Did Trump Regime Hardliners Order Puppet Guaido to Negotiate with Maduro?

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Everything Trump regime hardliners threw at Venezuela for the past four months to topple Maduro failed — efforts so far short of military intervention I believe is unlikely, but possible.

Do Pompeo, Bolton and Abrams have a new strategy in mind? On Monday while discussing Venezuela, Mike Pence provided no information on what the Trump regime may try next to try ousting Maduro and eliminating Venezuelan social democracy.

Is their resolve weakening, or are they in pause mode before unleashing new tactics?

According to the NYT, "(w)eakened and unable to" achieve regime change, "Guaido has been forced to consider negotiations with Mr. Maduro (because) momentum (behind his campaign) nearly dissipated," adding:

Turnout for his talks greatly "dwindled," compared to large numbers coming out to hear Maduro's addresses, the Times failed to add.

Guaido is seen less often in public. He mostly "shuttl(es) among a half-dozen safe houses to escape capture," said the Times.

His key henchmen either fled the country, were arrested, or are holed up in foreign embassies to avoid capture, detention, and prosecution for high crimes against the state.

Weeks earlier, Trump's envoy for regime change in Venezuela Elliot Abrams sounded downbeat and defeatist, saying all Venezuelans should be part of political transition in the country, including Maduro loyalists — comprising a majority, he failed to explain.

Guaido's support comes from from the business community and well-off Venezuelans. Others comprising a majority want Bolivarian social democracy preserved and protected.

They want US hands kept off their country. The vast majority of Venezuelans oppose US military intervention. So does the world community, including governments supporting regime change.

Maduro's EU and Latin American opponents seek diplomatic resolution to what's going on.

On Monday, Maduro proposed early National Assembly elections. They're currently scheduled for late 2020. 

"Let's hold elections," he said. Let's (have) a peaceful electoral, democratic, constitutional solution."

"We are going to measure ourselves electorally. We are going to bring forward elections to the National Assembly" — so far not suggesting a date.

If his ruling party regains majority control, Guaido's illegitimate claim to legitimacy will be lost. As ordered by his US handlers, he opposes the idea, fearing it'll end his campaign if a Bolivarian majority triumphs.

It's sure to be rejected by Trump regime hardliners if things turn out this way, what's likely if most Venezuelans believe it's a way to end hard times they're enduring because of US sanctions war and  other hostile actions.

According to Venezuela's envoy to Russia Carlos Rafael Faria Tortosa during a Wednesday news conference in Moscow, "(a)s a result of the economic embargo imposed by the US from 2015 through the last year, financial damages to Venezuelan economy totaled $130 billion," adding:

"The government headed by President Nicolas Maduro is on the path of a very unequal conflict with the most forceful economic and military power in the world."

Separately, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said US grand theft of Venezuelan assets took the lives of at least five patients needing costly post-surgery treatment following liver transplant operations in Argentina.

Funds to pay for their treatment came from state oil giant PDVSA and its US CITGO subsidiary, the latter's assets illegally confiscated by the Trump regime, a high crime without punishment, taking an enormous toll on Venezuelans in need.

Last Sunday, Venezuela's oil minister Manuel Quevedo said illegal Trump regime sanctions caused "disturbances in the flow of oil supply to the world market as well as serious economic damage and suffering to the Venezuelan people."

A Final Comment

Remarks by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International show they're in cahoots with the Trump regime's war by other means on Venezuela — supporting its plot to eliminate the hemisphere's preeminent democracy.

HRW falsely accused Maduro of winning election last May "amid widespread allegations that the polls had not met international standards of freedom and fairness" — a bald-faced Big Lie.

The organization falsely blamed Maduro for US high crimes against the country, supporting regime change instead of denouncing it.

The same goes for Amnesty International, falsely accusing Maduro of "crimes against humanity."

It lied saying his government is involved in "extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and deaths and injuries caused by the excessive use of force…part of a systematic and widespread policy of repression…"

Both organizations are funded by right-wing donors, including George Soros' Open Society Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, among others. 

Funds come with strings. AI, HRW, and other recipients repay them by supporting the imperial interests of these groups — at the expense of their credibility and world peace.

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