• TheLepidopterists [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    3 days ago

    I remember like 5 years ago, when USAID was trying to get what was probably a bunch of weapons into Venezuela, and said they were aid trucks (IIRC, while, I can’t recall the guy’s name, but while the operation was being run by a guy with a history of running guns to rebels under cover of delivering aid, if anyone knows who I’m talking about I’m going a little crazy trying to look him up now).

    Some anti-Maduro right wing protester threw a Molotov cocktail at a truck and a CNN reporter claimed to have personally seen Venezuelan troops start the fire.

    When the video footage of the anti-Maduro guy doing it became widespread they walked the story back but I always thought it was crazy that it wasn’t the end of their credibility.

    They didn’t just lie, they lied in a way that completely removed all plausible deniability. They were obviously, objectively caught with their pants down, lying to the public to whip up sentiment to aid in regime change. It was clearly a malicious lie and not a mistake.

    I think that’s the moment where I decided Western media wasn’t just biased, but essentially were branches of the US government.

    Incident is I think, mostly memory holed. Haven’t heard it mentioned in years.

    EDIT: it was Elliott Abrams.