Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Venezuela’s confiscated billions

There comes a time when shooting around in circles just hits walls, bullets splinter off sidewalks, and shatter a window here and there. But people are in safety. They watch from a distance and with self-assurance.
Venezuela has received five tankers from Iran loaded with hydrocarbons – petrol gas, additives – shipped through a totally United States-militarized Caribbean Sea, amidst warnings of attacks and retaliations – and as usual, sanctions ’no end’. How much more sanctions can a country get?
Peter Koenig, an economist and geopolitical analyst argued that there is an immune system, called sovereignty and fearlessness – confidence and dignity. Knowing your rights. That’s what makes the whole difference. Granted, the tankers were escorted by the Venezuelan Navy and Air Force; especially through Venezuelan waters. And they made it undisturbed to the port of El Palito, a small Venezuelan port run by Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA. The American shooting didn’t take place and the event was not televised.
According to Peter Koenig, another aggression against Venezuelan sovereignty is the Bank of England’s withholding totally illegally some US$ 1.2 billion worth of Venezuelan gold, deposited voluntarily by Venezuela in times of trust, as part of Venezuela’s reserve funds. With oil prices collapsed, Venezuela decided to use part of her gold reserves to purchase medication and food to counter the disastrous corona effects.
Peter Koenig noted that Venezuela has a sovereign right to claim these funds without any explanation or justification. The Bank of England refused, claiming the Government of Nicolas Maduro was not the legitimate government recognized by the UK. Can you imagine if any government decides to confiscate funds from another government, because they don’t like its leadership?
In this case, Venezuela explained that the money is needed to buy food and medication to counter the nefarious effects of COVID-19. The UN, intervening on behalf of Venezuela, has requested the Bank of England to return the money. That gesture or action by the UN is in itself is an act of ‘independence’ by the UN against the United States, for whom the UN otherwise does the bidding. But to no avail. The Bank of England didn’t release the Venezuelan-owned gold. As a compromise, Venezuela suggested that the funds be handed over to UNDP (United Nations Development Program) which would buy vital food and medication for Venezuela.
Peter Koenig further stressed that already at the end of 2018, Venezuelan Finance Minister Simon Zerpa and Venezuelan Central Bank President Calixto Ortega, travelled to London to demand that Venezuela be allowed to take the gold back to Venezuela. In January 2019, the Bank of England refused the request. All it said publicly was that it did not comment on customer relationships. However, the real reason was clear.
Richard Gotte, author of a book entitled “Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution” stated that the United States-trained and self-proclaimed, United States supported Juan Guaido, an Assembly member, who was never elected – who never faced a presidential election – asked UK that the gold was not returned to the legitimate Maduro Government which United States, the UK and other EU members, out of the blue and without any legal reasons declared illegitimate. What a world! Imagine that some 40 or 50 countries in the world would decide that Donald Trump and Angela Merkel were illegitimately in their high offices. Well, you laugh. It would never happen.
According to Richard Gotte, under pressure from United States, and her own neofascist government, the UK and her central bank didn’t budge. The case was brought on May 14, 2020, to a Court in London. A Venezuela-favorable judgement is however unlikely. The case will then go to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Will the ICJ have enough backbone to decide against the United States? That remains to be seen. It would be another sign that President Trump’s last trumps are gone.
On yet another account, the Trump Administration has seized all Venezuelan assets in the United States, including in 2018, the refinery and gas station network (CUTCO), in a further attempt to hurt their self-made archenemy, socialist Venezuela. CITCO’s assets in the United States, are estimated at about 8 billion dollars, plus about 30 billion dollars of annual revenues. CITCO covers about 10% of the United States domestic gasoline market. Overall Venezuelan assets confiscated, or more accurately described as stolen, in the United States and overseas are estimated at about 50 to 70 billion dollars.
Raul Gallegos, in his book entitled “Crude Nation” argued that Venezuela’s strength of resistance and self-determination is extraordinary. It is the recipe for success and for overcoming western detraction and influence. This autonomy and Iran’s undisturbed solidarity and sovereign action to help Venezuela with oil tankers despite the United States threats, are signals to the world that the United States’ empire is crumbling.
Or, as Andre Vltchek pointedly says in his article about the brutal police murder of Mr. George Floyd, “The World Cannot Breathe!” Squashed by the U.S. – A Country Built on Genocide and Slavery: Now more and more people can finally see what few of us have been repeating for years: The entire world has its neck squashed by the U.S. boot. The entire world “cannot breathe”! And the entire world has to fight for its right to be able to breathe!”
Raul Gallegos stressed that the worldwide corona-lockdown and the social and economic calamity of uncountable unemployment, famine and misery, unheard of in human history, is unwittingly inciting billions of victims worldwide into an important awakening, of which the masters behind this nonsensical lockdown, behind the power and control thirst – the Gates, Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Et Al, are possibly not aware of.
Raul Gallegos further noted that these unrests will likely gain their own dynamic, as the wave spreads to Europe and possibly also to the Global South. While the generous financiers of “Antifa and Black Lives Matter”, supported by the Ford Foundation and Soros, and other protest organizations may have as a clear objective, namely the outright “Militarization of the West”, the dynamics of an awakened people may potentially derail this diabolical project and ring in a new set of societal values.
Rory Carroll, author of a book entitled “Comandante” stated that, the resisting forces and perseverance of the people of Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, let alone, Russia and China, have magical power. Never mind the physical losses of stolen assets, of economic sanctions, of attempted humiliation by the neoliberal western alliance breaching contracts and agreements at will, i.e. the Iran Nuclear Deal, several disarmament agreements with Russia, and more, the new wave of spiritual and universal consciousness gains, far outpace these losses.
The forces of Light may overcome the Darkness which has engulfed humanity over the last 5,000 years, laying the foundation for a new society with values of equality and peace for a common future for mankind.

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