Post: #326

Oh, fucking great. I'm sure this is going to end well for all concerned.

Quote:CARACAS, Venezuela – Tareck El Aissami, one of the most powerful men in Venezuela, just acquired more power. Last week the self-proclaimed “radically Chavista” became the country’s second in command after President Nicolas Maduro appointed him as vice president.

The son of a Lebanese mother and a Syrian father, the 42-year-old El Aissami is also one of the most obscure figures in government circles -- he is suspected of having ties to the Islamist militant group Hezbollah and is reportedly being investigated by U.S. prosecutors for possible involvement in drug trafficking.

“It’s very concerning,” said Joseph Humire, executive director of Secure Free Society and an expert on radical Islam’s presence in Latin America.

“I’m worried that his power will only grow stronger. Iran, in particular, benefits greatly from having El Aissami as VP as he has been their man in Venezuela.”

According to Humire, El Aissami allegedly controls a criminal and terrorist network across at least six countries that operates with several companies, accounts and assets.

There's only 100,000 Muslims in Venezuela, of course, but this sort of news story is the kind of ground-laying you expect from globalists looking to get into a country. If Trump wasn't in office I'd be picking Venezuela as the next destination for the US war machine, hilarious and pointless as such an intervention would be.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #327

Not entirely pointless given the amount of oil there, sounds like Venezuela could use some some freedom.

Post: #328

(01-19-2017 12:56 AM)Paracelsus Wrote:  ...... I'd be picking Venezuela as the next destination for the US war machine, hilarious and pointless as such an intervention would be.

Fixed for you: I'd be picking Venezuela as the next destination for the US war machine, logical, oil-ensuring, and militarily easy, as such an intervention would be.

It should be the very first military target of President Trump. Well, the second, once ISIS is defeated in the Middle-East...

Look at the situation over there in the land of Maduro (son of an illegal migrant, by the way): millions of desperate, starving people begging for a foreign intervention... tons of oil... no opposing aviation or navy to speak of... I mean: total low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked up, and saved from going to waste.

The US Army would defeat Maduro without losing one man. One drone is actually all it would take... that is why Maduro put as VP an Islamist: Maduro thinks that mister Trump will order a predator hit on him, but would be deterred by the prospect of an Islamist VP assuming next.

Sound reasoning from Maduro, except D. Trump might very well send two drones, to take care of both, simultaneously...

Post: #329

These theories about USA invading countries for oil have never made any sense to me, no matter whether they were coming from the left or right.

USA is energy-independent, it gives zero fucks about foreign oil sources.

Post: #330

(01-22-2017 07:41 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  These theories about USA invading countries for oil have never made any sense to me, no matter whether they were coming from the left or right.

USA is energy-independent, it gives zero fucks about foreign oil sources.

I understand and respect the principle of non-intervention, but... Can the D. Trump administration turn a blind eye to the suffering of millions of starving Venezuelans (of all shades and races), to the false imprisonment of all the White opponents of Maduro (racist Maduro only jails White politicians, systematically going after the White component of his people)?... when all it would take would be, 2 drone hits (not now, but in like 6 months, once the internal affairs and problems of the USA have been fixed by D. Trump)

Post: #331

Going strong: I am sure that the USa military could land in Venezuela and get into the cities. But occupation after soo many years of lefty brainwashing will mean a nightmare to occupy the country, even worse than Iraq.

Post: #332

(01-22-2017 08:04 AM)Going strong Wrote:  I understand and respect the principle of non-intervention, but... Can the D. Trump administration turn a blind eye to the suffering of millions of starving Venezuelans

I think there is a third way between intervention and non-intervention, which would be: point to the neighbouring countries and their responsibility.

Maybe support them with intelligence, but they need to make the call.

Post: #333

(01-22-2017 08:04 AM)Going strong Wrote:  

(01-22-2017 07:41 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  These theories about USA invading countries for oil have never made any sense to me, no matter whether they were coming from the left or right.

USA is energy-independent, it gives zero fucks about foreign oil sources.

I understand and respect the principle of non-intervention, but... Can the D. Trump administration turn a blind eye to the suffering of millions of starving Venezuelans (of all shades and races), to the false imprisonment of all the White opponents of Maduro (racist Maduro only jails White politicians, systematically going after the White component of his people)?... when all it would take would be, 2 drone hits (not now, but in like 6 months, once the internal affairs and problems of the USA have been fixed by D. Trump)

Absolutely they should turn a blind eye to it.

Disgusting as I find the situation, what's happening in Venezuela is the same shit that's been going on down there for generations and is entirely self-inflicted. Wikipedia's history is succinct:

Quote: It gained full independence as a separate country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, remaining dominated by regional caudillos (military strongmen) until the mid-20th century. Since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic governments. Economic shocks in the 1980s and 1990s led to several political crises, including the deadly Caracazo riots of 1989, two attempted coups in 1992, and the impeachment of President Carlos Andrés Pérez for embezzlement of public funds in 1993. A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw the 1998 election of former coup-involved career officer Hugo Chávez and the launch of the Bolivarian Revolution, beginning with a 1999 Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution of Venezuela. This new constitution officially changed the name of the country to República Bolivariana de Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela).

No other fucking local country in the area is intervening. The UN isn't assembling a force of blue helmets to go in there to solve what is assuredly a gargantuan humanitarian crisis. It'd rather pontificate on camel jockeys shooting each other in Syria as the West is overrun, or wring its hands about Africans who likewise can't seem to get over their addictions to tribal warfare and racism.

And I promise you the oil in Venezuela is one of two things: being pumped and sold as usual, just to different buyers, or will still be there once they figure out how to Peacefully Transition The Government (again) and get selling the black shit once more. It's time the US Army learned to stay the fuck out of jungles where it can't bring heavy artillery and tanks to bear, unless it plans to assault Iwo Jima again.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #334

(01-16-2017 04:55 PM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

(01-13-2017 11:28 AM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  Average Joe Prepper: Stocks up supplies for days
Upper Class Prepper: Has enough jet fuel ready to escape.

That is such a good statement.

However there is something that is even more valuable - the awareness of when to be ready to plan the escape.

Oddly enough it seems we are not the only ones thinking about this:

Quote:Most said they’ll fire up their planes and take their families to Western ranches or homes in other countries.” One of the guests was skeptical, Dugger said. “He leaned forward and asked, ‘Are you taking your pilot’s family, too? And what about the maintenance guys? If revolutionaries are kicking in doors, how many of the people in your life will you have to take with you?’ The questioning continued. In the end, most agreed they couldn’t run.”

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/0...super-rich

Post: #335

Exclusive: Millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil stuck at sea in dirty tankers

Reuters Wrote:More than 4 million barrels of Venezuelan crude and fuels are sitting in tankers anchored in the Caribbean sea, unable to reach their final destination because state-run PDVSA cannot pay for hull cleaning, inspections, and other port services, according to internal documents and Reuters data.

About a dozen tankers are being held back because the hulls have been soiled by crude, stemming from several oil leaks in the last year at key ports of Bajo Grande and Jose, which has resulted in delayed operations for loading and discharging.

Since debt-laden PDVSA cannot afford to have the ships cleaned, they have to wait for weeks to navigate international waters, delaying shipments.

Dirty tankers are the latest of a litany of problems weighing on PDVSA, the source of most of Venezuela's export revenue and critical to the government's budget.

This is just sad. Venezuela is having a tough time!

Post: #336

Aw, fuck, Donald, no:

https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/ven...ime-change

(Note: it's a leftie website, so don't sell it clicks.)

Quote:The new US administration of President Donald Trump publicly declared it will seek regime change in Venezuela. The call, disguised in “transition to democracy” rhetoric, was made by Trump’s proposed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“If confirmed,” the ex-Exxonmobil CEO told Latin America Goes Global, “I would urge close cooperation with our friends in the hemisphere, particularly Venezuela’s neighbours Brazil and Colombia, as well as multilateral bodies such as the OAS, to seek a negotiated transition to democratic rule in Venezuela.”

He further claimed that the economic crisis in the oil-rich South American country was “largely a product of its incompetent and dysfunctional government, first under Hugo Chavez, and now under his designated successor, Nicolas Maduro”.

The government of President Maduro has, however, blamed the recent crisis on an economic war by right-wing politicians as well as corporations who are hoarding products and halting production to put pressure on the socialist administration.

Tillerson called for sanctions against what he called “human rights violators” when asked about alleged political prisoners while also slamming the elected Maduro government for “undemocratic practices”.

Asked about Cuba, Tillerson said he would stand by statements made by Vice-President Mike Pence stating that the Trump administration would reverse Obama’s Cuba rapprochement policy.

Tillerson and Venezuela have a bitter history and some say he might pursue personal revenge against the socialist government as he takes the international diplomatic stage in Washington.

In 2007, late president Hugo Chavez ordered the nationalisation of 22 major multinational corporations operating in the country, including ExxonMobil — then headed by Tillerson.

The ExxonMobil head rejected the compensation deal offered by the government of US$1 billion and took Venezuela to the international arbitration court demanding instead US$10 billion. But the rarely-defeated CEO lost and his company settled for $1.6 billion.

“(Tillerson) took it very personal with Chavez,” said Ghassan Dagher, a Venezuelan oil industry consultant to the New York Times in December.

However, Venezuela’s foreign minister Delcy Rodriguez called on January 22 for the new administration to repeal the executive order issued by former President Barack Obama that declared Venezuela a threat to US national security and foreign policy.

“Venezuela has consistently called for that executive order to be repealed and we hope President Trump will not go down the path of obsession and irrationality,” Rodriguez said in an interview with Venezuela's private television network Televen, adding that the decree “has the power to be repealed”.

Rodriguez said Maduro’s government has confirmed its decision to maintain respectful relations with the Trump White House in the hopes that international rights and the sovereignty of the people are respected.

The comments come after Obama renewed a controversial executive order against Venezuela earlier this month that declares the South American nation an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security. The Obama administration first issued the decree in 2015 and extended it last year.

The order was not set to expire until March, but the White House pushed ahead the renewal in the name of ensuring a “smooth transition” to Trump’s presidency.

Obama also ordered sanctions against Venezuelan officials, saying they would be banned from travelling to the United States and all assets and properties belonging to them would be frozen, in light of the country's political and economic hardship.

According to Rodriguez, this order was supported by the right-wing opposition in the country as a means to attack Maduro’s socialist government.

At this point I don't see any mention of troops, so it sounds to me like the CIA is going to be fucking around in there for the foreseeable future. Still, man, don't start a fucking oil war down there, you've got bigger problems to worry about.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #337

Are there any more reputable sources on that?

Post: #338

(01-31-2017 03:08 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  Are there any more reputable sources on that?

Hmmmmmm. Tracking it back it supposedly comes from quotes he made to Latin America Goes Global (apparently a think tank?) on this page:

http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2017/0...n-hearing/

So it could well just be fake news. Put that on pause until something more definitive comes out. Well caught, Cpt. Leonard.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #339

Has T.Rex even been sworn in yet?? Already fake stories?

Post: #340

(01-22-2017 10:09 AM)Mekorig Wrote:  Going strong: I am sure that the USa military could land in Venezuela and get into the cities. But occupation after soo many years of lefty brainwashing will mean a nightmare to occupy the country, even worse than Iraq.

Just in case anybody is thinking of trying a spot of filibustering...

https://sputniknews.com/politics/2017020...relations/

Post: #341

But good news - rich Saudi support is coming their way now:

Replacing socialism with Islamism is a solid business decision that will reap a different set of rewards later on.

Post: #342

If Saudis move on Venezuela the best bet would be to do a quick bombing campaign on their oil production ability. Regime change would not be worth getting bogged down in but Saudi Arabia extending the time it takes for their oil to run out will result in an exponential increase in funding for terrorism ultimately forcing all out war in the middle East.

Personally I think reducing Mecca and Medina to ashes would be the quickest path to destroying Islam but someone other than the US would have to rise to the occasion because of US politics.

Post: #343

(01-24-2017 04:43 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

Quote:Most said they’ll fire up their planes and take their families to Western ranches or homes in other countries.” One of the guests was skeptical, Dugger said. “He leaned forward and asked, ‘Are you taking your pilot’s family, too? And what about the maintenance guys? If revolutionaries are kicking in doors, how many of the people in your life will you have to take with you?’ The questioning continued. In the end, most agreed they couldn’t run.”

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/0...super-rich

Interesting piece in the New Yorker, but fuck these elitist liberal rags; you can't get through anything without little sprinklings of bullshit all over the place, like:

Quote:He noted the vulnerabilities exposed by the Russian cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee

as though it's accepted wisdom.

Post: #344

I wish we had better reporting on the ground there but the violence and unsafe atmosphere means few if any are willing to get stuck in.

I find it a potential goldmine for the modern world to learn exactly how societies collapse and descend into barbarism.

Post: #345

Holy Shit, bombshell

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/201...rafficker/

President Trump U.S. Treasury Identifies Venezuelan Vice-President as Narcotics Trafficker…
Posted on February 13, 2017 by sundance
Moments ago the U.S. Treasury Department announced official sanctions against Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (El Aissami). El Aissami is the Executive Vice President of Venezuela.

—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Venezuelan national Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (El Aissami) as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking.

El Aissami is the Executive Vice President of Venezuela.

El Aissami’s primary frontman, Venezuelan national Samark Jose Lopez Bello (Lopez Bello), was also designated for providing material assistance, financial support, or goods or services in support of the international narcotics trafficking activities of, and acting for or on behalf of, El Aissami.


OFAC further designated or identified as blocked property 13 companies owned or controlled by Lopez Bello or other designated parties that comprise an international network spanning the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela.

As a result of today’s action, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions or otherwise dealing with these individuals and entities, and any assets the individuals and entities may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.

“OFAC’s action today is the culmination of a multi-year investigation under the Kingpin Act to target significant narcotics traffickers in Venezuela and demonstrates that power and influence do not protect those who engage in these illicit activities,” said John E. Smith, Acting Director of OFAC.

“This case highlights our continued focus on narcotics traffickers and those who help launder their illicit proceeds through the United States. Denying a safe haven for illicit assets in the United States and protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse remain top priorities of the Treasury Department.”

El Aissami was appointed Executive Vice President of Venezuela in January 2017. He previously served as Governor of Venezuela’s Aragua state from 2012 to 2017, as well as Venezuela’s Minister of Interior and Justice starting in 2008.

He facilitated shipments of narcotics from Venezuela, to include control over planes that leave from a Venezuelan air base, as well as control of drug routes through the ports in Venezuela. In his previous positions, he oversaw or partially owned narcotics shipments of over 1,000 kilograms from Venezuela on multiple occasions, including those with the final destinations of Mexico and the United States.

He also facilitated, coordinated, and protected other narcotics traffickers operating in Venezuela. Specifically, El Aissami received payment for the facilitation of drug shipments belonging to Venezuelan drug kingpin Walid Makled Garcia.

El Aissami also is linked to coordinating drug shipments to Los Zetas, a violent Mexican drug cartel, as well as providing protection to Colombian drug lord Daniel Barrera Barrera and Venezuelan drug trafficker Hermagoras Gonzalez Polanco. Los Zetas, Daniel Barrera Barrera, and Hermagoras Gonzalez Polanco were previously named as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers by the President or the Secretary of the Treasury under the Kingpin Act in April 2009, March 2010, and May 2008, respectively.

Lopez Bello is a key frontman for El Aissami and in that capacity launders drug proceeds. Lopez Bello is used by El Aissami to purchase certain assets. He also handles business arrangements and financial matters for El Aissami, generating significant profits as a result of illegal activity benefiting El Aissami.

Lopez Bello oversees an international network of petroleum, distribution, engineering, telecommunications, and asset holding companies: Alfa One, C.A. (Venezuela), Grupo Sahect, C.A. (Venezuela), MFAA Holdings Limited (British Virgin Islands), Profit Corporation, C.A. (Venezuela), Servicios Tecnologicios Industriales, C.A. (Venezuela), SMT Tecnologia, C.A. (Venezuela), and Yakima Trading Corporation (Panama).

Another entity, Yakima Oil Trading, LLP (United Kingdom), is owned, controlled, or directed by, or acting for or on behalf of, Yakima Trading Corporation (Panama). Profit Corporation, C.A. and SMT Tecnologia, C.A. have Venezuelan government contracts. Between 2009 and 2010, Grupo Sahect C.A. provided storage and transportation services for the Venezuelan government agency Productora y Distribuidora de Alimentos, S.A. (PDVAL).

Five U.S. companies owned or controlled by Lopez Bello and/or MFAA Holdings Limited have also been blocked as part of today’s action. These entities are the following limited liability companies registered in Florida: 1425 Brickell Ave 63-F LLC; 1425 Brickell Avenue Unit 46B, LLC; 1425 Brickell Avenue 64E, LLC; Agusta Grand I LLC; and 200G PSA Holdings LLC. Additionally, a U.S.-registered aircraft with the tail number N200VR has been identified as blocked property owned or controlled by 200G PSA Holdings LLC.

As a result of today’s action, significant real property and other assets in the Miami, Florida area tied to Lopez Bello have been blocked.

Since June 2000, more than 2,000 entities and individuals have been named pursuant to the Kingpin Act for their role in international narcotics trafficking. Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1,437,153 per violation to more severe criminal penalties.

Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million. Other individuals could face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.



https://theconservativetreehouse.com/201...attention/

DOT #1 – Venezuela’s Vice President, El Aissami, is called out by the Trump administration for narcotics trafficking:

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Venezuelan national Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (El Aissami) as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking.

El Aissami is the Executive Vice President of Venezuela
DOT #2 – However, narcotics isn’t El Assimi’s only endeavor. El Aissami is a known operative and agent of Iran and the terrorist group Hezbollah:

For Iran and Hezbollah, Bolivarian continuity in Venezuela is crucial to their ongoing Latin American operations, of which Caracas is a springboard to the rest of the region. For Maduro, Tehran represents a key security guarantee for his regime’s survival.

That is where El Aissami comes in.

Despite the Baathist family background — his father headed the Venezuelan branch of the Iraqi Baath Party — and his Lebanese Druze origins, El Aissami seems to prefer the Islamist Shiite revolutionary Hezbollah and Iran over the Baath’s supposedly secular pan-Arabism.

DOT #3 – El Aissami has been identified as the mastermind behind the program to give false passports to known terrorist organizations from the mid-east:
the U.S. Intel community has already had eyes on El-Aissami, who has apparent ties to drug traffickers, Iran, and Hezbollah. (The Venezuelan opposition refers to him as the “Narco of Aragua.”) When he was the head of Venezuela’s passport agency, he used that position to issue fake passports and identity documents to questionable Iranians.

DOT #4




DOT #5 – Did You ACTUALLY listen to the presidential press conference today when President Trump announced he has been given some recent and very specific information about terror threats inbound to the United States? Trump’s answer was in response to a question about Trump’s intended action on the “TRAVEL BAN” injunction.

DOT #6 – The Venezuelan threat is coming from a relationship between the government of Iran and the activity from government officials within Venezuela.

See the picture?

Now do you understand why the embedded black hats within deep state are trying to take down Michael Flynn? There is an enemy remaining inside our own government…

Post: #346

Remember how I said the oil would continue to be pumped, just to different buyers?

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Si...-0028.html

Quote:Venezuela and China signed Thursday 22 new agreements worth US$2.7 billion in a move aimed at promoting economic development and cooperation.

The deals, signed during the 15th meeting of the China-Venezuela High-Level Mixed Commission in Caracas, are set to consolidate the geopolitical alliance between the two nations and foster greater economic growth.

They include joint ventures such as the development of the Jianyang refinery in China, of which Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA will have a 40 percent stake. Once completed, the refinery will have the capacity to process 400,000 barrels of oil a day.

The agreements will also reportedly guarantee direct investment in a range of projects in Venezuela, including infrastructure, imports and cargo transport.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has celebrated the deals as a sign of the growing solidarity between the two countries.

“China and Venezuela see each other as sister nations with a common destiny of peace, of cooperation, and mutual development,” Maduro exclaimed in a radio and TV broadcast.

"Venezuela is a country that walks with its own feet, thinks with its own head and has a soul filled with the spirituality of its history," he added.

Founded in 2001, the Mixed China-Venezuela High Commission is considered the most important body for strengthening China-Venezuela relations, which have been invigorated under Venezuelan presidents Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro.

I believe this is what in retail they call a 'loss leader', and I've no doubt there were a lot of sweeteners offered to the Chinese to get them to invest in a country where odds are pretty damn good of Maduro having to leave on a helicopter at short notice.

$2.7 billion sounds like a lot, but at current USD oil prices that refinery will pay for itself 90 days after it starts pumping 400,000 barrels a day. If Venezuela's stake in it is 40%, make that 6 months of pumping before it's paid for itself.

And I promise you that deal was not made in Venezuelan bolivars, either.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #347

A couple of months ago I said in this very thread that Venezuela is at risk of being controlled by anti-US interests. As witnessed above, now we see that happening.

Post: #348

(02-17-2017 04:11 AM)Vicious Wrote:  A couple of months ago I said in this very thread that Venezuela is at risk of being controlled by anti-US interests. As witnessed above, now we see that happening.

Completely agree. These cucks who think the US shouldn't use its juggernaut of a military don't understand that if you aren't licking America's boot, it's going to be someone elses.

Trump will not stand for this. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump was planning on air dropping weapon, meds, and other supplies to friendly anti commie rebels in the country.

Post: #349

Is a country being hostile to USA independently really better than it being hostile to USA at someone else's bidding?

Post: #350

(02-17-2017 12:02 AM)Paracelsus Wrote:  Remember how I said the oil would continue to be pumped, just to different buyers?

"The Spice must flow."