Venezuelan Coup

The USA, which refuses to let international monitors observe its elections, (because, as we all know, they are corrupt, restrictive and unaccountable), has accused Venezuela, (certified to have free and fair elections), of being "undemocratic", and is supporting a right wing coup. A 35 year old right winger swore himself to be president of Venezuela yesterday, and instead of facing world-wide ridicule and hysterical laughter, has been "recognized" as the "legitimate" leader by the US, and its usual lackeys, including Canada, the UK and France, along with the Latin American countries it has already managed to subdue, such as Ecuador, Argentina and Brazil, as well as the OAS.

This is an outrage, and all Americans should vehemently condemn the President, the Vice President and Congressional members who support it. You would think that the "Resistance", after years of crying about "foreign influence" in the US 2016 election ($45,000 worth of Facebook ads), would be in the forefront of finally "resisting" Trump for something more outrageous than incoherent tweets.
You would be wrong. The silence is deafening. Apparently, the McResistance is fine with election interference, regime change and coups, as long as the US is the country responsible.
Venezuela has been subjected to economic warfare and outright theft of its resources for years. Their Citgo refinery is located in Houston, Texas, and the US has confiscated an estimated billion dollars a year from the proceeds. The US also has maintained a blockade on consumer items in Venezuela, and supported the oligarchs in their attacks on the well-being of the 99% in Venezuela.

It takes a LOT of nerve for a country to steal billions of dollars, maintain a blockade, support terrorists and death squads, and then sanctimoniously proclaim that the ensuing scarcity and unrest are due to "socialism" and "governmental incompetence".

But no one can say that the US isn't magnificently able to commit enormous crimes while simultaneously presenting itself as the World's Greatest Policeman, righteously upholding law and order by smashing all attempts at alternative ways of living by people in other countries.

What I can't understand is why Americans fall for it, over and over. As Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed out 51 years ago, the US was already the world's biggest purveyor of violence and was approaching spiritual death, back then. How can Americans, 51 years and millions of dead bodies and destroyed countries later, still cling to their self image of themselves as a force for good?

Meanwhile, Venezuela became president of OPEC on Jan. 9th, and presented plans designed to lessen the hold of the US on the world's economy, by breaking the stranglehold of the petro-dollar, which allows the US to control and exploit the rest of the world's labor and resources, since almost all industrial and transportation activity in the world depends on oil to function. All other countries must get the dollars they need for oil by selling their labor and/or resources for dollars, which allows the US to run endless deficits and live beyond its means.

Venezuela announced that it would push for an end to the petrodollar. They also announced that they want the billions of dollars the US has stolen from them, back.

"Another issue which Venezuela is due to promote in its new position as OPEC president is to push for oil payments in non-dollar currencies or in cryptocurrencies, such as Venezuela’s oil and mineral-backed Petro. As part of efforts to break dollar hegemony of the oil market, Venezuela now prices its oil in Chinese Yuan.
Likewise, Caracas will try to use its OPEC position to counter US-led financial sanctions which block Venezuela’s access to credit, debt restructuring, and other financial dealings, as well as prohibiting the return of over US $1 billion of profits a year from PDVSA’s US subsidiary CITGO. Independent analysts have estimated sanctions as costing the country over US $6 billion in lost oil revenue whilst President Maduro claims that they cost the country more than US $20 billion in general during 2018."

I assume that the US-backed coup yesterday was designed to put a stop to those plans. Remember that the attacks on and destruction of, Iraq and Libya, were precipitated by Saddam and Ghaddafi, respectively, announcing that they would sell their oil outside of the petrodollar.

We will now watch as the US tries to destroy Venezuela, as it did Iraq and Libya, while US citizens dither over the latest outrage that the Boys in the Control Room present to them in the media and ignore the pain, misery and death about to be unleashed on yet another targeted country.