Crime
Opinion: President Trump’s Insatiable Appetite for Regime Change Is More Than a Crime
Push is coming to shove in Venezuela.
President Donald Trump has decided that the government of President Nicolás Maduro must go.
They have recognized an obscure right-wing Venezuelan politician — Juan Guaido — as head of state. They’ve tightened sanctions again and again, adding directly to the dire suffering of the Venezuelan people.
They’ve encouraged the military to revolt. And when the failure of Guaido’s latest coup attempt embarrassed them last week, they’ve threatened direct military intervention.
“All options are on the table,” Trump repeats.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Trump has a “full range of options” when it comes to next moves against the Venezuelan government, claiming that Trump doesn’t need congressional authorization to act.
John Bolton announced that the “Monroe Doctrine is alive and well. It’s our hemisphere.” He noted that he wasn’t prepared to apply Teddy Roosevelt’s corollary that asserted the U.S. power to intervene unilaterally anywhere in the hemisphere “yet.”
In fact, military intervention in Venezuela would be blatantly illegal under both international law and the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution gives Congress the right to declare war, something that the right-wing justices who claim to be guided by the text somehow ignore.
The entire system of international law constructed in the wake of World War II by the United States is based upon non-intervention and state sovereignty. Even the so-called right to protect — the right to intervene to avoid a human rights catastrophe — requires approval by the Security Council. Unilateral action violates the law.
The Trump administration’s insatiable appetite for regime change is more than a crime, it is a blunder.
For decades, the U.S. claimed to be the “indispensable nation” because we would enforce a “rules-based” world order fairly. Now Trump and his band of armchair warriors are turning the U.S into a lawless rogue nation, following in the errant footsteps of their predecessors.
Recent forays into regime change — in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Honduras, Syria — have all ended in disaster, ruinous not only for the people of the country but also for U.S. lives and treasure as well.
Venezuela poses no threat to the U.S. It is a bitterly divided country, politically, racially and economically. The U.S. was party to a failed coup attempt against Hugo Chavez in 2002.
Maduro’s misrule, the falling price of oil, U.S. sanctions have all combined to crater the Venezuelan economy, spreading misery with millions deciding to leave. Bolton recklessly boasts about U.S. plans to help rebuild the economy once Maduro is gone — “planning for what we call the day after.”
No doubt, Trump will want the U.S. or U.S. companies to “take the oil,” as he claims we should have done in Iraq. This folly is likely to put us in the middle of a civil war that will only add to the humanitarian disaster in Venezuela.
Surely, we should have learned from Libya that a bad state is not nearly as bad as a failed state.
Instead of Teddy Roosevelt and the days of gunboat diplomacy, the U.S. should be following the prudent advice of Franklin Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy.
FDR outlined principles for good hemispheric relations, including respect for the integrity of other states; self-restraint and acceptance of the equal rights of neighbors, non- intervention in the domestic affairs of neighbors, and settlement of disputes by negotiation, not force.
Venezuela is a sovereign nation and a neighbor. Maduro is supported by Russia, China and Cuba.
So what?
We don’t believe that Russia has the right to overthrow the governments of Ukraine or Georgia simply because we support their governments. We should be acting to alleviate the humanitarian crisis afflicting the Venezuelan people, not add to it. No matter how hateful we think Maduro is, it is up to the Venezuelan people to decide who will govern them.
The last thing we should do is attempt to dictate — particularly through threat or use of force — who will rule a land of nearly 30 million people.
Now is the time for Congress to act, to pass a resolution to prevent U.S. military action in Venezuela.
If Trump and his bellicose henchmen have their way, we will surely regret it.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Alameda County
DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland
Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.
Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.
California Black Media
Anti-Theft Bill with Jail-Time Requirement Gets Wide Ranging Support
Fed up with the alarming frequency of retail theft across California, including smash and grabs, a diverse group of business leaders, law enforcement officials, policymakers and public safety advocates joined their efforts in Sacramento on Jan. 24. Their purpose: to increase public support for Assembly Bill (AB) 1772, a bill that would make jail time mandatory for repeat theft offenders.
By California Black Media
Fed up with the alarming frequency of retail theft across California, including smash and grabs, a diverse group of business leaders, law enforcement officials, policymakers and public safety advocates joined their efforts in Sacramento on Jan. 24.
Their purpose: to increase public support for Assembly Bill (AB) 1772, a bill that would make jail time mandatory for repeat theft offenders.
Co-authored by Assemblymembers James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino), Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) and Devon Mathis (R-Tulare), AB 1772 would require jail time “of one to three years for theft crimes depending upon the circumstances.
“Offenses would include grand theft, theft from an elder or dependent adult, theft or unauthorized use of a vehicle, burglary, carjacking, robbery, receiving stolen property, shoplifting or mail theft,” the bill language reads.
Ramos said the need to act is urgent.
“It’s time for us to reverse the spikes in theft crimes since the pandemic. Our law enforcement members and district attorneys need additional tools such as AB 1772. We must reverse the trend before the problem grows worse. Last year I requested a state audit of the impact of Prop 47 on Riverside and San Bernardino counties,” said Ramos.
Prop 47 is the California initiative, approved by voters in 2014, that reclassified some felonies to misdemeanors and raised the minimum amount for most misdemeanor thefts from $400 to $950.
According to a Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) report, the rate of occurrence of petty crimes like shoplifting and commercial burglaries have increased by double digits over the last four years.
In Orange County alone, commercial burglaries have spiked by 54%.
“Our communities are experiencing an increase in retail crime and deserve appropriate action from their legislators,” Valencia said.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus thanked Ramos.
“This bill, designed to impose stricter penalties on serial retail theft suspects, responds urgently to the escalating consequences of shoplifting and related crimes on our communities,” he said.
AB 1772 supporters who spoke at the gathering included Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper and San Bernardino Chief of Police Darren Goodman. Listed as supporters are the California State Sheriff’s Association, City of Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez and Redlands Chamber of Commerce.
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