Vol 44 No. 1 March 2019 ExtremeExtreme militarismmilitarism onon thethe rise.rise. Joseph Camilleri

ear Friends, I am deeply concerned by the extreme militarism that is now in full swing. It has been with us for some D time, but has now reached frightening proportions - and bar a few voices - the silence is deafening - not just from the government, but the other parties as well, and, of course, our media.

• Some weeks ago, the Trump Administration announced that it was withdrawing from the INF Treaty, the first major nuclear disarmament treaty that helped pave the way for the end of the Cold War. Soon after, the Rus- sian Government announced that it would retaliate by withdrawing as well.

• in recent months, both the US and have announced major plans for the expansions of their respec- tive military arsenals, including expensive nuclear modernisation plans

• In the meantime, arms sales to some of the most explosive parts of the world continue unabated - abso- lutely no response from our political parties, and hardly a murmur in the media.

• Last year the Australian government unveiled plans to become one of world’s top 10 arms exporters. The Defence Export Office is to work hand in hand with Austrade and the Centre for Defence Industry Capability to coordinate the commonwealth’s whole-of-government export efforts and provide a focal point for more arms exports. And, a $3.8 billion Defence Export Facility, to be administered by the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, is to provide the finance to Australian companies to help them sell their defence equipment over- seas. Just now, we've had the extraordinary announcement that Australian weapons system manufacturer EOS has received more than $36 million ingovernment assistance (taxpayers money). According to documents seen by the ABC, EOS has struck a deal which will see its sophisticated weapons mounts supplied to Saudi Arabia, the leader of a coalition in war-torn Yemen which has been accused of indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians.

• And now the shocking revelation (arising from a US Congressional inquiry) based on whistleblower ac- counts and documents showing communications between Trump administration officials and nuclear power com- panies. It states that "within the US, strong private commercial interests have been pressing aggressively for the transfer of highly sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia". These commercial entities could "reap billions of dollars through contracts associated with constructing and operating nuclear facilities in Saudi Arabia". Mr Trump is reportedly "directly engaged in the effort". The implications of this would be horrific. Once Saudi Arabia is sus- pected of developing nuclear facilities capable of feeding nuclear weapons ambitions, Iran would immediately do the same. within a few years, the world's most unstable region would have three nuclear armed states: Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran - a recipe if ever there were one for a regional nuclear conflict with incalculable global repercus- sions.

What we are faced with is extreme militarism, and with that comes what E. P. Thompson famously described at the height of the Cold war as "exterminism". It seems we are back to square one. It is, I suggest, time, for the peace movement to face up to the new reality, but with a view to bringing this reality into full public view. May I suggest that we think creatively in coming months about ways in which this can done. I can think of no issue that is more relevant to our current efforts to promote a "just and ecologically sustainable peace" because the new militarism threatens not just endless bloodletting, but grave humanitarian catastrophes, and endless destruction of the environment. Lots to think about - I'm hopeful that collectively humanity we can rise to the new challenge. DISARMING Peace,Peace, JusticeJustice andand EcologyEcology TIMES Geoff Lacey ny exercise of power with- the Lawrence Livermore National out restraint is at once an Laboratory, the nuclear weapons A quarterly journal of Pax Christi . It A assault on people, especially facility. Edward Teller, its co- aims to provide members and interested the poor, and an assault on nature. founder, was again a key figure. peacemakers with peace news and views both I would like to consider two global After the collapse of the USSR the local and international. We endeavour in each examples of this. leaders looked for new opportuni- edition to reflect the three-fold emphasis of Pax Christi which engages members in study, Non- First example: the historical ties to keep the Laboratory relevant violent action and prayer for peace, justice, human connection between the Man- and in the 1990s they expanded its rights, development and inter-faith and inter- hattan Project and the denial of capacity to study greenhouse effect. civilisation dialogue. climate change—along with In 1997 Teller published a paper proposals for geoengineering. on the ‘prospects for physics-based Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway modulation of global change’ and in their book, Merchants of doubt in 2002 another paper arguing that PAX CHRISTI AUSTRALIA (2010), have pointed out a connec- the world should regulate solar is an Australia-wide Christian Peace Movement, affiliated with Pax tion between nuclear weapons de- radiation instead of reducing green- Christi International. velopment and climate change de- house gas emissions, even in the Human rights, justice and integrity of nial. In fact the roots of climate absence of global warming. creation are central to its work. denial go right back to the Manhat- Second example: The global We take a stand against militarism, nuclear tan Project to make the atom conflict over genetically modi- weapons and the arms race. bomb. fied (GM) crops vs Agroecology As an ecumenical Christian movement In 1984 a number of scientists On December 17, 2018, the United Pax Christi fosters the spiritual and scriptural (including Edward Teller) who Nations General Assembly took a dimensions of peace-making. www.paxchristi.org.au worked on the bomb and related historic vote, approving the Decla- defence projects in America got ration on the Rights of Peasants together to found the General and other People Working in George C. Marshall Institute. A Rural Areas . The declaration, Disarming Times is compiled by a team of prime aim was to lobby in support which was the product of some 17 Pax Christi Australia members: of the Strategic Defence Initiative years of diplomatic work led by the Joe Camilleri, Rolf Sorenson, Harry Kerr, (‘Star Wars’) and to defend it from international peasant alliance La Rita Camilleri and Barbara Hadkinson (Vic) Claude Mostowik and Maggie Galley (N.S.W.) the critiques made by the Union of Via Campesina , formally extends Pancras Jordan and Claire Cooke (Qld) Concerned Scientists. human rights protections to farm- In the late 1980s the cold war ers whose seed sovereignty is INFORMATION ABOUT JOINING PAX came to an end and there was no threatened by corporate practices. CHRISTI longer an enemy that justified a While some countries ab- • Pax Christi Visit ourP.O. website: Box 31 Carlton www.paxchristi.org.au Sth Vic. 3053 Strategic Defense Initiative. How- stained, the only ‘no’ votes came ever, the team decided to fight on from the , United • Blog: http://paxchristi-or.blogspot.comTel: 03 9893 4946 Fax: 03 9379 1711 and they found a new enemy: envi- Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, • See Membershipemail: [email protected] Form on Notice Board ronmental ‘alarmists’. In 1989 the Hungary, Israel, and Sweden. • Contact a Pax Christi branch: Pax Christi New South Wales Marshall Institute issued its first To understand what is at stake, P.O. Box A 681 Sydney Sth 1235, report attacking climate science. consider an example (provided by Tel: 02 9550 3845 or 0411 450 953 Clive Hamilton, in his book Hugh Lacey) from the State of Pi- Fax: 02 9519 8471 email: mscjust @smartchat.net.au Earthmasters (2013), tells a similar auí in Brazil’s north-east.

story about geoengineering. This is Until recently this area was Pax Christi Queensland the term used for a range of engi- renowned for its biodiversity. Fam- PO Box 305 Carina QLD 4152 neering proposals to reduce the ily farmers and indigenous and Tel: 0415 461 620 temperature of the earth without other traditional groups had prac- email: [email protected] reducing carbon emissions. These ticed agriculture and stock rais-

proposals would subject the entire ing—in ways that kept the biodi- earth to technological control. The versity largely intact, and enabled a Unsourced material in Disarming Times may be most common proposal is to get healthy, self-reliant, stable life for copied with due acknowledgement. A copy of the sulphate aerosol particles into the the rural communities. Moreover, publication would be appreciated. Not all views upper atmosphere in order to re- many of them had begun to organ- expressed in this journal are equally shares by Pax flect back solar radiation into ize with movements that highlight Christi Australia. space. the practices of agroecology, which Disarning Times is printed by Arena Press Hamilton points out that many incorporate their traditional farm- 2-14 Kerr St. Fitzroy 3065 Ph 03 9416 0232 of the scientists working on geoen- ing methods. gineering have worked at or with Since their traditional methods

Disarming Times Page 2 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia required little interaction with the Ecological conflicts and initiatives stock production. Many have found formal economy, their lands were offi- in rural Australia ways not only of retaining part of the cially regarded as ‘unproductive’. The Such issues, in which the assault on remnant woodland ecosystems but lands were expropriated, and sold to people is bound up with an assault on also of integrating native groundstorey agribusiness entrepreneurs. The new nature, are by no means confined to species into their farming—enhancing owners employed security forces to the third world. On a different scale, both biodiversity and farm productiv- evict the people from the area, de- such issues are taking place in Austra- ity. stroying their homes, possessions and lia. And here also some families and An interesting example on record communities, and brought in heavy communities are responding with eco- is a family who have a sheep and cattle equipment to eliminate the native logical initiatives that also have power- property Lana on the northern NSW vegetation. ful implications for social justice. tablelands. Following a drought they The new proprietors planted Consider the current tragedy of began a ‘holistic management’ ap- monocultures of GM soybeans. For the deaths of a million fish in the proach. In each paddock they graze their successful cultivation, these GM lower Darling River system. This is the stock intensively for a short period crops require intensive applications of not just the effect of drought but of and follow up with a long rest period, chemical fertilizers and agrotoxics, inappropriate management of the river so that 95% of the property is rested lrading to an increased release of system, in favour of big irrigators. For at any one time. greenhouse gases and pollution of example, on-farm dams have been Consider some of the outcomes. local waters and soils. built upstream in northern NSW and The groundcover has improved and The displaced farmers, their tradi- southern Queensland by cotton grow- with it the soil structure and carbon tional communities destroyed, faced ers in the home country of the water content. Native perennial grasses are limited options. They could become ministers. Some of the on-farm water abundant. Water in rivers and dams is day or migrant laborers on the corpo- storages are the size of Sydney Har- clean. Streamside vegetation is recov- rate owned farms, required to work bour. (Helen Vivian., SMH , 9 March ering. Grazing-sensitive wildflowers long hours under unhealthy condi- 2018). This represents an assault, not are turning up again. Woodland birds, tions (often being exposed to the only on the biosphere but also on the for example the brown treecreeper chemicals). Or they could migrate to lives of so many people in the com- and speckled warbler, that are declin- the margins of large cities. munities affected. ing in some places, are present here. Agribusiness thus involves vio- This striking example is related to One third of the property is for- lence against both people and nature. a wider phenomenon: the practice of ested hills. Trees are important for The new Bolsanaro government in current industrial agriculture, as sup- stock shade. And the insect and bird Brazil plans to intensify this, and it is ported by the multinationals. With life present there affects everything, shifting the role of demarking Indige- such agriculture, farmers are going including pest control. [Norton and nous territory in the Amazon to the into debt for giant spray-rigs, tractors, Reid, Nature and farming (2013)] agriculture ministry, controlled by ag- etc. Environmental costs include de- As well as restoring health to the ribusiness. ( Guardian Weekly , 18 Jan. struction of complex, self-organising soil and ecosystems, regenerative 2019) ecosystems and the pollution of the farming brings people together, shar- In contrast to agribusiness, the environment. ing experience and partaking in Land- popular movements are engaged in Regenerative agriculture care activities. Once again ecological agroecology: a set of practices that com- However, there has been a response practice and empowerment of people bine food production, including tradi- to this predicament. In his remarkable go together. tional practices, with respect for the book, Call of the Reed Warbler: a new And in the city local ecology and the empowerment agriculture, a new earth (2017), Charles Environmental scientist Herbert Gi- of people. Massy explores the principles and rardet proposes that we extend such a Features of their farming systems practice of the alternative system, re- regenerative approach to the cities: include: high levels of biodiversity; generative farming, with many case The time has come for cities to regen- appropriate technologies of land and studies. erate soils and watercourses—to re- water resource management; and Regenerative agriculture implies generate local communities and strong cultural values and collective ‘an active rebuilding of existing sys- economies: forms of social organization. tems towards full health. It implies the ‘Creating a circular rather than a Agroecology in Brazil has been rebuilding of the soil itself, and of linear economic metabolism—giving advocated and adopted by many biodiversity more widely, the reduc- plant nutrients back to nature, storing members of Christian Base Communi- tion of toxins and pollutants, the re- carbon in soils and forests, reviving ties, whose practices and way of life charging of aquifers, the production urban agriculture, powering human are articulated in the Theology of Lib- of healthier food, and the enhance- settlements efficiently by renewable eration. For these communities, the ment of social capital and ecological energy, reconnecting cities to the re- values of popular movements (social knowledge.’ It entails the promotion gional hinterland—is the basis for justice, democratic participation, food of vital rural cultures. creating viable new local econo- sovereignty, sustainability) resonate Massy discusses many examples mies.’ [Girardet, in Resurgence and Ecolo- with the biblical values of the King- where farmers are practicing conserva- gist , No. 306 (2018).] dom of God. tion on land devoted to crop or live-

Disarming Times Page 3 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia In a city like we are Nick Rose & Andrea Gaynor, in expressed by the abundance of the used to many kinds of inappropriate Reclaiming the urban commons (2018), bird life. On one occasion in No- development, involving freeways or observe: ‘We have seen a remarkable vember 2001, I noted: higher density building. Such devel- rise of interest in taking back the I am sitting among young red opments impinge on the wellbeing food economy so that it contributes gum trees and a lot of saplings. A of communities and damage the directly to the health of people and few more silver wattles are springing environment. However, it is remark- the planet. A reinstated language of up. The tussock-grass, liberated able how people experiment in sus- the commons… has been central to from weeds, is doing well, and the tainable and equitable living, right this movement. In our densifying newly-planted seedlings are growing here in the suburbs of Australian cities, people have come together to fast. cities. reclaim land for urban gardening.’ More than 20 nankeen night David Holmgren, in RetroSubur- Many spin-off projects hap- herons are flying around, high above bia (2018) spells out the experience pened as people found their confi- the river, some alighting in big gums of many households in achieving a dence to act and learned skills to be on both sides. A pair of white-faced high degree of self-reliance and resil- engaged. People have connected herons are flying up and down the ience in the urban environment. He around social justice issues. They river, sometimes perching in trees or argues that as globalised capitalism are being empowered in their local lower down, looking for somewhere begins to unravel we are seeing a communities. to nest. From time to time, an oriole resurgence of interest in the history A fundamental reimagining of and a shrike-tit call from across the and future of the commons. With the built environment river. ‘energy descent’ residential Samuel Alexander and Brendan A deeper engagement with our neighbourhoods will have to be- Gleeson, in their book Degrowth in the landscape come more self-managed and resil- suburbs (2018), point out that the The remnant native ecosystems con- ient. post-carbon suburbs will require stitute the font of biodiversity. They As with regenerative farming, much more than the development of provide the environment in which urban gardeners experience the renewable sources of energy. What sustainable cultivation can take benefits of biodiversity. ‘Frogs, liz- is at stake is ‘a fundamental reimag- place, on farm and garden. For our ards and small insect-eating bats ining of the built environment and culture and economy to be sustain- perform ecological services that we the modes of political economy and able and equitable all our productive can enhance and encourage by creat- culture that our cities both shape processes, all our urban planning ing diverse habitats… especially and are shaped by’. They point out and activity, must take place within through structural diversity of vege- that lifestyle changes in the commu- the context of the ecological net- tation, the inclusions of ponds and nity are a pre-condition for a work. wetlands, appropriate native plant broader political change towards This deeper engagement with species, and habitat for native polli- sustainability. our landscape—a growing intimacy nators.’ I would like to take this further. with nature—is vital if we are to gain The Hood is an informal Besides the groups that are produc- the insights and experience that will neighbourhood community of about ing food sustainably, there are lead to a sustainable culture. In the 10 families in West Heidelberg. It Friends groups and Landcare groups process we work together in com- involved coordinated buying and that have directed their efforts to- munity to rebuild the commons, the renting of neighbouring houses. wards enhancing and developing basis for equity. Families share resources and tools— habitat corridors, for example along I began by noting that any exer- also childcare and some meals. rivers and creeklines. This direct cise of power without restraint is at The gardens are full of dense, engagement with the indigenous once an assault on people and an luxuriant vegetation. Trees, shrubs, ecology is a vital part of the reimag- assault on nature. I conclude with vegetables and flowers grow close ining that Alexander and Gleeson the observation that the practice of together in ways that mimic wild talk about. ecology and the building of an equi- ecosystems. The trees include fruit I have worked with the Friends table society are intimately bound trees, other exotics and natives, such groups at Yarra Bend Park, for ex- together. as wattles and sheoaks that fix nitro- ample on two of the alluvial terraces, This paper was presented by Geoff Lacey gen in the soil. Most of the families one on either side of the river. We at the Pax Christi Victoria February have chickens. One has goats. All do have seen substantial restoration of 2019 Agape. Geoff is an environmental composting, with layers of scraps, the indigenous vegetation. Besides engineers and long time member of Pax grassy material and manure. Adults the resurgence of the plants, the Christi and children work together. richness and vitality of these sites is WhatWhat DoesDoes ’sChina’s “Ecological“Ecological Civilization”Civilization” MeanMean forfor Humanity’sHumanity’s Future?Future? Jeremy Lent

hina’s leader, Xi Jinping, af- of a different form of rhetoric, Furthermore, Xi’s rhetoric does firms an ecological vision that is appealing to the destructive nation- seem to be grounded in at least C in line with progressive environ- alism of “America First.” In both some reality. Two months before mental thought. Is it mere rhetoric or does cases, it’s reasonable to assume Xi’s speech, China announced they it have a deeper resonance within Chinese that the rhetoric doesn’t exist in a were more than doubling their pre- culture? The answer may ultimately have vacuum. Just as Trump’s xenopho- vious solar power target for 2020, a profound effect on humanity’s future. bic vision spells potential danger after installing more than twice as Imagine a newly elected President for the world, so could it be that much solar capacity as any other of the United States calling in his Xi’s ecological vision could offer a inaugural speech for an “ecological glimpse to a hopeful future? country in 2016. This new target— civilization” that ensures “harmony A transformative vision five times larger than current ca- between human and nature.” Now In fact, this is just the type of pacity in the U.S.—would entail imagine he goes on to declare that fresh, regenerative thinking about covering an area of land equivalent “we, as human beings, must re- transforming the current global to Greater London with solar pan- spect nature, follow its ways, and economic system that many in the els. They are similarly exceeding protect it” and that his administra- environmental movement have their wind power targets, already tion will “encourage simple, mod- been calling for. And this hasn’t boasting more capacity than all of erate, green, and low-carbon ways been lost on some leading thinkers. Europe. of life, and oppose extravagance David Korten, a world-renowned As a result, China has recently and excessive consumption.” author and activist, has proposed halted previous plans for building Dream on, you might say. Even in expanding the vision of Ecological more than 150 coal-fired power the more progressive Western Civilization to a global context, plants. In electric cars, China is European nations, it’s hard to find which would involve—among leading the world, selling more a political leader who would make other things—granting legal rights each month than Europe and the such a stand. to nature, shifting ownership of U.S. combined, with more aggres- And yet, the leader of the world’s productive assets from transna- sive quotas on gas-guzzlers than second largest economy, Xi Jinping tional corporations to nation-states anywhere else in the world, includ- of China, made these statements and self-governing communities, ing California. Additionally, China and more in his address to the Na- and prioritizing life-affirming, has the world’s most extensive tional Congress of the Communist rather than wealth-affirming, val- network of high-speed trains, and Party in Beijing last October. He ues. has already passed laws to promote went on to specify in more detail Within a larger historical context, a circular economy where waste his plans to “step up efforts to it’s not too surprising that this vi- products from industrial processes establish a legal and policy frame- sion of “harmony between human are recycled into inputs for other work… that facilitates green, low- and nature” should emerge from processes. carbon, and circular development,” China. As I’ve traced in my book- China’s industrial avalanche to “promote afforestation,” The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural Some observers, however, are far “strengthen wetland conservation History Of Humanity’s Search For from convinced that China is on and restoration,” and “take tough Meaning , traditional Chinese cul- its way to an ecological civilization. steps to stop and punish all activi- ture was founded on a worldview Economist Richard Smith has writ- ties that damage the environment.” that perceived an intrinsic web of ten a detailed critique of China’s Closing his theme with a flourish, quandary in the Real-World Econom- he proclaimed that “what we are connection between humanity and nature, in contrast to the European ics Review, where he argues that doing today” is “to build an eco- China’s political-economic system worldview that saw humans as es- logical civilization that will benefit is based on the need to maximize generations to come.” Transcend- sentially separate from nature. economic growth, employment, ing parochial boundaries, he de- Early Chinese philosophers be- and consumerism to an even clared that his Party’s abiding mis- lieved the overriding purpose of greater extent than in the West. sion was to “make new and greater life was to seek harmony in society These forces, he claims, run dia- contributions to mankind… for and the universe, while Europeans metrically counter to the vision of both the wellbeing of the Chinese pursued a path based on a different an ecological civilisation. There are people and human progress.” set of values—which have since compelling arguments for why this It’s easy to dismiss it all as mere become global in scope—driven makes sense. Beginning in the political rhetoric, but consider how by “conquering nature” and view- 19 th century, China suffered more the current President of the United ing nature as a machine to be engi- than a century of humiliation and States came to power on the basis neered. brutal exploitation from Western

Disarming Times Page 5 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia as a result of its relative military and compels him… to let the polluters ment raise further questions. An eco- industrial weakness. pollute, pump China’s CO2 emissions logical civilization—as envisaged by After Mao Zedong’s death in 1978, off the chart, and thereby bring on Korten and many others in the envi- Deng Xiaoping transformed China’s the ecological collapse not just of ronmental movement—seems incon- economy into a hybrid of consumer China but the whole planet… Xi Jin- sistent with a centralized bureaucracy capitalism and central planning that ping can create an ecological civiliza- forcing its rules on citizens through catapulted China to its current promi- tion or he can build a rich super- coercion and repression. For China to nence on the world stage. Astonish- power. He can’t do both.” genuinely move in this direction, Xi ingly, China’s GDP is more than fifty Intimately placed between heaven and would need to be prepared to devolve times greater than at the time of earth decision-making authority and free- Mao’s death, the result of a growth Or can he? That is a crucial question doms back to the Chinese people. It’s rate approaching 10% per year for with ramifications for all of humanity. a tall order, but not necessarily incon- four decades. While it is clear that future economic ceivable. This achievement, perhaps the most growth at anything close to China’s For those living in the West, it would dramatic economic and social trans- historic rate is untenable, there is a take a tremendous dose of cultural formation of all time, is bringing more nuanced question that poses the humility to accept philosophical lead- China back to the dominant role in possibility of a sustainable way for- ership from China on the path to a global affairs that it held for most of ward for both China and the world. flourishing future for humanity. But, history. Within a decade, China’s Once China has regained its status as if we are to get to that future, we GDP is expected to surpass that of a leading world power, can it achieve must recognize the structural under- the US, making it the world’s largest yet another transformation and redi- pinnings of Western thought that economy. It is just in the early stages rect its impressive vitality into grow- brought us to this imbalance in the of a profusion of record-breaking ing a life of quality for its people, first place. A thousand years ago, Chi- industrial megaprojects of a scale that rather than continued consumerism? nese philosopher Zhang Zai ex- boggles the mind. It plans to extend Is it possible that Xi Jinping is sowing pressed a realization of connectedness its influence further through its Belt the seeds of this future metamorpho- with the universe in an essay called and Road Initiative, a vast infrastruc- sis with his vision of an ecological the Western Inscription, which begins ture and trading project encompass- civilization? with these words: ing sixty countries in Europe, Asia, There is urgent awareness among Heaven is my father and earth is my and Africa, envisaged as a 21 st century thought leaders around the world that mother, and I, a small child, find my- version of the famed Silk Road. This continued growth in global GDP is self placed intimately between them. industrial avalanche comes, however, leading civilisation to the point of What fills the universe I regard as my at great cost to China’s—and the collapse. Movements are emerging body; what directs the universe I re- world’s—environmental wellbeing. that call for “degrowth” and other gard as my nature. China is by far the world’s largest approaches to a steady-state economy All people are my brothers and sis- consumer of energy, using over half that could allow a sustainable future ters; all things are my companions. the world’s coal, a third of the world’s for humanity. But how can we break Is it possible that this deep recogni- oil, and 60% of the world’s cement. the death-grip of a global system built tion of human interconnectedness, Astonishingly, China poured more on continually feeding the growth rooted in traditional Chinese culture, cement in three years from 2011 to frenzy of gigantic transnational cor- could form the philosophical basis for 2013 than the US used during the porations voraciously seeking a never- a future ecological civilization? The entire twentieth century! China is also ending increase in profits to satisfy answer to this question may ultimately the world’s largest consumer of lum- their shareholders? Along with the affect the future wellbeing, not just of ber, as Smith describes, “levelling for- grassroots citizen movements emerg- China, but of the entire human fam- ests from Siberia to Southeast Asia, ing around the world, is it possible ily. New Guinea, Congo, and Madagas- that China could pioneer a new path Jeremy Lent is author of The Patterning car.” These are just some of the of sustainability, steering its citizens Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s forces that draw Smith to the conclu- back to the traditional values that Search for Meaning , which investigates how sion that Xi Jinping’s vision of an characterized its culture over millen- different cultures have made sense of the uni- ecological civilization is untenable. nia? verse and how their underlying values have “The hyper industrialization re- Even if China could achieve this redi- changed the course of history. He is founder quired,” he writes, “to realize this rection, the continuous human rights of the nonprofit Liology Institute , dedicated China Dream of great power status abuses of its authoritarian govern- to fostering a sustainable worldview.

From p 11 International Monetary class. The appointment by Mike Pom- United States has a long history of Fund, which would put Venezuela in peo of Elliott Abrams as the person in inappropriately intervening in Latin debt to western bankers and under charge of overseeing operations “to American countries. We must not go their control, and to privatize the restore democracy in Venezuela” is an down that road again.” Kevin Zeese Venezuelan oil industry, which would ominous sign. While Sanders got all and Margaret Flowers are directors rob Venezuela of the funds being the facts wrong about Venezuela, he of Popular Resistance. used to lift up the poor and working did reach the right conclusion: “The From Countercurrents

Disarming Times Page 6 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia Yemen’sYemen’s DescentDescent intointo HellHell AA SaudiSaudi ------AmericanAmerican WarWar ofof TerrorTerror Rajan Menon or years now, a relentless Saudi air ade of the country by Saudi Arabia ments and technical assistance pro- F campaign has hit endless civilian and the United Arab Emirates cut the vided by the United States (and Brit- targets, using American smart bombs number of ships docking in the ain), her comments, in less grim cir- and missiles, without a peep of pro- Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida cumstances, would have been laugh- test from Washington. Only a highly from 129 between January and Au- able. publicized, completely over-the-top gust 2014 to 21 in the same months Those American-supplied weapons slaughter recently forced the Penta- of 2017. The result: far less food and have included cluster munitions, gon to do a little mild finger wagging. medicine entered the country, creat- which pose a particular hazard to ci- On August 7th, an airstrike hit a ing a disaster for Yemenis. vilians. Their devastating bomblets school bus in northern Yemen, killing That country, the Arab world’s poor- often disperse over enormous areas. 51 people, 40 of them schoolchildren est, relies on imports of 85 % its In May 2016, the Obama White Seventy-nine others were wounded, food, fuel, and medicine, so prices House confirmed that it had stopped including 56 children. Soon after, a soared, famine spread, hunger and sending such weapons to Saudi Ara- U.N. Security Council-appointed malnutrition skyrocketed. Nearly 18 bia, which then continued to group of experts issued a report de- million Yemenis, 80% of the popula- use Brazilian made variants. However, tailing numerous other attacks on tion, rely on emergency food aid to other American arms have continued Yemeni civilians, including people survive:. According to the World to flow to Saudi Arabia, while its war- attending weddings and funerals. Per- Bank, “8.4 million more are on the planes rely on U.S. Air Force tankers. haps the worst killed 137 people and brink of famine.” In December 2017, The Saudi military has received regu- wounded 695 others at a funeral in following bad publicity, the Saudi- lar intelligence information and tar- Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, last April. Emirati blockade was eased margin- geting advice from the Pentagon since The attack on those schoolchildren ally but it had already set in motion a the war began. And with the advent and the U.N. report amplified a grow- spiral of death. of Donald Trump, military involve- ing global outcry. In response, on The blockade contributed to a cholera ment has deepened: U.S. Special Op- August 28th, Secretary of Defence epidemic, which the shortage of erations forces are now on the Saudi- James mattis let it be known that the medicines exacerbated. According to Yemen border, helping to find and Trump administration’s support for a World Health Organisation re- attack Houthi redoubts. the Persian Gulf potentates’ military port between April 2017 and July In June 2018, ignoring U.S opposi- campaign should not be considered 2018, there were more than 1.1 mil- tion, the Saudi coalition heightened unreserved, that the Saudis and their lion cholera cases there. At least 2,310 the risk to Yemeni civilians by launch- allies must do “everything humanly people died from the disease, most of ing an offensive to capture the port of possible to avoid any innocent loss of them children . The prime contribu- Hodeida. Saudi and Emirati airpower life.” Considering that they haven’t tors are: drinking water contaminated by and warships supported Emirati and come close to meeting such a stan- rotting garbage devastated sewage systems, Sudanese troops on the ground joined dard since the war started nearly five and water filtration plants that stopped run- by allied Yemeni militias. The ad- years ago and that the Trump admini- ning due to lack of fuel -- all the result of the vance, however, quickly stalled in the stration clearly has no intention of horrendous bombing campaign. face of Houthi resistance, after at reducing its support for the Saudis or Wartime economic blockades starve least 50,000 families had fled Hodeida their war, Mattis’s new yardstick and sicken civilians and soldiers alike and basic services for the remaining amounted to a cruel joke. and so amount to a war crime. The 350,000 were disrupted, creating fears The Statistics of Suffering Saudi-Emirati claim that the block- of a new outbreak of cholera. By April 2018, the Saudi-led coalition ade’s sole purpose is to stanch the The Roots of War had conducted 17,243 airstrikes flow of Iranian arms to the Houthis is Yemen’s progression to its present across Yemen, hitting 386 farms, 212 nonsense. Choking off Yemen’s im- state began as the Arab Spring swept schools, 183 markets, and 44 ports was a disproportionate re- through the Middle East in 2011. mosques. Saudi Arabia and its part- sponse, and clairvoyance wasn’t re- Street demonstrations grew against ners have accused the Houthis, the quired to foresee the calamitous con- Yemen’s strongman, Ali Abdullah rebels with whom they have been in sequences to follow. Saleh, and gathered strength as he such a deadly struggle, of attacking President Trump’s U.N. ambassador, attempted to quell them. In response, Yemeni civilians, a charge Human Nikki Haley, echoed Saudi he allied more strongly with Saudi Rights Watch has validated. Such a charges that the Houthi missiles were Arabia and the United States, alienat- defence hardly excuses the relentless Iranian-supplied Quiam-1s and con- ing the Houthis, whose main bastion, bombing of non-military sites by a demned that country’s interference in the governate of Saada, abuts the coalition that has overwhelming supe- Yemen. Given the scale of destruc- Saudi border. Adherents of Zaydi riority in firepower. Then naval block- tion by a foreign coalition using arma- Islam, the Houthis played a pivotal

Disarming Times Page 7 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia role in creating a political movement, March 2015 and Yemen’s descent to Yemen’s catastrophe was already obvi- Ansar Allah, in 1992 to assert the in- hell began. ous. terests of their community against the The American Role In recent years, opposition to the war country’s Sunni majority. In an effort The commonplace rendition of the in Congress has been on the rise, to undercut them, the Saudis have war in Yemen pits a U.S.-backed Saudi with Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep- long promoted radical Sunni religious coalition against the Houthis, cast as resentative Ro Khanna playing promi- leaders in Yemen’s north, while inter- agents of Iran and evidence of its in- nent roles in mobilising it. But such mittently raiding Houthi territories. creasing influence in the Middle East. congressional critics had no effect on As a Houthi rebellion began, Saleh Combating terrorism and countering Obama’s war policy and are unlikely to tried to make himself an indispensable Iran became the basis for Washing- sway Trump’s. The mainstream narra- ally of Washington in its post-9/11 ton’s support of the Saudi-led war. tive on the war remains powerful, anti-terrorist campaigns. He joined Predictably, inconvenient facts were while the Gulf monarchies continue to the Saudis in painting the Houthis lit- shunted aside. buy vast quantities of American weap- tle more than tools of an Iran that It’s worth considering some of those onry. Washington and Riyadh loathed. facts. There are significant differ- That is the context for the Pentagon’s When those powers came to see the ences between the Houthis' Zaydi gentle warning about the limits of U.S. Yemeni autocrat as a political liability, variant of Shia Islam and the Twelver support for the bombing campaign in they helped oust him and transfer Shiism dominant in Iran which makes Yemen and Secretary of State Mike power to his deputy, Abdu Rabbu the ubiquitous claims about a Iran- Pompeo’s subsequent certification, as Mansour Hadi. Such moves failed to Houthi faith-based pact shaky. Iran required by Congress, that the Saudis calm the waters, as the country started did not jump into the fray during the and Emiratis were taking perfectly to disintegrate and Saudi-U.S. efforts violent 2004-2010 clashes between credible action to lower civilian casual- to consolidate the transition from Saleh and the Houthis and did not ties -- without which the U.S. military Saleh to Hadi unravelled. have longstanding ties to them. Con- could not continue refuelling their Meanwhile, regular American drone trary to the prevailing view in Wash- planes. As the fifth anniversary of this strikes against AQAP angered many ington, Iran is unlikely to be their appalling war approaches, American- Yemenis. In their eyes, not only did main source of weaponry and support. made arms and logistical aid remain the attacks violate Yemen’s sover- Sheer distance and the Saudi coali- essential to it. Consider President eignty, they killed civilians. Hadi’s tion’s naval blockade have made it Trump’s much-ballyhooed arms praise for the drone campaign only next to impossible for Iran to supply sales to the Saudis, even if they don’t discredited him further. AQAP’s arms to the Houthis. The Houthis do total $110 billion.Why then would the power continued to grow, resentment not lack for weaponry having pillaged Saudi and Emirati monarchs worry in southern Yemen rose, and criminal various military bases during their that the White House might actually gangs and warlords began to operate march toward Aden. Iran’s influence do something like cutting off those with impunity in its cities, highlighting in Yemen has undoubtedly increased lucrative sales or terminating the back- the Hadi government’s ineffectuality. since 2015, but reducing the intricacies end support for their bombing cam- Neoliberal economic reforms further of that country’s internal crisis to Ira- paign? enriched a clutch of families that had nian meddling and a Tehran-led Shiite One thing is obvious: U.S. policy in long controlled much of Yemen’s bloc amounts to a massive oversimpli- Yemen won’t achieve its declared wealth, while the economic plight of fication. goals of defeating terrorism and rolling most Yemenis worsened. The unem- The obsession of Trump and his key back Iran. After all, its drone strikes ployment rate was nearly 14% on 2017 advisers with Iran and The Donald’s began there in 2002 under George W. (25% for young people), while the obsession with plugging American Bush. Under Obama, as in Pakistan poverty rate and inflation rose precipi- arms makers and hawking their and in Afghanistan, drones became tously. When Hadi proposed a plan to wares helps explain their embrace of Washington’s anti-terrorist weapon of create a federal system for Yemen, the the House of Saud and continuing choice. There were 154 drone strikes Houthis were infuriated. New bounda- support for its never-ending assault on in Yemen during the Obama years ries would, have cut their homeland Yemen. None of that, however, ex- according to the most reliable high- off from the Red Sea coast. So they plains the full-scale American backing end estimates, and civilian casualties gave up on his government and girded for the Saudi-led intervention there in ranged between 83 and 101. Under for battle. Soon, their forces were ad- the Obama years. Even as his admini- Trump they soared quickly, from 21 in vancing southward. In September stration denounced Bashar al-Assad’s 2016 to 131 in 2017. 2014, they captured the capital, Sana’a, slaughter of Syrian civilians, his offi- The reliance on drone attacks has bol- and proclaimed a new national gov- cials seemed unmoved by the suffering stered al-Qaeda’s narrative that the ernment. The following March, they war was inflicting on Yemenis The American war on terror amounts to a occupied Aden in southern Yemen Obama administration offered a $115 war on Muslims, whose lives are and Hadi, whose government had billion worth of weaponry to Riyadh, deemed expendable. And so many moved there, fled across the border to including a $1.15 billion package final- years later, in the chaos of Yemen, the Riyadh. The first Saudi air- ised in August 2016, when the scale of group’s power and reach is growing. strikes against Sana’a were launched in The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led interven-

Disarming Times Page 8 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia intervention is also likely to prove not either. Indeed, the Saudi coalition’s it is hard to find any justification, just self-defeating but self-prophetic. airstrikes and U.S. drone attacks may practical or moral. Unfortunately, it is It seems to be cementing an alliance be moving Yemenis, enraged by the even harder to imagine President between Iran and the Houthis who, destruction of their homes and liveli- Trump or the Pentagon reaching such still control a big chunk of Yemen. hoods and the deaths of loved a conclusion and changing course. Meanwhile, in a move that could ones, toward AQAP. In short, a war Rajan Menon, is the Anne and Bernard make the war even deadlier, the on terror has turned into a war of and Spitzer Professor of Emiratis appear to be striking out on for terror. at the Powell School, City College of New their own, supporting secession in In Yemen, the United States backs a York, and Senior Research Fellow at Co- southern Yemen. There’s not much grim military intervention for which -- lumbia University’s Saltzman Institute of to show on the anti-terrorism front unless you are a weapons company -- War and Peace Studies..

Venezuela:Venezuela: thethe USUS ————LedLed CoupCoup Kevin Leese and Margaret Flowers

8 Jan 2019 – Two things stand out May 20, 2018, in response to the op- Maduro won by a wide margin, ob- 2 about the US coup in Venezuela. position demanding an early election. taining 6,248,864 votes, 67.84%; fol- First, it is unusually open. Typically, The legitimacy of the election of lowed by Henri Falcón with the US tries to hide its coups. Maduro is so evident that it must be 1,927,958, 20.93%; Javier Bertucci Second, the coup is built on a series assumed those who say he is illegiti- with 1,015,895, 10.82%; and Reinaldo of obvious falsehoods, yet the bi- mate are either intentionally false or Quijada, who obtained 36,246 votes, partisans in Washington, with a few ignorant. The election was scheduled 0.39% of the total. exceptions, keep repeating them. consistent with the Venezuelan Con- This same voting system has been First, we will correct the falsehoods so stitution and in consultation with op- used in elections that Maduro’s party readers are all working from the same position parties. When it became evi- has lost in governor’s and legislative facts. Second, we will describe how dent that the opposition could not win elections. Venezuela is a real democ- this coup is being defeated. It will be the election, they decided, under pres- racy with transparent elections. The another major embarrassment for the sure from the United States, to boy- United States could learn a good deal Trump administration and US foreign cott the election in order to under- about real democracy from Venezuela. policy. mine its legitimacy The facts are: Truth: The economic crisis is It is important to understand: Vene- 9,389,056 people voted, 46% of eligi- caused by outside intervention, zuela has become a global political ble voters. Sixteen parties participated internal sabotage and the decline conflcit as Russia and China are in the election with six candidates in oil prices. closely allied with Venezuela. China competing for the presidency. There is no doubt the economic situa- and Russia coming into the backyard The electoral process was observed by tion in Venezuela is dire. The cause is of the United States challenges the more than 150 election observers. the economic war conducted by the antiquated Monroe Doctrine This included 14 electoral commis- United States, the major decline in oil Venezuela has the largest oil reserves sions from eight countries among prices and economic sabotage by the in the world and the second largest them the Council of Electoral Experts opposition. In essence, the United gold reserves, as well as diamonds and of Latin America; two technical elec- States and opposition created prob- other minerals such as coltan (needed toral missions; and 18 journalists from lems in the Venezuelan economy and for electronic devices). Venezuela is different parts of the world, among now say Maduro must be replaced taking over as president of OPEC and others. According to international because of problems they created. will be in a position to push for oil observers, “the elections were very Oil was discovered in Venezuela in payments in non-dollar currencies or transparent and complied with inter- the early part of the 20th Century and in crypto currencies, a major threat to national parameters and national legis- has dominated the economy since the US dollar. lation.” then. The Dutch Disease the negative Correcting the Record Venezuela has one of the best elec- impact of an economy based on one There are a series of false statements toral systems in the world. Voter fraud natural resource, causes a sharp inflow repeated by DC officials and corpo- is not possible as identification and of foreign currency, which raises the rate media to justify the coup that are fingerprints are required for each value of the country’s currency, mak- so obvious, it is hard to believe they voter. Voting machines are audited ing the country’s other products less are not intentional. In his two- before and immediately after the elec- price competitive. It is cheaper to im- paragraph comment on the coup, tion. Venezuela does something no port products rather than create them. even Senator Bernie Sanders repeated other country in the world does — a This makes it more difficult for seg- them public citizen’s auditof a random sam- ments of the economy like agriculture Truth: President Nicolás Maduro ple of 53% of voting machines that is and manufacturing to develop. is the legitimate president. televised. All 18 parties signed the Chavez/Maduro sought to diversify President Maduro was re-elected on audits. the economy. They put in place

Disarming Times Page 9 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia thousands of communes and hundreds Opposition protesters have been ex- ernment. Whenever possible, the vio- of thousands of people working in tremely violent. One tactic of the op- lence should result in deaths or inju- cooperatives to build agriculture and position was to be violent and then ries.” manufacturing. When the global price film the government’s response to The tales of government violence are of oil was cut by more than half, it make the government look violent. rooted in lies. The government’s re- collapsed Venezuela’s public finances When Abby Martin was confronted sponse was Maduro calling for a undermining these efforts. The eco- by opposition protesters, they told peace conference describing it as “a nomic war by the US made it difficult her, “Do not film anything that we national peace conference with all the for Venezuela to borrow and trade do. Just film what the government country’s political sectors … so we with some countries. does to us.” She reported on the vio- Venezuelans can try to neutralize vio- Economic sanctions against Vene- lence saying, “the vast majority has lent groups.” zuela began under President Obama, been caused by either indirect or di- Truth: The National Assembly and the Trump administration esca- rect violence by the opposition.” acted in violation of the law and is lated them with financial sanctions. Martin reports the opposi- in contempt of court. United States sanctions cost Vene- tion attacked hospitals, burned down The National Assembly is not the zuela some $6 billion since August the Housing Ministry, assassinated only democratic body in Venezuela. according to an October analy- Chavistas and attacked citizen com- Indeed, its actions since the opposi- sis. Measures against the nation’s oil munes such as an art commune that tion won a majority have violated the industry have prohibited the Vene- gave free dance and music lessons to law and protected the violence of the zuelan majority-owned company, local children. Afro-Venezuelans were opposition with an embarrassing am- CITGO, from sending profits back burned alive. Protesters pulled drivers nesty bill. to Venezuela, a $1 billion loss to the out of buses and torched the buses. On December 6, 2015, the opposition government yearly. Now, the Bank of When photos and videos of opposi- won a parliamentary majority in the is refusing to return 12 mil- tion violence were put on social me- Assembly. There were allegations of lion dollars in gold reserves after US dia, Martin and her colleague, Mike vote buying in Amazonas state that officials, including Secretary of State Prysner, became the target of a false were investigated by the National Michael Pompeo and National Secu- media campaign on social media. The Electoral Council, another branch of rity Adviser John Bolton, lobbied opposition did all they could to pre- the government. The Supreme Court them to cut Venezuela off from its vent them from reporting the truth barred four legislators from Ama- overseas assets. using hundreds of death threats and zonas taking office, two from the op- The US economic war and sabotage threats they would be lynched. position, one allied with the opposi- of the economy by business interests In 2017 Venezuela Analysis reported tion and one from the ruling party. ahs been exposed as part of the effort that violent opposition protests in- The National Assembly allowed three to remove Maduro. by creating social cluded an attack on a maternity hospi- candidates to take office. The Assem- unrest and lack of confidence in the tal endangering the lives of more than bly has been held in contempt of government. This has included 50 newborn babies. Another report court since July 2016 and their deci- hoarding of goods, storing essentials described the opposition using snip- sions were nullified. in warehouses and selling Venezuelan ers to shoot government officials and Before the court ruling, the Assembly goods in Colombia. civilians. Opposition newspapers passed an amazing amnesty law, In September 2018, Venezuela urged that blunt objects be used to which granted amnesty for crimes the pointed to a false media campaign “neutralize” pro-government protest- opposition has committed since 1999 exaggerating migration from Vene- ers, resulting in serious injuries and (Chavez’ election). The law is an ad- zuela. They highlighted statistics from death. mission of guilt and provides a well- the United Nations High Commission Steve Ellner also reported that vio- organized catalog of crimes including for refugees to affirm that Venezuela lence was coming form the opposi- felonies, crimes committed at public has the fewest volunteer migrants in tion. He pointed to attacks at grocery rallies, terrorist acts involving explo- the continent. They pointed out 5.6 stores, banks, buses, and government sives and firearms and undermining million Colombians have fled vio- buildings. Other commentators de- the economy. They essentially admit- lence in their country and live in scribed specific incidents of violence ted exactly what Chavez/Maduro Venezuela. Venezuela has programs by the opposition including killing have claimed — crimes to overthrow that have helped thousands of refu- people. Maduro ordered the arrest of the government for 17 years. Vene- gees to return home. a retired general who tweeted how to zuela's Supreme Court ruled the am- Socialism strengthens economies, as use wire to decapitate people on mo- nesty law was unconstitutional. Inac- demonstrated in Portugal. Indeed, torcycles, which happened, and how curately, the Trump administration one criticism of Venezuela is that the to attack armored vehicles with calls the Assembly Venezuela’s only Bolivarian Process is moving too Molotov cocktails. remaining democratic institution. slowly to put in place a socialist econ- Documents show that violence was This January, a subsidiary of the state omy. There is a need for more sectors the opposition’s strategy. They sought oil company asked the Assembly to to be nationalized and put under de- to “Create situations of crisis in the intervene claiming the president can- mocratic control of the people. streets that will facilitate US interven- not make reforms to mixed public- Truth: The opposition is violent, tion, as well as NATO forces, with private oil businesses without the not the Maduro government. the support of the Colombian gov- prior approval of the National As-

Disarming Times Page 10 www.paxchristi.org.au Pax Christi Australia sembly the Assembly to intervene role, AP reports that Foreign Minister On January 25, the Organisation of claiming the president cannot make Chrystia Freeland spoke to Guaidó American States which is tradionally a reforms to mixed public-private oil the night before Maduro’s inaugura- Us tool, rejected a resolution businesses without the prior approval tion offering Canada’s support. This to recognize Guaidó. Medea Bnjamin of the National Assembly. On January was 13 days before Guaidó an- of CODE PINK interrupted Mike 16, the court ruled that the Assembly nounced he was president of Vene- Pompeo holding a sign that said: “a was still in contempt of court and zuela. coup is not a democratic transition!” could not act. This is also when the On January 12, the State Department Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Assembly elected Juan Guaidó as backed Guaido’s move to invoke his Arreaza thanked Benjamin, saying, their president, who would later ap- authority as president of the assem- “With her protest, she revealed the point himself President of Venezuela, bly, saying, “It is time to begin the macabre coup plan against Venezuela, as part of the US-led coup. Guaidó’s orderly transition to a new govern- we will always prevail, thank election to head the legislature was ment.” On January 15, the National you!” Eighteen countries defeated the illegal and nullified by the court. Assembly declared Maduro as illegiti- proposal. The Assembly still exists but remains mate. The Trump administration At the UN Security Council Meet- in a state of contempt of the judiciary. worked to get allies lined up to sup- ing on January 26, Russia’s UN Am- It can rectify the situation by remov- port Guaidó’. By January 18, the bassador Vassily Nebenzia accused ing the lawmakers accused of electoral Venezuela Foreign Minister was de- the United States of attempting “to fraud. The Assembly refuses to do so scribing a US coup in porgress engineer a coup d’etat.” He de- because their goal is to remove The night before Guaidó’s announce- manded to know whether the Trump Maduro from office and they need a ment on January 23, Vice President administration “is ready to use mili- super-majority to do so. Mike Pence put out a video message, tary force” against Venezuela. Euro- A Timeline of the US Coup in encouraging Venezuelans to over- pean countries gave Venezuela eight Venezuela throw their government, saying, “We days to hold an election, a suggestion Since August 2017, Donald Trump are with you. We stand with you, and Venezuela rejected. Secretary of State has been saying that military interven- we will stay with you” Mike Pompeo called Venezuela an tion against Venezuela was a distinct Guaido also received a phone call “illegitimate mafia state.” He accused possibility. AP describes this as a from Pence the night before he ap- Russia and China of trying “to prop “watershed moment” in the coup pointed himself president where he up Maduro.” planning. They report Trump pressur- pledged that the US would back Both China and Russia have told the ing aides and Latin American coun- Guaido US not to intervene in Venezuela’s tries to invade Venezuela. In Septem- Guaidó declared that Maduro’s gov- internal affairs. In December, Russia ber, the New York Times reported ernment was illegitimate and he was sent two nuclear-capable strategic Tu- that the Trump Administration had assuming the presidency. In a well- 160 bombers to Venezuela along with meeting with plotters since mid-2017. coordinated charade, almost instantly, an An-124 heavy military transport The Wall Sreet Journal reports that Trump recognized Guaidó as the plane and an II-62 long-haul plane. Trump has long viewed Venezuela as country’s rightful leader. To further As of December, Russia has one bri- one of his top priorities Trump re- demonstrate the preconceived, tightly gade in Venezuela and was discussing quested a briefing on Venezuela on coordinated and efficiently carried out sending a second military brigade to his second day in office, talking of the the coup, US allies, among them Can- Venezuela even before the coup due immense potential of Venezuela to ada, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, to the continued threat of interven- become a rich nation through its oil Chile, and Peru, quickly recognized tion from the United States. reserves. After Maduro was re- the coup president. China has lent over $50 billion to elected, administration plans began The Trump administration is claiming Venezuela through oil-for-loan agree- taking shape, driven in part by key that Guaidó represents the lawful ments over the past decade and has members in the National Security government and is entitled to all become a partner in the Venezuelan Council and anti-Maduro advocates in Venezuelan revenues. The State De- oil industry. In December, seven Congress like extreme interventionist partment notified the Federal Reserve months since signing a financial busi- Senator Marco Rubio. that Guaidó is the agent for access to ness venture with China, Venezuela’s On November 1, John Bolton zeroed Venezuelan assets in US banks. oil production has doubled to in on Latin America, calling Cuba, Nearly as quickly, Maduro drew state- 130,000 barrels per day. The take- Nicaragua, and Venezuela a “troika of ments of support from Russia, over of Venezuela’s oil would also be tyranny. On January 2, Bolton met China, Turkey, Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia, an attack on China. China and Vene- with his Brazilian and Colombian and others. The the Venezualan Su- zuela signed 28 bilateral strategic co- counterparts to collaborate to preme Court called for an investiga- operation agreements on September “return Venezuela to its democratic tion into the National Assembly 14 in the areas of oil, mining, security, heritage.” and Guaidó, regarding the illegal usur- technology, finance, and health. On January 10, Maduro was sworn in pation of Executive power. The Demonstrating the nature of the coup for his second term, Pompeo spoke Venezuelan military announced it president, the first acts that Guaidó with opposition leader Guaidó, pledg- supported Maduro and Russia warned took were to seek a loan from the ing support. Canada also played a key the US not to intervene militarily. Continued on page 6

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