After Venezuela’s election, US and allies turn up heat – a coup could be ahead

The Trump administration has described Sunday’s constituent assembly election in Venezuela as “another step toward dictatorship,” despite high voter turnout and little evidence that the assembly will dissolve the country’s legislature. Will Venezuela be the CIA’s next regime change target?

by Whitney Webb

Part 1

According to the U.S., its allies, and an ever-obedient mainstream media, Venezuela’s election this past Sunday was a “sham.” The vote itself had been particularly controversial in Venezuela and abroad, as it sought to elect candidates to a new national constituent assembly, a body which will have the power to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution.

The Trump administration called Sunday’s election “another step toward dictatorship,” warning that it “won’t accept an illegitimate government” in Venezuela. Sanctions were subsequently imposed on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The U.S.’ sanctions and ominous statements rang on deaf ears in Caracas, however, as President Maduro struck a defiant tone Sunday night after the voting had concluded, telling a crowd of supporters that “A spokesperson for emperor Donald Trump said that they would not recognize the results of Venezuela’s constituent assembly election. Why the hell should we care what Trump says? We care about what the sovereign people of Venezuela say.”

He responded similarly to news of the sanctions, stating during a public address that “I feel proud to be sanctioned Mr Imperialist Donald Trump.” “Impose whatever sanctions you like but I am the leader of the free people,” he added.

As MintPress has reported on several occasions, not everything in Venezuela is as it seems. The U.S. has long been involved in attempting to destabilize the government of Venezuela ever since Hugo Chávez was first elected nearly two decades ago. After decades of backing several failed coup attempts and years of economic warfare, the United States is very much involved in the nation’s crisis, yet has gone to great lengths to try to obscure its role in agitating the nation’s increasingly chaotic situation.

With Venezuela’s massive oil reserves, the largest in the world, as well as its government’s frequent rebuke of U.S. corporations and influence over the years, the country has long been on the U.S. government’s hitlist. Furthermore, with some members of the Trump administration having expressed a personal vendetta to bring about the end of the Chavistas and the latest warning that the U.S. “won’t accept” a government they have now labeled “illegitimate,” it seems quite possible that Venezuela may very well be Trump’s first foray into the U.S.’ long-standing practice of destabilizing and deposing democratically-elected, leftist governments in Latin America.

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http://www.mintpressnews.com/venezuelas-election-allies-turn-heat-coup-ahead/230374/