SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Photo: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza discusses the country's crisis with Democracy Now! hosts Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (screenshot).
"You Can Stop This" -- Venezuela's Message to Americans
The country's Foreign Minister told Democracy Now! Monday that U.S. intervention can be stopped at the root.
Feb 24, 2019
The American people can stop a war on Venezuela, that country's foreign minister told Democracy Now! on Monday.
"I believe that the American people and the American institutions can stop this from happening, this insane proposal of invading Venezuela," Jorge Arreaza told Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales during an interview. "And this is the right time to do it."
Americans should look carefully at what their country is doing, Arreaza said, especially around shipments of so-called "humanitarian aid." Joining other foreign policy experts, journalist and media critic Adam Johnson called the aid "bogus" in a column last week:
The current "something" in Venezuela we're all compelled to "do" is ensure the arrival of a humanitarian aid convoy. The fact that the bulk of the international aid community has either distanced itself from this PR stunt or outright opposes it has been widely ignored by the mainstream media.
Nevertheless, the U.S. has been trying to force convoys ostensibly containing aid into Venezuela from the Colombian border for over a week, leading to clashes over the weekend.
"What we saw last Saturday in the border, in both borders, with Colombia and Brazil, this was a spectacle," said Arreaza. "It was a show."
If it's a show, it's working. U.S. politicians are almost uniform in their support of the aid convoy and their denunciations of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing a soft coup from U.S. backed opposition leader Juan Guaido. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the de facto left wing standard bearer in the Democratic Party, has come out in support of the aid convoy -- though he's been somewhat critical of regime change in Venezuela in principle.
As a number of progressives quickly pointed out, trusting humanitarian aid from the U.S. is a risky proposition at best for Latin American countries; all the more so when it comes from the Trump administration's Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs during the Reagan administration who used humanitarian aid to smuggle arms to the Contras in Nicaragua.
Abrams is part of an unofficial triumvirate in charge of Venezuelan policy for the administration, alongside Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Advisor John Bolton. Arreaza had harsh words for the latter, calling Pence "the real boss of the Group of the Lima, the Lima Group," a coalition of American states brought together to end the Venezuelan crisis that's been described as "advocating for regime change" by critics. Bolton, Arreaza said, is "like a gangster," though the minister wryly expressed some appreciation for Bolton's honesty. "He has said something that is truth: All of this is about oil."
Any U.S. intervention will only lead to pain for the Venezuelan people, said Arreaza, and that's what Americans should focus on.
"Bombs will not differentiate who is Chavista and who is not Chavista," warned Arrazea.
Watch the full interview:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The American people can stop a war on Venezuela, that country's foreign minister told Democracy Now! on Monday.
"I believe that the American people and the American institutions can stop this from happening, this insane proposal of invading Venezuela," Jorge Arreaza told Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales during an interview. "And this is the right time to do it."
Americans should look carefully at what their country is doing, Arreaza said, especially around shipments of so-called "humanitarian aid." Joining other foreign policy experts, journalist and media critic Adam Johnson called the aid "bogus" in a column last week:
The current "something" in Venezuela we're all compelled to "do" is ensure the arrival of a humanitarian aid convoy. The fact that the bulk of the international aid community has either distanced itself from this PR stunt or outright opposes it has been widely ignored by the mainstream media.
Nevertheless, the U.S. has been trying to force convoys ostensibly containing aid into Venezuela from the Colombian border for over a week, leading to clashes over the weekend.
"What we saw last Saturday in the border, in both borders, with Colombia and Brazil, this was a spectacle," said Arreaza. "It was a show."
If it's a show, it's working. U.S. politicians are almost uniform in their support of the aid convoy and their denunciations of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing a soft coup from U.S. backed opposition leader Juan Guaido. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the de facto left wing standard bearer in the Democratic Party, has come out in support of the aid convoy -- though he's been somewhat critical of regime change in Venezuela in principle.
As a number of progressives quickly pointed out, trusting humanitarian aid from the U.S. is a risky proposition at best for Latin American countries; all the more so when it comes from the Trump administration's Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs during the Reagan administration who used humanitarian aid to smuggle arms to the Contras in Nicaragua.
Abrams is part of an unofficial triumvirate in charge of Venezuelan policy for the administration, alongside Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Advisor John Bolton. Arreaza had harsh words for the latter, calling Pence "the real boss of the Group of the Lima, the Lima Group," a coalition of American states brought together to end the Venezuelan crisis that's been described as "advocating for regime change" by critics. Bolton, Arreaza said, is "like a gangster," though the minister wryly expressed some appreciation for Bolton's honesty. "He has said something that is truth: All of this is about oil."
Any U.S. intervention will only lead to pain for the Venezuelan people, said Arreaza, and that's what Americans should focus on.
"Bombs will not differentiate who is Chavista and who is not Chavista," warned Arrazea.
Watch the full interview:
The American people can stop a war on Venezuela, that country's foreign minister told Democracy Now! on Monday.
"I believe that the American people and the American institutions can stop this from happening, this insane proposal of invading Venezuela," Jorge Arreaza told Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales during an interview. "And this is the right time to do it."
Americans should look carefully at what their country is doing, Arreaza said, especially around shipments of so-called "humanitarian aid." Joining other foreign policy experts, journalist and media critic Adam Johnson called the aid "bogus" in a column last week:
The current "something" in Venezuela we're all compelled to "do" is ensure the arrival of a humanitarian aid convoy. The fact that the bulk of the international aid community has either distanced itself from this PR stunt or outright opposes it has been widely ignored by the mainstream media.
Nevertheless, the U.S. has been trying to force convoys ostensibly containing aid into Venezuela from the Colombian border for over a week, leading to clashes over the weekend.
"What we saw last Saturday in the border, in both borders, with Colombia and Brazil, this was a spectacle," said Arreaza. "It was a show."
If it's a show, it's working. U.S. politicians are almost uniform in their support of the aid convoy and their denunciations of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing a soft coup from U.S. backed opposition leader Juan Guaido. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the de facto left wing standard bearer in the Democratic Party, has come out in support of the aid convoy -- though he's been somewhat critical of regime change in Venezuela in principle.
As a number of progressives quickly pointed out, trusting humanitarian aid from the U.S. is a risky proposition at best for Latin American countries; all the more so when it comes from the Trump administration's Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs during the Reagan administration who used humanitarian aid to smuggle arms to the Contras in Nicaragua.
Abrams is part of an unofficial triumvirate in charge of Venezuelan policy for the administration, alongside Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Advisor John Bolton. Arreaza had harsh words for the latter, calling Pence "the real boss of the Group of the Lima, the Lima Group," a coalition of American states brought together to end the Venezuelan crisis that's been described as "advocating for regime change" by critics. Bolton, Arreaza said, is "like a gangster," though the minister wryly expressed some appreciation for Bolton's honesty. "He has said something that is truth: All of this is about oil."
Any U.S. intervention will only lead to pain for the Venezuelan people, said Arreaza, and that's what Americans should focus on.
"Bombs will not differentiate who is Chavista and who is not Chavista," warned Arrazea.
Watch the full interview:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.