<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr" lang="en">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15568">venezuelanalysis.com</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Venezuela Condemns Washington Coup Plots As Bolton Doubles Down</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By José Luis Granados Ceja - July 18, 2022<br></div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>Mexico City, Mexico, July 18, 2022 (<a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/">venezuelanalysis.com</a>)
– The Venezuelan National Assembly unanimously condemned recent
comments by former US National Security Advisor John Bolton where he
boasted about his involvement in coup plots against the government of
Nicolás Maduro.</p>
<p>In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Bolton claimed he “helped plan coups d’etat” and when pressed for an example, <a href="https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews/status/1546980791246282753?s=20&t=26ReU2DHiVW_P_y_sEjNdQ">pointed</a> to his chapter on Venezuela in his book <em>The Room Where It Happened</em>.</p>
<p>Bolton, who served as the top national security official under Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019, <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14922">detailed</a> in the book his efforts to oust Maduro in concert with the US-backed Venezuelan opposition.</p>
<p>"Coups d'état, plans, financing, support and advice to overthrow
governments, the assassinations of presidents and invasion of countries
and the waging of legal wars [all] have the seal of support and
financing of the Government of the United States," <a href="https://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/noticias/an-repudia-declaraciones-belicistas-de-john-bolton-y-de-carrie-filipetti">said</a> Venezuelan lawmaker Pedro Infante, who introduced the motion on Thursday.</p>
<p>The statement also condemned recent comments made by Carrie
Filipetti, who served as deputy assistant secretary for Cuba and
Venezuela at the US Department of State during the Trump administration.
In an <a href="https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-62004004">interview</a>
with the BBC, Filipetti confessed that the Trump administration had
misread the situation in Venezuela, underestimating support for Maduro,
but nonetheless reiterated her support for the White House’s “maximum
pressure” policy.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews/status/1548712784191541249?s=20&t=EzmMtMk7mRi_n9vNMjcLbA">interview</a>
Friday with Newsmax, Bolton doubled down on his comments about
Venezuela, saying that Washington’s support for coup plots were
“necessary to protect [US] interests.”</p>
<p>During Bolton’s tenure as Trump’s National Security Advisor, in addition to the imposition of <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15339">punishing</a> economic sanctions and an oil <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15301">embargo</a>,
the US government embraced Juan Guaidó as the so-called “interim
president” of Venezuela and mobilized diplomatic support for the
opposition’s coup effort, securing the support of numerous countries for
Guaidó’s claim.</p>
<p>US politicians on both sides of the aisle have maintained that their
bipartisan backing of the so-called “interim presidency” stems from
their support for democracy. However, Bolton’s comments classifying US
support for Venezuela’s hardline opposition as a “coup” belies that
justification.</p>
<p>Although the Venezuelan opposition’s long standing cooperation with
US officials is well established, Bolton’s chapter on his efforts to
trigger regime change in Venezuela served to detail the thinking behind
the coup plots. The former Trump advisor writes of his enthusiasm for
the so-called “humanitarian aid” <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14355">spectacle</a>
organized on the Colombo-Venezuelan border on February 23, 2019. The
delivery of so-called aid was widely billed as an effort to bring relief
to the Venezuelan people. However, in his book, Bolton revealed that
the scheme was indeed an effort to try to embarrass Maduro, as
Venezuelan government officials had denounced.</p>
<p>Bolton furthermore appeared to <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1278921371599474689">confuse</a> the events of that day with a previous plot. Maduro <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14185">accused</a>
Bolton of being behind the attempt on his life in August 2018 where two
explosive-laden drones exploded close to the presidential stage during a
public speech. In an <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1278922768361443339?s=20&t=26ReU2DHiVW_P_y_sEjNdQ">interview</a> with Max Blumenthal, the Venezuelan president said he had proof of the hawkish official’s involvement.</p>
<p>Bolton’s boast that he helped plan coups appears to also be a reference to the April 30, 2019 coup <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14459">attempt</a>
by Guaidó, wherein he and other prominent hardline opposition figures
called for the Venezuelan military to rebel against the president. The
coup attempt faltered in less than a day after only a small handful of
soldiers and officials broke with the Constitution and the chain of
command.</p>
<p>Bolton’s departure from the White House in late 2019 did not spell
the end of Washington’s efforts to overthrow the Venezuelan government.
Former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15530">revealed</a>
in his memoir that the Trump administration openly considered a
military invasion of Venezuela, going so far as to discuss the plot with
opposition figures.</p>
<p>Esper wrote that based on Guaidó’s responses in a February 5, 2020
visit to the White House, he concluded that the opposition was willing
to embrace US support for an invasion of Venezuela from Colombia using
US-trained mercenaries, but that the opposition leader was more
interested in having US troops directly invade instead.</p>
<p>Months after the meeting at the White House with Guaidó, Venezuela <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15363">foiled</a>
“Operation Gideon,” an effort by a 60-man paramilitary force organized
by US special operations veteran Jordan Goudreau and retired Venezuelan
Major General Cliver Alcalá to infiltrate the country with the aim of
assassinating Maduro.</p>
<p>Despite two high-level <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15555">delegations</a>
to Caracas this year, US President Joe Biden has largely maintained
Trump’s strategy toward Venezuela, continuing to recognize Guaidó as
“interim president” and only offering piecemeal sanctions <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15543">relief</a>.</p>
<p><em>Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.</em></p>
<table><tbody><tr><td>
<br></td>
</tr><tr><td>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table></div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>