Venezuela Survives Yet Another Coup Attempt! Fake News is Washington’s Strongest Weapon!

It's about 1 p. m. in Caracas now. The atmosphere is quite quiet. The capital is celebrating a holiday today. They're celebrating International Workers Day in Venezuela today. Yesterday, Juan Guaido gave 15 addresses where people should gather to hold manifestations. It's a continuation of the final stage of "Operation Liberty" as he calls it.

Today, the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of Russia and the U.S. talked about Venezuela. Advisor to the U.S. President Bolton announced this conversation as follows, I quote, "we're not going to see the Russians take over a country in the Western Hemisphere". At the time of the conversation, the head of the State Department, Mike Pompeo, didn't rule out that Washington could conduct a military operation in Venezuela. The head of the Pentagon was urgently recalled from Europe by that time. After all of this, in his conversation with Pompeo, Lavrov, stressed that the U.S.'s intervention in the affairs of Venezuela is a gross violation of international law, which will have the gravest consequences.

Here's Valentin Bogdanov reporting from the scene.

 

It's about 1 p. m. in Caracas now. The atmosphere is quite quiet. The capital is celebrating a holiday today. They're celebrating International Workers Day in Venezuela today. Yesterday, Juan Guaido gave 15 addresses where people should gather to hold manifestations. It's a continuation of the final stage of "Operation Liberty" as he calls it. There's the La Carlota Airbase, which his supporters attacked yesterday, among those addresses. The manifestations of supporters of the current legitimate authorities were also scheduled for today. A traditional march of supporters of Nicolas Maduro to the presidential palace Miraflores is to take place. So far, the police haven't reported any standoffs or clashes.

Now, my colleague in the USA, Alexander Khristenko, will provide you with the latest details of last day and the statements made in Washington.

VESTI In Caracas, the May Day demonstrations are being held in a very nervous environment. An armed group of people took shelter in a building on one of the streets. There was a shootout with the police. But large-scale clashes, which the impostor Guaido clearly expected, didn't happen. Here's what a Caracas resident told us.

Dmitry Straus, Caracas resident: "The night was quiet. At least where I live, everything was very quiet. At 7-something in the morning, I went outside".

An attempt to arrange a military coup in Venezuela failed. President Nicolas Maduro appeared on television with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez. This means that the army is on the side of the elected leader. This isn't what Washington expected to see in the news. And they decided to put all of their blame for their direct but unsuccessful interference in the affairs of Venezuela on Russia.

- You said that Nicolas Maduro was going to leave the country and go to Havana in his jet.

Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State: "He was ready to go. He made the decision which we sought. But then, the Russians made him change his mind. I hope that he'll return to that jet".

Moscow and Caracas called that statement "fake news". Obviously, along with the unprecedented sanction and diplomatic pressure, an information war is unleashed against Venezuela.

Maria Zakharova, Spokeswoman for the MFA: "It was so unbelievable to see an official comment by a high-ranking representative of the U.S. administration containing such blatant fake news that honestly, I didn't believe it first. We checked again. Mr. Pompeo did say it. This quote really exists. But of course, this is a classic example of disinformation".

In Washington, where they like to say that they don't recognize any spheres of influence and that this approach has long become outdated, suddenly stated that America claims the entire Western Hemisphere.

John Bolton, NSA to Donald Trump: “What's happening reflects Russia's role in Venezuela. I wouldn't say that this is an ideological conflict, but this is our hemisphere. And the Russians shouldn't interfere here.”

America, of course, will continue to interfere. Against the background of a series of failed coup attempts, State Secretary Pompeo is shifting from diplomatic expressions to direct threats. He said that an American military operation could take place in Venezuela.

Alexander Khristenko, Nikolay Koskin for Vesti from Washington, USA.