Since George W. Bush took office in January 2001, efforts to oust Hugo Chavez failed three times:

-- in April 2002 for two days, aborted by mass street protests and support from Venezuela's military, notably its middle-ranked officer corps;
-- the 2002-2003 general strike and oil management lockout, causing severe economic disruptions; and
-- the failed August 2004 national recall referendum, Chavez prevailing with a 59% majority.
Nonetheless, disruptive activities continue, including malicious propaganda, CIA subversion, funding opposition forces, sanctions, and militarizing the region, notably in Colombia as well as gunboat diplomacy by reactivating the Latin American/Caribbean Fourth Fleet for the first time since 1950 despite no regional threat.
Ignoring America's appalling human rights record, on April 11, the State Department issued its 2010 Human Rights Report: Venezuela, claiming Chavez government responsibility for largely uncorroborated, exaggerated or falsified abuses.
Then on May 24, the State Department imposed sanctions for the first time against Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state owned oil company for “delivering at least two cargos of reformate (a hydrocarbon product for gasoline) to Iran between December 2010 and March 2011, worth approximately $50 million.”
They “prohibit the company from competing for U.S. government procurement contracts, from securing financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and from obtaining U.S. export licenses.”
They don't apply to PDVSA subsidiaries (including U.S.-based CITGO) or prohibit crude oil exports to America. In 2010, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, Venezuela was America's fifth largest supplier after Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. In fact, Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, including its heavy and extra-heavy oil.
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg called sanctioning PDVSA a “clear message” to companies violating America's 1996 Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), renamed the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) in 2006, now the 2010 Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (CISADA), warning they'll “face serious consequences.”
Along with extremist Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R. FL) and Jeb Bush (former FL governor and Bush family member), Mack got President GHW Bush (in 1990) to pardon Orlando Bosch's criminal downing of Cubana flight 455 with Luis Posada Carriles, killing all 78 passengers on board.
As part of their hard-line agenda, Ros-Lehtinen and Mack now wage war on Chavez, failing in 2008 to designate Venezuela “a state sponsor of terrorism” through HR 1049.
Mack also called Ecuador's Raphael Correa “a pawn for his fellow friend and thugocrat, Hugo Chavez.”
Allied with bipartisan extremists in Congress, today's Republican controlled House is infested with others like him.
So is the Obama administration, including former National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair, naming Chavez in his Annual 2010 Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, calling him a “leading anti-U.S. regional force” by:
-- “imposing an authoritarian populist political model that undermines democratic institutions (a convoluted oxymoron);” and
-- allying with “radical leaders in Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and until recently, Honduras,” adding that he opposes “nearly every U.S. policy initiative in the region.” For sure, all imperial ones.
Responses to Venezuelan Sanctions
Venezuela rejected them, saying:
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela....expresses its strongest rejection to this decision (it calls a) hostile action on the fringes of international law that violates (UN Charter) principles...”
Calling Washington's action “imperialist aggression,” it “calls on all the Venezuela people, laborers and especially the oil workers, to stay alert and mobilized in defense of our PDVSA and the sacred sovereignty of the homeland.”
An official statement said a “general assessment of the situation (will) determine how these sanctions affect the operational capacity of our oil industry, and therefore, the supply of 1.2 million barrels of oil per day to the U.S.”
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said:
“We are not afraid of these sanctions, nor are we going to debate the reasons that the North American government may have, but Venezuela is sovereign in making its decisions.”
Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez added:
“The imperialist powers are hoping to dictate the rules to us. They will have to go without, because we are going to keep advancing towards creating unity between oil-producing countries.”
Responding, Chavez twitted:
“Sanctions against the homeland of Bolivar? Imposed by the U.S. imperialist government. Bring it on, Mr. Obama. Do not forget that we are the children of Bolivar,” telling over 1.5 million followers that “the true impact of this latest U.S. aggression is the strengthening of our nationalistic and patriotic morale in Venezuela!”
In other tweets he added:
“We don't just have the largest oil reserves in the world. We also have the most revolutionary oil company in the world.”
“So, they wanted to see and feel the flame of the people of Bolivar defending the independence of the Venezuelan homeland? Well, there you have it!”
Majority members in Venezuela's National Assembly also rejected U.S. sanctions, warning Washington to halt hostile actions or face possible oil shipment recriminations.
On May 25, PDVSA workers rallied across Venezuela against U.S. sanctions, supporting their government, president and company. Women's groups, peasant organizations, communal councils, and alternative media also organized a Caracas march.
The Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) also condemned U.S. sanctions, its member countries “expressing our indignation and rejection in the strongest terms… in the framework of its unilateral policy of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“Faced with this hostile measure, (ALBA members) express our absolute backing to (Venezuela), which, guided by a solid conviction of solidarity, has promoted mechanisms of energy cooperation aimed at strengthening the unity between our peoples.”
ALBA nations include Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Venezuela. Before Washington's June 2009 coup ousted President Manuel Zelaya, Honduras was also an ALBA member.
Friends of Venezuela issued a “Declaration of Rejection to U.S. Sanctions,” responding to Washington's unilateral action, asking U.S. individuals and organizations to oppose it.
Denouncing “a grave and dangerous move by Washington to justify further aggression against the Venezuelan people,” they “unequivocally reject this latest attempt… to demonize (Venezuela) and undermine the vibrant democracy of the Venezuelan people.”
Using its oil wealth responsibly, over 60% of it goes for healthcare, education, job training, subsidized food and housing, community media, reducing poverty, and supporting thousands of communal councils engaged in grassroots participatory democracy.
“We find it outrageous that (Washington) demonize(s) the one (country that's put) people before profits. And we call on our representatives… to suspend these sanctions… immediately.”
They'll remain, and so will determined millions against them, weakening Washington's corrosive influence everywhere.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net; also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com