Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance, October 29th 2019
https://popularresistance.org/max-blumenthal-arrested-on-false-charges-…
The United States continues to cover up its own illegal actions at the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown by prosecuting embassy protectors and their allies who did not violate any laws. The most recent prosecution is of journalist Max Blumenthal of the Grayzone Project. The arrest of Blumenthal, whose Grayzone Project covered the embassy siege with embedded reporters and who has been reporting critically on the failed US coup in Venezuela, will backfire as the trial will bring out the truth of what transpired at the embassy. In the article below, Blumenthal describes the false charges and the plans for his defense.
Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal arrested
months after reporting on Venezuelan opposition violence
On May 16, the United States invaded the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC using a battering ram and more than 100 military-clad police from multiple police agencies in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. They arrested the four embassy protectors who remained. There were as many as 70 people staying in the embassy at the height of the action to uphold international law and protect it from intrusion by failed coup plotters, but as food, electricity and water were cut off, the embassy protectors reduced their numbers in order to continue to uphold international law. The embassy protectors were in the Venezuelan Embassy for 37 days with the permission of the elected government of Venezuela. It was the Trump administration that violated the law by entering the embassy without the permission of the Venezuelan government. See DefendEmbassyProtectors.org for updates on the prosecution of the final four.
Please donate to the defense fund of the Embassy Protection Collective
by going to the Embassy Protectors Defense Committee.
Blumenthal is accused of assault during part of an effort to get food and other necessities into the embassy. He is being prosecuted with Ben Rubinstein. Two embedded reporters, Anya Parampil of the Grayzone Project and Alex Rubinstein, an independent reporter who has written for Mintpress Media, the Grayzone and other outlets, were in the embassy. Alex and Ben Rubinstein are twin brothers. The Secret Service and other US police forces were allowing a violent coup mob to block food from coming into the embassy whether delivered by allies of those inside, Amazon or the US Postal Service.
The US cannot cover up their violations of international law by prosecuting embassy protectors and their allies. These prosecutions will have the opposite effect as they will show that the protectors and their allies were acting lawfully and will expose the violation of the Vienna Convention by the United States. The Vienna Convention protects all embassies, including US embassies, and violation of international law puts all embassies and personnel around the world at risk.
The Trump administration’s attempted coup in Venezuela is the most open and brazen coup ever performed by the United States. The Trump administration’s selection of a low-level member of the legislature to serve as a puppet president for the United States and allowing coup plotters to seize diplomatic and other properties of Venezuela goes beyond previous US regime change actions. People in Latin America and around the world can now see clearly the extremes the United States is willing to go to in order to control another country. Every country now knows the US is willing to appoint a fake president to replace a democratically-elected president.
President Maduro remains the legitimately-elected president of Venezuela who is recognized by the United Nations and the vast majority of nations around the world. The US puppet, Juan Guaido, has never had any presidential power and his fraudulent ‘ambassadors’ have never had any legitimate authority over the Venezuelan embassy in Georgetown. The Venezuelan embassy remains closed after a brief photo-op by the fake ambassador, Carlos Vecchio. Vecchio has never been able to perform any diplomatic functions because he does not represent any government. The reality of the illegality of the US’ actions will be exposed in the prosecution of the final four embassy protectors, as well as the prosecution of Max Blumenthal and Ben Rubinstein.
Max Blumenthal is one more journalist challenging US Empire who is under attack. This is consistent with the prosecution of Julian Assange, a publisher and editor who exposed the crimes of the United States. The First Amendment is under attack by the Trump administration. The charges against Blumenthal, like the charges against Assange, should be dismissed.