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Another Conflict In Which The Left Has No Interest: Venezuela/Guyana
Manhattan Contrarian ^ | 5 Dec, 2023 | Francis Menton

Posted on 12/06/2023 4:39:24 AM PST by MtnClimber

The response by Israel to the October atrocities of Hamas seems to have roused the international Left into a furious frenzy. Widespread demonstrations supporting the Gazans’ slaughter continue on a daily basis in major cities around the world and, especially, on university campuses. The demonstrations feature thinly- or not-so-thinly-veiled calls for elimination of Israel as a state, and for violence against Jewish people. The demonstrators call the Jews every horrible thing they can think of, the very worst in their vocabulary being “settler colonialists.”

Meanwhile, other comparable conflicts go on around the world without even a hint of interest from the same international Left. In this post on October 11 I discussed the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, where at that very moment the Azeris were in the process of completely expelling a large community of Armenians from their historical homeland in a section of the Caucasus region called Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenians have apparently continuously occupied the area since well before the time of Christ, and converted to Christianity as a nation in 301 A.D. Encyclopedia Britannica dates the arrival of the Azeris (Muslims) from Central Asia around the 9th to 11th centuries A.D. Doesn’t that make the Armenians “indigenous” and the Azeris “settler colonialists”? You will be hard pressed to find a handful of news articles covering this situation, let alone even one tiny demonstration on a college campus.

And now consider the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana. Are you even aware that such a conflict is going on? This dispute is instigated by one of the most thuggish losers on the international stage, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, against his peaceful neighbors the Guyanese. Does the Leftist outrage meter register even the slightest vibration? Not that I can find. But then Maduro is a “socialist” in good standing, while Guyana is in the process of making the huge error of getting rich via capitalism.

To be a little fair, the Venezuela/Guyana dispute has roots that go back deep into colonial history. Here is a brief history from a site called Dialogo Americas. The gist is that Britain set boundaries in the region, including the Venezuela/Guyana border, back in the mid-19th century. Venezuela did not agree to the boundaries, and laid claim to a region of the Guyana it calls Essequibo — which is actually the majority of Guyana by land area. The matter went to an arbitration panel back in 1899, and the panel ruled in favor of Guyana. Venezuela did not officially accept that result, but the matter was largely dormant from then on. In 1966 the two countries entered into a Geneva Agreement by which they committed to either resolve any further dispute peacefully or, failing that “they shall refer the decision as to the means of settlement to an appropriate international organ upon which they both agree or, failing agreement on this point, to the secretary-general of the United Nations.”

But in recent months, suddenly Venezuela has started rattling sabres and threatening military action to press its claim to Essequibo. To ramp up pressure, Maduro scheduled a referendum supposedly to ask the Venezuelan people if they support the takeover of Essequibo. The referendum was held Sunday December 4. Here is a report from the Miami Herald. According to the Herald, Maduro claims that 98% of the voters favored invading Guyana. But the Herald goes on to say that “many question referendum results.” This was a typical example of what passes for “voting” in Venezuela. As an example, from the Herald:

[T]he reported participation did not match the empty voting stations seen during the day and was more than twice as high as that of independent exit polls.

So what is really going on here? Maduro is almost five years into a six year term, and he has completely run Venezuela into the ground since taking office initially in 2013. While there is no meaningful opinion polling from Venezuela, his popularity is thought to be deep in the toilet. Meanwhile, his next-door neighbor Guyana is turning into an incredible success story on the capitalist model. Something must be done!

Let’s look at just a few statistics. Venezuela could be the worst story of economic failure for any country in the world over the past couple of decades. (Maybe North Korea is worse, but there are no usable numbers at all from that prison state.). With the caveat that all economic statistics coming out of Venezuela must be viewed with skepticism, here are some from Venezuela. From Statista.com, Venezuela’s GDP per capita has fallen from a peak of $12,688 in 2011 to $3,474 in 2023. The same statista.com website gives Venezuela’s 2023 inflation rate as 359%, which to be fair is a substantial improvement from the 65,374% registered in 2018. Meanwhile, production of Venezuela’s key product, petroleum, has plunged from over 3 million barrels per day in the early 2000s, to under 800,000 barrels per day today, as corruption and incompetence by Maduro cronies have destroyed productivity in the state-owned oil monopoly. Here is a chart of Venezuela’s oil production since 1998 from Trading Economics:

In Guyana it is, shall we say, the opposite. Here is a piece from CNBC on September 26, 2023, headline “This is the world’s fastest-growing economy, and it could grow an ‘explosive’ 100%.” Excerpt:

The world’s fastest-growing economy may be on track to grow by more than 100% by 2028, largely fueled by profits from its oil production and export sector, according to one analysis. Guyana, a country in South America with a population of about 800,000 people, is projected to grow 38% by the end of the year — an “extremely fast” pace, according to recent gross domestic product forecasts by the International Monetary Fund.

So how has that happened? Easy: Guyana leased some offshore territory for exploration by an international group of private oil companies led by Exxon. And sure enough they made huge discoveries, that are just now ramping up into major production:

BMI [a unit of Fitch] sees oil production in Guyana to jump from around 390,000 barrels per day this year to over a million barrels per day by 2027 as new offshore fields in the country’s Stabroek Block are opened by a consortium led by Exxon.

To its credit, the UN appears at least for now to be standing by Guyana on this one. When Venezuela started its recent campaign, Guyana referred the matter to the UN. According to PBS here, last Friday, the UN’s International Court of Justice issued a ruling “order[ing] Venezuela not to take any action that would alter Guyana’s control over a disputed territory.” But as yet the ruling is only a preliminary one, pending a full trial later, possibly years from now.

Meanwhile, don’t expect any activity from the leftist outrage machine. That outrage is reserved for the likes of the United States and Israel who defend themselves and stand up for Western values.


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: 202312; armenia; armenians; axisofevil; azerbaijan; azeri; azeris; brazil; communism; exxon; guyana; iran; nicolasmaduro; russia; venezuela

1 posted on 12/06/2023 4:39:24 AM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

The communists always need to find new people to plunder after their own populations are squeezed dry.


2 posted on 12/06/2023 4:39:40 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Maduro is almost five years into a six year term, and he has completely run Venezuela into the ground since taking office initially in 2013. While there is no meaningful opinion polling from Venezuela, his popularity is thought to be deep in the toilet.

He was voted in, but they can't vote him out in their totally "transparent and legitimate" elections. Funny how that happens.

Same election integrity that is embedding itself here.

3 posted on 12/06/2023 4:45:36 AM PST by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: Sirius Lee

Maybe Maduro borrowed some of our US voting machines.


4 posted on 12/06/2023 4:47:37 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Bit of a quandary. Leftists are thieves above all else. That’s what their propaganda is all about -justifying theft of other people’s property and more. There is no interest or respect for earning or building anything because in their system it will just be taken by someone.

Venezuela has already invaded with foot soldiers. There’s just a media blackout on it. Imo to not put more on leadership’s plate. We trained the Guyanans. I think the silence signals capitulation to Maduro and China. They want the oil and resources of Guyana. Maduro will take it and China will extract them likely giving a cut to Maduro.

It’s all about theft.


5 posted on 12/06/2023 4:54:53 AM PST by Justa (If where you came from is so great then why aren't Floridians moving there?)
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To: Justa

All I know of Venezuela and Guyana, I learned reading the novel ‘Papillon’ by Henri Charriere. Great movie made of it as well.


6 posted on 12/06/2023 5:04:18 AM PST by desertsolitaire ( M)
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To: MtnClimber

I posted about this same topic last week, couple of things the article leaves out. Frank Gaffney was Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast last week going into greater detail about the ramifications of this situation if war breaks out.

Brazil has moved troops to the common border between all 3 countries.

Venezuela and Brazil now have the same allies, China, Russia, and Iran. It will be a financial windfall for whoever controls the oil deposits in Guyana.

The point Gaffney was making is that China and Russia were driving this situation and pushing Venezuela to use force if necessary to force Guyana into aligning with them instead of the USA.


7 posted on 12/06/2023 5:05:30 AM PST by srmanuel
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To: MtnClimber
...Maybe Maduro borrowed some of our US voting machines.

Vote fraud is how Venezuela went Socialist in the first place. The only reason it is no longer being run by its original dictator is because he did the world a favor by dying.

8 posted on 12/06/2023 5:10:28 AM PST by Nateman (If the Pedo Profit Mad Moe (pig pee upon him!) was not the Antichrist then he comes in second.)
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To: Nateman

It’s Maduro and wag the dog.


9 posted on 12/06/2023 5:27:09 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET
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To: srmanuel

Guyana is in no way able to defeat Venezuela alone. Those oil assets there are owned by Exxon and chevron/hess. The near term projection is to produce one million barrels a day. We should not let this go to this cabal.


10 posted on 12/06/2023 5:28:51 AM PST by Mouton (US Home to one party rule)
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To: MtnClimber

Became aware ofvthis the other day.

Also China/Bhutan.


11 posted on 12/06/2023 5:29:56 AM PST by sauropod (The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.)
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To: Justa

Good analysis in Post 5. (Also, spot-on Tagline. Don’t you just love transplants complaining about how everything is done in their new location without having the slightest realization that THEY are the problem?)


12 posted on 12/06/2023 5:48:55 AM PST by SharpRightTurn (“Giving money & power to government is like giving whiskey & car keys to teenage boys” P.J. O’Rourke)
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To: srmanuel

Let Venezuela play stupid games and let their country be turned into a B-52 test range.

Poking US interest in the ME and Asia is one thing, but in our backyard?

How did Grenada/Dominican Republic/etc. turn out for them?

Cuba? No longer the thorn in our side they were 40 years ago.


13 posted on 12/06/2023 6:01:48 AM PST by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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To: HombreSecreto

Maybe it will be like the 1930’s Chaco war that americans know little about. Between bolivia and paraguay. Hundreds of thousands of men died over desolate wasteland because they thought it might have oil. It didn’t.


14 posted on 12/06/2023 6:11:43 AM PST by ozarker
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To: HombreSecreto

Before we pound our chests over turning something into a B-52 range, consider this which was discussed in the podcast I referred to.

Look around the world, we are in two proxy wars right now, we are funding Ukraine into oblivion and Israel appears to be cleaning up Gaza, eliminating Hamas in the process.

Throw in a regional war in South America.

If you think our border is a mess now, wait until a regional war breaks out in South America, I could see even greater swarms of illegals coming up thru Central America and Mexico right to our border.

The point made on the podcast was, China and Russia are stirring up regional conflicts all around the world, tying up US military assets in the process and degrading our economy in the process.

The move that was speculated next was turmoil inside the USA in 2024, all leading to a move by China on Taiwan, followed by moves in Eastern Europe by Russia.

Just something to think about because any war in South America is not all because of Venezuela, it’s being orchestrated by our enemies.


15 posted on 12/06/2023 6:25:26 AM PST by srmanuel
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To: srmanuel

Then all we have to do is just defang Maduro’s military so that Guyana can keep their territory and we’re done.


16 posted on 12/06/2023 6:32:37 AM PST by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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To: srmanuel

Brazil now have the same allies

\/

i.e.

CISA

brazil had their last election

” fortefied”

with official help from DHS and CISA.

do the math.


17 posted on 12/06/2023 6:43:25 AM PST by cuz1961 (USCGR Vet, John Adams Descendant , deal with it.)
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To: HombreSecreto

You mean sort of how we defanged the Taliban.

The point is, any potential regional war in South America won’t be happening in isolation, it will be small part of a much bigger issue.

China and Russia know the USA is run by a POTUS that is brain damaged, they also know in 2024 that could change because of the Presidential election, our military and economy are faltering because of the Biden Administration, if you want to make moves around the world, it would be a good time for our enemies to make those moves in 2024.


18 posted on 12/06/2023 7:04:49 AM PST by srmanuel
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To: srmanuel

Correct you are. Adversaries can’t assume that Biden will stay. If they’re going to make moves, it’s now.


19 posted on 12/06/2023 7:25:33 AM PST by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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