All Options Are on the Table

By José Vicente Rangel, 18/Mar/2019

1 In the arrogant language of the empire there are no gaps. Everything is shielded. From Trump to Bolton, passing through Pence, Pompeo and Abrams, they all say the same thing. They repeat words and concepts systematically. An example is the phrase coined, in a prodigy of creativity and sharpness, which has practically become the slogan of the republican government. I refer to what the members of the team that operate from the White House, in unison, are all about: “All the options on the table”.

2 It is clear that this is a skillful resource through which the high officials of the North American government elude disturbing questions and dispatch the uncomfortable sites for which they have nothing specific to answer. Instead of going into details that could lead to misunderstandings, or having to go through complicated explanations, they resort to the phrase in question.

3 But what is behind the options that are not explained and remain practically in the air, or open the door to easy conjectures? The options, of course, are more than known, but it is profitable in order to generate expectations, talk only about options without entering into definitions and explaining contents. Actually, there are four: political, diplomatic, economic and military.

4 But it turns out that the options -for the time being are four-, conceived for the treatment of the Venezuelan case, have already been applied against our people. With bitterness, with absolute contempt for the law, through brutal blackmail to achieve accomplices against a democratic country, respectful of the rule of law, such as Venezuela.

5 To Venezuela the US government has applied political sanctions against it, with a rigor never seen before. Likewise, the government of Trump and the gang that accompanies it, has used, in depth, diplomacy to isolate the country, to build a segregationist block based on bribes, and as for economic sanctions the imperial power has overflowed all the limits through a relentless war, unprecedented in contemporary history.

6 Only one of the four options is pending. I am referring to the invasion of the national territory by a force made up of US military personnel and other nations in the region. So far this option is mentioned halfway by the most qualified spokesmen of the US government. It is only played, verbally, with the possibility of applying it. It is mentioned as a whisper, as a warning. As an extreme resource with which it is intended to create fear.

7 In short, what will happen? I consider that, even though Trump dissembles with certain scruples about the application of the war option, that is, the fourth in the list that he handles along with his intimates, and that the rejection manifested in the world against the use of this resource, there is to walk around the terrible probability that this is the card they will play. If the others, as has been demonstrated so far, do not have the effect that the White House pursues in its insane attitude of sweeping adversaries, of attacking with the spirit of crusaders, of imposing unipolarity and unique thinking, in the eyes of Donald Trump and his fan team, this is not just oil.

The outcome of the return to the country of Juan Guaidó – the self-proclaimed candidate of an opposition sector – was a surprise for everyone, both for those who bet that he would be arrested on Venezuelan soil and those who ruled out that possibility. Polarization has the characteristic of taking on the facts in black and white. Without half measures. Because if I depensed with rationality, what really happened on Monday 4 of the current month, was foreseeable …
No one in their right mind, without the obstacles of sectarianism in between, could think that a political leader of the stature of Nicolás Maduro -and the team that accompanies him-, would incur the mistake of ordering the detention of Guaidó, which was what exactly they wanted in order to unleash a wave of protest worldwide and to give the reason to those who label the Bolivarian government as “tyranny”. Maduro has shown over and over again that he is not a fool and knows how to move with skill in the political terrain, despite the contempt he arouses in his adversaries …
On the other hand , Guaidó pulled off the show of coming back because he was conscious that he had to do it, otherwise he would fall apart. And if he was arrested, his life was not in danger and he consolidated his leadership in the opposition sector that follows him …
In short , the doomsday forecasts fell, which in the end demonstrates the democratic quality of the Venezuelan people. On the day that the opposition deputy returned, Venezuela experienced a climate of peace and harmony that many countries which attack us would wish, according to them, for not complying with the democratic charter. That day the supporters of Guaidó went out to the street to express their joy and the Chavista people did the same, turning, civically, to the carnival activities. Everything happened without incident, without injured or dead …
But what future developments can result from what happened? A development in line with what Venezuela experienced on March 4. That is, a positive change in the political climate. If the dialogue position of Maduro and his government is maintained, it does not have to change since this is the tone of the president, and if Guaidó gives an appropriate reading to what happened, that is, he leaves aside the rhetorical stridency and subliminal calls to violence, the country can begin a different stage to what it has lived so far. The parties must be clear that something different from the diatribe, the aggressiveness, the hatred that rots everything, happened and that we must take advantage of the circumstances to give new signals that lead to the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law …
Colombian Magazine SEMANA, brings on the cover an interesting editorial comment, around which it is worth reflecting. It says the following: “Is this what is good for Colombia? President Duque has played the letter of regional leader and partner of Trump in the crusade against Maduro. That bet has worked for him in the short term, but it holds future risks.” Undoubtedly the warning of the Colombian publication is pertinent. Duque runs obvious risks. The US rulers are experts in using useful fools. More than one inexperienced man has fallen into its clutches, and undoubtedly Duque has gone too far in his behavior against Venezuela and in the concessions to the White House. He has fallen into the infamy of stabbing the Venezuelan brother and serving as an instrument to the designs of an unscrupulous character as the American president.
Events in Brazil tend to evolve towards a new political situation in that nation. President Bolsonaro carries the burden of corrupt children, involved in serious financial operations and also related to drug trafficking. A clear rejection from the Army is what everyone talks about.