A new study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) has found that tens of thousands of Venezuelans have died as a direct result of Trump administration sanctions put into effect in August 2017, and that tens of thousands more are expected to die as a result of additional sanctions put into place in January of this year.

Some noteworthy points:

  • The sanctions are “depriving Venezuelans of lifesaving medicines, medical equipment, food, and other essential imports.”
  • The sanctions “reduced the public’s caloric intake, increased disease and mortality (for both adults and infants), and displaced millions of Venezuelans who fled the country as a result of the worsening economic depression and hyperinflation.”
  • The sanctions “have inflicted, and continue to inflict, very serious harm to human life and health, including an estimated more than 40,000 deaths from 2017–2018.”
  • That means 2019 deaths haven’t been added to this estimate. The year’s nearly half over, and more aggressive sanctions went into effect this past January.
  • Because of the sanctions, “some 22,000 doctors — about one third of the total — have left the country.”
  • “The loss of so many billions of dollars of foreign exchange and government revenues was very likely the main shock that pushed the economy from its high inflation, when the August 2017 sanctions were implemented, into the hyperinflation that followed.”
  • The massive number of already highly at-risk Venezuelans hurting from the 2017 sanctions “virtually guarantee that the current sanctions, which are much more severe than those implemented before this year, are a death sentence for tens of thousands of Venezuelans. This is especially true if the projected 67 percent drop in oil revenue materializes in 2019.”
  • “The United Nations finds that the groups most vulnerable to the accelerating crisis include children and adolescents (including many who can no longer attend school); people who are in poverty or extreme poverty; pregnant and nursing women; older persons; indigenous people; people in need of protection; women and adolescent girls at risk; people with disabilities; and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex.”
  • The sanctions “would fit the definition of collective punishment of the civilian population as described in both the Geneva and Hague international conventions, to which the US is a signatory.”

To be clear, this unforgivable atrocity rests predominantly on the shoulders of the Trump administration. It is true that Venezuela has had deep economic troubles for years due to declining oil prices and other issues, and it is true that the sanctions in question follow a longstanding agenda of previous administrations and were built on the foundation of an Obama policy declaring the Venezuelan government an “extraordinary threat to national security”. But the report is clear in its assessment that what took the nation’s economy from a state of high inflation to hyperinflation was the August 2017 sanctions, and that’s what’s been causing these high numbers of deaths which will get even worse due to the January 2019 sanctions.

To put this in perspective for Trump supporters, 40,000 is also the number of people said to have died as a result of the disastrous Obama/Clinton interventionism in Libya. And, again, that number only covers 2017 and 2018, and death tolls are predicted to accelerate this year.

This would be the same President Trump, by the way, who recently vetoed a congressional bill to end the role of the United States in facilitating Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen. Research from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project indicates that up to 80,000 people had been killed in this war as of the end of last year. This number applies to deaths by military violence only, not to the other untold tens of thousands who have died of starvation and cholera as a result of Saudi Arabia’s inhuman blockades on imports and its deliberate targeting of farms, fishing boats, marketplaces, food storage sites and cholera treatment centers with airstrikes. Just for children under the age of five, the death toll due to starvation alone is believed to be over 85,000.

Is America great yet?

Sanctions are the only form of warfare where it’s considered perfectly acceptable and legitimate to deliberately target a nation’s civilian population with lethal force. The human corpses it creates are just as dead as the human corpses created by overt military violence, but because this form of violence happens in slow motion it’s not treated like the same kind of horrific assault as if Trump had ordered the carpet bombing of Caracas. The distinction makes no difference to the dead and no difference to their loved ones, but it makes all the difference in the world when it comes to manufacturing public consent for murderous acts of interventionism.

The way sanctions are discussed by the western political/media class, they can even get away with blaming the deaths on the government being targeted. They’ll say things like, “Maduro is starving his people by not stepping down.” That tactic would never work with other forms of lethal force. Imagine if Trump deployed a barrage of Tomahawk missiles onto the most impoverished parts of a densely populated city in Venezuela, then hearing anyone say “Well Maduro actually exploded those people, because he wouldn’t do what we told him to do.” It doesn’t work. Sanctions are a slower and more gruelling weapon of war than bombs and missiles, but they’re vastly superior when it comes to the matter of keeping the public asleep through depraved acts of mass slaughter. Which is why everyone’s yammering about Joe Biden’s presidential campaign announcement right now instead of talking about this new CEPR report.

To this day I still run into defenders of Trump’s Venezuela interventionism (easily the most obnoxious and intellectually dishonest political group I’ve ever encountered, for the record) who insist that the sanctions are laser-targeted only at Venezuela’s elites, having no impact on the suffering of the Venezuelan people. This is exactly as stupid as believing that American bombs only kill bad guys. Attacking an economy hurts the people who depend on that economy to feed themselves and their children. Sanctions are an act of war which kill civilians just as dead as any other, and this latest report helps make that a stark and undeniable reality for us all.

__________________

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72 responses to “Trump Has Murdered Over 40,000 Venezuelans With Sanctions”

  1. So I’ll ask the only question [in my opinion] what is the zionist’s role in this catastrophe. Just read an article that Israel has been blamed for the genocide in Bosnia. Seems perfectly reasonable to me–they control the planet–nothing happens that isn’t directed by the Jerusalem Mafia. But we know that–and then somehow we all forget that. Does anyone remember the recent Israeli elections when Bibi put out his demands to the American Empire–certainly if he [his handlers] can control the empire–then he [his handlers] control the planet. Ok, everyone back to sleep.

    By the way–did you all know that Israel developed the extremely dangerous 5G technology which is being shoved down every one’s throats [24/7] without any non-thermal testing [neurological and cellular damage, etc.] but won’t be deploying the technology in Israel? Didn’t think so. Not to worry–I’m sure that they have this Christian nation’s best interests in mind– as they did during their bolshevik revolution where 55 million Christians were slaughtered: 40,000 Venezuelans–just the cost of doing business–right Madelyn.

    1. Here’s a text on the history of 5G. I don’t see any Israeli conspiracy.

      In April 2008, NASA partnered with Geoff Brown and Machine-to-Machine Intelligence (M2Mi) Corp to develop 5G communications technology.[106]
      In 2008, the South Korean IT R&D program of “5G mobile communication systems based on beam-division multiple access and relays with group cooperation” was formed.[107]
      In August 2012, New York University founded NYU WIRELESS, a multi-disciplinary academic research centre that has conducted pioneering work in 5G wireless communications.[108][109][110]
      On 8 October 2012, the UK’s University of Surrey secured £35M for a new 5G research centre, jointly funded by the British government’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) and a consortium of key international mobile operators and infrastructure providers, including Huawei, Samsung, Telefonica Europe, Fujitsu Laboratories Europe, Rohde & Schwarz, and Aircom International. It will offer testing facilities to mobile operators keen to develop a mobile standard that uses less energy and less radio spectrum while delivering speeds faster than current 4G with aspirations for the new technology to be ready within a decade.[111][112][113][114]
      On 1 November 2012, the EU project “Mobile and wireless communications Enablers for the Twenty-twenty Information Society” (METIS) starts its activity towards the definition of 5G. METIS achieved an early global consensus on these systems. In this sense, METIS played an important role of building consensus among other external major stakeholders prior to global standardization activities. This was done by initiating and addressing work in relevant global fora (e.g. ITU-R), as well as in national and regional regulatory bodies.[115]
      Also in November 2012, the iJOIN EU project was launched, focusing on “small cell” technology, which is of key importance for taking advantage of limited and strategic resources, such as the radio wave spectrum. According to Günther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society (2014–19), “an innovative utilization of spectrum” is one of the key factors at the heart of 5G success. Oettinger further described it as “the essential resource for the wireless connectivity of which 5G will be the main driver”.[116] iJOIN was selected by the European Commission as one of the pioneering 5G research projects to showcase early results on this technology at the Mobile World Congress 2015 (Barcelona, Spain).
      In February 2013, ITU-R Working Party 5D (WP 5D) started two study items: (1) Study on IMT Vision for 2020 and beyond, and; (2) Study on future technology trends for terrestrial IMT systems. Both aiming at having a better understanding of future technical aspects of mobile communications towards the definition of the next generation mobile.[117]
      On 12 May 2013, Samsung Electronics stated that they have developed a “5G” system. The core technology has a maximum speed of tens of Gbit/s (gigabits per second). In testing, the transfer speeds for the “5G” network sent data at 1.056 Gbit/s to a distance of up to 2 kilometres with the use of an 8*8 MIMO.[118][119]
      In July 2013, India and Israel have agreed to work jointly on development of fifth generation (5G) telecom technologies.[120]
      On 1 October 2013, NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), the same company to launch world’s first 5G network in Japan, wins Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award at CEATEC for 5G R&D efforts[121]
      On 6 November 2013, Huawei announced plans to invest a minimum of $600 million into R&D for next generation 5G networks capable of speeds 100 times faster than modern LTE networks.[122]
      In April 2019, South Korea became the first country to adopt 5G. [123] Just hours later, Verizon launched it’s 5G services, and disputed South Korea’s claim of becoming the world’s first country with a 5G network, because allegedly, South Korea’s 5G service was initially launched for just 6 South Korean celebrities so that South Korea could claim the title of having the world’s first 5G network.[124] But in fact, the three main Korean telecommunication companies (SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus) added more than 40,000 users to their 5G network on the launch day.[125]

  2. Alexander Rubinstein and Wyatt Reed at mintpressnews quoting CIA whistleblower John Kirakou:

    John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer who blew the whistle on the agency’s torture program, was also on hand Wednesday to give a talk on ‘an insider’s persective on CIA coups.’ Afterwards, he spoke exclusively to MintPress News, saying that he also came to “show support for the sanctity of the Venezuelan Embassy.” It’s a world he’s intimately familiar with; as the executive assistant to the CIA’s deputy director for operations, Kiriakou had access to “literally everything that the CIA was doing around the world operationally.” After signing a number of secrecy agreements, he was finally informed what the job he’d agreed to was: “to assist in the overthrow of the Iraqi government.”

    He describes a specific intelligence office that oversees CIA coup operations — one so shrouded in secrecy that even its name is classified. Indeed, should Kiriakou reveal it, he would risk being sent back to prison for once again blowing the whistle on the agency.

    Kiriakou told MintPress that whenever a CIA agent expresses a desire to overthrow a government, the office creates a plan that is generally rubber-stamped by the Department of Justice and approved by the National Security Council. Once the president signs off, Kiriakou says the officer is given a blank check to carry out their sabotage and subterfuge.

    https://www.mintpressnews.com/voices-from-inside-the-besieged-venezuelan-embassy/257910/

  3. Global Research – Centre for Research on Globalization:
    US Has Killed More Than 20 Million People in 37 “Victim Nations” Since World War II
    https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-has-killed-more-than-20-million-people-in-37-victim-nations-since-world-war-ii/5492051

  4. How convenient you ignored how prosperous Venezuela was before the socialist takeover and that sanctions were approved by President Obama.

    https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article4636689.html

    1. wrong place to repeat the Deep State propaganda, bud.

      1. Any place is the wrong place to lie. The evil is in the CIA et al. Not Trump, not Obama, not Bush, not Clinton. The CIA. the Deep State runs the country. The Dep State tells the Prez what to do. Weak an cowardly presidents do as they are told. Clinton was corrupt, CheneyBush’s handler) was evil, Obama was phony and corrupt (in addition to being a weakling), and Trump might have been able to do something if pisswads like you hadn’t ganged up against him and forced him into the arms of the Neocons.

        So, if you want to blame someone for Trump not draining the swamp like he promised — or not draining it quick enough — look in the frikkin mirror.

  5. The US has much to be proud of, and is indeed exceptional among nations in the world. Our government is the biggest Mafia in history, unrivaled in thugery, torture, genocide and crime of every evil description. Quite an impressive record, which we have worked hard over the years to accomplish. Three cheers for the USA!

    1. President Carter said the United States has been at peace for only 16 of its 242 years as a nation. Counting wars, military attacks and military occupations, there have actually only been five years of peace in United States history-1976, the last year of the Gerald Ford administration and 1977-80, the entirety of President Carters presidency. President Carter then referred to the United States as “the most warlike nation in the history of the world,” a result, he said, of the United States forcing other countries to “adopt our United States of American principles.”

      1. 3 July 1979, Carter authorised $500,000,000 to train & supply Islamic fundamentalist rebels in Afghanistan.
        As planned with Zebig Brze, he drew the USSR into a 10 year war after the USSR invaded Dec, 1979.
        He & the CIA birthed the Taliban & al Qaeda & were matched $ for $ by Saudi Arabia.
        Lord only knows how many dead are down to this peanut brained overstretched sphincter.
        Now the USSA has its own poor troops being killed to protect heroin poppy fields.
        John Doran.

        1. It was $500,000. Funding for operation Cyclone didn’t get that high until much later under the Reagan Administration.

        2. zebig, the liberal twin of Kissinger, was much more cynical and thus more evil than Kissinger ever could be. but same difference in their goal.

  6. T-Shirts !

    Joe Biden for President
    T-Shirts available.

    See the latest design here:

    https://imgur.com/gallery/bvZqzJt

  7. The Trouble With Tulsi
    Part 2
    .
    To read part one of this comment, please see “The Trouble With Tulsi” comment under Caitlin’s article “Assange’s Imprisonment Reveals Even More Corruption Than WikiLeaks Did”…
    .
    The second argument for not supporting Tulsi Gabbard’s candidacy for President of the U.S. relies not only on understanding how we got into this current state of national and world affairs (briefly covered in part one), but also how voting — self-rule by citizens in a democratic republic — works and what it means.
    .
    Perhaps the two most important questions that we, as ordinary citizens, must answer are: Where do we go from here? What are our alternatives?
    .
    Since the early 1990s I’ve been kicking those questions around and must admit that we’ve been well and truly boxed-in by the Counsel on Foreign Relations (CFR) in the U.S. and Institutes of International Affairs (IIA) in the commonwealth nations as far as voting for candidates who will actually represent our interests and opinions once in office. Voting for people who say they hold a differing opinion on the current government’s policies, but once in office continue those policies, is no choice at all. And that is, effectively, where we find ourselves today.
    .
    Voting doesn’t matter — no matter what government policy you oppose, and who is elected to change it, if that policy serves the elite’s interests it will continue… This is why so many citizens abstain from voting — their observation and practical experience tells them it is a pointless exercise. In academic political science these people are considered “apathetic” and/or “apolitical” — but IMO most are simply realists.
    .
    However, not voting accomplishes little either… We do not know why, explicitly, people do not vote — there is no official way to determine their reasons or intent for not participating in the electoral process. Thus, the remaining percentage of citizens participating, however small in comparison to the total population, end up choosing between twiddle-dum and twiddle-dee and legitimizing the resulting government that is formed for all citizens.
    .
    And there’s the rub…
    .
    There is an old saying: “War is politics by other means.” This implies that politics, specifically the electoral process, is the means by which conflicts between competing groups of people in a nation are resolved without resort to violence. But what happens when one group, well-financed and organized institutionally, dominates and controls that process?
    .
    So all is lost — voting makes no difference — what’s my point? Perhaps it’s time to think outside the CFR’s electoral box. What does voting mean, besides choosing between twiddle-dum or twiddle-dee for elective office?
    .
    In essence, by participating in the electoral process, voting, you agree to be governed by the candidates elected to office — the government they form — whether or not the specific candidates for whom you voted were elected. This is the conflict resolution mechanism inherent in the electoral process — you consent, before the results of the election are known, to be governed by the government formed as a result of that election.
    .
    This is the foundation of a government’s “legitimacy” in a democratic republic — by voting, its citizens delegate their sovereign authority to representatives formally selected by ballot so that a government can be formed which is considered legitimate by all.
    .
    You’ll pardon me for repeating myself — but these points need to be crystal-clear. Hopefully my writing is up to the task.
    .
    If our electoral politics are dominated by a small, well-financed and organized minority for their own benefit; if we cannot challenge the legitimacy of our government by not voting; and if petitioning the government for “redress of our grievances” is ineffective — how do we confront this minority without using “politics by other means”? What are our alternatives?
    .
    Altho it is true we cannot determine the reasons why someone did not vote, it is possible to count ballots which were cast but for which no candidate was selected.
    .
    By intentionally tendering a blank ballot, a citizen, explicitly and officially, indicates not only that there are no acceptable candidates, but by not delegating sovereign authority to any elected representatives, also refuses their consent to be governed by any government formed as a result of that election.
    .
    Point is, in a western democratic republic, since all legitimate political authority and power resides in and flows from the body politic, which is to say its citizens, we can decide to withhold sanction of any government formed in our name.
    .
    Thus, I think it possible, if a plurality or (god forbid) majority of citizens tendered blank ballots in an election, with the common understanding that by doing so they were refusing consent to be governed by a government formed as a result of that election, it would call the legitimacy of any government subsequently formed into question both politically and legally, nationally and internationally.
    .
    This is an alternative to force political change through a rigged political system by “owning” the electoral process. But will it work? Before discussing that, I’d like to hear your thoughts, ideas and questions…
    .
    To be continued…

    1. Voting in America is abetting a crime against humanity. Don’t do it. Your filling out a ballot certifies your cluelessness. The official means of changing the government are intentionally designed to not work – they instead insure your continuing enslavement. This is similar to the so called capitalist economic system which is deigned to ensure your poverty and enslavement to a corrupt system. Or the US “justice system” that is made to take away your rights and coerce your obedience to whatever the State decrees.

      1. What to do? First of all drop out of the matrix of lies – then your options will become clear to you.

      2. So you advocate what exactly?
        .
        Doing nothing which ensures your continued enslavement?
        .
        What about paying taxes? Is that not “abetting … crime[s] against humanity” since doing so provides the government you otherwise refuse to oppose the means with which to carry out its nefarious plans?

  8. If only Maduro had allowed those U.S. “humanitarian” supplies across the border, all of this could have been avoided. NOT!

    Where are the media? Is any mainstream news outlet covering this story anywhere in the Western world?

    1. Raymond Comeau Avatar
      Raymond Comeau

      You are 100% wrong!

  9. Some people call it ” The Deep State “!!! They are the ” behind the scenes ” people that actually run this country!! Every United States President is like the ” head ornament” on a car; we get a new head ornament every election!! The last ” Real President of the United States ” was John F. Kennedy!!! President Kennedy went up against the deep state and he was killed for it!! Everybody either follows the deep states masters orders or they suffer the consequences!!! Human beings are a ” bloodthirsty species “; we kill each other for any reason or for no reason except to just kill!!! Our ” inhumanity to everything ” is what we excel in; of that there can be no doubt!!! Donald Trump is our present ” hood ornament ” but he is surrounded by people like Pompeo and Bolton who were sent over to him by the deep state to make him do whatever they want!!! They call us ” taxpayers ” but we are just fools that are mesmerized by the charade that we are the good guys!!!

  10. No, No, No Caitlin, this cannot be correct. The U.S. Administration has said numerous times, they LOVE the Venezuelan people and are not targeting them at all. In fact they told us they wish to FREE them, and to ease their plight, even offered to provide AID free of charge to ease their pain. Right ? (heavy cynicism here )They have also said, “Here is your new President which WE have endorsed, we don’t agree with the guy you yourselves have chosen, everyone knows South Americans are incapable of choosing the correct person for the job, so because we love you all so dearly, WE have chosen the correct leader for you all.”
    What I’d really like to know, is WHY are the cowardly sycophant western nations standing idly by and encouraging this CRIMINAL behaviour of the U.S. Administration. What do they stand to gain from this cowardice ???????????

    1. The United States of America loves everybody that is why we have troops on every continent of this planet!! The United States of America loves everybody so much we will decide everything for everybody; OR ELSE!!!

  11. Don’t look now!!! War, and all sorts of killing are big business which is why it is the United States of America’s number one industry!!!

  12. Klaus von Berlin Avatar
    Klaus von Berlin

    “If you tremble in indignation at injustice then you are my comrade “Che Guevara.I am your comrade Caitlyn. Never trust the ruling class .The most dangerous are those who meet in secret societies there are in hiding the rulers who really rule Though most people seem to prefer ignorance, some people learning to distinguish between myth and reality we have to fight in solidarity an organized people can shut down the nation without firing a shot We should not behave like broken and fearful citizen .Power back to the people .Capitalism itself is extremely violence, we are surrounded by normalized violence lets see with open eyes.

  13. CEPR is a voice of the Medical-Military Industrial Complex. See its funding.

    Medicine sheds tears over traditional war, as it wages a more brutal, much more profitable, hidden war:

  14. What are the chances for this “reality-based community” stuff to penetrate the Washington bubble? To complete the picture Pompeo should offer his variation of Albright’s “worth the price” statement. Washington pretends not to notice the devastation because 1) Venezuelans don’t vote in America and 2) sanctions warfare doesn’t impose obvious costs on the U.S.

  15. CEPR is a voice of the Medical-Military Industrial Complex:

    http://cepr.net/about-us/funders

    Medicine sheds tears over traditional war, as it wages a more brutal, much more profitable, hidden war:

  16. ” built on the foundation of an Obama policy declaring the Venezuelan government an “extraordinary threat to national security”.

    We don’t want to forget that the same asses — or their clones — who advised Obama advised Trump. Our three most recent presidents knew next to nothing about foreign policy and were easy enemy-du-jour creators to manipulate.

    BTW, you’ve somehow struck a nerve with this one (probably people checking google for “Trump” in a headline.) Dipshits beget dipshits.

  17. Is there a reason countries friendly with Venezuela can’t deliver these essentials and prevent this misery and the preventable deaths? The world seems to be largely forming into two blocks – US and vassal states, and the rest. Those who ask ‘how high’ when Washington says ‘jump’, and those who say ‘mind your own business’ and carry on.

    1. CEPR also pushes the Syria-Bombs-Children stories:

      VOX CEPR Policy Portal:

      https://voxeu.org/content/war-and-peace-and-military-intervention

      1. Not talking about ‘intervention’ involving any military even if said military is disguised as R2P or whatever – just ships or planes loaded with vital medical equipment and basic commodities as or when requested by the Venezuelan government.

        1. Imagine, if sanctions were lifted, no aid would be neccessary, Venezuela could then buy what it needs. So who is causing this misery in the first instance upon the people of Venezuela ????????????????? The very same people who claim they care for them. Talk about hypocrisy, the U.S. is the biggest hypocrit on the bloody planet.

  18. …”because this form of violence happens in slow motion it’s not treated like the same kind of horrific assault as if Trump had ordered the carpet bombing”…
    Carpet bombing likely is less gruesome and inhumane than slow death by starvation and malnutrition.
    Caitlin, you write excellently and your words bring home a real truth. My one question is why select Trump for this article? Bush, Clinton, our revered Obama all have the suffering and blood on their hands of just a many, likely more, nameless human war victims than does our current president.

    1. Caitlin did include this:

      “It is true that Venezuela has had deep economic troubles for years due to declining oil prices and other issues, and it is true that the sanctions in question follow a longstanding agenda of previous administrations and were built on the foundation of an Obama policy declaring the Venezuelan government an “extraordinary threat to national security”. But the report is clear in its assessment that what took the nation’s economy from a state of high inflation to hyperinflation was the August 2017 sanctions, and that’s what’s been causing these high numbers of deaths which will get even worse due to the January 2019 sanctions.”

  19. Exactly. The Venezuelans brought this on themselves. They chose this path, and this should be a lesson to all us ahead of 2020. Sanders, Harris, all the other wacko freaks that are trying to impose this brand of government on us and take us down with similar nonsense should be an example we should take seriously.

    1. RMP – you write that the Venezuelans ‘brought this on themselves’ and ‘chose this path’. But the Washington line is that the Venezuelan elections were rigged and Maduro is a ‘brutal dictator’. You’d better go back and re-read the script and get your story straight.

      1. It doesn’t matter if the elections were rigged or not, they allowed this to happen because as a culture, like here with our left, they’re pretty much unstable ingrates. Since you love bible verses, try the one about “wells without water, clouds carried by a storm, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever.” It all suggests they’re a bunch of losers and we shouldn’t waste our time with them.

        1. Bible verses? Me? Search every on-line comment I’ve ever made in any forum, you won’t find one reference to that book, it’s assumed authors, or anyone in it.

    2. As I just pointed out to you below, your statement about “bringing this on themselves” is a truly disgusting and reprehensible psychopathic propaganda lie. One of the worst I’ve come across in fact. And as I said below, see the Bible verse I posted that appears just above your earlier comment to this effect.

    3. go tell the jews that the jews brought holocaust on themselves.
      and tell the black people that the blacks brought slavery on themselves, too.
      what have YOU brought onto yourself, dear?
      we bring everything on ourselves.
      where’s the problem?

      1. What are you talking about?

  20. The sanctions started with Obama after a failed coup attempt by the Bush administration. Trump is merely following suit.

    1. You are exactly right…

  21. Trump is not “murdering”. Pharma controls the news.

    When doctors strike, mortality decreases by 40% (R. S. Mendelsohn, MD)

    Ultrasound and X-rays damage the fetus. Fetal X-rays damage., etc.
    Ref: http://www.harvoa.org/chs/pr/dusbk1det.htm

    1. Thanks for ratcheting up TALKWITHME2’s nonsense to outright insanity.

  22. Oh please, your drama-queen, hyperbolic headlines are right up there with CNN. Decide what audience you want to read your blog and get on with it. Trump has not murdered anyone. Like him or not this pandering is nothing more than, “oh please someone read my blog! See how high I can jump and how low I can stoop?”

    1. Instead of demanding that I tailor my (entirely accurate) headlines in a way that is inoffensive to your pro-Trump sensibilities, how about you just deal with your own cognitive dissonance yourself?

      1. ‘ ‘Trump Has Murdered Over 40,000 Venezuelans With Sanctions’ ‘
        ———————————————————————————————————

        **CJ**,,, it has been estimated that the US empire has killed somewhere between 15-20 million people since the end of WW-II.

        So it’s not the ‘ ‘Trump’ ‘ administration who is killing people illegally, it’s the US empire,
        – no matter who sits in the White House.

        To say it’s the ‘ ‘Trump’ ‘ administration gives aid & comfort to those who think that, if only we elect another Obama (i.e. Joe Biden), everything will be okay, – and you know that’s BS.

        Also, constantly ‘ ‘Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump’ ‘ helps get Trump re-elected. He benefits from any king of publicity, good or bad. This was made apparent by the video showing he brags about grabbing women in their private parts, – and then again, when he got all the publicity about his adultery with numerous women.

        WAKE UP **CJ** – and start using the ‘ ‘US empire.’ ‘
        Everybody and their brother knows who lives in the White House.

        Trump is not the enemy, –the US empire is the enemy – that’s what has to eventually sink in to the stupid US voters.

        1. Absolutely, spot on. I’ve been saying similar. It seems many folks in the U.S. and elsewhere, are quiet prepared to defend Trump and get quiet upset when negative issues are assigned to him. BUT, the FACTS are people, love him, or hate him, he IS perpetrating the crimes committed by his predecessors, in some cases, even exceeding them.
          So to Trump lovers, sorry folks, but if the shoe fits, wear it.

          1. Not so fast, however. What has really been going on for many decades now is that succeeding administrations have not merely been perpetuating, but in some cases EXPANDING upon. Venezuela is a clear example of that.

        2. Yes, you do make some good and important points there. I’ve just been assuming Caitlin knows about the fake left and how the Democratic Party establishment only seeks to install murdering psychopaths and corporatist oligarchs and plutocrats too. I see Jimmy Dore quoting Caitlin a fair amount on The Jimmy Dore show, so I assume she knows as much as he does about the US political scene and the left/right fraud and who the bad apples are.

        3. It should also be noted, however, that Caitlin did include this statement:

          “It is true that Venezuela has had deep economic troubles for years due to declining oil prices and other issues, and it is true that the sanctions in question follow a longstanding agenda of previous administrations and were built on the foundation of an Obama policy declaring the Venezuelan government an “extraordinary threat to national security”. But the report is clear in its assessment that what took the nation’s economy from a state of high inflation to hyperinflation was the August 2017 sanctions, and that’s what’s been causing these high numbers of deaths which will get even worse due to the January 2019 sanctions.”

      2. Hi Caitlin – This is your friendly evangelical fundamentalist here to say thank you for writing and publishing this. And it goes without saying TALKWITHME2 here is completely full of nonsense with that comment, if not also a paid shill. I’ve been accused of being a writer before myself, but you really take the cake as the saying goes here in the US. No candidate is perfect and we all have our flaws, but you remind of Tulsi Gabbard now. More courage, character and backbone than a multitude of men. I’m so glad I get to share this article you wrote and have already done so, the copy posted at The Anti-Media that is, and I look forward to sharing it again.

      3. Hi Caitlin,
        .
        Two points, first to quote “an estimated more than 40,000 deaths from 2017–2018.”
        .
        Second, Jeffery Sachs is a long standing CFR member.
        .
        I do not disagree that sanctions are a form of deadly force, warfare, against a foreign nation that has done nothing (and can do nothing) to threaten the security of the U.S. Nor that Trump is, ultimately, responsible.
        .
        But if you want to fight propaganda, effectively, then you should know whom is practicing it against you… and Jeffery Sachs belongs to the same organization running things behind the scenes as Elliot Abrams, yet another CFR member. Abrams enthusiastically supports not only sanctions against Venezuela, but armed-to-the-teeth invasion to remove Maduro.
        .
        During the time that you were writing and posting this article I was writing and posting a comment under your “Assange’s Imprisonment Reveals Even More Corruption Than WikiLeaks Did” article. It more or less cuts right to the heart of this — would you mind if I reposted it here, in this more recent and active thread?

    2. Not hyperbolic in the least. By many accounts the US Military is directly responsible for 15 Million deaths since WWII and when you add in the effects of sanctions and blockades the number rises as high as 30 Million. I don’t doubt it. https://popularresistance.org/us-has-killed-more-than-20-million-in-37-nations-since-wwii/

    3. Talkwithme2 – what a perfect name for a troll. That’s all they want, for you to talk to them, so they can spread more slime.

    4. Exactly. The Venezuelans brought this on themselves. They chose this path, and this should be a lesson to all us ahead of 2020. Sanders, Harris, all the other wacko freaks that are trying to impose this brand of government on us and take us down with similar nonsense should be an example we should take seriously.

      1. Disgusting and reprehensible psychopathic propaganda lie, RMP. See the Bible verse I posted that appears just above you.

        1. Gee, sounds like the Clintons and the DNC.

          1. Does this mean you are also so blind and ignorant you do not see the mainstream Democrats and the fake left which include “the Clintons and the DNC” want the same regime change agenda for Venezuela as much as anyone, and how mainstream Democrats have sometimes even bashed Trump wanting him to do more bombing and killing in some places? Apparently so, unless you’re just shilling here…

            1. Oh yeah, “the name on the door.” “The bubble of unbelief.” “The cave of caves.” “All in a cave are looking toward the light of truth. ” “In the distance, it is seen” I don’t think those who suggest such dribble would know the truth if it slapped them in the face. Certainly not in this case. Socratic? Not here because it’s all partisan bullshit. Punking for the man in this case is about themselves. The word of the day would be ratiocination.

    5. The motherfucker’s name is on the door. You own it, MAGA.

      The work is that of Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs, if you look at the factual report of US sanctions as collective punishment against Venezuelans. Sanctions are war crimes and all who impose them, including Trump, are war criminals.

      Caity is disseminating the truth. And your panties get knotted.

      If you don’t have the ability to own the deeds of the policies of the president that you prop up, theb you’re a flyspeck. Real men stand by their war criminals. You wanted this guy, you got him. Name. On. The. Door.

    6. How exactly are the sanctions supposed to work? They are supposed to put “pressure” on the government, right? And what exactly is this “pressure”?

  23. When you set this against Julian Assange’s predicament, this is clearly the more important issue, and the more dangerous for the Trump administration. Venezuela should get Russia and China to raise it in the UNSC, and in the UN General Assembly where the US veto doesn’t count.

    Venezuela is going to be the last country with oil reserves. Not an enviable position to be in.

    1. This issue has been raised in the U.N numerous times without any beneficial result. The whole bloody World KNOWS the U.N. is nothing but a rubber stamp for the U.S. IMHO, none of them in that building would pass wind without first receiving permission from the U.S. What exactly has the U.N. done to it’s Charter members when they breach their own charter ????? ZILCH, nothing. Brings me to ask, “why have a bloody charter in the first place if it’s toothless ?”

    2. It is the SAME issue.
      The Rich against the Poor.
      The Rich against the Rest of US.
      The Rich against the Truth.

  24. heck, Americans don’t care about their own neighbors and friends. Venezuelans? pfff! most of the individuals i meet during the day are zombies. literally. perhaps that’s a good thing for humanity. time will take care of the problem.

    1. It’s true, most people alive today don’t have a clue what’s going on in the world. They live in their little bubble of unexamined beliefs. Plato was right about that.

      1. “Deceive, distract, and divide…”

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