THE UK is about to follow other vassal states of Washington and agitate for war in Venezuela.

Trump has decided to replace the legitimately elected President of Venezuela with Juan Guaido, who did not even stand for election.

To this end Trump has imposed illegal and immoral sanctions as a tool of neo-imperialism.

As with all Washington’s wars for oil, a phoney pretext is being concocted. This time it’s that Nicolas Maduro is a “dictator”.

In 2003 Iraq had been subjected to 13 years of sanctions and the most rigorous inspection regime in history. Saddam had no connection to 9/11 or Islamic terrorism. Yet somehow all the Western media whipped up a campaign of lies that Saddam was a “threat”. This led to war.

READ MORE: David Pratt: Why the military holds the key to Venezuela's crisis

Scott Ritter, who lead the inspection teams, said that Iraq has been 90-95 percent disarmed. Anything left over would have long since gone passed its sell-by date. Any number of experts would have testified to this. However the corporate media were not interested.

The Iraq war was sold as bringing “freedom and democracy”. Never was oil ever mentioned as the real aim. The Western media took these claims at face value. An opinion poll taken in Iraq found that only 1% of Iraqis believed getting rid of Saddam was about bringing “freedom and democracy”.

In an almost carbon copy, the same events occurred in Libya. David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and Hilary Clinton all decided to stage a regime change in Libya. This time it was sold as “preventing a massacre” in Benghazi. However, an investigation by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee concluded there was no evidence Gaddafi was planning a massacre.

The “objectivity” of the corporate media means taking the world as officialdom says it is. It means not bringing up information that may cause discomfort to people in power.

The same pattern that occurred in Iraq and Libya is being repeated in Venezuela. The idea that the likes of Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton have a shred of empathy for the people of Venezuela is laughably absurd.

You can go to any country in the world and find human rights abuses, endemic corruption, extreme poverty. However, the corrupt media only highlight this in “official” enemies like Venezuela, Cuba and Iran. Places like Israel, Saudi and Egypt get a free pass.

Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee

WHO endowed the United States of America and its competitor the United States of Europe (or The Franco-Prussian Alliance) with the ability to interfere with the democratic processes of a sovereign country? Even some SNP MPs are braying for this intervention. Ironic really, given that the British establishment will never rescind its control over its northern colony.

The calls for the elected President of Venezuela Nicolas Madura to stand aside for “President” Juan Guaido to take control is beyond the pale! Once more, one of the main protagonists of the anti-democratic process within the sphere of South America is meddling in the affairs of another nation. The US has supported (and financed) a long line of right-wing “generals” to ensure no left-wing or socialist governments could ever be allowed to thrive in what they claim as their “back yard”. The US willingly destabilised numerous countries to ensure that the free will of the poor and under-trodden were never given a chance.

Hugo Chavez’s vision would never be allowed to show socialism could perhaps work, or improve things for the poorest people. If it has thrived then the slaves of the capitalist system might rise against their overlords. History shows what Cuba went through after it rid itself of the puppet Batista regime. Its isolation by the “defenders of democracy” forced Castro in to the arms of the USSR. Funny that Venezuela has vast oil reserves, and the “West” are demanding change? Zimbabwe was never placed under any such powerful threats, but they didn’t have vast oil fields, did they?

The EU didn’t support the democratic will of Catalonia and it will never back Scotland’s aspirations to be an independent country, other than to annoy its departing befuddled member state of England, sorry The Dis-United Kingdom of England and its lesser vassal states!

Sandy Allan
Ellon

WHAT ambiguous messages is the Sunday National sending out with its monthly badges? Last month we had a big N with a tiny thistle as though we were saying NO to Scotland, when we need a big YES! This month we have NO EXIT. I thought “no exit from what – the EU or the UK?” Or was it implying that the route to independence is a dead end?

It was only when I put on my glasses that I found the extra BR to make BREXIT. Even so, do we need a fugitive Mrs May on our chests: chests which should be proudly proclaiming our determination to be self-governed?

Valerie Waters
via email