We still have some catching up to do so we’ll put off getting started with “Bullets” from Down The Rabbit Hole for one more day. So here we go. In the wake of Chavismo’s temper tantrum following the extradition of corrupt businessman Alex Saab to the US we have Argus Media reporting that the Maduro regime’s withdrawal from the negotiations with the opposition in Mexico may extend the sanctions that many thought had the possibility for easing. Maduro’s reaction was nothing if not predictable, “We warned of this! The US empire…..” Then we had Telesur (government media) telling us Maduro said “The US took Saab away in violation of international law!” This after calling it a kidnapping as we told you yesterday. Let’s just take a breath.

 OK, so on one hand we have Alex Saab being detained in Cape Verde and going through a real legal system and ,over a period of a couple of years, afforded every opportunity to prove his case via a string of appeals by his high priced legal representation. His case for release rested on one thing, his fraudulent claim of “diplomatic immunity.” It was proven over and over again that Alex Saab was issued a diplomatic passport by the Maduro regime but was, in reality, not a diplomat and had never participated in any degree in the diplomatic passport.(let’s not even get into the regime’s reputation for selling passports to terrorists) When his appeals were finally exhausted he was then extradited to the US.

 Compare this to the regime’s knee jerk reaction to this by, for no reason, withdrawing house arrest status  for the CITGO Six and placing them back in the hands of the SEBIN secret police. They have been held without hearings nor any legal process in open court for years so we haven’t even reached the appeal stage. We can only hope none of them die in SEBIN custody, as has been known to happen. All this is in response to Saab’s extradition and,were it not so serious, would be laughable.

 Also from Telesur we have Venezuela’s Ambassador to the UN telling us that Colombia and the US are creating conditions for military aggression and that the EU’s Josep Borrell needs to apologize, as he has admitted the electoral observation mission will not be impartial. Now, we do know that Borrell said, “The electoral mission would legitimize Maduro, or not.” He went on to say that the mission could be withdrawn. This outraged the Chavistas as they presumably thought they had a sympathetic ear in Borrell. Now there are calls for Borrell to clarify his decision to offer legitimacy to the Maduro regime’s electoral shenanigans.

 Then we have this…FT reports that Josep Borrell ignored the advice of his own staff in deciding to send the electoral observation mission. The exploratory mission’s report stated “Minimal conditions for electoral observation are not met at this time.” I think you got some”splaining” to do. Oh, and we have yet to hear from the Carter Center regarding their monitoring of Chavismo’s electoral drills. You know, the drills where they back slid on all their guarantees like “No Puntos Rojos”. So, will there be an electoral observation mission or not? We’ll see but we do know the UN is sending a panel of three experts however they will not be issuing an official report. Uhh…OK, then why are they going?

 And in case you forgot, the Venezuelan migrant crisis continues. Crux reports that Venezuelan and Haitian  migrants continue to flow into Brazil. The border town of Pacaraima with a population of 18,000 now has 4,000 Venezuelan migrants. How’s that for a percentage?

 And speaking of border areas, Insight Crime reports Chavismo is using “false positives” in the border areas with Colombia. “False positives” is the practice of murdering civilians, dressing them up as guerillas,staging weapons, and using the photos as evidence they are actively “fighting FARC” From the beginning, Chavez, and now Maduro have viewed FARC  as a strategic tool.This is not speculation and their use has been confirmed by countless former Chavista military leaders, politicians,and diplomats as well as border residents. They also tell us that Mildred Camero, former Director of Venezuela National Commission Against Illicit Drug Use  did a drug trafficking report on military and public officials involved and furnished the regime with this information. The result…she was fired! Sounds like the Health Minister after issuing an epidemiology report…just saying…

 Then we have Oilprice.com reporting that Hezbollah is gaining more power and earning more money from cocaine in Venezuela as the government and military are unable to control trafficking. We also have The Times Of Israel reporting that some of Alex Saab’s laundered money found it’s way into Hezbollah’s coffers. It’s hard to find legitimate allies of the Maduro regime but there’s no shortage of FARC guerillas, drug traffickers, and Hezbollah terrorists in Chavismo’s circle of friends. And don’t forget, the head of Venezuela’s Supreme Court is a convicted murderer.

 And we have more Venezuela vaccine news. Tass reports a second shipment of Sputnik V vaccine arrived in Venezuela adding another 700,000 doses to the stockpile which again begs the question, where are all these vaccines going? The Health Minister still insists they will reach their goal of 70% vaccinated by the end of October,although the have amended the prediction to “receiving at least one dose.” Remember all those people that reported they went for their second dose and there were none available?

 Then we have the competing versions of Venezuela’s ongoing water and power problems. Prensa Latina (Cuba), reporting on the power issues plaguing 30% of Caracas, calls it an “electrical war causing a systematic violation of Venezuelan’s social rights”, parroting the regime’s position on their ineptitude. At the same time we have the former VP of Hidrocapital, Venezuela’s state owned water utility saying that the water problems are due to problems as basic as the pipes and lack of personnel. He went on to say that if work started today Venezuela could have a quality water system in three years. It’s worth noting that this would take a commitment from Chavismo to do so and under the Chavistas watch the amount of water delivered to cities is down 50%.

 Oh, and FYI, Fit For Travel has reiterated WHO’s yellow fever advisory.

 That should do it for today… Hasta luego…