Puppet Masters

Washington just had a secret meeting for 'US military assault' on Venezuela

Eoin Higgins
Common Dreams
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC

© Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images
With the backing of the Trump administration, opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself "interim president" earlier this year.

A group dedicated to regime change in Venezuela held a secret meeting on overthrowing the country's government last week, according to reporting from The Grayzone Project.

Journalist Max Blumenthal on Sunday revealed a list of meeting attendees he obtained over the weekend from a source.

The list (in which the meeting is misdated as being on April 20) shows that the event, held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., boasted as attendees members of the State Department, the Colombian and Brazilian embassies, members of the Venezuelan opposition, and other officials in the American national security state.

Comment: For more on what Washington's "considerations" are for military intervention in Venezuela, see: Where will the Trump administration go to war next?

Top US general urges communication with Russia

RT
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 23:16 UTC

© Reuters/Kacper Pempel
US 1st Armored Division deploying artillery at the Drawsko Pomorskie training area, Poland, March 2019

As US-Russia relations continue to wither, one top US general is pushing for greater cooperation between the nuclear adversaries, urging US officials to seek "more communication" with their Russian counterparts.

"It would ensure that we understand each other and why we are doing what we're doing," said Curtis Scaparrotti, four-star US Army general and the top NATO commander for Europe.

"It doesn't have to be a lot," Scaparrotti told the Associated Press on Sunday, adding that "communication is a very important part of deterrence."

Relations between the two countries have rapidly deteriorated in recent years, a development many analysts have deemed a "new Cold War." The general suggested US-Russia communications have all but ground to a halt.

Comment: Evidently, for some in the West, communication and cooperation with Russia would mean relinquishing their ultimate goal of unilateral world domination, and so they'll do just about anything to avoid it: Cooperation between NATO and Russia nonexistent - Russian deputy FM

See also:

Pompeo: China and Russia "spread disorder" in Latin America - By supporting leaders US doesn't like

Bill Faries
Bloomberg
Fri, 12 Apr 2019 21:20 UTC

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo blamed China and Russia for spreading "disorder" in Latin America by funding failing development projects and supporting leaders such as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the U.S. insists must step down from power.

Pompeo, speaking Friday in Chile at the start of a three-day South American tour, said Beijing and Moscow have fueled corruption and sought to undermine democracy across the region. He cited a failing dam project in Ecuador, Chinese loans to the Maduro and Chavez regimes in Venezuela and support for police training programs in Nicaragua.

When China does business in Latin America, Pompeo said, "it often injects corrosive capital into the economic bloodstream, giving life to corruption, and eroding good governance." Along with Russia, the two countries come to the region to "spread disorder," he added. .

Comment: That's an exact description of the US foreign policy, as well as the IMF and World Bank: Assange was sold for $4.2 BILLION - Former Ecuadorian President confirms IMF loan in exchange for Assange

Comment: China responds: 'Pompeo has lost his mind'

Pompeo seems to be on a tour of countries bordering Venezuela, which just happens to be the country the US is currently failing to overthrow:

Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: US Regime Change Operation in Venezuela - This Time It's Legit?

Iran says it 'cannot wait forever' for European trade mechanisms that avoid US sanctions

RT
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:49 UTC

Tehran will not wait forever for the European nations to launch the promised payments mechanism aimed at avoiding the US sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif has warned.

Ever since Washington unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, the European parties to the agreement - the UK, France, and Germany - have been considering the idea of a special payment channel with Iran, which would allow them to bypass re-imposed US sanctions. However, it seems that the Europeans did not make great strides on this path, sparking discontent in Iran, which did not only stick to its part of the 2015 accord but also created its part of the mechanism months ago.

On Sunday, Iran's top diplomat complained about a prolonged delay in the launch of the European non-dollar direct payment channel with Tehran called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchange (INSTEX).

'Pompeo has lost his mind' - China strikes back at Latin America remarks

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:49 UTC

© Reuters / Leah Millis
Mike Pompeo and James Mattis listen to China's Foreign Affairs Director Yang Jiechi, November 9, 2018.

China has come out swinging after Mike Pompeo's three-day Latin America tour in which the Secretary of State publicly called out China for spreading "disorder" in Latin America alongside Russia. Pompeo identified the two countries, both of which have over the past two months condemned US efforts toward regime change in Venezuela, of backing failing investment projects that only fuel corruption and undermine democracy, especially in Venezuela.

China's ambassador to Chile, Xu Bu, quickly lashed out in response to America's top diplomat blaming China for Latin America's economic woes which first came last Friday while standing alongside Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. Ambassador Xu told the Chilean newspaper La Tercera: "Mr Pompeo has lost his mind."

Pompeo had asserted during his tour that Chinese investment and economic intervention in Venezuela, now facing financial and infrastructural collapse amidst political turmoil, had "helped destroy" the country and said Latin American leaders must therefore see who their "true friend" is.

Democrat In-Fighting: Sanders lashes out at progressive think tank for pointing out he's a 'millionaire'

RT
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:49 UTC

Senator Bernie Sanders has written a scathing letter to the board of the Center for American Progress accusing it of being a "destructive" force in the "critical mission to defeat Donald Trump."

The accusations were prompted by an article and video published by one of CAP's projects, ThinkProgress, which claimed Sanders is a millionaire but wishes to downplay his finances because it's "very off-brand and embarrassing."

In the letter dated April 13 and published by the New York Times, Sanders takes aim at both CAP and ThinkProgress for alleged smears against him as well as fellow progressive Democratic candidates for 2020 Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, and suggests that this divisive approach to Democratic campaigning is going to damage the party's push to take the presidency from Trump.

Comment: Also see: Liberalism's hypocrisy: A case study of Senator Bernie Sanders, example of those to come

Amnesty International ignores Al-Qaeda war crimes to criminalize Syrian government

Vanessa Beeley
RT
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:49 UTC

© Reuters / Khalil Ashawi
A man looks at an opening from a makeshift shelter in an underground cave in Idlib, Syria September 3, 2018

Amnesty International's biased and misleading report ignores the suffering of communities under attack from Al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria's Idlib.

Tensions are being ratcheted up in the north-westerly provinces of Idlib and Northern Hama and Western media prepares itself for the revival of the notorious "last doctor" meme.

In September 2018 Russian and Turkish negotiators agreed to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib which should have been completed by October 15, 2018. The reality is that the withdrawal of heavy weaponry has only been partially successful and the remaining armed groups dominated by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), effectively a rebrand of Al-Qaeda or Al-Nusra Front, have consistently violated the ceasefire and targeted cities, towns and villages on the borders of the so-called "safe zone."

Maduro's government reveals plans of far-right terrorist cell

TeleSUR
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:49 UTC

© VTV
Vice President of Communication, Tourism, and Culture of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez, revealed the names and plans of a far-right “terrorist” group.

One of the groups is the so-called "Cocoon 2.0", whose members are Juan Guaido, Ricardo Hausmann, Leopoldo Lopez, among others.

Vice President of Communication, Tourism, and Culture of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez, revealed Thursday the members and plans of a far-right "terrorist" group called Cocoon 2.0, based off of information provided by Roberto Marrero Borgas and other found in his cellphone after his March 21 capture.

Marrero Borgas alleged "chief of staff" for lawmaker Juan Guaido, was arrested after the Venezuelan intelligence agencies and the Public Prosecutor's Office found a link between him and violent far-right organizations, that aimed to aggravate plans in order to destabilize the Bolivarian government.

Where will the Trump administration go to war next?

The Saker
Wed, 10 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC

Ever since Mr. MAGA made it to the White House, I have been awed by the level of sheer stupidity and, frankly, the immorality of this administration. Obama was almost as incompetent and evil, but Trump truly brought about a qualitative change in what we could loosely refer to as the "average White House IQ." The best thing I can honestly say about Trump is that stupid can be good. Alas, it can also be extremely dangerous, and that is what is happening now. Just check out these recent headlines:

I have to admit that this last one is my favorite, really! How cool is that? The US threatens a NATO member state with war (that is what "devastating/serious consequences" means in diplotalk).

Pompeo (surely one of the most evil and delusional idiots in the Trump Administration) was probably trying to emulate the role-model of this entire Administration, Bibi Netanyahu, who once even threatened *New Zealand* with war (well, kinda, I know, they did not really mean "real" war, but they did use war language, which, for a politician, is irresponsible at best).

Comment: Like an ever-irritating itch that yearns to be scratched, the body of neocon and neo-liberal actors for empire cannot help themselves to look for the next country that can be subjugated and oppressed in the name of "freedom and democracy".

Cooperation between NATO and Russia nonexistent - Russian deputy FM

RT
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 15:09 UTC

NATO has reverted to Cold War behavior and virtually no cooperation between the bloc and Moscow exists, the Russian deputy FM says. There are no signs the situation will improve, since the alliance is craving a new arms race.

Relations between NATO and Russia - or lack thereof - was the main topic of a long interview with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko, published by RIA Novosti on Monday.

"Civil and military cooperation has ceased completely. NATO itself has dropped any positive agenda in relations with Russia. It does not exist. And so far there are no signs that NATO knows how to get out of this deadlock," Grushko stated.

Comment: See also:

And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Trump on Tour! US President Takes Wrecking Ball to NATO & EU, Mueller Indicts Russians

.. .. Ernesto Guido, you know much that his hidden! [Link]

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Puppet Masters

Washington just had a secret meeting for 'US military assault' on Venezuela

Top US general urges communication with Russia

Pompeo: China and Russia "spread disorder" in Latin America - By supporting leaders US doesn't like

Iran says it 'cannot wait forever' for European trade mechanisms that avoid US sanctions

'Pompeo has lost his mind' - China strikes back at Latin America remarks

Democrat In-Fighting: Sanders lashes out at progressive think tank for pointing out he's a 'millionaire'

Amnesty International ignores Al-Qaeda war crimes to criminalize Syrian government

Maduro's government reveals plans of far-right terrorist cell

Where will the Trump administration go to war next?

Cooperation between NATO and Russia nonexistent - Russian deputy FM

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