As expected, the Lima Group has just announced that it will not support military intervention in Venezuela. There’s really nothing new there. No South American nation is about to attack another, despite the unfounded hopes of Venezuelans in that regard. What is perplexing is the lack of imagination that Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition, and their coalition of friendly nations have shown thus far. The U.S. Treasury has just implemented more sanctions against four completely irrelevant chavistas.
I spent the last three weeks covering the Venezuelan aid lift in Caracas, Táchira, and Cúcuta. This is what I can say about the campaign.
— Anatoly Kurmanaev (@AKurmanaev) February 25, 2019
The confrontation at the border over the weekend was a poor man’s soap opera. The opposition’s show of strength, with that concert and the subsequent attempt to bring in two trucks of humanitarian aid, was pathetic, to say the least. Check out Kurmanaev’s thread from the previous tweet. Nicolás Maduro must have thought, “If all it takes to stop a foreign invasion assisted by Guaidó is burning a truck, we have nothing to worry about.”
The United States, so far the only country imposing sanctions, continues to lose a significant group that operates unhindered and provides the much-needed assistance to the chavista regime. They’re known as facilitators, intermediaries, enablers… Many members of this group live in the U.S.—we’re talking about Luis Obertos, Gonzalo Morales, David Osios—while others, like Oswaldo Cisneros, Alejandro Betancourt, Juan Carlos Escotet, Víctor Vargas, Armando Capriles, etc., continue to live large just out of reach.
If the U.S. wants to suffocate Maduro’s finances, it must strike where it matters, not go after some completely irrelevant governors. Arresting Rafael Ramírez should be the top priority; he knows where some of the hidden money is and has incriminating evidence about the truck’s load. Target Jesus Vidal Salazar and his Helios Petroleum, Atahualpa Fernandez Arbulu, Manuel Chinchilla, Majed Khalil, hit Castleton Commodities, Reliance Group, and Mukesh Ambani. Apply real pressure on Glencore, Trafigura, Vitol, and Lukoil. This goes for Gazprombank, Rosneft, Repsol, and all PDVSA partners. Seize all ships leaving Venezuelan waters, especially those operated by Cubametales.
Immediately create a task force of all federal agencies and their counterparts in countries that have recognized Guaidó. Utilize INTERPOL red notices to restrict international travel. Go after the families and associates of chavista officials. Revoke visas, freeze accounts, seize their assets, and send them back to Venezuela with only the clothes they’re wearing.
The nations forming the Lima Group and Europe should replicate U.S. sanctions, so that the entire playing field becomes hostile territory for those supporting Maduro. It needs to be a concerted effort. Chavistas and their network of facilitators should receive the same treatment they give to Venezuelans, but on a global scale. Only then will those thugs sit down and accept their exit. Hashtags and photo ops won’t trigger the transition in Venezuela.