The Steady State "Quick Hit" - The U.S Attack on Venezuela
The Steady State
The Steady State “Quick Hits” are biweekly meetings held between The Steady State and local/national press discussing current events in the political and intelligence communities.
The U.S. attack on Venezuela represented a significant acceleration in the foreign policy realm, of Presidential unilateralism, and illustrated how an increasingly authoritarian executive branch acts outside Constitutional constraints.
View the 60 minute discussion here
Read the transcript of this discussion here
The Steady State Panelists Include:
Gail Helt served as a Political Analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency for more than a decade. She currently director of the Security and Intelligence Studies Program at King University in Bristol, Tennessee.
Luis G. Moreno served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Madrid, Spain. He served as the Political-Military Minister Counselor and Force Strategic Engagement Cell Director in Baghdad, Iraq., as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Tel Aviv, Israel, and as the Consul General and Principal Officer in Monterrey, Mexico. Ambassador Moreno also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and from 1997-2001, as the Narcotics Affairs Director in Bogota, Colombia. He was instrumental in planning and implementing Plan Colombia.
Brian Naranjo served as a Senior Foreign Service Officer, with over thirty years of experience serving primarily in the Western Hemisphere. His service included three Venezuela tours (including as Deputy Chief of Mission until he was declared persona non grata and expelled),and tours as the senior political officer and chief of staff in Panama, Canada, Mexico, and Panama. At State, Brian directed the Political and Policy Coordination Office for the Western Hemisphere and the UN Political Affairs Office.
Bill Piekney served 4 years in the US Navy, 30 years with the CIA retiring as a Senior Operations Executive, and 5 years as a Senior Consultant at ODNI, International Consultant in Intelligence and National Security.
Jonathan M. Winer is the former Special Envoy for Libya and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Law Enforcement and a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute.
Steven Cash (moderator) worked at the CIA, on Capitol Hill, and in state and federal government, specializing in intelligence operations, national security law, and the protection of constitutional governance. He is the Executive Director of The Steady State.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 360 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.