Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is
also president of the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a
commissioner of the U.N. Broadband Commission for Development.
This article is from Common Dreams
Views expressed in this article and
may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
Tags: Covert Action Jeffrey D. Sachs John Mearsheimer Juan Guaidó League of Nations Lindsey O’Rourke regime change Sanctions U.N. Charter
[2 of the many
responses to Sachs:
Eddie S January 6, 2026 at 17:14 I for one agree 100% with Prof. Sachs statement that “…the Security
Council SHOULD (emphasis added) immediately affirm the following (7) actions…
(list)”. He always makes EXCELLENT HUMANITARIAN sense, with excellent
historical facts to back up his propositions. In these days of bloviating,
bullying, lying right-wingers, it’s so refreshing to read down-to-earth
analysis.
That being said, unfortunately I believe that there is a
100% probability that the full Security Council will NOT do any of this given
the veto power of the top five members, the US being one of those.
I actually hate reading JS’ pieces because it reminds me of
the glaring distance of what COULD/SHOULD be vs what IS and will PROBABLY
WILL-BE for the foreseeable future, especially given the history he and others
have recounted about empires and wars. The things that JS advocates are NOT
physically impossible — they do NOT require breaking any physical laws of
nature (ie; traveling faster that the speed of light) nor building any huge,
sophisticated, physical structures (ie; Dyson spheres, etc) — they just require
a slow reduction in the manufacturing of weapons and slow trust-building and
cooperation over the years, which for all intents and purposes is currently
impossible given the political climate in the US. (I recently heard that Steve
Miller was criticizing the neo-liberal politics that occurred after WWII
because they required the victors to disband their “hard earned colonies’ and
forego the militarism/imperialism that created these colonies, which of course
is 180 degrees from the UN charter). [End
Eddie S]
Roger Waters @
hxxps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VzFMUBEjFYo&list=RDVzFMUBEjFYo&start_radio=1
In sum, the UN’s Charter oughta read: “Trump-Rubio-Hegseth-Gabbard,”
‘Hands-Off’’ OIL, Venezuela, Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, The
West Bank of Jordan, Russia, China, Taiwan, Panama, Mexico, Columbia, etc.,
etc., etc.,
“Donroe Doctrine:
Trump attack on Venezuela is part of imperial plan to impose U.S. hegemony in
Latin America.” By Ben Norton (Posted Jan 06, 2026). Originally published: Geopolitical Economy Report on January 5, 2026 (more by Geopolitical Economy Report).
Empire, Globalization, Inequality, WarAmericas, Latin America, United States, VenezuelaNewswire“Donroe Doctrine”, President Donald Trump. Editor. mronline.org (1-7-26).
The United States
has launched a full-frontal attack not only against Venezuela, but against all
of Latin America–and even against the basic concept of sovereignty. Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military on
January 3 to bomb Venezuela, to kidnap its constitutional President Nicolás
Maduro, and to send him to New York to be subjected to a show
trial on politically motivated charges. This
brazen assault on Venezuela is part of a larger U.S. imperialist offensive in
Latin America as a whole. The Trump administration has openly invoked the
202-year-old colonial Monroe Doctrine, and has updated it for the 21st century,
proudly dubbing it the “Donroe Doctrine”. . . .
“Trump says
another strike ‘sounds good’ in warning to Colombian President.” teleSUR Desk.
He also urged Venezuelan acting president Rodriguez
to grant the U.S. ‘total access’ to oil resources. (Posted Jan 06, 2026). Originally published: teleSUR English on January 5, 2026 (more by teleSUR English). Empire, WarAmericas, United States, VenezuelaNewswireOil, President Donald Trump, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
On Sunday night, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stark
warning to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, saying Petro “is not going to be
doing it for very long.” When asked
about the possibility of a U.S. military operation against Colombia, Trump
replied, It sounds good to me. Colombia, which borders
Venezuela, is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the
United States,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories.
He’s not going to be doing it,” said Trump, offering no evidence to
substantiate the claim.
On Saturday, Petro called for an urgent meeting of the
Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations to address the
U.S. attack on Venezuela. In an
interview with Politico last month, Trump said he would consider extending
military operations against targets in other countries, including Mexico and
Colombia. . . .
‘‘What an
Authoritarian Oligarchy looks like’: Trump says oil execs tipped off about
Venezuela attack.” Editor. mronline.org (1-7-26). “I
can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,” said one critic. “He did not
inform Congress but he’s saying he informed the oil companies.”
Originally published: Common Dreams on January 5, 2026 by Jon Queally (more
by Common Dreams) | (Posted Jan
06, 2026)
Empire,
Inequality,
State Repression, WarAmericas,
United States, VenezuelaNewswireOil,
President Donald Trump, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
President Donald
Trump on Sunday told reporters that the heads of American oil companies
were informed of the U.S. military’s attack on Venezuela—described as “brazenly
illegal” by scholars and experts—even before it took place.
Trump’s admission, a renowned liar, sparked condemnation
because the administration refused to consult with U.S. lawmakers about the
operation, citing fears of a leak that would compromise operational security.
“Before and after,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force
One on Sunday when asked if he’d spoken with oil executives or perhaps “tipped
them off” about the operation.
They want to go in, and they’re going to do a great job for
the people of Venezuela. . . .
Real
Scott Ritter <scottritter@substack.com> 1-6-26.
"What country can
preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that
their people preserve the spirit of resistance?" Thomas Jefferson asked.
Today we search for an answer. Scott Ritter
The
future of the United States is being fought in a courtroom in New York City,
where America itself is on trial. If the courts do anything other than dismiss
the manufactured charges against the kidnapped President of Venezuela, Nicolas
Maduro, then the last bastion of Constitutional legitimacy will have fallen in
the face of the dictatorship that has become the Presidency of Donald Trump.
While
the world struggles to come to grips with the brazen abduction of the sitting
head of a sovereign nation by the armed forces of the United States, operating
with zero legitimacy either in terms of international law or domestic legal
authority, the American people struggle with their own shortcomings as citizens
and—frankly speaking—members of the human race, cheering on this wonton act of
aggression as if it defines who and what we are as a collective, not
comprehending that our cheers are really the screams of a dying dream of a
Constitutional Republic once known as the United States of America.
Today
the dream has become a nightmare, and the vestiges of democratic freedoms we
once ostensibly held near and dear to our hearts have been replaced by an orgy
of narcissistic excess as Donald Trump, a modern-day Caligula transformed into
a walking, talking cult of personality, has turned the American democratic
experiment, founded as it was in the notion of the rule of law, into an open
air coliseum where might makes right, where strength supersedes reason, and
where the ideal of the citizen has been replaced by the gladiator, whose only
purpose is to go forth and kill for the pleasure of his demented rulers.
Let me
be as clear as possible—if you cheer any aspect of what Donald Trump (I deign
to call him President, as that attaches the notion of democratic norms and
values, and constitutional checks and balances, which no longer exist in
America today) has done in Venezuela, then you are part of the problem, and not
part of the solution. There is nothing about what the United States has done,
is doing, and plans to do regarding Venezuela that can be described as
legitimate.
I
pause for a moment to remind my fellow American citizens that the United States
is a signatory to the United Nations Charter, and that this Charter has been
ratified by the United States Senate, granting the Charter the status of the
law of the land under the Constitution of the United States. Article II, Clause
2, states that the President “shall have Power, by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators
present concur.”….
As
Chief Justice Marshall wrote in 1829: “A treaty is, in its nature, a contract
between two nations, not a legislative act. It does not generally effect, of
itself, the object to be accomplished; especially, so far as its operation is
infra-territorial; but is carried into execution by the sovereign power of the
respective parties to the instrument. In the United States, a different
principle is established. Our constitution declares a treaty to be the law of
the land. It is, consequently, to be regarded in courts of justice as
equivalent to an act of the legislature, whenever it operates of itself,
without the aid of any legislative provision. But when the terms of the
stipulation import a contract—when either of the parties engages to perform a
particular act, the treaty addresses itself to the political, not the judicial
department; and the legislature must execute the contract, before it can become
a rule for the court.”
Justice
Samuel Freeman Miller, in an 1884 ruling, expanded upon these concepts,
declaring “A treaty is primarily a compact between independent nations, and
depends for the enforcement of its provisions on the honor and the interest of
the governments which are parties to it. If these fail, its infraction becomes
the subject of international reclamation and negotiation, which may lead to war
to enforce them. With this, judicial courts have nothing to do.”
But a
treaty may also confer private rights on citizens or subjects of the
contracting powers which are of a nature to be enforced in court of justice,
and which, in cases otherwise cognizable in such courts, furnish rules of
decision. The Constitution of the United States makes the treaty, while in
force, a part of the supreme law of the land in all courts where such rights
are to be tried.
But in
this respect, so far as the provisions of a treaty can become the subject of
judicial cognizance in the courts of the country, they are subject to such acts
as Congress may pass for their enforcement, modification, or repeal.
Four
points emerge from these decisions.
First
and foremost, a treaty is the supreme law of the land. While a treaty is
in force, it has the same weight as all other laws of the land. . . .
Keep
this in mind the next time you hear Secretary of State Marco Rubio, or
any other member of the Trump administration, dismiss the United Nations
or the precepts of international law founded in the United Nations Charter. In
doing so, he—and they—are belittling the very Constitution they swore an oath
to uphold and defend. They insult America, and all Americans, when they do so,
because they last time I checked, we were still signatories to the UN
Charter, the Senate ratification still holds, and as such the Charter is
the supreme law of the land here in the United States, on par with freedom of
speech and gun rights.
Second,
a treaty, in so far as it is enforced, depends on the “honor and
interest” of the government. Since implementation of a treaty tends to fall
under the realm of executive responsibilities, this means that the viability of
any treaty relationship is contingent upon the honor and interest of the chief
executive—the President of the United States. Historically speaking, Presidents
usually have a grasp of the responsibility of office that has been thrust upon
them, and act in a manner which reflects the fact that the recognize that they
are but temporary wards of a position mandated by the Constitution, the
preservation of which supersedes the desires of the individual. A President
should do nothing that diminishes the office he or she holds and always
function in a manner reflecting the need to preserve the integrity of the
office and of the nation it serves.
Honor
and interest.
Honorable
conduct requires adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of
conduct, and to fulfill an obligation or keep an agreement. . . .
Donald Trump is incapable of behaving with
honor, because there is no law, obligation or agreement which he will honor.
Interest
is usually calculated in terms of the advantage or benefit accrued to a person
or group; for a President of the United States, the only interest he or she can
have is that of the nation as a whole; there is simply no room for personal
interests when it comes to the affairs of the state.
Donald
Trump, in a manner befitting his extreme narcissistic personality, acts only
when his personal interests—political and/or financial—are at stake. He has
subordinated the good of the nation to his singular person, replacing the
esteemed office of the presidency with a sickening cult of personality. Under Donald Trump, America is incapable of
acting with honor or in the interest of the nation.
Third.
. . .
The United
States illegally kidnapped the sovereign leader of a sovereign state, in
violation of the Charter of the United Nations, Article 2(4) of which
stipulates that “All Members shall refrain in their international relations
from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the
Purposes of the United Nations.”
There
is zero legal authority under international law that allows the United States
to arrest a sovereign country’s leader void of any cognizable claim of
self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter (which the United States has
not made) or mandated by a resolution from the United Nations Security Council
under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which does not exist.
In
short, the United States has no jurisdiction when it comes to either Nicolas
Maduro or his wife, both of whom were illegally abducted from their residence
in Caracas by US Special Operations personnel.
Today
Nicolas Maduro and his wife sit in judgement before Alvin Hellerstein, a
92-year-old US district court judge for the Southern District of New York.
Hellerstein graduated from Columbia University Law School before serving as a
lawyer in the US Army. He then went into private practice, before being
nominated to his current position by President Bill Clinton in 1998.
Hellerstein
oversaw the 2020 indictment of Maduro which serves as the basis of his current
prosecution. But the indictment did not consider the nature of Maduro’s
abduction, which is manifestly illegal. Legal procedures appear to matter to
Hellerstein, who last year blocked the Trump administration from deporting
alleged Venezuelan gang members without a court hearing.
The
Manhattan courtroom where Hellerstein will preside over what looks to be a
lengthy hearing on whether Maduro and his wife are to stand trial has become
the last stand of American democracy. . . .
MORE click on title
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Marianne Williamson <mariannewilliamson+politics-and-society@substack.com> 1-5-26
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Photo by Sebastian
Barros "O,
it is excellent / To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous / To use it
like a giant," wrote Shakespeare in Measure for Measure. What
an appropriate commentary that is, regarding Donald Trump’s imperialistic
aspirations. It looks like Venezuela was just the beginning. Following
last Friday night’s ouster of Nicolas Maduro, Secretary of State Rubio said
on a Sunday news program, “We’re not going to tell anyone our plans but it's
no secret we're no fan of the regime in Havana." Senator Lindsey Graham,
traveling with the president on Air Force One, then echoed his sentiment
saying, “You just wait for Cuba… Its days are numbered.” Trump agreed with
him, saying “Cuba is ready to fall.” Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain all condemned the US action in
Venezuela as a “dangerous precedent for peace and regional security,” but
none of that kind of thing matters to the Trump administration. Plus Colombia
is now on the President’s hit list. Trump told reporters on board Air Force
One that Colombia’s President Petro is “a sick man who likes making cocaine
and selling it to the United States.” He continued, “And let me tell you,
he’s not going to be doing it very long.”. . . . Continuing
on with what some now call the Donroe Doctrine,
President Trump also warned Mexico “to get their act
together.” He wants Mexico’s government to take more
action against the drug cartels and keeps hinting that if they won’t do it,
he will. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum reminds him repeatedly that
American gun manufacturers heavily arm the drug cartels, and if he really
wanted to limit the power of the cartels he would limit the power of American
companies to sell them guns. The violence this spawns is a large contributing
factor to immigration at our Southern border, by the way. But Trump is as
loathe to take on the power of American gun manufacturers as Sheinbaum is
afraid of taking on the drug cartels. If
this was ten years ago, all of the above would be part of a comedy sketch
on Saturday Night Live. But at this point, none of this is
funny. What should be evident to everyone by now, of course, is that Donald
Trump isn’t kidding. He doesn’t just bluster. He makes very real threats and
to the extent to which he’s capable, he makes good on them. He feels
constrained by nothing (except possibly Melania). The latest, and most
frightening thing of all, is how he says he isn’t afraid of putting boots on
the ground… in Venezuela, or anywhere else. UK
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says his main concern is that Venezuela
transition to democracy as soon as possible, which seems almost silly
considering that neither Trump nor Rubio have mentioned the word “democracy”
even once. You can either have American oil companies and their surrogates in
DC running a country, or you can have democracy; you can’t have both. Trump
seems as concerned about democracy in Venezuela as he is about democracy in
America, and that isn’t much. One
of the worst parts of this imperialistic playbook - and it is a
playbook, almost sickeningly repetitive - is how they never want you to think
there will be meaningful opposition to what they’re doing. They mythologize
the power of the U.S. military to create the impression that nothing could
possibly match its might. Rather, we should all feel secure in the knowledge
that the U.S. will get its way, easily, no problem. After all, we’re the most
powerful military in the world! I
remember Dick Cheney saying we’d be greeted as liberators by the Iraqi
people, which in fact we were for a short while before everything fell apart.
I also remember Candy Crowley, then chief political correspondent and anchor
for CNN, saying that Special Forces could take care of things no problem,
that regime change in Iraq would take six weeks at most. She said that while
rolling her eyes at then Congressman Dennis Kucinich for saying that if we
invaded Iraq, we’d see hand to hand combat on the streets of Baghdad. She
turned out to be wrong, of course - the war lasted eight years and killed
anywhere from several hundred thousand to a million people - and Dennis
Kucinich was right. The simple truth is that hard power isn’t everything. The
U.S. has been good at breaking things, but terrible at putting them back
together. The war in Afghanistan lasted 20 years and ended up with the
Taliban back in power. But America’s war machine views success and failure
differently than you and I. What you and I would call things going wrong, in
many ways for them are things going right. “Boots on the ground,” by the way
- as horrifying as it might sound to us - is simply the sound of money to
those who are behind all this. This,
ladies and gentlemen, is how our military-industrial-technology complex
works. They’re everything they have always been, plus technology giants have
now gotten in on the game. Do not expect any of
this to turn out well. Last
year, the President ousted any military leaders who might question his
agenda. In General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and
venture capitalist (you can’t make this stuff up) he has found a
soul brother in going after his imperialistic agenda. He basically intends to
turn Latin America into a U.S. corporate empire. It’s much like the covert
CIA operations that messed with Latin American countries for decades during
the last century, except that this time they don’t even pretend not to be
doing it. Trump seems to have grown tired of pretending to be anything other
than what and who he is. His administration’s response to any criticism now -
from citizens, or even from Congress - is simply, “Get over it.” America
has not always been good - far from it - but at our best we’ve at least tried
to be. It totally shifts everything that as long as this administration is in
power, the United States is a rogue country with no allegiance to a
rules-based world order. It’s hard to overestimate what this means not only
for the United States, but potentially for the entire world. The U.S. Dept.
of State posted a meme today with the words, “THIS IS OUR HEMISPHERE,” but
there are millions of people in Latin America and Canada who would disagree.
It is theirs as well. Latin America has roughly twice the population of the
United States, by the way. We’re being led by fools who have no idea the
razor blades they’re tossing around the room. The
rest of the world have taken notice of all this. Should the madness continue,
we will not be given a pass. With
increased demand we’re expanding our team. Please support the expansion of
our ability to build community and hope, by becoming a paid subscriber today. |
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“No
war on Venezuela. Email Congress today.”
Adalah Justice Project <info@adalahjusticeproject.org> 1-5-26
Justice Democrats <us@list.justicedemocrats.com> 1-5-26
Dick,
The Trump administration started the new year by illegally invading and bombing
the sovereign nation of Venezuela, killing at least 80 people, and kidnapping
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
These are war crimes that violate both U.S. and
international law, and it’s not about drugs or democracy. Trump himself said
on Sunday, “We are in the business of having countries around us that are
viable and successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out.”
This unconstitutional regime change war has one
purpose: to steal Venezuela's oil so Trump's billionaire Big Oil
buddies can cash in. He even admitted to tipping off Big Oil ahead of
the strike, and claims the U.S. will work with oil companies to run the
country.
This is American imperialism in action.
The so-called “peace president” has now bombed 8 countries
in the first year of his second administration. Trump and his war-hungry thugs
are talking about putting boots on the ground in Venezuela and carrying out
similar operations in Mexico, Colombia, Iran, and Cuba, threatening to spend
billions of our taxpayer dollars and send U.S. service members to risk their
lives in more endless wars.
All while millions of people across our country lose their
healthcare and struggle to get by.
Enough. Only Congress has the authority to declare war,
and we need EVERY Democrat in Congress to step up, do their jobs, and
pass a War Powers Resolution to stop this.
Add your name to demand
Congress stop Trump’s war with Venezuela NOW!
Every Justice Democrat
in Congress is already leading the charge, speaking out, and organizing to stop
this from escalating into another forever war.
Let’s build the pressure on the rest of the Democratic Party to join
them and actually fight back.
In solidarity, Justice Democrats
1390 Columbia Ave #261 Lancaster PA 17603
Email us: us@justicedemocrats.com
ACTION
“SIGN NOW to Stop Trump’s fossil fueled fascist war for Venezuelan oil.” Drew and the crew at 198 Methods 1-5-26
Tell
Congress: No war for oil >>
Since
Trump was first elected and this organization was started in 2016, we've been
telling you that Trump is a fossil fueled fascist. For ten years we've
been right over and over again about Trump, how his regime is powered and
enabled by fossil fuels, and how he uses power and violence stop
climate action, and wage war on nonviolent action to build a
better, more sustainable planet for all. In fact, just before Christmas we
were telling you about a dangerous expansion of Trump's funding for war and
militarization – which threatened all out war for oil with Venezuela.
Which is why it gives me absolutely no pleasure to tell you what you already
know: Over the weekend, Trump DID start an
illegal war with Venezuela, which he freely admits is aimed at controlling
their oil reserves (possibly the largest in the world). He has since
talked about expanding the war to other countries and expanded on his plans to
have a puppet government operate at the behest of major US oil companies like
Chevron.
As dispiriting it is to be right again, we are not powerless. Congress,
in particular, can take specific action to stop Trump’s illegal war – and it's
essential they begin to do so tomorrow, their first day back at work since the
holidays. Click here to demand
Congress stop Trump's illegal war for oil —Now.
We're
joining a huge coalition of peace groups, climate groups and more because it's
going to take all of us working together to stop Trump's illegal war.
Congress must act. World leaders must stand up – and they already
are. Earlier today the UN Security council denounced Trump's fossil fueled
fascist war for oil. American corporations must not provide support. And those
of us who have been warning for years that this is exactly what Trump is likely
to do, and exactly how he is likely to do it, must speak up immediately,
loudly, and with the clear and united message that links opposition to war and
opposition to fossil fuels. In short, an anti-fascist climate movement.
As Bill McKibben said this weekend, the long term fix is to end our dependence
on fossil fuels. Every investment in climate action and renewable energy is an
investment in a safer, more peaceful world.
But our old friend Bill is wrong that Americans can do nothing until
we vote in the midterm elections. We can, and we must, grind the gears of
society to a halt every day between now and then. We can strike. We can
disrupt. We can shut down ICE raids – like the ones surging this week in
Wisconsin. We can boycott complicit corporations and use mutual aid and direct
trade to support allies and comrades. We can bird dog members of the regime,
and their enablers at the local level. And we can demand that elected
officials who oppose fossil fueled fascism act like it by defying
unlawful orders, refusing to collaborate and share data with this regime, and
using all the substantial power and money at their disposal to fight (nonviolently)
this regime.
Starting with Congress, Senators and Representatives must take four critical
steps immediately:
1. Condemn
the attacks;
2. Demand
the return of Venezuela's President and First Lady to their country;
3. Block
federal funds for military operations not directly dedicated to immediate
withdrawal of forces;
4. Outlaw
American companies from assisting or profiting from Trump’s illegal war.
Let's
be clear: Legislation alone won't end this. Most important we must be visible,
vocal, and speak and act out of courage in the face of fear and violence. . . .
https://www.198methods.org/tag/fossilfueledfascists/
|
“WATCH: UN
Security Council Clash Over Venezuela.” Consortium News (1-5-26).
The
U.S., China and Russia clash at the Security Council over the U.S. military
operation as Venezuela blasts the U.S. for abducting its president. Read here...
“Did Venezuela VP
Hand Over Maduro in Deal With the US?” Consortium
News (1-5-26).
Reports
in the Miami Herald and The Daily Telegraph in
London suggest Vice President Delcy Rodríguez betrayed President Nicolas Maduro
to rule Venezuela in an arrangement with the U.S., writes Joe Lauria. Read here...
END VENEZUELA ANTHOLOGY #12
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