US threatening to unleash the dogs of war in Venezuela: Scholar

The United States is threatening to unleash the dogs of war in Venezuela using the old imperialistic charade of defending human rights, says Dennis Etler, an American political analyst who has a decades-long interest in international affairs.

The US on Monday imposed sanctions on four state governors in Venezuela as Washington tries to increase pressure on President Nicholas Maduro for blocking aid convoys.

The US Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions on Omar Jose Prieto, governor of the northwestern state of Zulia that borders Colombia; Ramon Alonso Carrizalez, governor of the state of Apure and a former defense minister; Jorge Luis Garcia, governor of Vargas state and former head of the army; and Rafael Alejandro Lacava, governor of Carabobo state and ally of Maduro.

The additional sanctions coincide with US Vice President Mike Pence attending a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Bogota, Columbia.

Pence said at the meeting that Washington was preparing an additional $56 million in so-called humanitarian aid for Venezuela. He also called on Latin American allies to increase pressure on Maduro’s government.

Depredations of US imperialism

“The US has been ramping up its efforts to destabilize Venezuela and promote regime change for quite some time. It has been following its time tested strategy of imposing sanctions to wreck the economy and supporting opposition elements which are funded and supported by the US. This process has been applied time and time again ever since the end of WW2 and has proven quite successful, at least in the short-term,” Professor Etler told Press TV on Tuesday.

“Countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and many others throughout the world have been subject to the depredations of US imperialism. The blow back from such operations has however often led to military quagmires from which the US has found it difficult to extricate,” he added.

“The US is once again threatening to unleash the dogs of war in Venezuela using its same old bag of dirty tricks gussied up as defending human rights in the name of humanitarian intervention. Once again it has enlisted its vassals and protectorates to line up in support of its policies of aggression and intimidation of sovereign nations that do not succumb to its imperial rule,” said Etler, a former professor of Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California.

“But it need not have been that way. After WW2 there was the opportunity for the US to pursue a more equitable foreign policy. Former FDR VP Henry Wallace, who ran for President in 1948 against Harry Truman on the Progressive Party ticket, advocated ‘economic assistance without political conditions to further the independent economic development of the Latin American and Caribbean countries,’ ‘the principle of self-determination for the peoples of Africa, Asia, the West Indies, and other colonial areas,’ and ‘the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations and acceptance of the right of peoples to choose their own form of government and economic system,’” the analyst said.  

“Unfortunately, these principles were repudiated by the Truman doctrine which launched the Cold War. The policies of US interventionism and global hegemony have held sway ever since,” he noted.

“Ironically, the principles of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations, the promotion of mutually beneficial economic relations and the self-determination of sovereign nations to choose their own form of government and economic system are those enunciated and practiced today by the People’s Republic of China and other nations that oppose US imperialism,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the US, controlled by the forces of the military-industrial complex, financial capital and Zionism have eschewed this progressive legacy and opted instead to follow neo-conservative policies of pre-emptive military aggression and  neo-liberal policies of ‘human rights’ and ‘humanitarian intervention,’” he stated.

'US advocacy of human rights a total charade'

“US advocacy of ‘human rights’ and ‘humanitarian intervention’ is however a total charade and travesty. It merely promotes the political rights of US Quislings in countries the US hopes to destabilize and control. True human rights of peace, security, health care, education and economic development are given short shrift, if considered at all. US promotion of human rights is meant to destabilize countries it has targeted for regime change and humanitarian intervention has led to the creation of failed states and millions of displaced people and refugees,” he said.

“It's time for the world’s people to stand up and demand that the US stop its imperialist policies of regime change, military interventionism and economic warfare,” he concluded.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk