By Stephen Lendman
Establishment media never miss an opportunity to set the record straight on major issues.
Instead they consistently proliferate state-sponsored Big Lies about designed US adversaries.
The latest exercise in Trump regime mass deception is directed against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other key Bolivarian officials.
Falsely accusing them of narco-terrorism, AG Barr and Pompeo failed to provide evidence backing Trump regime charges against them because none exists.
Without it, accusations are baseless. Instead of debunking them, the NYT said the following:
“President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela was indicted in the United States on Thursday in a decades-long narco-terrorism and international cocaine trafficking conspiracy in which, prosecutors said, he led a violent drug cartel even as he ascended to the top of government.”
The Times should have explained that Trump regime charges are phony.
It should have stressed that Bolivarian Venezuela is in the vanguard of combatting illicit drugs and narco terrorism.
It should have said that throughout most of the post-WW II period, the US has been and continues to be the world’s leading narco terrorist state.
Instead of truth-telling on major US domestic and geopolitical issues, the Times and other establishment media exclusively feature the falsified official narrative.
The neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post featured the same Big Lie.
Failing to debunk phony US state-sponsored deception, WaPo admitted that action taken by the Trump regime on Thursday aims “to force” Maduro from power.
Everything thrown at Bolivarian social democracy by US regimes since Hugo Chavez’s December 1998 election failed — including all-out Trump regime war by other means.
Do its hardliners intend trying to kidnap Maduro and other Venezuelan officials, AG Barr saying:
“We’re going to explore all options for getting custody.”
Phony charges against Maduro and other Venezuelan officials will likely harden their resolve to resist the unparalleled menace posed by the US under both wings of its war party.
Over-the-top Wall Street Journal editors headlined “Indicting the Caracas Mob (sic),” saying:
The Trump regime’s “Justice Department goes after Venezuela’s gangster government (sic).”
Calling model democrat Maduro a “dictator,” the Journal falsely accused him of “oppress(ing) Venezuelans even as the virus may spread to Latin America.”
Latin American expert Leonardo Flores debunked the Big Lie, explaining how Maduro is handling the COVID-19 crisis.
After offering free air transportation for Venezuelans in the US wishing to return home, 800 nationals “registered” to be aboard Miami – Caracas flights, Flores saying:
It’s “clear that many Venezuelans in the US wanted to go back to Venezuela, yet the situation remains unresolved due to the US ban on flights to and from the country.”“The reality of Venezuela’s coronavirus response is not covered by the mainstream media at all.”
Unlike the Trump regime, “Venezuela took decisive steps early on to” deal with COVID-19 outbreaks.
“Venezuela is currently in its best-case scenario. (Eleven) days after the first confirmed case of coronavirus, the country has 86 infected people, with 0 deaths.”
Through Thursday, Brazil has 2,985 cases, Ecuador 1,403, Chile 1,306, Panama 674, Argentina, 589, Mexico 585, Peru 580, Colombia 491, smaller numbers in other Latin American countries that keep growing.
According to Latin American analyst Charles Call, “Latin America may be hard-hit, with deep humanitarian, economic, and political consequences.”
COVID-19 outbreaks are “spreading to every country in the region,” numbers reported perhaps the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come for nations with underfunded public health programs.
Before all-out Trump regime economic, financial, and medical terrorism on Venezuela, the country had a model universal healthcare system, now partly hamstrung under near-US blockade conditions.
According to Flores, international solidarity is helping Venezuela deal with containing COVID-19 outbreaks, along with treating infected individuals.
“China sent coronavirus diagnostic kits that will allow 320,000 Venezuelans to be tested, in addition to a team of experts and tons of supplies,” he explained.“Cuba sent 130 doctors and 10,000 doses of interferon alfa-2b, a drug with an established record of helping COVID-19 patients recover.”“Russia has sent the first of several shipments of medical equipment and kits.”
The Trump regime piled on more illegal sanctions along with phony narco terrorism charges against Maduro and other Venezuelan officials.
Maduro straightaway declared a a national health emergency, prohibited large gatherings, cancelled international flights, and took other steps to contain outbreaks — including a national quarantine four days after the first confirmed one.
Thousands of Venezuelan who reported feeling ill were visited at home by medical professionals, a small number referred for COVID-19 testing.
The Bolivarian Republic is no stranger to crises since the Bush/Cheney regime’s April 2002 aborted two-day coup attempt to oust Hugo Chavez.
Numerous failed US attempts to eliminate Venezuelan social democracy followed.
Flores explained that earlier crises “instilled a resiliency among the Venezuelan people and strengthened solidarity within communities.”
“There is no panic on the streets; instead, people are calm and following health protocols” to weather the current storm.
Venezuelans in need are getting home visits by doctors. Food distribution continues to millions of households.
Rent payments were suspended, a firing freeze instituted, telecoms prohibited from cutting off phone and Internet access to cash-strapped households.
“Venezuela’s response has been to guarantee food, provide free healthcare and widespread testing, and alleviate further economic pressure on the working class,” Flores explained.
At a time of rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreaks in the US, treatment for Americans is largely based on the ability to pay.
Its high cost, including for COVID-19, forces millions of Americans to forego treatment if ill and hope for the best.
Flores stressed that Venezuelans wanting to return home from the US “are much better (protected) in a country that values health over profits.”
*Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
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