Venezuela (2006-2018)

[AdamG]

Financial sanctions imposed in August by the Trump administration are only adding to Venezuelans’ misery, choking off the country’s access to credit and scaring away oil companies.

Looks like those sanctions might give the Venezuelan people the best shot they've had in decades.

The government of Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro, hated by much of the country's population and sanctioned by a growing number of countries, is facing problems keeping the police and military happy as food shortages and hyperinflation start to hit their barracks.
Recent meetings and internal documents of the Venezuelan armed forces point to concern in the Maduro regime as troops grow more demoralized and commanders report an increase in the number of insubordination cases and desertions.
In addition to the signs of unrest among the Army and National Guard units, the government also faces a tense relationship with the investigative police agency known by its initials in Spanish, CICPC, after the recent public execution of rebel policeman Oscar Perez, who was killed by security forces in an assault broadcast live through social media.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...#storylink=cpy

[AdamG]

Better copy of video mentioned above -
Venezuela Attack: Pilot Oscar Prez Last Moments
https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=509_1516058992

[AdamG]

GUASIPATI, Venezuela (Reuters) - Soldiers clashed with illegal miners in southern Venezuela on the weekend, killing 18 people in a region notorious for violence and gang rivalries, a lawmaker and local media said.
Bolivar state Governor Justo Noguera said a military unit had fought off an attack, but gave no more details. “An investigation is under way,” he told reporters.

Echoing that number, a local opposition lawmaker, Americo De Grazia‏, said relatives had described the victims as having bullets in the head. “Massacres are the narco-dictatorship’s state policy,” he said, accusing the security forces.
The government did not respond to requests for comment.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ve...FV0XT?rpc=401&

[AdamG]

BOGOTA, Colombia Venezuela on Monday accused neighboring Colombia of planning a bombing campaign or a “military invasion” amid heightened tensions in the region and a mass exodus fueled by Venezuela’s collapsing economy.

Saab didn’t provide proof of his allegations, but other regional allies pointed to the weekend visit to Colombia by Admiral Kurt Tidd, head of U.S. Southern Command.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...#storylink=cpy

[AdamG]

This reads like some Draconian Gilbert & Sullivan production.

Military officers* are joining the exodus of Venezuelans to Colombia and Brazil, fleeing barracks and forcing President Nicolas Maduro’s government to call upon retirees and militia to fill the void.

High desertion rates at bases in Caracas and the countryside are complicating security plans for the presidential election in 13 days, which by law require military custody of electoral materials and machinery at voting centers.

Last week, officers who rank as high as general were called in and quartered for several days at their units. Retired officials and militia members were also contacted by their superiors, according to one retired officer who asked not to be named for fear of angering the regime. Government officials are training these fill-in personnel for the election, said a second retired officer.

High-ranking members of the military are barred from much contact with the lower ranks . Lines of young military men asking for retirement are long, said the first retired officer. The officer tried to chat with one, but officers running the barracks forbade them from talking to each other. The retiree said top officers fear too much conversation will permit officers and enlisted solders to form alliances for a coup.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ith-vote-ahead

* Given the lack of comprehension sometimes exhibited by the American media, it's unclear whether Bloomberg is refering to the lower Enlisted, NCOs, field or staff grade officers - or all of the above.

[AdamG]

This is what you get with a Socialist Dictator.

Venezuelan security forces have carried out hundreds of arbitrary killings under the guise of fighting crime, the UN's human rights body says.
In a report, it cites "shocking" accounts of young men being killed during operations, often in poor districts, over the past three years.
The UN's human rights chief said no-one was being held to account, suggesting the rule of law was "virtually absent".
Venezuela has in the past dismissed human rights allegations as "lies".

The UN Human Rights Office alleges that extra-judicial killings were carried out by officers involved with the Operations for the Liberation of the People, ostensibly a crime-reduction initiative. These officers may have killed more than 500 people since July 2015 as a way to showcase crime-reduction results, it says. They are alleged to have faked evidence to make it look as though the victims died in exchanges of fire.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin...575599?SThisFB

[AdamG]

Sidebar comedy: so much for this Kennedy effort.

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