Excerpt: "Newly appointed U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton is expected to take a hardline stance against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his administration, it has been revealed."
John Bolton. (photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP)
US 'Warmonger' Bolton to Advance Hardline on Venezuela, Cuba
24 March 18
Newly appointed National Security Advisor John Bolton "always emphasized how Cuba and Venezuela and Nicaragua have undermined U.S. interests."
ewly appointed U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton is expected to take a hardline stance against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his administration, it has been revealed.
The former ambassador to the United Nations was described by a senior U.S. official as someone who "always emphasized how Cuba and Venezuela and Nicaragua have undermined U.S. interests throughout the region."
"He's a warmonger, and Latin Americans get nervous when American presidents tend to lean toward military versus diplomatic solutions," a National Security Council official for former President Barack Obama told the Miami Herald. "It's a militaristic style that won't go down well in Latin America."
During a 2013 hearing on Syria and Iran, Bolton claimed that Caracas was protecting Iranian smugglers: "These are expert smugglers... the largest Iranian diplomatic facility in the world is in Caracas, Venezuela...They are laundering their money through the Venezuelan banks."
Bolton has also urged that stronger sanctions be imposed on Cuba. During his term as undersecretary of state, he named the island on his "axis of evil" list, claiming that Havana was attempting to develop biological weapons.
During a speech to members of the Heritage Foundation, Bolton said: "The United States believes that Cuba has at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort,'' Bolton said in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Days before it was announced that Bolton would replace Herbert Raymond McMaster as U.S. President Donald Trump's national security advisor, Venezuela's Minister of Defense Vladmiri Padrino Lopez warned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to avoid repeating his predecessor's mistakes of insinuating a military coup in Venezuela.
"If Mike Pompeo comes with the same policy that (former Secretary of State Rex) Tillerson initiated, with the same line of attack � of aggression � against sovereignty, against a population and its armed forces, he will again be faced with a wall," Padrino said.
"There cannot be a military coup here: we are in the middle of the 21st century; I need to say this to whoever talks about a military coup that we are in 2018� A military coup? This is part of the past."
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I'm in the abandon the Dem. party camp. When you have the leader of the Dems. partying with the opposition and their funders, I don't see the possibility of reforming anytime in the near future, esp. by 2018.
What a disgrace that Dem. rep's. would support unconstitutiona l legislation. When this happens the whole system is in the sh!t can.
The closest you're ever gonna get to a left wing version of aspirant government here is a sort of faux libertarian breakaway led by Gawd knows who, as permitted by those who REALY run the country -and that to simply give a totally false impression of democracy to the allied nations.
Bernie Sanders is a lonely democratic voice crying in the wilderness where there is a moaning and a gnashing of teeth
Almost all the politicians are rightist, support the oligarchs types, but the public leans left on issues if you ask them in a non-prejudicial way (living wage, Medicare for All, corporations and uber wealthy paying their fair share of taxes etc). Problem is the politicians aren't listening. And unless the Dems get a clue, AND attack Crosscheck and other vote suppression measures HARD, they will continue to lose.
Hillary choosing a VP to her right.
Not once visiting MI.
Her email server.
Hillary's 'deplorable' remark.
Bill meeting Loretta Lynch on the tarmac.
Hillary spending more on internet trolls than Latino outreach.
Her daily call for war with Russia.
Steinem saying female Sanders supporters were 'following the boys'.
Hillary cackling at Qaddafi's torture-murder.
Saying we should drone kill Assange.
Albright: women would go to hell if they didn't support Hillary.
Hillary's Wall Street speeches, insulting BLM.
Therefore it's OUR fault?
We didn't abandon Hillary when the chips were down. The DP, especially the neoliberals, abandoned US long ago. Quit blaming the voters for rotten candidates.
Since when do we OWE them our vote? Clinton might be the first presidential candidate not to bother campaigning. She never asked for MY vote. She, like Bill, arrogantly believed voters had 'nowhere else to go'
Your problem is not third party voters. WE at least cared enough to vote. 50% stayed home. 9% flipped to Trump. Millions were disenfranchised.
How about you blame the DP, DNC, DWS, Brazile or the superdelegates? The polling showed for over a year that Clinton had a good chance of losing, and more -- that she was so reviled she'd mobilize the GOP and hurt down ticket races -- and she did.
The fact we're still dwelling on this instead of gaining ground is, in large measure, ON YOU.
If Clinton were in the WH she and the GOP would be having a grand old time waging war, dropping corporate taxes and throwing us incremental,imp rovements, so don't pretend the alternative was some progressive heaven. I don't know if your naivete regarding Clinton and the neoliberals is genuine or contrived -- and I don't much care -- but get used to it. Progressives are not going back in the box. We're no longer voting LOTE. We're not voting for war or fracking or bank deregulation anymore. YOU may be asleep but progressives are awake and organizing.
We want single payer healthcare, clean water, honest elections, economic justice and a green economy -- and we're not going to vote for anyone who isn't willing to fight for those things.
Would you be okay if the DP stole enough votes to win? How many more countries can we bomb before you become squeamish? How far down the road of corruption are you willing to follow so you can pretend you won something?
Scapegoats are satisfying in the short term but not conducive to building a mature, thoughtful startegy going forward. Grow up.
DraftBernie.org
We didn't abandon HRC. She abandoned us. Decades ago.
PD, we WANT the decline of American empire. We are part of a community of nations. The time for empires is gone.
Un poco contradiction in how you phrased it.
Big Money controls both Dems & Repubs, yes..
and [therefore] Citizens United BOLSTERS [not declines] the "American Empire".....
Si..?
Let us face the fact that a lot of American voters are also church-goers, and they have a powerful allegiance to Old Testament stories and their traditional moral and political lessons. They are not going to abandon a Hebrew state to support supposed infidels.
I am also getting tired of the failure of a Socialist party to take on the challenges of the 21st century. Don't try to sell me the wishywashy New Agey Greens and their clueless naive followers, I know too much about that party's deep flaws! I belong to the Democratic Socialists of America but am a bit disgusted at the DSA reluctance to become more than a "talk but no walk" group. If only I weren't 81 and somewhat ill! Young folk--the ball is in your possession now. RUN WITH IT! Both of the current political parties and their $$$ supporters must be discarded if this nation is to survive.
"Senate Democrats are open to Single Payer health insurance".
Give me a break!!! He's *no Bernie* and would never fight for this; he just says empty words and keeps on sucking in Wall Street money.
There are Democrats that are starting to stand out and up for their Principals and one is Adam Schiff another is young Kennedy, there are more. Basically you people sound like fair weather Democrats, only Democrats when things are going your way otherwise you turn on them. They are not alike except in your imaginations! So it's not okay for Democrats and Republicans to attend the same parties? Just because they are friends outside of congress doesn't mean they agree on issues inside congress. Can't they at least be civil! Doesn't mean they can't persuade a Republican to their side. What about ACA it's not going that well for the R's is it? Hopefully Trump will be gone soon as well. He's the 3rd Republican since 1980 that has disgraced this nation with a scandal.. You might try to remember that in your harsh criticism of the Democrats. What are you doing to help? Do you volunteer?
If we don't want fracking, which party do we vote for?
If we want single payer healthcare, which party do we vote for?
If we want to end corporate subsidies and kowtowing to Wall Street, which party represents us?
"Indeed, many of the most powerful Democratic politicians and donors seem to hate the sick and poor almost as much as Trump does. How else to explain why Chuck Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Representative Carolyn Maloney would party in the Hamptons with Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Kellyanne Conway and David Koch while the latter group was attempting to strip healthcare from tens of millions of people? "
The Clintons, Podestas, Perezs -- all need to go.
My suggestion has been for the democratic party membership to call a members convention this fall or winter. It should vote to remove the current leadership and name new leaders. Sanders would be great to lead this convention.
It is OK is Schumer acts as a fifth columnist on his own but it is not OK for him to do it as a party leader. The democratic party is led by a fifth column. They are paid to be that way. They need to be fired but they can be fired only if the party is taken over by its membership.
"You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You " is an old expression, attributed to James Carville, and Molly Ivins, among others.
It means that every political player is obliged to take the phone-calls from his/her campaign donors.
It is entirely ethical for candidates and donors to have a reciprocal relationship. Feedback from donors can and should be the basis for the agenda of an elected official.
Second, the very good news.
Bernie Sanders ran a campaign based on progressive economic issues; and his campaign raised $240m from millions of donors. This is an unprecedented achievement for a left-of-center presidential candidate. It is the most powerful lesson of the 2016 election.
Where can we go from here?
The progressive movement, including OurRevolution, now has the keys to success, if it can devise a feedback mechanism that is transparent and democratic. The movement cannot succeed if there are no feedback channels.
What is a feedback channel?
If one of the above RSN commentators donates $50 to a movement PAC or a candidate's PAC, then the PAC should reciprocate with an invitation to a quarterly PAC conference located near the donor's home. Example: a summer conference in Western Iowa and another in Eastern Iowa.
The mission of each conference should be to solicit the views and priorities of the conference attendees. I'm confident that such an event can be facilitated effectively.
~~~ Peace ~~~