© A Venezuelan flag around the face of a statue of Venezuela's national hero Simon Bolivar, Caracas, VenezuelaReuters/Andres Martinez CasaresA Venezuelan flag around the face of a statue of Venezuela's national hero Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela
US claims of defending democracy worldwide are nothing but an attempt to control and make profit from natural resources, and - as Venezuela has the largest oil reserves - Trump wants those to be taken over by American companies.
The US has been ramping up its regime-change strategy towards Venezuela, both directly and through its right-wing proxies in the country and region,
to coincide with the recent inauguration of Nicolas Maduro as its president. The thrust of the US strategy is to delegitimize the presidency of Nicolas Maduro and secure what it calls an "orderly transition" to a new government.
Maduro won last year's presidential election with 68 percent of the vote, with some opposition parties taking part and others choosing to boycott the poll of their own accord. International observers, including representative from the
Council of Electoral Experts from Latin America (CEELA), confirmed the reliability of Venezuela's election system.Five days before his swearing in, the US State Department issued a statement attacking what it called the "corrupt and authoritarian Maduro regime." It went on to
declare that "the National Assembly is the only legitimate and last remaining democratically elected institution that truly represents the will of the Venezuelan people."
Comment: The US military has been subjugated to the machinations of power-addicted pathocrats and deemed expendable for unsubstantiated threats, empire-stoking and geopolitical upheaval. No one, except the MIC, benefits. What are they told they are fighting for?