GENEVA – The Swiss government said on Jan 5 that it had decided to freeze any assets held in Switzerland by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro or his associates “with immediate effect”.

Bern said it had reached its decision after Mr Maduro was seized in Caracas in a shock US military operation and brought to New York to face narcotrafficking charges.

Describing the situation as “volatile”, the Swiss government said in a statement that it wanted “to ensure that any illicitly acquired assets cannot be transferred out of Switzerland in the current situation”.

“The asset freeze comes into force today with immediate effect and will remain valid for four years until further notice.”

  • ninja@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Swiss government says it’s going to go ahead and hold on to that money until everyone forgets about it.

      • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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        9 days ago

        Maduro is a democratically elected president loved by the working classes, he is targeted by the US because he continued Venezuela’s policy of nationalizing the oil industry. This is naked colonialism.

          • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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            14 hours ago

            Maduro was democratically elected because the election was widely observed as fair, Maduro won 51% to González’ 43%, and because surrounding nations such as Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, etc. recognized it as legitimate. The fact is, the same people that claim Biden stole the 2020 election are now telling you that Maduro stole 2024 in order to justify kidnapping him and his wife and steal Venezuelan oil. This is a tried and true tactic of the US Empire.

            • 🔰Hurling⚜️Durling🔱@lemmy.world
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              13 hours ago

              Both sides play the same game, I just choose to listen to a majority as its harder to get the majority of the world to agree on something. I am not talking about Biden so let’s keep him out of this or it will devolve to scapegoatism (ie. But Biden did that…)

              The nonprofit human rights foundation said it was fraud, the majority of south america said it was fraud even countries aligned more to China than the US. Source

              Lastly, if the elections of Venezuela where legitimate and Maduro was the “good guy” as you appear to paint him as then why do we have a Venezuelan refuge crisis? Source

              Bonus: No one has ever told me that Biden stole the election in the US and also said Maduro stole the Venezuelan election, I don’t listen to propaganda networks like Newsmax or Fox News.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                11 hours ago

                The nonprofit human rights foundation said it was fraud, the majority of south america said it was fraud even countries aligned more to China than the US. Source

                Your source is the Human Rights Foundation, a US State Department - mouthpiece known for manufacturing consent for regime change. What’s actually true is that Maduro is the internationally recognized president of Venezuela.

                Lastly, if the elections of Venezuela where legitimate and Maduro was the “good guy” as you appear to paint him as then why do we have a Venezuelan refuge crisis? Source

                Gusanos fled Venezuela when their assets were nationalized. Continuous emigration from Venezuela is due to the economic act of war from the US Empire, including sanctions, blockades, and restricting trade with Venezuela. The working classes support Maduro in Venezuela, which is why the US Empire is relying on AI generated videos, older videos celebrating Maduro’s election in 2024, and so forth to pretend Venezuelans are celebrating his kidnapping.

                Bonus: No one has ever told me that Biden stole the election in the US and also said Maduro stole the Venezuelan election, I don’t listen to propaganda networks like Newsmax or Fox News.

                Biden is an imperialist, just like Trump. Operation Gideon happened under Biden, where the US Empire tried a Bay of Pigs style invasion of Venezuela. Desire to overthrow the socialist government of Venezuela has existed since Chavez nationalized the oil industry. You do listen to propaganda, likely CNN, BBC, or New York Times.

                Edit: Not directly funded, but a mouthpiece nonetheless.

                • 🔰Hurling⚜️Durling🔱@lemmy.world
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                  12 hours ago

                  Your source is the Human Rights Foundation, a US State Department-funded group known for manufacturing consent for regime change. What’s actually true is that Maduro is the internationally recognized president of Venezuela.

                  Um… except it isnt.

                  The Human Rights Foundation was founded in 2005 by Venezuelan human rights advocate and film producer Thor Halvorssen Mendoza in response to the alarming rise of authoritarianism in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela.

                  Straight from Wikipedia

                  Gusanos fled Venezuela when their assets were nationalized.

                  I guess Venezuela is full of “Gusanos” as you call them because 7.9 million isn’t a small number hermano.

                  Biden is an imperialist, just like Trump.

                  And your point is what? No one is denying it.

                  Not denying Operation Gideon either, but can you please point me to where Biden did this? According to your own link the operation was primarily planned by Clíver Alcalá Cordones (retired Venezuelan major general) and Jordan Goudreau (a canadian american mercenary).

                  Desire to overthrow the socialist government of Venezuela

                  Venezuela was never socialist. Hell, the US is more socialist than Venezuela. Venezuela is more of a marxism-leninism when it comes to the government it has.

                  You do listen to propaganda, likely CNN, BBC, or New York Times.

                  Like I said, I don’t watch imperialist propaganda networks, sorry. Try again comrade.

                  Lastly, what Trump did is an illegal act of war both in the international laws side and in the laws of the united states as he didn’t even get congress to sign off on (not that this would make it OK either). However, the point isn’t that the US is good or bad (because the US currently has a corrupt and out of control government at the moment), it’s that Maduro did not get elected.

            • ZombieCyborgFromOuterSpace@piefed.ca
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              8 days ago

              To be fair,  I don’t exactly trust the other sources that say he didn’t receive the majority of the votes.

              That being said, that doesn’t change the fact he was corrupt and was living in luxury and was well fed while Venezuelans were hungry and poor.

              The only thing I admire about him is sticking up to the US, being an economic partner to Cuba and standing in solidarity with Palestinians.

              • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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                7 days ago

                To be fair,  I don’t exactly trust the other sources that say he Trump didn’t receive the majority of the votes.

                That being said, that doesn’t change the fact he was corrupt and was living in luxury and was well fed while Venezuelans Americans were hungry and poor.

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                  7 days ago

                  Well, yeah. But one doesn’t cancel the other.

                  EDIT: This is nothing more than whataboutism. “What about Trump?” Yeah I know Trump is a garbage of a human being. If you can even  all him human at this point. Him, the people around him and the entire American government have done so much harm to humanity. They’re worst only next to Israel, whose people make the worst fictional monsters look like little ballerinas.

                  But that doesn’t cancel the fact Maduro was an asshole corrupt crooked motherfucker who inflicted a lot of pain on the people of his country.

                  Do I condone him being kidnapped like this? Hell no. That’s bullshit. America can fuck off.

          • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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            9 days ago

            The same people who said Trump won 2020 are telling you Maduro lost to an unpopular far-right candidate supported most among Venezuelans by those who live in Miami, not Venezuela.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                9 days ago

                Linking the Carter Center as evidence that this is “consensus across the political spectrun” means you’re limiting said spectrum to the pro-imperialist western countries. Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, all recognize Maduro. Edmundo Gonzalez is a far-right comprador that wishes to privatize Venezuela’s oil, and was backed by the US Empire, which the US tried to manipulate the election via sanctions (and the EU participated as well). Gonzalez is more popular among Venezuelans in Miami than in Venezuela itself.

                Let’s stick with the facts: The US kidnapped a democratically elected president to colonize Venezuela and strip it for oil, and people who legitimize it by equating Maduro and Trump have blood on their hands.

              • RiverRock@lemmy.ml
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                9 days ago

                If you actually believe in evil, you are a child with no place talking about serious subjects.

      • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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        9 days ago

        Another “The US lies about everything but I trust everything they say about their enemies”

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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    9 days ago

    It’s very telling seeing how the Western countries reacted to Russia invading Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza, and now the US invading Venezuela. It’s now crystal clear that the West does not care about any moral principles, and the actual tension over Ukraine is whose sphere of influence it’s under.

    • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
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      8 days ago

      Turns out that instead of arresting any pedophile in the Epstein files it was easier to invade another country on fake charges and arrest a guy to steal his oil.

      • DeepSpace9mm@lemmy.ml
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        7 days ago

        I saw some mastodon posters calling this a distraction from the Epstein files as if anti-communism, installing far-right dictators, and privatizing everything weren’t already the highest priorities for burgerland.