Mike over at the Whip Line, his new political blog that replaces Vox Political, has posted about the hypocrisy of Starmer over the American kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro. Maduro is a genuinely nasty piece of work, and very few Venezuelans are sorry to see him go. But the kidnapping is a violation of international law. Hence the protests from the left. Except Starmer. This is despite Starmer having stood up and said he will defend international law. So that’s another broken pledge to go along with all the others.
But if Starmer was merely silent, anti-Muslim activist, thug and fraudster Tommy Robinson was actively calling on X yesterday for Trump to abduct Starmer because he was letting the Muslims and all the other immigrants in. Of course, if Trump did, it would be a violation of our sovereignty and make Tommy Robinson a collaborator. So, not very patriotic of the man whose the figurehead, or one of them, of the patriotic movement.
Trump is also demanding Greenland, because he claims that it’s vital for American national security. Strange that he’s saying this now, when no-one said anything about it during the Cold War. His spokesman, Stephen Miller, gave a television interview about it, and the dulcet toned Irish YouTuber Maximilien Robespierre has put up a video commenting on it.
Miller repeats the claim that it’s vital for American national security, and then claims that its annexation by Trump would benefit the rest of NATO, because they’d get increased American protection. He questioned the Danes’ right to the country, and said that there wouldn’t be any resistance to America marching in and taking it.
Robespierre points out that this completely ignores the wishes of the Greenlanders and the Danes. 87 per cent of whom don’t want to be part of America. Why would they, when they have all the benefits of a modern European country like state healthcare? Now I thought a country’s desire for self-government against foreign invasion was enshrined in international law, though I may be wrong. It’s certainly been a reason for nations calling on others to help them resist a foreign aggressor. As for the Danes’ right to the country, it was colonised by the Vikings in the early middle ages, but the colony was wiped out in the 14th century in the little ice age that created a harsher climate and famines across northern Europe. The Danes then re-colonised the country in the 19th century. Its population is a mixture of Danes and indigenous Inuit. It’s never been part of America, which has zero claim on it.
As for Greenland not resisting a military invasion because it’s so small, don’t be so sure. Sometimes tiny countries with much smaller populations have put up determined resistance to foreign invasion and occupation lasting decades. Libya is a case in point. It’s another nation with a small population, but it resisted the Italian invasion and occupation for about two decades, during which it lost a third of its population to Fascist butchery. I doubt that would happen in Greenland, but Trump might find any invasion much more difficult than he realises.
According to a Double Dose of Democracy, the Danish president has stated that if Trump does invade Greenland, he will invoke article 5 of the treaty. This will call on all the other members of NATO to join them in resisting Trump. It would, of course, be up to them how they respond, but it would destroy NATO.
This puts Britain and Starmer in an awkward position. Brexit means that we would have difficulty allying ourselves with the EU, because we are dependent on Trump’s goodwill and our connections with America. Furthermore, British politicians of both parties are fully behind the Atlantic alliance and supporting America thanks to the efforts of BAP, the British-American Project for the Successor Generation. This was an organisation launched by Reagan all that time ago to train the promising politicians of the future into backing America. It provided trips to America with talks and seminars. You won’t be surprised to know that one of the beneficiaries was Tony Blair. For more information on BAP, go to the website of the conspiracy magazine Lobster and look them up.
This is why I believe that if Trump invades Greenland, Starmer and Britain will remain silent. And I don’t doubt that the right-wing press like the Times and the Torygraph will lie and actively promote it.
Here-s the video by Robespierre laying into Miller.
‘Danish prime minister issues fiery statement after Trump threatens to takeGreenland Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen wasted no time issuing a pointed warning to Donald Trump about his renewed threats to simply take Greenland, following the Trump regime’s operation in Venezuela over the weekend. “I have to say this very directly to the United States: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” Frederiksen wrote in a statement on a Danish government website on Sunday. “The United States has no right to annex any of the three countries in the Commonwealth.” Speaking to reporters on Air Force One following the Venezuelan raid, Trump doubled down on his intent to continue his imperial conquests and took obnoxious pot shots at Denmark, barking, “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it, that I can tell you. To boost up security in Greenland. They added one more dog sled.” Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen have repeatedly denounced the prospect of a US takeover of the island, and a January 2025 poll similarly found that 85% of Greenland’s residents opposed it.’
Despite the celebrations by ordinary Venezuelans of Trump’s removal of Maduro, the deputy-president is showing dangerous signs of insubordination and independence to the new Trumpist order. The Orange Generalissimo told the public that the deputy prime minister and the Venezuelan regime would do anything America tells them, adding that they don’t have a choice.
Er, not quite. The deputy President, Delcy Rodgriguez, has stated that Venezuela is not going to be anyone’s colony.
I wonder if any further adventures Trump launches in Latin America will lead to a revival in Arielismo. This was a Latin American anti-American ideology that emerged first in Argentina in the later 19th century. The cause was the Spanish-American War, in which America tried to liberate, or nick, Cuba from the Spanish. This resulted in a complete reversal of attitudes to America amongst Argentinian intellectuals. Previously they had strongly supported America. The war led them instead to reject this, viewing America instead as an oppressive imperialist power. The movement took its name from Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. They identified with Caliban, the bestial servant of the play, whom they saw as an indigenous person suffering imperial oppression, just as they felt they were under American hegemony.
‘Bellicose Trump threatens MULTIPLE countries after Maduro’s capture Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Mexico, and — why not — Iran: take heed! America’s wannabe dictator is obviously feeling frisky following this past weekend’s audacious abduction of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and appears hellbent on continuing his imperial march across the planet, no matter the cost. Less than 48 hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump openly admitted that US military action against Colombia “[sounded] good to [him],” ominously warned Cuba was “ready to fall,” and repeated his desire to simply take Greenland for national security purposes. The MAGA cult leader told reporters, “The European Union needs us to have it, and they know that,” which, for the record, is very much not the case. Donald wasn’t finished barking, not by a long shot. He repeated his earlier threats to take military action against Iran if the government crackdown on demonstrators protesting the state of the economy turned violent — which, by all accounts, has already occurred. And finally, Donald issued a fresh warning to Mexico over drug trafficking, saying the country “has to get their act together” or else. Whew! It’s almost as if there’s a festering scandal dogging the embattled president on the domestic front and his regime is desperately looking for cover wherever it can find it. Almost. Oh, hey. Speaking of…’
This shows just how Trump is megalomaniac narcissist riddle with petty jealousy and spite. He didn’t appoint Venezuela’s opposition leader president after his kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro because she had committed the heinous crime of receiving a Nobel prize instead of him. The internet newsletter’s article runs
‘Trump sidelined Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for “ultimate sin” of accepting Nobel Peace Prize Nothing could be more on-brand and quintessentially Trumpian than the report coming from The Washington Post about how Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was apparently iced out of Trump’s post-abduction governing plans for the nation of 30 million because she committed the unforgivable sin of accepting the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize instead of demanding it be given to him. During a press conference following the mission, Donald threw Machado under the bus, stating, “It’d be very tough for her to be the leader” because “she doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.” The comments reportedly stunned members of Venezuela’s opposition, who had expected Washington to rally behind Machado, according to The Post. For anyone to be stunned by Donald Trump’s spiteful, self-serving behavior at this point is newsworthy in and of itself, for the president’s petulance is truly unmatched. And while this side plot ultimately isn’t even close to the most consequential revelation of the weekend, it should serve as stark reminder to anyone on the world stage willing to play ball with Donald; he will never not put his own ego and self-interest first.’
‘Starmer Won’t Oppose War on Venezuela – But we must!
Against Trump’s war and coup – and Starmer’s disgraceful refusal to condemn it – we urge friends & comrades to join the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign here today & back these anti-war activities:
SUNDAY JANUARY 4 – Emergency online rally, 6pm.
MONDAY JANUARY 5 – Protests against war on Venezuela.
MONDAY JANUARY 19 – International Forum online, 6.30pm
1) ONLINE RALLY: No War on Venezuela
Online, Monday January 4, 18.00. Join on Zoom here.
Tariq Ali // Jeremy Corbyn MP // Richard Burgon MP // Lindsey German (STW) // Sophie Bolt (CND) & more.
Join an international forum one year into Trump’s 2nd Presidency against US war, intervention, xenophobia & military bases in Latin America. More speakers, supporting organisations & media partners tba.
Called by the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign with Stop the War & CND + streamed by Arise. Free event but solidarity donations here essential to hosting costs & campaign actions.
2) PROTESTS: Take to the streets against Trump’s War!
Including at Downing St, Monday January 5, 18.00. More info here.
Hit the streets to demand the British government condemn he US attack on Venezuela, including in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester & Newcastle,
Check out info on all the protests & pickets as they are called here.
3) INTERNATIONAL FORUM: Trump’s War on Venezuela – US Hands off Latin America!
Online, Monday January 19, 18.30. Register here // RT here // FB share here.
Tariq Ali // Vijay Prashad // Carlos Ron (former Venezuelan Minister) // Walter Baier (European Left Party) // Jeremy Corbyn MP // Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla (Progressive International // Alex Main (CEPR, US) // Kate Hudson (CND) // María Perez Ramos (Mexico Solidarity) // Steve Howell (author, Cold War Puerto Rico) // Matt Willgress (Arise) // Louise Regan (NEU) // Myriam Kane (Black Liberation Alliance) // Sarah Woolley (BFAWU) // Francisco Dominguez (VSC) & more global voices tba.
Join an international forum one year into Trump’s 2nd Presidency against US war, intervention, xenophobia & military bases in Latin America. More speakers, supporting organisations & media partners tba.
Called by the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign & streamed by Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas. Free event but solidarity donations here essential to hosting costs & campaign actions‘
This little piece came courtesy of the Daily Dose of Democracy, a Democrat newsletter tearing into Trump and the Republicans and all their sordid works. Trump’s invasion of Venezuela has been condemned by the left and various countries around the world as a violation of international law. Critics of the invasion state that it gives a precedent for Putin and China to invade whomever carve up the world however they like. This point is well made in a video put up by mellifluous Irish left-wing YouTuber Maximilian Robespierre in a video in which he tears apart the bonkers and ignorant opinions of Reform’s Richard Tice on the invasion. As I write, another video’s gone up stating that the Greenlanders are worried in case Trump invades them. And this article below states clearly that the invasion is probably motivated by greed for the country’s oil, and that Trump will most likely install another right-wing dictator.
So American politics as usual in Latin America.
‘Trump has started carving up the world. Now it’s Putin and Xi’s turn Brynn Tannehill, The New Republic: “The U.S. invasion of Venezuela late last Friday shocked the world for many reasons. It represents another fundamental departure from the post-WWII order supported by the United States for the last 50 years. It was also an unprovoked, naked act of aggression based on the flimsiest of pretexts. Congress was not consulted, and the executive branch has far exceeded the 60 days allowed by the 1973 War Powers Act to get congressional approval for ongoing military action. Far worse than these shattered norms are the horrifying possibilities this action raises. President Donald Trump and the GOP have laid bare their desires for hegemony, colonialism, and empire, and the dangerous global consequences of America pursuing these cannot be understated. Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was an unpopular kleptocratic dictator, and this article should not be in any way interpreted as a defense of him; but it is a warning of what this invasion means, and what is to come. Perhaps the most blatant of all the recent acts is Trump’s own declaration that the U.S. will ‘take control’ of Venezuela ‘for a while’ to seize and exploit the oil resources of the country. He will undoubtedly place a right-wing dictator beholden to him in charge of the country, opening the door to yet another avenue for foreign money flowing to him. Similarly, oil companies will compete with one another for access to the seized assets, meaning more money being laundered to Trump, his family, and other supporters in this spoils-of-war system. This act has also sent a chilling message to the world that the United States is beginning the process of carving up the world into spheres of influence run by dictatorships (namely the U.S., Russia, and China). Russia was Venezuela’s benefactor and ally but has been strangely quiet. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Fiona Hill testified to Congress in 2019 that Russia was ‘signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap agreement between Venezuela and Ukraine.’ In other words, the U.S. could have Venezuela if we let Russia have Ukraine. This strongly suggests that the price for letting the U.S. go after Venezuela without any protest was, and will be, Ukraine. It also suggests that Tawain may already be on the table as a bargaining chip with China, in order to secure its acquiescence to further U.S. regional hegemony in the Americas. Trump has signaled that the global order of the past 80 years means nothing, and the U.S. is back in the business of colonial empire-building as if it was a pre-World War One great power. Canada and Greenland should be extremely alarmed by this. Both of these countries have been put on notice since the beginning of the second Trump administration that he intends to annex them, and this overt, over-the-top act of war against Venezuela confirms that there’s nothing stopping him from finding some pretextual casus belli to justify a U.S. annexation of Greenland. Denmark, Canada, and Greenland are all NATO members, and it appears the U.S. is barreling toward a confrontation with that organization. Leaders of democracies around the world need to understand this for what it likely is: the opening salvos of a broader campaign of modern Lebensraum and Anschluss. History teaches that the best time to say no in concrete terms is early, and not after despotic nations are deciding who gets to keep which parts of countries they invaded.”‘
And here’s the video from Maximilien Robespierre, taking apart, among other things, Tice’s weird view that Putin is a Communist. He isn’t. He’s a Russian nationalist, but obviously as regards Tice and Reform, the Fall of Communism and its banning in Russia just never happened.
Okay, the big story on the news this morning has been that Trump has sent US forces into Venezuela, bombed some of their military bases and kidnapped Maduro the country'[s president. The right-wing media and YouTubers have been celebrating this as Trump liberating the country’s oppressed people from an oppressive socialist tyrant.
In fact the America right has been metaphorically gunning for Maduro and demanding regime change for a long time now, presenting him and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, very much as hard left tyrants and anti-Semites. This hasn’t been difficult with Chavez as I think he clearly showed a hatred of Jews in his published writings. The right-wing coverage of Maduro’s regime clearly presented it as a dictatorship, responsible for thousands of refugees fleeing the country to come to America.
I honestly don’t know what to make of it. The left and the international community are horrified by Trump’s breach of international law. The Stop the War Coalition has sent a message to their members and supporters loudly denouncing the invasion. Trump has gone on TV and the media to state that America will take over the running of the country to make it more profitable and its people better off.
This has set my alarm bells ringing. This is what was being said about the Iraq invasion and the ouster of Saddam Hussein. That wasn’t about liberating the Iraqis from a dictator, but really about nicking their oil and looting their viable and profitable state run enterprises for American big business.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Venezuela is an oil-producing country.
So while I’m sure many Venezuelans are celebrating Maduro’s downfall and Trump’s invasion, I think it’s still going to be a case of Iraq Invasion 2.0.
This is another belated piece of seasonal best wishes. I realise that New Year is a few days ago now, and soon the holiday season will end, the Christmas decorations are being taken down already and the kids will head back to school. But I just wanted to wish everyone reading my blog a very Happy New Year. May it bring you peace and prosperity.
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