Looks like we're at it again spreading democracy for oil
The caffeinatedhebrew’s Podcast
Oil of Oh Hey! Venezuela Bolton and Blinken at Democracy
(upbeat music) - Hey, welcome back to another episode of the caffeinated Hebrew podcast. My name is Greg Parker, creator of this debacle. This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Podbean Podcast. You can download today at podbean.com. You can also listen to this episode of the podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. (upbeat music) Hey, thanks and enjoy the show. So there's some news coming out of Venezuela. This is coming from CNN. The United States says Maduro lost Venezuela election as opposition leader says she's in hiding. The United States said it is clear that President Nicolas Maduro has lost the popular vote in Venezuela's election last week. As a key opposition leader said, "She is in hiding for fear for life." Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States, and most importantly to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo Gonzalez Aretia won the most votes in Venezuela's July 28th presidential election. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement, "Why are we the United States?" This is me asking, "Why are we interested in Venezuela's July 28th presidential election?" What is our interest? What is the United States interest in Venezuela's July 28th presidential election? I'm just curious. In addition, the United States rejects Maduro's unsubstantiated allegations against opposition leaders. Maduro and his representatives threats to arrest opposition leaders, including Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Carina Machado are an undemocratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power, Blinken said. So I want you to listen to that. The United States rejects Maduro's unsubstantiated allegations against opposition leaders. First of all, what does it matter what we think? Do we care if Justin Trudeau and Canada rejected the results of our election or someone in England or like, I don't know, help me understand this. You as the listeners of the caffeinated Hebrew, come on caffeinated, help me understand why the United States government gives two fine fucks about what happens in the election in Venezuela. Just something to chew on, just something to think about, right? Maduro's government has rejected the US statement as ridiculous with Venezuela's foreign minister, Yvonne Gill accusing the United States of attempting to orchestrate a coup. Well, that's not a surprise. This is what the United States government does consistently. Protests broke out against, protest broke out across Venezuela. Earlier this week, after the country's electoral body, which is stacked with regime allies announced Maduro as the winner with 51% of the votes. Now, if this was such a dangerous communist country, how could protests break out? I mean, that's just a question. The election was seen as the most consequential election in years with Venezuela's stalling democracy. There's that word, democracy, in hopes of recovering its shattered economy on the line. Many young opposition supporters said they would leave the country if Maduro was reelected. Oh, ah, where are they gonna go? If the US got involved with an election and orchestrated a coup, where would people in Venezuela flee to? Let's say the United States made conditions so bad by sanctions or shattering the economy? Where would Venezuelans go? What country do you think they would flee to? So they would leave the country if Maduro was reelected, pointing to the devastating collapse of Venezuela's economy and violent repression under his rule. Now, that's not, that's the United States saying that, but Maduro was reelected in a free and fair election. These elections are monitored and in Venezuela, you have to have a voter ID and then you have to scan your fingerprints. So there's like a lot of multi-factor ways to make sure that you're who you say you are. An energized opposition movement, which overcame their divisions from a coalition and a coalesce around the presidential candidate at Bundo Gonzalez and enjoyed strong polling figures prior to the vote. It had been seen as the ruling establishment's toughest challenge in 25 years. On Tuesday, after the vote, the National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, who was a member of Maduro's inner circle, called for the arrest of both Machado and Gonzalez. Through the country's public ministry, later clarified that no arrest had been issued for either opposition figure and fears remain they could be targeted by the state. I am writing this from hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom. Machado wrote in an op-ed published Thursday by the Wall Street Journal. Hmm. The Wall Street Journal. Wall. Now, why would the Wall Street Journal be interested in this? What street is Wall Street on? Mm. I could be captured as I write these words, a source from Machado's campaign, a source. A source told CNN that she is currently sheltered. The opposition leader also said most of her team were currently in hiding. That's some, including those in the Argentine embassy, fear and imminent raid. Allegations of foul play. Though Maduro had promised free and fair elections, the process was marred with allegations of foul play. Like foul play, you mean like fair voting? Like a legitimate win? With opposition figures arrested, the key leader, Machado banned from running. Does this, I'm just curious. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Opposition figures arrested. What country could you think of that does this as well? And what country can you think of that would want to ban a political opponent? Who is doing quite well actually in polls? What government would want to ban them from running? I'm just curious, asking you. Opposition witnesses allegedly denied access to the centralized vote count and overseas Venezuelans largely unable to cast ballots. The Carter Center, one of the few independent institutions allowed to monitor the vote, said that Tuesday Venezuela's electoral process did not meet international standards of electoral integrity at any of its stages and violated numerous provisions of its own national laws. And Machado says she can prove that Maduro didn't win. He lost in a landslide to Edmundo Gonzalez, 67 to 30%. She wrote in the Wall Street Journal. I know this to be true because I can prove it, she claimed. I have receipts obtained directly from more than 80% of the nation's polling stations, she wrote, claiming to have known Maduro's government was going to cheat. How would you know that he was going to cheat? How do you know that? Venezuela's electoral, national electoral council is controlled by Maduro. On Friday, the CNA released a bulletin with updated results of Venezuela's presidential elections, five days after the process ended. With 96.87% of the ballots transmitted, Maduro obtained 51.95% of the votes while opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez reached 43.18%. CNA, CNE president, Elvis. Amaro so claimed. So, why are, again, why are we interested in this? Why are we interested in this? Well, when you create conditions that are so intolerable, you force people from a country that they're happy in, they're living, that the resources, the profits from those resources are returned to the people. And when the United States gets involved, we create conditions, we sanction those countries, and the people have to leave. We involve ourselves, we involve ourselves. This is a, another article from the Grey Zone, corporate coup assassination excerpt. Venezuela's Maduro on John Bolton's plot to kill him. Following the attempt on President Donald Trump's life, Anya Perimpo offers a detailed look back at the failed assassination of Venezuela's president, Nicholas Maduro, and Washington's role in the plot, in her new book, Corporate Coup, Venezuela, in the end of a U.S. empire. So, as somebody who helped, as somebody who has helped plan a coup d'etat, not here, but, you know, in other places, it takes a lot of work. John Bolton uttered these words during an interview with, take a guess, CNN reporter Jake Tapper. So, as somebody who has helped plan coup d'etat, not here, but, you know, in other places, it takes a lot of work. This is coming from John Bolton, part of the swamp that is a residue that remained from Trump's draining. So, John Bolton uttered these words in an interview. Nearly three years following his departure from the Trump White House. When Tapper followed up with a request for details of the U.S. officials, apparently a criminal passed, Bolton replied, "Well, I wrote about Venezuela in my memoir and it turned out not to be successful." For Venezuelans, Bolton's confession underscored his already transparent role in directing Washington's failed coup in Caracas and then infamously, infamously, excuse me, incompetent military push that eventually came with it. From the outset of Guado's self-declared presidency, Bolton acted as his most enthusiastic cheerleader inside the White House. Okay, so Bolton is enthusiastic about a candidate in Venezuela. You know that it's the U.S.'s attempt to install a puppet so that the U.S. can retain control of their most valuable resource, which is oil. Days after the Trump administration's January 2019 recognition of Guado, Bolton appeared on Fox Business to articulate the stakes of Washington's new Venezuela policy. It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela. The veteran U.S. official declared, so, and just a few words, Bolton shattered the myth that Washington's preoccupation with Venezuela was rooted in an abstract moral commitment to ideals like freedom and democracy. Does any of this sound familiar to you? We are not interested in freedom and democracy. How many times do we have to go over this, people? According to Bolton, Trump was always skeptical of Guado's ability to dislodge Maduro, whom the U.S. president considered too smart and too tough to fall. So, in other words, Trump was skeptical of their ability to go in and take out Maduro because Trump considered him too smart and too tough. He's too, he's too smart and he's too tough. I can talk to him, I'm a, I am a negotiator and Bolton, you have a walrus mustache and he will listen to me because I have such good words. In his memoir, Bolton disclosed that Trump instead expressed a desire to meet with Maduro directly and resolve our problems with Venezuela on multiple occasions. Okay, so Trump didn't want to go in and take out Maduro. He wanted to go in and talk to him. He further revealed that the president did not even want to issue the initial White House statement in support of Guado under his own name, only caving after Vice President Pence held a phone conversation with the unknown Venezuelan politician on the eve of his self-directed swearing-in ceremony. Excuse me, so Bolton happened to be on hand for that discussion. Just, it's weird how people just happen to be around. You just happen to be there. It's like the Beetlejuice meme. What are you doing? Me, nothing, just hanging around. So that's, that's John Bolton, just hanging around. It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies invest in producing, and okay, that's the goal. Bolton happened to be on hand for this discussion. He later recounted how after the call, I leaned over Pence's desk, that sounds kind of sexual, to shake hands saying, this is a historic moment. Yet even months before Guado's unexpected rise, Bolton stood accused of meddling in Venezuela's internal affairs. It all points to John Bolton, who has a criminal mentality, a murderer's mentality, Maduro told Max Blumenthal in a 2019 interview, Max Blumenthal, Grey Zone. The Venice Blalen president was referring to an assassination attempt that he had survived the previous year, months before Guado's ascent. On the evening of August 4th, Maduro was delivering an outdoor address to the ranks of Venezuela's National Guard when a thunderous explosion erupted from the sky above him. Venezuela's president remained still, but was visibly alarmed as bodyguards unfurled, protective shields to defend him from the sudden blast. National Guard troops scattered in the streets as though they had been ambushed. As Maduro, his wife, Celia Flores, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and the thousands of National Guard troops present managed to escape without significant injury. Authorities traced the fireworks like combustion to a pair of bomb-strapped, manually operated drones recovered from the scene. Venezuela's government promptly characterized the incident as a foreign directed assassination attempt on Maduro, others including Bolton hastily dismissed. It is a false flag operation. So we, so under the Trump administration, Bolton, they tried to kill Maduro. I can unequivocally say that there is no, I can't even read this with a straight face. I can unequivocally say that there is no U.S. involvement in this at all. Bolton told Fox News Sunday within 24 hours of the attack, posting it had been a pretext set up by the regime itself. Yeah, he tried to kill himself. Right, right, you fucking maniac. You fucking maniacs. These people are sick. They lie to you. They lie to your, I mean, they lie to Fox News. No pushback from Fox News. Bolton's theory was discredited months later. Shock, when a group of Venezuelan military defectors claimed responsibility for the botched assassination and provided CNN with a cell phone video documenting their preparation for the assault. The organizers claimed that after establishing a base of operations on a rural Colombian farm, they purchased retail drones online, probably from Amazon and spent weeks practicing how to fly them high enough to avoid detection before swooping down at a single angle to strike their target. They ultimately failed to evade authorities in Caracas who destroyed the drone's mid-air after noticing their violation of Venezuelan airspace. What precisely inspired the would-be assassins confession to the press was unknown. Hmm, that's weird. In their public account, however, the conspirators made certain to emphasize that authorities in Bogota and Washington, DC were totally unaware of their plot. At the same time, they bizarrely admitted to meeting with several U.S. officials on three occasions in the aftermath of the attack. Once again, for reasons that remain unclear. So, I think we know what happened here. This was another coup d'état brought to you by the U.S. government. Now, why would they do that? Well, what's in Venezuela that we could use? Is it the 755 barrels per day? The Venezuela oil production is the amount of crude oil that Venezuela produces per day. It's declined in the last two decades, but that's, I mean, come on, put two and two together. That's why we're there. That's why we're trying to kill them. And that's why the U.S. has put sanctions on Venezuela. And actually, I take that back. It might not be 755. Venezuela crude oil production data is updated monthly, averaging two, 2.3, 325 million barrels a day from 2002 to 2024. But all the, well, the state media, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street, they all print these identical articles stating that it's an end of an era and there's nothing to see here. We just wanna get in there and help spread democracy. I guess the theme of this podcast is that if I could sum it up is we're just interested in spreading freedom and democracy. And we're just, we're not trying to steal another country's resources. We're just trying to help spread freedom and democracy. And, well, what's your point? You ask, what's your point? Okay, well, when you sanction these countries, where these people go? Where do you think they go? Well, what is a sanction? Well, it's a thought of approval. It's a coercive measure. It's a penalty for disobeying a rule or law. It's a, it's aimed at deterring people from doing a thing. So, we use economic sanctions. And when countries don't do what we tell them to do, we, we hurt them financially. And that's what the sanctions are, okay? So, what are economic sanctions? This is from Council on Foreign Relations. So, for many policymakers, economic sanctions have become a tool of choice to respond to major geopolitical challenges, challenges, such as terrorism and conflict. Sanctions have become one of the most favored tools for governments to respond to foreign, I like how they phrase this, foreign policy challenges. They can include travel bans, asset freezes, arms embargoes and trade restrictions. The United States has more than two dozen sanctions regimes. Some target specific countries such as Iran and Russia, while others are aimed at curbing specific activities such as terrorism and drug trafficking. So, Russia's ability to circumvent some international sanctions or otherwise mitigate their impact amid its, its Russia's invasion of Ukraine and every kindled debate about the tools affected this. So, it didn't work on Russia, but they're trying to make it work in Venezuela because we want the oil. And so, the problem with that is when you start putting sanctions on and creating unlivable conditions, where are the people gonna go? They're gonna come to, where are they gonna come? Take a guess. I think I have an idea. They're gonna come to America. So, is that what we want? I don't know, that's up to you to decide, but that's what they want. So... Do not come. - Now I'm gonna come. Do not come. - Well, they told them not to come. But I wanna thank you for stopping by today. It's been a pleasure speaking with you, my dear fans, I think. Listen, thank you for tuning into the caffeinated Hebrew podcast. I know it took a lot of energy for you to spend time with me, but thank you. Again, you can listen to this podcast on Podbean podcasts. You can download today in the App Store. Or you can listen to iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Apple podcasts. Hey, thanks for spending time with me again, and we'll see you next time, thanks. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)