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"The Executive Order I have issued accounts for the swearing in of a legitimate Interim President of Venezuela, and addresses actions by persons affiliated with the illegitimate Maduro regime, including human rights violations and abuses in response to anti-Maduro protests, arbitrary arrest and detention of anti‑Maduro protestors, curtailment of press freedom, harassment of political opponents, and continued attempts to undermine the Interim President of Venezuela and undermine the Venezuelan National Assembly," the Presidential Message accompanying the order stated.Shortly thereafter, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), pursuing the abovementioned executive order.
The US president also continued to push this idea on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2017. According to AP, he discussed the issue during a private dinner with the leaders of four Latin American countries, including Colombia. Trump allegedly went as far as to ask each of the leaders personally if they are "sure" they did not want a "military solution" to the Venezuelan political crisis that the Latin American country was facing through 2017.Though it was not widely supported, now that many Latin American countries (including Brazil and Argentina) are siding with the US in supporting Guiado's illegitimate claim, perhaps they will garner the support they need to make such a move, however ill-advised that may be.
However, the US president eventually failed to garner support for his plans both from the regional leaders and his own administration officials. The Latin American Mercosur trade bloc, which includes Brazil and Argentina among others, particularly issued a statement, which said that "the only acceptable means of promoting democracy are dialogue and diplomacy." The Ecuadorian President also ruled out any intervention by saying that Venezuela is free to pursue its own path while the former Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff warned that Trump's actions might lead to a full-scale war in Latin America.
Colombia has dismissed speculation regarding a puzzling memo from John Bolton, which mentioned 5,000 US troops being sent to the Latin American nation, affirming that it will rely on politics and diplomacy in the Venezuela crisis.Fort Russ reports on Venezuela's response to deploy military to their border with Colombia - and this is amidst Venezuela's most important military drills "in our history", according to Maduro:
Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes said he is unaware of the "importance and reason" behind John Bolton's memo, noting that his country will only act "politically and diplomatically" in dealing with Venezuela.
The South American nation shares a 2,200km land border with Venezuela and has sided with the US in piling pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government. Recently, Bogota backed Juan Guaido, the opposition leader who proclaimed himself to be the interim president of Venezuela.
The tight-lipped remark came in response to news from the White House on Monday, when US National Security Advisor John Bolton was spotted holding up a yellow legal notebook during a press briefing on Venezuela.
The first line written on the pad appeared to say: "Afghanistan - welcome the talks," while the second one read: "5,000 troops to Colombia." The White House was conspicuously reluctant to clarify the meaning of the note, and distributed the same brief comment to multiple news agencies: "As the president has said, all options are on the table."
MAJOR: Venezuela Deploys Military to Columbian BorderAlso check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?
Venezuela is strengthening its positions on the border with Colombia. Army artillery units and tanks have been moved to the area to defend the country from any American intervention or similar.
Images were posted by residents of eastern Venezuela on social networks, images that show the movement of armored vehicles from the Venezuelan army to the border with Colombia.
Residents of eastern Venezuela posted videos showing the movement of armored vehicles from the Venezuelan army to the Colombian border.
A video was posted on a political activist's Twitter account showing a military convoy that included Russian recently ordered 2S19 MSTA-S heavy artillery systems on the road to the Colombian border.
Venezuela is strengthening its positions along the border with Colombia after the military threats made by the United States.
Since the failed coup of Juan Guaido, sponsored by the United States and the crisis it provoked in Venezuela, analysts put forward an assumption that the United States was considering withdrawing its military troops from Afghanistan and Syria to deploy them on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.
However, according to the Colombian Ministry of Defense, Colombia would not provide the United States with military bases so that they could launch a possible military invasion of Venezuela.
The US administration threatened the Venezuelan state directly. A warning was issued Sunday, Jan. 27, by Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, suggesting that the United States would provide a "meaningful response" to threats against "the opposition."
"Any violence and intimidation against the American diplomatic staff, the Democratic leader of Venezuela, Juan Guaido or the National Assembly itself, would represent a serious aggression against the rule of law and will result in a significant response," tweeted John Bolton, Donald Trump's National Security Advisor.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is working to end the crisis in the country through preventive measures to block the path of intervention by the United States and their partners.
He enjoys the support of the people, having been elected in the 2018 elections, the army and the Supreme Court.
The Venezuelan Supreme Court immediately denounced the unilateral decision of the opponents while the army announced its support for Maduro: the Venezuelan army will defend the Constitution and the sovereignty of the country and will not recognize the president of the Parliament Juan Guaido in as president of the country, said Wednesday evening, at the very moment of the coup, the Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
The events that occur in this Latin American country are not the result of chance. Some US administration officials say the wick was lit in December or more precisely when Russia said it wanted to buy a permanent military base in Latin America.
US President Donald Trump and his advisers believe that there is a triangle in Latin America (Brazil's border with Argentina and Paraguay) that the Lebanese Hezbollah would benefit politically. and economically. The White House believes that if Hezbollah moved to the center of this triangle, it could become a "source of danger for the United States."
translated by and for FRN from Reseauinternational

Russia and China featured prominently in the DNI's report, particularly with regard to cybercrime. China "presents a persistent cyber espionage threat and a growing attack threat to our core military and critical infrastructure systems,"Coats argued, adding that China has the potential to use private tech companies to carry out espionage against the US and allies.
Coats' fear is shared by the Pentagon - which banned Huawei and ZTE phones from US military bases last year - and by other intelligence chiefs, who accused the firms of spying on behalf of the Chinese government. Huawei has also been barred from participating in the US rollout of 5G networks, while Trump is reportedly considered barring US firms from using Huawei and ZTE equipment.
Russia, on the other hand, is accused of "aggravating social and racial tensions" online, in line with similar accusationsthat have been leveled at Moscow since the 2016 election.
"Moscow may employ additional influence toolkits-such as spreading disinformation, conducting hack-and leak operations, or manipulating data-in a more targeted fashion to influence US policy, actions, and elections," Coats said.
Though no doubt pleasing to the ears of Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia), the committee's ranking member and a major driver of the 'Russiagate' narrative, Coats's testimony offered no actual evidence for Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Just last month, the DNI sent a report to the White House admitting that, while Russia conducted "messaging campaigns"on social media during the 2018 midterms, the intelligence community "does not have intelligence that indicates any compromise of our nation's election infrastructure that would have prevented voting, changed vote counts, or disrupted the ability to tally votes."
On Monday Roger Stone told Judge Napolitano in a FOX Nation interview that his 72-year-old wife was also forced to stand outside barefoot and in her nightgown.
For some strange reason this was not aired on CNN who had a camera crew at Stone's home during the arrest.
The Gateway Pundit wrote CNN for comment - It would be completely irresponsible if they hid this from the American public.Roger Stone: I was wearing a Roger Stone did nothing wrong T-Shirt. You can get those at 1776.shop. The proceeds go to my legal defense fund. I was wearing a pair of shorts but I was bare-footed. They said who else was in the house. I said my wife. They said, "Who else?" I said, "My wife. That's it." You sure? I said, "I'm positive plus two dogs and three cats." I'm a dog lover. I'm an animal lover. You can read my activities on animal welfare on Daily Caller. I was afraid they would go upstairs and my wife was not complying with an order she cannot hear.
Judge Napolitano: Did they take your wife out of the house, Roger?
Roger Stone: They did. I was made to stand in the street, handcuffed and in bare feet. They brought my wife out in her nightgown and also in bare feet to stand next to me even though she's not accused of any crime.
Comment: See also:
- Syria, Then and Now: Liberated of Western-backed Terrorism
- The possible impact of America's withdrawal from Syria
- Turkey completes preparations for offensive east of Euphrates in Syria
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