Venezuela in Crisis: Is Maduro the People’s Choice?

Analysis of the Foreign Role

By Karl Pomeroy

Quemado Institute
May 10, 2019

Since the start of the third millennium, the United States and its European allies have adopted regime change as a primary mode of foreign operation. Helpless to retaliate for the tragedy of 9/11, the West has attacked or threatened  to attack a host of nations around the globe, from Russia to North Korea, Libya to Iran.  Is Venezuela just another target for revenge?

Venezuela is not Syria, Ukraine, Iraq, or Libya.

Despite parallels drawn by leftist pundits, Venezuela is very different from nations such as Syria, a recent victim of Western aggression. Syria, before US-EU intervention, was a thriving secular nation whose government was led by popular, democratically elected President Bashar al Assad. Subsequently, the country was nearly devastated by the West’s military invasions, bombings and occupation, in conjunction with the brutal oppression by American-armed terrorist groups such as ISIS. Putin’s Russia played the “good guy” in the conflict, obliterating much of ISIS and aiding Assad’s recapture of most of Syrian territory.

Yet many self-proclaimed Western progressives sided with the invading US-EU military against President Assad, chanting their slogan “Assad must go!”, which they justified by the claim that Assad had gassed his own people, a piece of debunked propaganda. In other words, the so-called progressives aligned themselves with the Western neocons in opposition to the Syrian people.

The situation in Venezuela is very different from that of Ukraine as well. Ukraine, prior to the US-instigated coup that ousted democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovich and launched the rise to power of anti-Russian warhawk Petro Poroshenko, was a sprawling multi-racial conglomerate comprising dissatisfied pro-EU and pro-Russian factions that nevertheless coexisted in reasonable harmony. After US intervention, Nazi-descendant anti-Russian Ukrainians began attacking the Russian-speaking people of Donbass, which had been a prosperous industrial, mining and farming region that bordered Russia in Ukraine’s southeast. The civil war continues to this day.

Contrary to corporate media lore, the Russian government did not intervene. Nor did Putin’s Russia play the “good guy”. By refusing to send troops in to defend the ethnic Russians, while allowing them to be slaughtered by the Nazi central government, Putin may have played the betrayer. But the real villains were the United States and the European Union.

Again, many so-called progressive liberals of the West sided with the Obama-Clinton-backed fascist regime in Kiev and either ignored or condemned as terrorists the Russian-speaking civilians of Donbass, even as they were being bombed by the Ukrainian army. Again, the so-called progressives aligned with the neocons in opposition to the people of southeast former Ukraine, and in opposition to all Ukrainians, since most suffered under Poroshenko.

Not an expert on Libya, I will say these same self-proclaimed progressives were happy to see Libya’s rightful leader Muammar Qaddafi brutally executed and his once-stable nation reduced to chaos by US-EU intervention. These so-called progressives also made no protest when strongman Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was murdered and his prosperous, secular nation destroyed by shock-and-awe Western aggression.

Again, many American and European pseudo-progressives aligned themselves with the neocons against the Libyan and Iraqi people.

A clear pattern is emerging here: Western liberals often favor the destruction of foreign peoples and cultures. It seems these leftists are brainwashed by the globalist propaganda peddled by the elite-owned media.

Of course most Western conservatives sided with the neocons as well, since nearly every Westerner has been indoctrinated by globalist dogma. And in fairness to the liberals, some left-wing progressives deplored the evils of foreign intervention.

But many liberals who prided themselves on their humanitarian stance, unwittingly or in some cases knowingly, advocated the annihilation of foreign peoples and cultures.

How does this play out in Venezuela?

We now find many of these same so-called progressives—some of them American Democrats and prominent political figures, others Canadian or European socialists—opposing US intervention in Venezuela because of the failures in Iraq, Libya, Syra and Ukraine. Yet many liberals were not against invading Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine at the time, because such military operations were deemed “humanitarian”. And now some of these same liberals cite the very interventions they once condoned as reasons to stay out of Venezuela, saying, “Hands off Venezuela! Look at what happened in Syria! Look at what happened in Libya!”

Yet, Venezuela is not Iraq, Libya, Syria or Ukraine. Venezuela is a very different story, as I will show. And by a complex turn of events, these pseudo-progressives again oppose the wishes of the Venezuelan people, just as they have opposed the wishes of foreign people everywhere.

Polarized foreign dogma on the Venezuelen crisis

Polarized foreign dogma about the Venezuelan crisis falls into two main camps. Camp I, or the Hands-Off-Venezuela camp, largely made up of Democrats, liberals, socialists, Russians, pro-Russians, Sanders supporters, academics, so-called progressives, and anti-Trumpers, contends more or less that

1. the United States is fomenting a coup in Venezuela;.
2. Nicolas Maduro is the legitimate elected President of Venezuela;
3. Juan Guaido is a CIA-groomed US puppet with no constitutional claim to the Presidency;
4. the US should stay out of Venezuela because the people want to determine their own fate;
5. Venezuela is like Syria, Iraq, Ukraine or Libya, which were destroyed by US intervention;
6. the US wants to interfere in Venezuela to preserve its hegemony or to seize oil and resources;
7. the Russians are right in backing Maduro, and
8. it is US sanctions that have caused poverty and starvation in Venezuela.

Camp II, or the Help-Venezuela camp, which includes many US politicians, some of them neocons, along with Trump and his administration and avid Trump supporters, contends more or less that

1. Guaido is the constitutional President of Venezuela;
2. Maduro is a criminal dictator who should be removed;
3. communism, socialism, Chavez and/or Maduro, but not the US, have caused Venezuela’s poverty and starvation;
4. US sanctions have hurt the Maduro government but not the people;
5. Russia and Cuba are wrong to support Maduro;
6. the crisis in Venezuela is not a coup because Maduro is not the constitutional President;
7. the people of Venezuela need outside help to change their government; and
8. Maduro, China and Russia are stealing Venezuela’s resources.

There is almost no middle ground between these camps. That is because the globalist elite seek to divide and conquer, and have manufactured this crisis, along with many others, toward the end of fomenting war, their most lucrative business.

If Trump and Putin were free to cooperate without interference from the deep state, they could solve the problem of Venezuela. But as Russiagate has proven, cooperation is not an option. And so we have tension and threats of war.

Yet in all this polarization of foreign opinion, what do the Venezuelan people say?

Voice of The People of Venezuela

Invariably, the people who live in or have lived in Venezuela, or who have friends or relatives living in Venezuela, make the following points about the present crisis, as I will show:

1. Guaido is the constitutional President of Venezuela;
2. Maduro is a criminal dictator who should be removed;
3. communism, socialism, Chavez and/or Maduro, but not the US, have caused Venezuela’s poverty and starvation;
4. US sanctions have hurt the Maduro government but not the people;
5. Russia and Cuba are wrong to support Maduro;
6. the movement in Venezuela is not a coup because Maduro is not the constitutional President;
7. the people of Venezuela need outside help to change their government; and
8. Maduro, China and Russia are stealing Venezuela’s resources.

These are the same points as those of Camp II, the Help-Venezula camp. In other words, the people of Venezuela agree with Trump’s policy and are asking for US intervention, as I will show.

Thus again, the so-called progressives are opposed to the will of the Venezuelan people. These liberals think they know what the Venezuelan people want, but they don’t really know. In fact, they extrapolate from the disasters of Iraq, Libya, Ukraine and Syria, without appreciating the differences.

How can the Venezuelan people want American intervention?

One way of making this plausible is to look at the war in Ukraine. The Donbass crisis is something of a mirror image to that of Venezuela. When Poroshenko’s coup regime took over Ukraine, the people of Donbass voted for independence. Putin’s Russia, alas, failed to acknowledge the Donbass referendum, but instead recognized Poroshenko as Ukraine’s President. Donbass soon fell victim to Ukrainian military attack, and in the early days of the war, was barely able to defend itself.

In response, the people of Donbass begged Russia to intervene militarily to save them from Poroshenko’s death machine. Putin refused, and never did send troops in. (Some tanks and weapons did arrive through back channels early on, as well as self-motivated Russian volunteers not under Putin’s command.)

Donbass begged for Russian intervention, just as Venezuelans are now begging for US intervention. This is actually logical, since Venezuela is right next door, just as Russia was right next door to Donbass.

How can we know the wishes of the Venezuelan people?

On May 2 and 3 of this year, I spent many hours studying Twitter under the search words Maduro, Guaido, Venezuela, and Caracas, using an English-language filter. This type of search brings up every single tweet from the whole world that contains at least one of the above words. The same type of Twitter search during the early Donbass war enlightened me to the viewpoints of the ethnic Russians living there, and to the war crimes of Kiev regime.

With tweets coming in at about 30 per minute, most are mainstream propaganda, links to news articles, or simply irrelevant. The gems are the tweets from people who live in or have lived in Venezuela or have friends or relatives there. I have compiled a list of all of the tweets from Venezuelans themselves. All but one are consistent with the points made by Camp II, the Help-Venezuela camp described above.

I had no bias to begin with, and did not expect this result. Possibly the English-language filter has skewed the outcome, but the tweets are heart felt and speak for themselves. The list of verbatim tweets is presented below.

To complete this analysis, the question must be asked: Is it wise for the US to intervene militarily in Venezuela, if the people are begging for help?

The answer is no. The United States military is run by a ham-fisted band of profit-seeking bureaucrats. Not only has the US has bungled just about every military operation since Vietnam, it can’t even build a fighter jet that flies, a destroyer that doesn’t sink, or electonics that can’t be jammed. If the US military went into Venezuela, many people would die due to sheer incompetence. The toll would be horrific, and right on our doorstep. Let’s hope Trump sees the likelihood of military embarrassment and avoids intervention, as many believe he will.

In the Words of the Venezuelans

The following tweets are presented verbatim, formatted for readability. Some are debates between foreigners and Venezuelans, others single tweets. The tweets were selected based on the source’s probable presence in Venezuela now or in the past, as gleaned from the profile or the content of the tweet.

What seems sad is the rudeness, sarcasm and insensitivity expressed by foreigners toward these Venezuelans who are truly suffering, as if this were a debate contest or football game, rather than a matter of life or death.

Tweets about poverty, suffering and starvation:

Mariana Jimenez: “Replying to @SenRickScott @POTUS I have 63 years old I eat one a day with luck, sometime I don’t by 3 days, because the salary is a misery, I don’t sleep worry about Venezuela situation so I sleep 3 or 4 hours, I don’t have drinking water several days, an electricity is cut all the time.”

Joel Barros: “Replying to @AlbertAnkomah @KillenTim Are you saying that leaving Maduro in power is the solution? Because if you are there’s no need to continue this conversation, the evidence of the suffering and starvation he and the Cubans thugs supporting him are causing CAN’T be denied. You’re ok with that?”

Orlando Jardim: “Replying to @charliekirk11 @BernieSanders I grew up in Venezuela. It was a very wealthy nation. Then Chavez and Maduro implemented socialism. Now there’s no water, no food, no electricity, no medicine, no peace. People are being killed by this evil regime. How could anyone in their right mind would want that for USA?”

Tweets calling for help:

MarcoSantana2018: “Replying to @kenvogel @realDonaldTrump @JoeBiden @AmbJohnBolton @RickScottWatch @marcorubio @SecPompeo @washingtonpost @jguaido @ONU_derechos @FLOTUS @cafreeland @_andresanches @sebastianpinera @OEA_oficial S.O.S VENEZUELA. THE VENEZUELA’S PEOPLE NO SUPPORT ANY MORE THE TYRANNY OF THE KILLER NICOLAS MADURO.”

Juan Esteban Mendoza “#IntervencionMilitarya VENEZUELA CAN NOT AGAINST THE TERRORISTS OF NARCO WE NEED A MILITARY AID. @realdonaldtrump @SecPompeo @VP @jguaido”

FE VERDAD JUSTICIA: “It’s time, Venezuelan civilians have no weapons to confront the military and other traitor forces, their collective mercenaries or irregulars, Colombian guerrillas and paramilitaries, Cuban and Russian war dogs, God, SOS for a #Venezuela Libre.”

Tweets supporting Guaido as President:

Michael Welling: “#FoxNews Marxist mouthpiece @anyaparampil of the #Grayzone lies to @TuckerCarlson telling him that president Juan Guaido of Venezuela has NO popular support. Is she stupid and blind? #WTF”
Fran Gonzalez: “Replying to @WellingMichael @anyaparampil Another big mouth that has no idea what is happening in Venezuela. #VenezuelaLibre we are with @jguaido, and we are not two people! Just join us in the next street protest and face closely the thugs, the colectivos.”

Roy Scott: “Just curious, on what date did Venezuelans elect Juan Guaido? When was that election?”
Marina By(E)r: “Replying to @RoyForRealsies We elect Juan Guaidó in 2015, National Assembly elections, only democratically elected entity of Venezuela.

A debate on foreign intervention:

Maite San Miguel: “That doesn’t make them knowledgeable about Venezuela. Believe it or not, you kinda need to know the country you’re talking about. Not everything is about the US, don’t you see how condescending and insulting this is? ‘Your country is irrelevant, what matters is US involvement.'”
Noah: “Go fight your own war then, we’re not the world police and our military doesn’t help people. Case in point: Iraq, Syria, Libya.”
Maite San Miguel: “Couldn’t agree more. Now, if you could also pass on the same message to Cuba, China, Russia and Iran? Right now they seem to be the ones taking advantage of Venezuela’s resources, along with Maduro and the military.”

Debates between Camp I (foreigners) and Camp II (Venezuelans):

Jim Inkenbrandt (Camp I): “The Venezuela people are dying from US sanctions. These sanctions are criminal and a form of war against the people.”
Ginny replies (Camp II): “Replying to @imjimink @BenjaminNorton @JoeBiden Tell me a valid reason of that. I’m trying to explain to you what I lived there. I lived it. Venezuelan dictatorship has always rejected US things. Have you ever heard some of Maduro’s speeches? He rejects everything that comes from US because is imperialist, so… sanctions?”

We Act Radio (Camp I): “Police State stand off btw #HandsOffVenezuela + right wing Trump supporters w/ police protection arresting people to prevent food or water from entering the DC #VenezuelanEmbassy @venanalysis DC UPDATE from @codepink: Women for Peace #dosomething #VenezuelaCoup”
Paul Castro (Camp II): “Replying to @WeActRadio @venanalysis @codepink She stands with Maduro’s criminal dictatorship, she is not welcome in southamerica.”

Jenny Avila (Camp II): “A great work is what Vzuelan have to do to survive after we had to flee from Vzla because the internacional criminals these people are supporting want to kill us all. NEVER FORGET THAT YOU @codepink & @answercoalition are supporting drug traffickers while people get killed there.”
Baron de Balderdash (Camp I): “What’s criminal is trying to violently overthrow an internationally-recognized democratic government, lol.”
Jenny Avila: “While you are laughing with your ‘lol’ I am watching videos of Venezuelans being killed trying to fight against terrorists for our freedom. That is the difference between someone who does’t have a clue about the situation and someone who has been a victim of that situation.”
Sandra Duffy (Camp I): “Terrorist is usually what the ones trying to usurp the elected government are called. When the police and army put down such an event it is usually called fighting terrorism. All in the eye of the beholder I guess.”
Jenny Avila: “Please, inform yourself. Search what is ‘Las FARC’ the ‘ELN’ ‘HEZBOLLAH’ and ‘HAMÁS’ ‘LOS COLECTIVOS’. Those are terrorists groups, those have branches in Venezuela, those are getting money from the band of thieves who kipnapped Venezuela helped by Hugo Chavez and Nicolás Maduro.”
Sandra Duffy: “So you are anti Palestinan and anti Lebanese as well. Quelle surprise.”
Jenny Avila: “I am anti bad people. If there are bad people in those groups, yes, I am against them, and if you are a good person, you should be against them too.”
Sandra Duffy: “You are just another pampered American princess who refuses to look at what the US determination to promote the power of the 1% at the expense of the rest has done to, not only the US but to the world and definitely to Latin America.”
Jenny Avila: “Replying to @SandraDuffy123 @davinciskitchen First of all, I lived 33 years in Venezuela, I am Venezuelan. Second, I am not a princess, I am a victim of those drug traffickers and terrorist financiers that you are supporting. Please, stop talking lies and inform yourself better. Assumptions are not true either.”
Sandra Duffy: “Replying to @JennyAvila @davinciskitchen Appologies. I have you confused with a young model of the same name. Nevertheless what the US has done to Latin America has been a cancer and it is impossible to know what Venuzuela could have been without the interference of those with a vested interest in its failure.”
Jenny Avila: “I swear that what is happening with us is real. This is BAD BAD people with power and we need the help of the whole hemisphere to stop them ASAP! USA has nothing to do with that, on the contrary, we have been asking USA to help us to stop those criminals for years!!!”

AG37 (Camp II): Your ignorance about Venezuela Andy our hate to the United States is blinding you is a genocide by a criminal régimen your hate is blinding you supporting evil doers.”
Seyed Zolnor Safavi (Camp I): “I don`t hate the US! I hate their corrupt neocon regime! Venezuela is a sovereign country with a Gov. that was voted in by the people. If they want it changed, it is after them, & not the mafia group, which currently runs the US Gov.”
AG37: “Replying to @Samsafavi1 So yes you are totally wrong ! I invite you to Venezuela and see for yourself who is poisoning and killing Venezuela.”

Debate with Edward Snowden who, influenced by mainstream media, quotes NBC News:

Edward Snowden (Apr 30): “Big: Venezuela’s opposition leader just launched a coup. Reports coming in that the government is now blocking access to social media in response. Any interference with the right of the people to communicate freely must be condemned. #venezuela https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1123189271274360833”
Marianne Díaz Hernández (Profile-Venezuelan lawyer): “IT IS NOT A GODDAMN COUP SNOWDEN. tú también, Brutus, hijo mío.”
Edward Snowden: “With respect, my tweet is about protecting the people of Venezuela’s right to communicate and organize, not the word ‘coup,’ which is the term being used by major media like @reuters, the @guardian, and others in their coverage of today’s news. I don’t write the style guide.”
Marianne Díaz Hernández: “With respect (I do have a lot of respect for you), choosing the word coup carries a meaning, as your RTs about the topic do as well. You’re showing bias toward a specific narrative, which is Maduro’s narrative. I do appreciate your concern about Venezuelans rights to comunicate.”
Democratic Gremlin: “Replying to @mariannedh @Snowden The Word Police has missed the point: Shutting down the internet to prevent people from communicating, organizing and obtaining uncensored information is not acceptable for ANY government to do including #Venezuela.”
[Quemado Institute comments: Calling Marianne Diaz Hernandez the “Word Police” is an example of foreign insensitivity.]

Debates between Camps I (foreigners) and Camp II (Venezuelans) about Guaido as legitimate President of Venezuela:

David Donoso (Camp II): “Your Cali neighbor hinted I was getting paid with no evidence. I asked him if he was getting paid. You seemed to suggest tweets were not necessarily paid. What was the point of your question? I’m Venezuelan btw so the whole Trump free press influence doesn’t really apply to me.”
Xanathar the Anarcho-Syndicalist (Camp I): “The evidence is that you purportedly support a coup, which is lead by CIA-asset guaido. Now it is entirely possible you are a regular Venezuelan, who just wants to unleash civil war and the US military on your own people. But, that is the secondary assumption.”
David Donoso: “You guys have spent too much time watching EmpireFiles and GrayZone. Know the Venezuelan law, this is not a coup. Talk to Venezuelans, respect the people over your bias. The Constituent Assembly was illegally summoned voiding the constitution (2015) They called for elections again illegally since they don’t have that power. Elections were carried out with a banned opposotion & no international observers. Later the voting company called it a fraud.”
Scottie Up! (Camp I): “And a guy declaring himself president and swearing himself in is? Read your Damn constitution or reread it because your being fed lies.”
David Donoso: “If you would’ve read it you wouldn’t be so rude. Guaido was named President of The National Assembly on Jan 5. Maduro’s tenure ended Jan 10. Guaido is the interim president according to the Venezuelan law: Articles 233, 350. Chao.”
alberto (Camp II): “Replying to @ScottieUp3 @DaveTheAsbestos @Anarcho_DM Article 233, like I said to your friend already. Maduro never showed up at the NA and that’s his duty. The governent can’t do shit without the approval of the NA. Study, then talk.”

Carolina Castaldo (Camp II): “Replying to @dancohen3000 It’s not a coup! Guaido is the legitimate president of Venezuela, not Maduro! You are a giornalist, you are supossed to tell the truth. Shame on you!”
Bumble Bea (Camp I): “Only 50 out of 185 countries agrees with guaido, he is not legitimate. All illegal! Maybe you don’t understand.”
Carolina Castaldo: “Yes! And the number of countries are still growing 🙂 our constitution (the same that brought Chávez to power) support the designation of Guaido as well as rejects the illegitimate election of Maduro in 2018. But, of course you know no shit about this because you don’t care. Bye!”
Bumble Bea: “The opposition boycotted. You can’t convince someone of lies when they know the truth.”
Carolina Castaldo: “Wtf? Hahahahaha you have so much shit in your mouth…does anyone hear you or even tolerante being close to you without throwing you up?”
Bumble Bea: “Replying to @CastaldoGil @dancohen3000 He is telling the truth. God just confirmed it. #HandsOffVenezuela”
Carolina Castaldo: “Your answers explains by itself your mental state and ignorance. I am in Venezuela. Come and live here with a 3 dollars monthly salary no food, no medicines. Have a real taste of the comunism you deffend comfortably from another country but that you have never lived.”
Bumble Bea: “Maybe you should come here and experience American slavery. Just stop asking my gov to commit illegal war crimes to save you from the US Sanctions aggravating your inflation. The US & guaido took out your power not Maduro. The US is your enemy.”
Carolina Castaldo: “I won’t waste my tome with you. I have visited and lived inw other countries. You have no idea of what it is to live in comunism. So….fuck you.”

Medea Benjamin (Camp I): “It is illegal for anyone but elected Venezuela govt to control this embassy ‘handsoffvenezuela’.”
Diego Rojo #EVE (Camp II): “Tell the entire story. Maduro was not elected for a new term. Elections were staged. Elected by the people, president of congress @jguaido steps in as interim president as mandated by Venezuelan constitution!”

Medea Benjamin (Camp I):”Spirited rally yesterday at DC Venezuela embassy as we protect it from the unelected opposition. ‘Say it loud. Say it clear. Juan Guaido not welcome here.'”
Diego Rojo #EVE (Camp II): “Replying to @medeabenjamin Guaido was elected by the people for Congress. As president of congress he stepped in as interim president after Maduro’s term was over – Maduro had staged elections in an attempt to stay in power. Now Maduro holds Venezuela hostage.”

Tweets against Maduro regime:

René: “Replying to @BenjaminNorton @matteosalvinimi By looking at politics in a one dimensional spectrum (left – right) you miss another very important dimension (totalitarian – liberal). The Maduro regime in Venezuela is a totalitarian – leftist regime, with a LOT of common with fascists due to its totalitarian nature.”

Jose Segura: “Replying to @MaxBlumenthal @RealAlexRubi Radical leftists Americans imposing POV & disrespecting 85% of Venezuelans (that oppose Maduro) bc they know better than the ‘indigenous ppl’ from my country are definitely RACIST. You are mad at ‘indigenous’ bc all the embassy invaders are out and maybe not receiving Maduro’s $$.”

Tweets to Ilhan Omar, who claims the United States helped lead the devastation in Venezuela:

Nelly Pujols Senior: “@IlhanMN I’ve never seen such a STUPID WOMAN in congress. I’m from Venezuela an MY people IS SUFFERING hunger. Eating from garbage &lack of medicines due to NICOLAS MADURO & CHAVEZ 4 MORE THAN 20 YRS. And you have the guts to blame US? Read &l learn bfore u speak! ASSHOLE”

Jose Vicente Núñez: “@IlhanMN Dear Ihan Omar: Your position about Venezuela is incorrect. Not only it shows that you have a lack of historical knowledge but you are also undermining the support than the United States is providing to Venezuela. Your actions are hurting the credibility of the Democratic Party and the Venezuelan people. Unless you are willing to provide concrete solutions then please refrain to spread inaccurate opinions about what is happening in Venezuela. Please feel free to reach out if you need information from a Venezuelan who has relatives living in the country and also had to start from scratch because of this situation. I can help you to really understand what is going on without the propaganda! Thanks!”

Germania Rodriguez Poleo: [First retweeted Mediaite who said, “Ilhan Omar Blames United States for ‘Devastation in Venezuela’ and ‘Bullying’ Maduro”, then replied]: “As a Venezuelan-American liberal, I am greatly concerned about @IlhanMN’s presence in the House Foreign Affairs committee. Omar is blinded by ideology and supports a dictator who’s starving his people to death. She is as dangerous as far-right fanatics & needs to be removed. If you’re a liberal, you too should be concerned about Omar’s pattern of not only supporting Castro-communism but also anti-semitism. Characters like Omar give progressives a bad name. We must reject their regressive fanatism and stand for true liberalism.”
Claudia D replies: “Mi amiga, it might be time for you to rethink your liberal ideology. Your party has left you. It is no longer a party of #Freedom which is what we want for our country. #Venezuela”
Germania Rodriguez Poleo: “Daily reminder that I will not engage in a debate on #Venezuela with those blinded by the privilege of not knowing anyone who has died from lack of basic resources or government oppression. ~~~ Gracias!”

John Cooper: “WOW: @IlhanMN says the U.S. has ‘helped lead the devastation in #Venezuela,’ and accuses the U.S. on ‘bullying’ the Maduro regime.”
Bea Mercedes: “She needs to learn about what has happened in Venezuela for the last 20 years. People has been suffering and have lost family members killed by the dictatorship. It all started with Chavez and it has to end with Maduro.”

HiLuna: “Replying to @IlhanMN Omar, you actually don’t know what you are taling about Venezuela. Maybe you know about the US or Somalia but you don’t about MY country. So stop repeating what your being instructed to say. We are dying here and you are part of those who help the killers.”

Luis Manuel: “@IlhanMN You are the worst of the worst your are scum communist!!! I am Venezuela born, and proud America citizen, listen you are pure evil, you have no place in this country, you are insulting go bake from you came bake!!!!!!!!”

eduardo prieto: “You dont know what your talking about, im living, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, im a profesor, my salarie is 30 $ a month¡¡ because the Chaves/ Maduro economics polítics became my country, my rich country, in a poor country¡¡”

Daniel: “@IlhanMN your an absolute moron. I’ve been to Venezuela and know the people and they had the best economy before this dictator took over. He stole and bankrupt that perfect economy. The people want him out. The US had nothing to do with their wrecked economy.”

Lolita: “Replying to @IlhanMN You really don’t have any idea what you are talking about. Venezuela need help. We are suffering.”

LEO: “Replying to @IlhanMN I am an immigrant from Colombia. I have friends suffering the abuses of the Maduro regime. I can tell you that your statements are not only dangerous but you really don’t know what you are talking about. Please, leave politics aside!”

Tweets against CODEPINK (@codepink):

Marlon Correa: “NOW The leader of @codepink inside a @Starbucks. The irony of communists enjoying capitalism.She supports a murderous regime & socialism, giving me the right to protest her enjoying a cup o’ joe like Starbucks. She’s not protecting us, she’s a criminal, and a accomplice to all the murders and tortures in Venezuela. Get the facts straight!”
Queen of Varona “Thank you Marlon! Absolutely right!!!! She is just another criminal protecting a criminal system!! People who still defends the criminals in Venezuela are just ignorants of international laws and history!”

Silvia DeMascarenhas: “Replying to @ElPitazoTV Hey, @codepink this is the kind of man you’re defending by taking our embassy. He had a car given by Maduro’s regime and was robbing people during a protest, pointing a gun at them. This is what you’re supporting.”

Debates with CODEPINK (@codepink):

CODEPINK (Camp I): “With neocons pushing for US military action and the media regurgitating pro-regime change talking points, what makes people think Venezuela won’t just be another Iraq? We cannot let this happen again! #HandsOffVenezuela”
Emilio Useche (Camp II): “Replying to @codepink It is clear that whoever is behind @codepink does not have a relative killed or dying of starvation because of the @NicolasMaduro regime. Come to #Venezuela and enjoy the revolution for a while, then, we’ll talk.”

CODEPINK (Camp I): With neocons pushing for US military action and the media regurgitating pro-regime change talking points, what makes people think Venezuela won’t just be another Iraq? We cannot let this happen again! #HandsOffVenezuela”
Johana MacedoAl (Camp II): “Replying to @codepink Whyyyyy?????? My people is dying!!! without food and medicines!! and Maduro has been killing us in the streets just for saying the truth!!! Why do you support a dictator as Maduro? Why do you have to be illegal with a property? Maduro is killing my people… Be smart people…”

A debate with John Bolton:

John Bolton: “Only the Venezuelan people can determine the future of Venezuela. Maduro is only clinging to power because of the support of Russia and Cuba, the only foreign military forces in Venezuela. Without foreign interference, the democratic process in Venezuela would be underway today.”
jon lacasa: “The people of Venezuelan can do nothing else. We gave all… ¿So Mr @AmbJohnBolton, USA can do nothing face or against a little island like Cuba or against Russia, at thousands miles? ¿Is this your solidarity with your allied Venezuela, always your friend?”

Dialog between a Venezuelan and foreign propagandist:

Roy Scott: “Replying to @josecass93 Meaning, instead of sharing the profits of oil production with Venezuelans, give it to the US elite and the top 1%, and let thousands die in the process.”
ED (of Venezuela): “Venezuelans are already dying, you just have no idea of what’s going on. Of course the resources of Venezuela are the biggest motivation but the country it’s being already robbed and abused by other countries without benefits back to the people of Venezuela.”
Roy Scott: “Lifting the deathly sanctions and diplomatically pushing for another internationally monitored election would be a good way to address that, no?”
ED: “Definitely you have no idea about all the process that they were trying to take already. There were one election with internationally monitored but the countries were those that the government already pay for their votes with the oil.”
Roy Scott: “Replying to @_edixyta Well, I’m on the side of fewer Venezuelans dying. So if a violent right-wing coup and the opening of Venezuela’s oil reserves to a country known for pursuing wars for oil and continued sanctions do that, so be it.”

Debate against Russian propaganda.

RT.COM (Camp I) article: “Civilians are the real victims (and targets) of Trump’s Venezuela sanctions – April 28, 2019. The Trump administration claims that its increasingly punitive sanctions on Venezuela ‘do not target the innocent people’ but the government of President Nicolas Maduro. A new report on the effects of sanctions debunks that myth. The analysis, compiled by Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), found that the sanctions have increased hunger, disease, mortality, have displaced millions of Venezuelans and exacerbated the country’s economic crisis. Overall, the report says the measures have caused ‘very serious harm to human life and health, including an estimated more than 40,000 deaths’ between 2017 and 2018.”
Diego Rojo #EVE (Camp II) in response to RT.COM: “Replying to @medeabenjamin @cepr Do your homework! Before any sanction, Venezuelans were already dying from starvation by the Maduro regime!”

On Russian intervention in Venezuela, update from AJSB, a reliable pro-Russian international Twitter war correspondent:

AJSB: “UNVERIFIED: Reported arrival of Russian forces in #Venezuela using a…Hercules C-130!”
Patricksavalle: “Escorted by an F35?”
AJSB: “I know how odd at 1st it seems…but Venezuelan Air Force have C-130 planes…so, this could have been some undercover transfer of forces via a 3rd party intermediate Nation like Cuba to keep it as low profile as possible. From a ‘theoretical’ PoV, Russia could have send forces disguised in a discrete commercial plane to Cuba, then, Venezuelan Air force would have gone there pick them up using a C-130…but of course this is all speculation from me.” 2:13 PM – 3 May 2019
[Quemado Institute comments: AJSB’s speculations on Donbass and Syria have often proved correct.]

Trump will handle Russia:

Donald J. Trump tweets: “Had a long and very good conversation with President Putin of Russia. As I have always said, long before the Witch Hunt started, getting along with Russia, China, and everyone is a good thing, not a bad thing. We discussed Trade, Venezuela, Ukraine, North Korea, Nuclear Arms Control and even the ‘Russian Hoax.’ Very productive talk!”

The only Venezuela resident I found who sides with Camp I:

Carlos Salinas (resident of Caracas): “@realDonaldTrump To destabilize Venezuela for oil would also destabilize the US, and we do not want that, please rectify your policy against us, we are not your enemies nor do we want to be.”

Conclusion

Although it would be reckless for the United States to involve itself militarily in Venezuela’s internal affairs, there remains an urgent need for constitutional resolution. The voices of the Venezuelan people cry out for change, and such change appears impossible from within. An accord for resolution should be drawn up at a summit of concerned foreign leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the aim of convincing Maduro to willingly step down and allow for constitutional elections. Such a summit should be arranged this summer, without further delay.