Banana Republic Newsflash

[Sigma_Orionis]

Apparently there's a UN security council meeting about us.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And then there's this

I obviously don't want an invasion of my country. Despite that IF it happened, I'll be more than happy to watch Maduro and his cronies be taken out of here by their privates to Cuba, a US Prison, Russia, WHEREVER, but here.

The Author's right that Maduro has been defying expectations since he got to power. And this twitter thread raises valid points on the whole attempt of getting aid through the border on the 23rd. EVEN if I disagree about the opposition promising that Maduro would leave. I don't remember them saying anything of the like EVEN if that was the intention.

Yet, I am quite skeptical of an "Oil for Food" program. Why will Maduro go along with this. He's so far off his handle that he detained a Univision News Crew when the reporter interviewing him showed him videos of the consequences of his policies.

I think that what the US should do (since Pence says they're "committed" to help us) is to negotiate with the Cubans and the Russkies to stop helping Maduro. The thing is that whatever leverage the US had with Cuba, Trump threw away. As for Russia. Well, let's just say it's unclear what leverage the US can have with Russia at this time.

Currently the US is pushing a resolution demanding free election and acceptance of humanitarian aid through the UN Security Council. Judging by how China has been behaving ( I think they're doing the "non-committal" thing so they have a shot at getting back some of the US$ 60 billion we owe them if Maduro gets ousted) they might abstain. If Russia DOESN'T veto the resolution, it might be possible that the US does have some leverage with Russia regarding us.

[SciFiFisher]

And then there's this


Currently the US is pushing a resolution demanding free election and acceptance of humanitarian aid through the UN Security Council. Judging by how China has been behaving ( I think they're doing the "non-committal" thing so they have a shot at getting back some of the US$ 60 billion we owe them if Maduro gets ousted) they might abstain. If Russia DOESN'T veto the resolution, it might be possible that the US does have some leverage with Russia regarding us.

I don't have much hope in that arena. Trump has pretty much trashed a lot of the influence/leverage we did have. Right now Syria and Russia are demanding we GTFO of Syria.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And then there's this


Currently the US is pushing a resolution demanding free election and acceptance of humanitarian aid through the UN Security Council. Judging by how China has been behaving ( I think they're doing the "non-committal" thing so they have a shot at getting back some of the US$ 60 billion we owe them if Maduro gets ousted) they might abstain. If Russia DOESN'T veto the resolution, it might be possible that the US does have some leverage with Russia regarding us.

I don't have much hope in that arena. Trump has pretty much trashed a lot of the influence/leverage we did have. Right now Syria and Russia are demanding we GTFO of Syria.

Yeah, exactly

[Sigma_Orionis]

Not surprisingly, the resolution was vetoed by Russia at the UN Security council. China DID veto it as well

[Sigma_Orionis]

I ain't going to complain heh heh

[SciFiFisher]

Hopefully, the pressure will eventually be enough.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Hopefully

Apparently the number of defectors has risen to well over 500. Gauidó is supposed to come back to Venezuela shortly. It remains to be seen if Maduro will have him arrested.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Apparently Guaidó is back or on his way back

He seems to be daring Maduro to arrest him. If this was a Hollywood TV Show, I'd say he's laying the ground to give the US ammunition to sell the case for "Direct Action" among Latin American or even European Countries. It does put Maduro in a bind. He's already lost a lot of credibility, not only with the way he blocked aid coming into the country, but also his attempts at damage control failed pitifully. Funny though, that the rumors that "Numero Dos" sent his Social Media loving kids to China even made the BBC.

This on the other hand, is grimly amusing.

[Sigma_Orionis]

And you gringos think Elliot Abrams is some sort of Shadowy figure. I still say he's the only idiot they could find that spoke Spanish, had diplomatic experience and was willing to work for Trump & Co.

Trump's envoy for Venezuela dismissed US military action there during a Russian prank call

Special Representative Elliott Abrams said in the recording that the US wouldn't use force in Venezuela unless the government did something "completely crazy" like attack the American Embassy.

But Abrams, who apparently believed he was speaking with a Swiss official, said the US seeks to "make the Venezuelan military nervous" by not publicly ruling out military action to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

[geonuc]

Idiocy is not Abrams' defining characteristic, though. Criminality is.

[SciFiFisher]

That may be what they want the world to hear. But, there is no telling what could happen.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Major Power outage yesterday and today.

Power died in most of the country at 5 PM yesterday, started coming back at 1 PM today. At the office, it hadn't come back by 3 PM so we shutdown the DataCenter to conserve power plant fuel.

At home came back at 1 PM, And went away at 4:30. Just came back. Most telecomms are dead. Using a wireless modem that I have for emergency access when my DSL dies.

[SciFiFisher]

Major Power outage yesterday and today.

Power died in most of the country at 5 PM yesterday, started coming back at 1 PM today. At the office, it hadn't come back by 3 PM so we shutdown the DataCenter to conserve power plant fuel.

At home came back at 1 PM, And went away at 4:30. Just came back. Most telecomms are dead. Using a wireless modem that I have for emergency access when my DSL dies.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Power died again at 11 AM yesterday. Just came back on. Using the wireless Modem again. Irony is, that it uses the network of a Telecom company I quit 12 years ago, and dislike them so much, I usually refuse to use any products by that company.

Predictably, Maduro is claiming sabotage

Local Newspaper (In Spanish) says that the problem was with the transmission lines coming out of our main electrical dam. it says There was a vegetation fire underneath the power lines and they went down. The engineer quoted said that fixing the problem would have taken 12 hours. But, due to lack of qualified personnel it will take a lot longer. He also said that 80% of the power used in the country is generated by that dam and what thermo-electric power plants we have can't handle the load.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Power died again at 2 PM, just came back

My cellphone is close to useless, the Cell Data Network never worked well And the voice network is mostly down. But it has an FM radio. So I started listening to it. It was hard to find station that wasn't spewing Chavista BS. But finally got one. They interviewed the engineer from the article at the local newspaper. He's saying the dam power still out. That the electricity we're receiving comes from Thermo Electric Plants and since it's not enough, they're rationing power. Maduro and his cronies are claiming it was a "Cyber Attack by the Empire". On top of that they're rationing power without telling anyone. Know what? fucking invade us already gringos. Can't be worse than this.

[geonuc]

That sucks.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Indeed it does.

A former dam engineer (Civl Engineer though) says that in his opinion it was no sabotage, just incompetence

ETA. the above link was in Spanish.

Here's some info in English

Well well well, Criminal charges for Drug Trafficking against our VP by a NYC Court

[SciFiFisher]

Hopefully, they get the dam power fixed soon.

[Rommie]

Sounds awful Sigma. Stay safe.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Thanks, Will do.

Today Cell Phone coverage was slightly better. Power went out for 5 minutes at home. At the office the thing is much more dire though.

[Sigma_Orionis]

In the meantime the US actually withdrew all its diplomatic personnel from the country.

Now since things weren't messy enough, now Maduro is demanding the "Colectivos" engage in "Active Resistance" (in Spanish)

Because that's just what we need in the middle of a national emergency

[Sigma_Orionis]

Power seems to be stable at home.

Even water's back. Internet's still out though

[Thumper]

There was an interview yesterday afternoon with a Venezuelan lawyer on NPR. He had driven right next to the phone service provider so he could have a signal to call out. Among the topics he spoke about: his sister is pregnant, living in a 7th floor apartment with no electricity and no water. He said folks like him aren't buying Maduro's claim that it is cyber hacking that has brought down the grid. He pointed out that the electrical system is analog, it can't really be hacked. When asked, with things so bad, has he considered leaving? He said he loves his country and his countrymen. And he wants to fight for it. He doesn't want to let "them" take it.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Guess he's a better man than me. I've never had much loyalty for my country I'm afraid. The so called "Fourth Republic" (the two party system that ruled this country from 1959 till 1998) messed the economy during the 80s so much that I lost the chance to finish my studies abroad. The disaster brought by Chavistas (and to some extent the opposition itself) deprived me of my most productive years and is making sure I lose all the savings I had for my old age. This country has NEVER been any good to me.