With due respect to the United States Department of State and Secretary Clinton, in regards to economic sanctions leveled under CISADA on Venezuela and six other foreign entities. Among the affected countries, only Venezuela is a nation in abject poverty. Oil is its primary export and the exceptionally devastating impact upon its people should be of specific consideration. There has been a systemic barrage of misreporting and context-shifting within the U.S. media and espoused by many U.S. Representatives relative to Venezuela and its democratically elected President Hugo Chavez.
The American people have grown accustomed to hearing the Venezuelan president referred to as a dictator, not only by media representatives but by members of the leadership in both parties. This is a defamation, not only to President Chavez, but also to the majority of Venezuelan people, poor people who have elected him president time and time again. This is not a dictator supported by the wealthy classes, but rather, a president elected by the impoverished and at the service of the Venezuelan constitution, a document not unlike our own. He is a flamboyant, passionate leader. And while our own cultural and constitutional conditioning would lead us to serious concerns in the powers of his office, there must be an informed adjustment to give our analyses a context that may extend beyond our borders.
The current environment of passive U.S. citizen response provided by this lack of understanding and misleading information is one where the essential oversights of public opinion are effectively defaulted upon, and in exchange, a predisposition to accept U.S. intervention in Venezuela exists. Furthermore, lobbyists of the fringe right exploit a void of direct diplomatic communication between the United States and Venezuela, and inflame a division affecting both countries with enormously shared interests. It is upon the USG and the American people to carefully and publicly consider any economic intervention upon a foreign nation, in particular those plagued by poverty. The United States, and indeed, all capitalist nations, engage in largely unrestricted trade with numerous nations, both secular and theocratic, traditionally associated with social and political oppression, and indeed contributors (suspected or acknowledged) to nuclear proliferation. While it is noted that Iran is such a nation, and that it is due to Venezuela's oil trade with Iran (actual or alleged) that they have been listed, it should also be noted that an entity in the state of Israel has also been named among the seven sanctioned.
The potential for overreach of CISADA's "energy" classification may be reminiscent of restrictions and prohibitions on exports prohibited in pre-war Iraq, specifically when non-weaponized materials such as x-ray machines, entirely inadaptable to weaponization were characterized as "dual use" materials, the only significant result of that policy was to deprive sick Iraqi civilians of basic care. That it is assumed in the State Department's announcement, that by Venezuela supplying its single lifeline export to a country suspected of developing instruments of proliferation, therefore it is an action-worthy compromise of CISADA, risks precedent and abuse that must be scrutinized and balanced in full context and in full view. While the State Department has reported its investigations into overall impacts on oil markets, no such comprehensive study has been offered in balance with the human impact on countries sanctioned.
On this basis, the American people should call for a moratorium on the CISADA sanctions of Venezuela until such time as a congressional hearing may be convened and strategic benefits evidenced in balance with the historic effects of similar sanctions in other developing and impoverished nations. With the recent actions of mediation taken by Venezuela in collaboration with Colombia for the reintegration of Honduras into the OAS, President Chavez and Venezuela have demonstrated a will toward diplomatic harmony, and the sanctions themselves should serve to initiate high level interaction that has for too long suffered the prejudice of profile and anti-Venezuelan political lobbying.
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And once again, poverty levels have decreased by 60%. Every major internatio
Chavez popular? Yeah, right. Because what is shown on government TV on Venezuela is the truth, right? Hitler was popular. Stalin, Mao, Castro. Ever single tinpot dictator painted himself as popular in his own controlled media.
Just wait till Chavez's bubble collapses. It WILL collapse. All the communist regimes have turned into hellholes very quickly. History proves me right. That said, I think all of you folk who defend such regimes should actually live under one. Experience the true face of it and then talk. That includes Sean Penn as well. I wish him true socialism. Wait, no, not really, cause that is like wishing him to die. Cause that's how socialism works. Everything that is different gets destroyed. Anyone daring to resist ends in the death camps. Think I'm wrong? Ask the millions murdered by Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro, Che... Oh wait, they can't comment. They're all dead.
Are you aware that Venezuela should be obtaining from oil exports 200 billion dollars a day (with the barrel at $100; which is more today). From this HUGE quantity, we venezuelan
Why does not Sean Penn come to Venezuela and live like a common citizen without the backup of the regime?
The U.S. is not interested in empowering poor people. Otherwise, its public policy would have forbidden fraudulent sub-prime loans, and other predatory lending. Payday loans charging interest rates to poor people that would make a loan shark blush are a commonplac
To see where we're headed:
http://new
http://abc
Venezuela'
But there is always room for negotiatio
I appreciate the work Sean is doing abroad and the informatio
We as a people are waking up to the cold facts that the U.S. may not be the bastion of freedom we were raised to think it is. And instead owned and operated by large corporate conglomera
Sean's making his mark, he's going on record with his message, what will you do ?
* It should be noted:
Comprehens
Currently, any revenue over $40/barrel goes into a black box called FONDEN. There is zero accountabi
I don't find socialist dictators to be very "progressi
Yes, Chavez was democratic
There has been a chronicall
Yes, some things the regime may have good intensions
There is a huge chance that the uranium that Iran is using for whatever they say they are doing comes from Venezuela.
Venezuela went from a country on immigrants to one of emigrants.
However, the whole fault is not upon Chavez, but Us the Venezuelan
Considerin
It seems like the elephant in the room to me, and I think questioner