08.10.19: #NoMoreTrump

Maduro oversaw a demonstration in Caracas today staged to condemn the recent US sanctions against his government, and gave a fiery speech to his supporters on which he threatened his political enemies. The event was billed as “#NoMoreTrump”.

Speaking from the balcony of the Miraflores Palace, Maduro said that the country “has been preparing” for what he called “a gringo blockade” in a number of ways. He explained:

[Venezuela has been preparing] first of all, spiritually. We Venezuelans are rebellious. We don’t let ourselves get humiliated by anyone (…) we have been preparing politically (…) we have been preparing militarily. Venezuela has a respectable military power that will guarantee our national sovereignty under any circumstance.

Maduro also touted the country’s militia forces, which he said were “in the streets and in the barrios”, and stressed that the country was “not afraid of any imperialist threat”.

On the economic crisis affecting the country, Maduro said that people were “pissed off” that “they [have been] hiding products” like food and medicine since 2013. While Maduro has often blamed an international cabal of enemies headed by the United States for the country’s economic crisis, his government has never explained exactly by what mechanisms “they” are “hiding products” in supermarkets and stores. Moreover, the first U.S. sanctions against his government only came in August 2017, and yet the economic crisis was well underway by 2014.

During the same speech, Maduro lashed out at the opposition leadership, calling them “puppets”. Maduro had harsher words for opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom he called “human trash” and a “traitorous worm”. 

During the same event, PSUV vice president Diosdado Cabello stressed that the army was very loyal to Maduro, and that:

… it will never kneel before the North American empire or its puppets here in this country.

Below, videos and pictures from today’s event:

US State Department Release Video to Counter Regime Narrative

The US Department of State has issued a video in which it tries to country the Maduro regime’s narrative that Washington’s sanctions are aimed at the people of Venezuela, and/or that they are responsible for the country’s economic crisis.

Below, the video:

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