Comment’s by Jim Campbell
February 11th, 2019
Let’s cut to the chase, if it wasn’t for the fact that Venezuela had the worlds largest oil reserves (Source) and the U.S. was using the Monroe Doctrine which prevents countries of its choosing to locate.
Unfortunately for Carter, and a boon for the United States Carter’s new doctrine did not result in his reelection.
Even if the Soviets had planned to push further into the Middle East, fierce Afghan resistance soon created havoc for the Soviet invaders.
In his election campaign, Carter’s opponent, Ronald Reagan, supported the president’s new doctrine but argued that Carter’s overall foreign policy had failed, leaving the United States in a weakened position.
Hate to break it to those who believe President Ronald Reagan was the end all for helping the tax payer.
In fact his Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
TEFRA hurt many people, myself include as I was involved in converting high-end apartment complexes into condominiums only to have that rug pulled out from all involved, both, buyers and sellers. (Source)
Influenced by the continuing hostage crisis in Iran (which was made even more humiliating by the failure of a secret U.S. military mission to rescue the hostages in April 1980), most of the public agreed, and Carter was voted out of office. (Source)
North Korean Test Launch
Today the doctrine seems completely useless as enemy submarines can launch missiles from the under the sea, while at the same time aircraft and drones can attack with bombs and rockets at will.
Of course none of which had been conceptualized at the time the Monroe Doctrine was written in 1823.
Washington Examiner
by Joel Gehrke
February 11th, 2019
December 2, 1823
Enacted By
President James Monroe
Effect
Stated that any European attempts to colonize in North or South America would be deemed acts of aggression.
Monroe Doctrine summary:
The Monroe Doctrine was first stated by the fifth American President James Monroe during the State of the Union Address to Congress; his seventh in a row on December 2, 1823.
The Napoleonic Wars served as the inspiration for the Monroe Doctrine.
It was based on the American fears related to the possible revival of monarchies in Europe.
The main objective of US government was to secure the newly independent colonies of Latin America from European intervention and control.
The Monroe Doctrine’s Intent
The Monroe Doctrine stated that the free American continents are not to be subject to future colonization by European powers.
The United States intended to remain neutral to existing European colonies in America but strongly opposed the creation of new ones among the Hispanic American republics that recently gained independence.
The Monroe Doctrine revealed that any further efforts of countries from Europe to colonize land in North or South America would be regarded as acts of aggression and as such requires American intervention.
At the time the Doctrine was issued, all Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, had gained independence.
The United States wanted to have guarantees that no other European power would move in.
The British Empire was on the same page with them because the British also wanted to keep other European powers out of the New World for fear that their trade would be in jeopardy.
Since the United States didn’t have much of a navy, the British Royal Navy was mostly the agent of enforcing the Monroe doctrine as part of their efforts to secure the neutrality of the seas.
The Washington Times
February 11, 2019
MOSCOW (AP) – Russia, China, Iran, Syria and Cuba have come down on one side. The United States, Canada, and countries in Western Europe are on the other.
As the crisis in Venezuela reaches a new boiling point – with embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro facing a challenge from opposition leader Juan Guaido – the geopolitical fault lines look familiar.
President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued statements Wednesday proclaiming U.S. recognition of Guaido, saying the U.S. would take all diplomatic and economic measures necessary to support a transition to a new government.
Canada said it was recognizing Guaido as the interim president, and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called him “the right person” to take Venezuela forward.
But Washington’s adversaries are issuing warnings against U.S. intervention.
Russian officials have called the move a “coup” orchestrated by the U.S.
Please see the entire article below.
The U.S. and Russia already are at odds over Syria’s civil war, and the Venezuelan crisis has the potential to add further strain.
Russian-U.S. ties have sunk to post-Cold War lows over Moscow’s support of separatists in Ukraine and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
“We view the attempt to usurp power in Venezuela as something that contradicts and violates the foundations and principles of international law,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In a phone call with Maduro, President Vladimir Putin expressed support, noting that “destructive foreign interference tramples on basic norms of the international law,” and called for a peaceful dialogue, according to the Kremlin.
Venezuela’s status as a major oil producer – it has the world’s largest underground oil reserves, but crude production continues to crash – means its political instability has deep implications globally.
And Russia has taken a special interest.
Last month, Russia sent two Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela for several days in what was seen as a precursor for a possible long-term military presence.
Pompeo criticized the move at the time as “two corrupt governments squandering public funds and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer.
Peskov dismissed the comment as “undiplomatic” and “inappropriate,” saying that half of the U.S. military budget “would be enough to feed the whole of Africa.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday the crisis now “has reached a dangerous point” and urged the international community to mediate between the government and the opposition.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev even injected some domestic U.S. politics into the equation, citing the partial government shutdown and the differences between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Let’s imagine, just for an instant, how the American people would respond, for example, to the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives declaring herself the new president against the backdrop of the budget crisis and government shutdown,” Medvedev said on Facebook.
“What would be the reaction from the current U.S. president, especially if this move was supported by the leadership of another country, for example, Russia?”
Russia frequently decries popular uprisings like the “color revolutions” that have taken place in Ukraine, Georgia and other countries in its former sphere of influence.
China’s Foreign Ministry also sternly urged against interference by Washington in Venezuela. Beijing’s allies, including Iran and Syria, followed suit.
China “opposes external intervention in Venezuela,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
“We hope that Venezuela and the United States can respect and treat each other on an equal footing, and deal with their relations based on non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.”
In the last decade, China has given Venezuela $65 billion in loans, cash and investment.
Venezuela owes it more than $20 billion.
China’s only hope of being repaid appears to lie in Venezuela ramping up oil production, although low oil prices and the country’s crashing economy appear to bode poorly for such an outcome.
The Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft has invested heavily in Venezuela, and its chief executive, Igor Sechin, visited Caracas in November, pressuring the Maduro government to make good on its commitments to his company.
Russia, a major oil producer itself, has been buying oil from the state-run Venezuelan company PDVSA, and Sechin reportedly went to Caracas to raise concerns about Venezuela halting oil supplies.
Russia is estimated to have poured in at least $17 billion in Venezuela in loans and investment since Maduro’s populist predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power in 1999.
The Economic Development Ministry said Russia has invested around $4 billion in Venezuela, mostly in joint oil projects.
Asked if Russia would be willing to grant asylum to Maduro, the Kremlin spokesman Peskov refused to speculate and insisted that Moscow views Maduro as the only legitimate leader.
Maduro visited Moscow in early December, seeking political and economic assistance as Venezuela has faced sky-high inflation and food shortages.
For Iran, its relationship with Venezuela hinges on their mutual enmity toward the U.S.
Chavez traveled to Iran in 2006 and received the country’s Islamic Republic Medal, its highest award, from hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called Chavez a “brother and a trench mate.”
Chavez vowed Venezuela would “stay by Iran at any time and under any condition.” Both leaders faced criticism from then-U.S. President George W. Bush and offered their own withering criticism of him.
After Maduro took power upon Chavez’s death in 2013, Iran has maintained its support of Venezuela.
On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi criticized the U.S. and other countries over meddling in Venezuela.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran supports the government and people of Venezuela against any foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Venezuela or any other illegitimate and illegal measure such as a coup d’etat,” Ghasemi said.
Strong endorsement for the current Venezuelan government also came from Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message of support: “My brother Maduro! Stay strong, we are by your side.”
Turkey also has cultivated close economic and political ties with Maduro. During a visit to Venezuela in December, Erdogan blamed U.S. sanctions for the country’s economic hardships.
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey, under Erdogan, would “maintain its principled stance against coup attempts.” Erdogan himself faced a military coup attempt in 2016.
Syria also came to the defense of Maduro’s government.
Damascus reaffirmed its “full solidarity with the leadership and people of the Venezuelan Republic in preserving the country’s sovereignty and foiling the American administration’s hostile plans,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said Havana “expresses its unwavering solidarity” with the Maduro government.
Cuba has sent its closest ally tens of thousands of workers, from doctors to intelligence officials, and in return has received tens of thousands of barrels a day in heavily subsidized oil.
THE END
JCscuba
Jim Campbell's 
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