Friday, March 22, 2019

Events surrounding Venezuela

The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, called the US attack a an act of terrorism on the country's power grids.

“The cyber attack against the Venezuelan electrical system was a terrorist act by the US government against the people of Venezuela. And the people of Venezuela have defeated the terrorist attack of the Donald Trump government, and now we are preparing to move forward, ”said Maduro. His speech was  is broadcast in Periscope.

According to him, behind the attack was the presidential adviser on national security, John Bolton, and the attack itself was carried out from the cities of Houston and Chicago. "It was the largest cyber attack, which is known on planet Earth," - said Maduro.

In Venezuela, on March 7, the energy system collapse occurred due to an accident at the country's largest hydroelectric power station El Guri. The National Electricity Corporation (Corpoelec) described the incident as sabotage and an episode of the energy war against Venezuela. Venezuela’s Minister of Communications and Information, Jorge Rodriguez, said Wednesday that the country's electricity supply was fully restored after the blackout.

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All American diplomats must leave Venezuela within 72 hours, the foreign minister of the Latin American country, Jorge Arreas, said. According to him, the day before the Foreign Ministry summoned the US Charge d'Affaires in Venezuela, where he was informed about the decision of Caracas.

According to the minister, Caracas is committed to dialogue with the government of the United States, if such interaction is based on "principles of equality and mutual respect."

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The speaker of the opposition parliament of Venezuela, Juan Guaydo, who proclaimed himself the interim head of state, is an impostor from the legal and moral points of view, said the Russian embassy in Caracas.

“In accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution, the President takes the oath in the National Assembly or in the Supreme Court, and not in the town square. It remains to be seen how events would have developed if Guaydo decided to declare itself within the walls of the National Assembly. It is highly doubtful that he would be able to enlist the necessary support from his fellow parliamentarians, ”the press service of the diplomatic mission said.

The embassy stressed that, unlike Guaydo, the legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, took office after an open election campaign, with the support of more than six million people.

The Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office informed the Supreme Court that it is launching a second investigation into the head of the opposition, Juan Guaydo, in connection with possible involvement in sabotage at the power grid facilities.

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Washington intends to establish a  military environment of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under the pretext of the so-called "humanitarian intervention". "The United States silently accumulates its military force near Venezuela," said British journalist and military expert Tom Rogan in the Washington Examiner newspaper. “The United States has a significant naval and transport presence near Colombia and Venezuela.”

According to Rogan, the Pentagon is able to deploy 2,200 marines, combat aircraft, tanks, and two aircraft carriers off Venezuelan coast in less than a week.

The US Navy has deployed a carrier-based strike group (CSG) in the Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Florida. The group includes the aircraft carrier USS "Abraham Lincoln" (CVN-72), a missile-carrying cruiser and four destroyers, not counting the frigate of the Spanish Navy, who were invited to participate in the maneuvers. On board the Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier, a naval aviation squadron (CVW) operates, equipped with Lockheed F-35C Lightning II fighter-bomber fighters, the most advanced in the US arsenal.

The head of the US Southern Command last week visited Brazil and was received by Foreign Minister Ernest Araujo, with whom he discussed the “question of Venezuela”. Bolsonar pledged to use the state of Roraima as a center for the accumulation of so-called humanitarian aid directed against Venezuela, and therefore the American logistic deployment.