Whitewashing US Aggression in Cuba and Venezuela

https://thegrayzone.substack.com/p/deprivation-and-depopulation-inside

We can hope that Trump's failures and frustrations in connection with Iran might lead him to back off his militarist rhetoric regarding Cuba. But if anything he's likely to strike the island as a means of distraction - just as Iran helped steer the conversation away from his connections to the Epstein scandal. That is until his wife (in an attempt to protect her supposedly 'good name') rekindled the fire.

With regard to Cuba, the media is happy to comply as they endorse Trump's narrative about Havana's failures and supposed irresponsibility toward its own population.

One need not be an apologist for the Castro clan and its quasi-communist regime to recognize both the US state and its corporate media have misrepresented the situation. Cuba's woes are directly related to brutal US sanctions and the fact that Washington has waged diplomatic, economic, and military war against the island for decades in an attempt to overthrow its government.

If we wish to speak of irresponsibility one need only look to the lack of media coverage and curiosity regarding the 25 February attack on Cuba's coastline by ten armed men - resulting in five killed. Given the presence of the US Navy and Coast Guard in the area, it's inconceivable that this boat slipped past them without notice. In other words the attack was sanctioned by someone in Washington or Langley. Though the media ignores it, the US has a long and well-established history of terroristic operations directed at Cuba and one cannot but wonder if this operation was meant to test the current defenses of the island or (given the payload of arms) was meant to arm underground fighters on the island itself - who in turn would spread terror and seek to foment unrest. This in turn would give the US an excuse to intervene.

Washington and Langley care nothing about sacrificed lives. The operation was also clearly meant to rattle Havana and on a simple level to sabre-rattle - and by that metric it has been effective.

The same is true with Venezuela. The US focused on government failures and corruption and floated a narco-trafficking narrative which has all but been abandoned - because it was a lie. In fact US proxies in neighbouring Colombia are deeply involved in the drug trade, and the CIA is (by some estimations) the biggest narco-terrorist organisation on the planet.

People also forget that there was a rather mysterious drone assassination attempt on Maduro in 2018. The media (echoing Langley talking points) suggested it was false-flag operation that Maduro launched to bolster support.

In May of 2020, Operation Gideon (run by American mercenaries) attempted to overthrow Maduro by launching a clandestine amphibious assault from neighbouring Colombia. Some have suggested this was a rogue operation run at the behest of Juan Guaido - Washington's tapped leader to succeed Maduro, thus distancing US intelligence agencies from any kind of direct participation. The media is happy to comply with such ridiculous narratives and attack anyone who questions it.

There is little doubt that Guaido was tapped to run a shadow government and on more than one occasion he attempted to foment a military uprising. He wouldn't have done this without approval and backing.

By insisting that Guaido was the legitimate president of Venezuela the US used him (mostly in a judicial capacity) to all but dismantle Citgo - the US distributor of Venezuelan petroleum products. Citgo still exists but it's a shell of its former self and has been decoupled from Venezuelan financial interests. In other words the US wrested control of its operations and assets.

Guaido appointed a shadow government, attorney general, solicitors, and the like who feigned to represent Venezuelan interests in lawsuits brought in various courts. They were clearly corrupt and represented not the interests of Venezuela but the United States and Wall Street. As such, through these means, the US (and some allies) were able to loot Venezuela's funds in the global banking system - further bankrupting the already sanctioned country.

This certainly contributed to the economic chaos as did various NGO's operating in country who were there not to help but to hurt. The now defunct USAID was caught paying protesters - yet another instance of the organisation operating as a front for US intelligence operations.

There were numerous aid ploys as well including one instance of food trucks at the Colombian border. When Venezuela refused entry, American media outlets decried Maduro's hardline position and lack of compassion for his ailing people. The Venezuelans knew all too well that the nefarious Elliot Abrams was involved in the affair - repeating a role he played back in the 1980's with the Contras and Nicaragua. Abrams was up to his eyeballs in America's butchery in Latin America under Reagan and he was personally involved in the 2002 coup attempt to oust Hugo Chavez. The truck incident ended with Colombian Right-wing paramilitaries setting fire to the aid and yet the media turned it all against Maduro.

To no one's surprise Abrams has also defended Guaido from charges of corruption and being an American operative. From the standpoint of the Maduro government (and what's left of it) Guaido is a traitor. He's presently living in the Miami area working as a 'professor' at a university - and looking over his shoulder.

Maduro was continuing to export oil in defiance of the United States and its attempts to break his country's economy and he increasingly aligned himself with those seeking to break the Petrodollar's hold on the global energy economy. Whenever this system has been challenged, the US military tends to show up. Maduro was attempting to salvage his economy by selling oil in Chinese Yuan and we all know how Washington reacted.

The thing is Maduro was ready to capitulate. He had been all but broken and signalled his willingness to hand things over to Washington. But given the long and intense propaganda campaign regarding his corruption, mismanagement, and defiance of American demands - could they just let him stay? Could they spin such a deal and now pretend he was a 'good guy'? Trump chose to remove him and yet leave his government in place in order to allow for a smooth transition - but one that allowed Washington to save face. It was a pseudo-coup of sorts. But the whole thing has been a farce and the media is to blame for public ignorance.

And now despite the misleading coverage by US and Western media outlets, the narrative will stand. The fact that Venezuela's collapse was due to a multi-faceted US campaign will be glossed over. That fact that Maduro is in a cage in Brooklyn not only means the US can control the narrative, but it seems justified as the argument that he was a criminal will resonate with the popular mind. In reality he's a political prisoner, a dissident and renegade satrap who dared to challenge the Empire.

The history of US terrorism in Cuba goes back decades - a story now so long that it's mostly been forgotten. The history of US-Venezuelan relations over the past twenty-five years is quite instructive and at this point more immediately relevant. It is a harbinger of what is to come and what kinds of tools and methods the US will employ. From economic sabotage, to outright terrorism and assassination, to kidnapping, and military strikes, the Trump administration has decided the time is right to finally bring down the Cuban government which has defied Washington for over sixty years. The Establishment media will not tell the story or accurately report the unfolding of events. That's the only thing we can count on. Why would they? They're part of the system. All the major media figures are millionaires who are deeply entrenched in the institutions at the heart of US power. They're not journalists. They're entertainment personalities and mouthpieces for the Establishment.