by Stephen Lendman

Expect virtually anything from lunatics infesting Washington. Neocons dominate US policy.

Permanent wars rage against one country after another. US streets are battlegrounds. Virtually every day killer cops murder black youths with impunity.

Independent governments are targeted for regime change. Bush and Obama spent post-9/11 years unsuccessfully trying to end Venezuelan Bolivarian democracy.

Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez accused Washington of planning a "Cuban-style blockade."

"They are considering a financial and commercial blockade, and economic blockade, and (all Venezuelans) should know this," she said.

Obama-imposed sanctions threaten "all Venezuelans," she added. So does economic war.

"What has happened is of monumental gravity, like nothing in the history of our country," Rodriguez stressed.

She called Obama's sanctions the latest scheme in Washington's ongoing political and economic war to destabilize Venezuela.

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs Roberta Jacobson matches Victoria Nuland's chutzpah.

She lied saying "(t)he goal of these sanctions is to persuade the government of Venezuela to change its ways, not to remove that government."

Previous articles explained Bush and Obama foiled coup plots - to replace model hemispheric democracy with fascist dictatorship.

To return Venezuela to its bad old days. To make it look like Ukraine. To steal its vast oil reserves. To impoverish its people. To end Bolivarian fairness.

Rodriguez responded to Jacobson saying "(i)n a rude and petulant manner, (she) tells us what to do."

"You need manners to deal with people and with countries." US officials use hammers.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called evidence of Obama's coup plot to oust Maduro "ludicrous."

She ignored America's blood-drenched history toppling one independent government after another, saying:

"As a matter of long-standing policy, the United States does not support political transitions by nonconstitutional means."

"Political transitions must be democratic, constitutional, peaceful and legal."

Washington deplores democracy. It tolerates none at home and abroad.

It's just a matter of time before the next plot to oust Venezuela's government surfaces. Maybe with US boots on the ground. Perhaps terror-bombing Caracas.

The possibility of economic blockade is real. Venezuelan oil America buys can be gotten elsewhere.

On March 12, US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) head General John Kelly suggested another coup in convoluted comments, saying:

"A coup? You know, I don't know anyone that would want to take that mess over, but it might be that we see, whether it's at the end of his term or whatever, I wouldn't say - I wouldn't (say) necessarily a coup, but there might be with - the same ruling party - some arrangements to change leadership."

SOUTHCOM's area of responsibility includes Latin American and Caribbean nations.

Perhaps Kelly will be directly involved if Washington tries toppling Maduro again before his term ends.

He disingenuously denied knowledge of Obama's foiled February coup plot. For sure he was kept informed. He might have been needed.

He claimed no "involve(ment) in any way, shape or form with coup planning. I don't know anyone who is."

"And I probably would know if someone was."

SOUTHCOM calls the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Bolivarian Allliance for our Americas (ALBA) "challenges…which deliberately exclude the United States and seek to limit (its) role in the hemisphere.”

On Saturday, all 12 Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) demanded Washington immediately lift Venezuelan sanctions. A statement said:

"The member states of UNASUR reject the executive order approved by the United States government which declares Venezuela a threat to national security."

Washington's "interference (represents a) threat to sovereignty and to the principle of non-intervention."

"We call upon the United States to evaluate and implement dialogue as an alternative."

"The UNASUR member States believe the internal situation in Venezuela shall be resolved through the democratic mechanisms established in the Venezuelan Constitution."

Rodriguez said "UNASUR has stood firm against imperialism. (Member states were) aware of the seriousness (of the threat) not only for Venezuela but for the whole region."

"We know Venezuela is not alone. If there were to be an intervention on Venezuela, we wouldn't know when it would move beyond our borders."

Latin American governments largely support Maduro. Argentine President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner called Obama's sanctions "an unacceptable attack on Venezuela's sovereignty."

Bolivia's Foreign Ministry "reject(ed) these interventionist actions of the US government to violate the sovereignty and self-determination of the Venezuelan people."

"These undemocratic actions of President Barack Obama threaten the peace and security of all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called Obama's sanctions "a bad joke, which reminds us of the darkest hour of our America, when we received invasions and dictatorships imposed by imperialism."

Cuba issued a statement calling US sanctions "arbitrary and aggressive."

Fidel Castro praised Maduro's "brilliant and valiant" response to Washington's "brutal" action.

Anti-imperialist Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) nations condemned what it called an unprecedented "aggression violat(ing) every principle of international law which governs relationships between states, treating every state as equal and sovereign."

Last December, after Obama imposed earlier sanctions, G77 nations and China demanded they be lifted immediately.

They issued a statement saying Obama's action "undermine(d) the Charter of the United Nations and international law, especially the principles of non-intervention in internal affairs and equal rights and self-determination of peoples."

On Thursday, anti-US imperial protesters filled central Caracas streets. Chanting "Yankee go home" and "Venezuela respects itself," thousands condemned Obama's assault on Venezuelan sovereignty and dignity.

Socialist Environmental Workers' Front's Lies Guzman spoke for others saying:

"We are here to defend the motherland left to us by Chávez, Bolívar, Zamora, and all of our heroes and heroines, because we've also had many heroines, many barefooted women who defended this country. We're following in the same legacy as all of them."

"We are steeled, knee to the ground, for anything that happens, with the women in the vanguard, prepared on all fronts, including the diplomatic, military, and guerrilla fronts if necessary."

As long as rogue US policies continue, no one anywhere is safe from Washington's ravages.

Humanity's top challenge is slaying this monster before it destroys everyone - before it makes life on earth unlivable.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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