Venezuela Crisis & Communications

This is one of my ‘every-so-often’ emails.  If you’re new to the ARN & AmRRON, I don’t send out a lot of emails, so when I do I want to make it count.  And this counts.  I want to direct your attention to an article that a listener (patriot/Redoubter) sent to me.  Somehow I missed it, so thank you!  The article is a boots-on-the-ground report on the deteriorating situation in Venezuela.  You haven’t heard much about it, if anything, because there is a media blackout there and the government is strictly controlling communications.  This is of particular interest to all of us since we place so much emphasis on post-TEOTWAWKI communications.  The article is from Survivalblog.com.  I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important I feel it is that each of you read the full-length article.  I’ll post the link below.  This is relevant to every one of you, whether you are a patriot, prepper, communicator, intelligence team member, partisan, etc.  But this is the notable part of a paragraph I was directed to by the Redoubt Partisan who sent it in:

“Lack of Communication Causes Panic and Rumors. As the communications are shut down, we are seeing that a sense of panic is growing….”   …”This is why it is growing difficult to differentiate between rumors and fact. Information is as vital at this point as food and water. Calm leadership is needed to keep everyone from panicking or shutting down.”

“It would have been wonderful if they had prepared with a radio network that was interstate rather than just within small, cloistered groups. Those of you with Ham equipment will be hailed as heroes should this situation come to a theater near you.”

The full article covers many, many more facets of the crisis from the perspective of someone living through it.  This is happening right now!  I believe that we could be facing similar circumstances in our own country in the very near future.

Something is coming.  My message to you:

1. Accelerate your preparedness planning so you will NOT HAVE TO REPORT to a ‘relief center’ with your family.  Be prepared to feed your family and provide for your own basic needs, including medical.  Be capable of defending them and teach them to defend (and feed) themselves.  .
2. Follow the leader.  The elite are rapidly transferring their wealth and assets.  So should you!  Don’t keep large sums of money in the banks any longer.  Just enough to operate on.
3. Prepare an emergency purchase list (fuel, batteries, cooking oils, four, etc. – things that have relatively short shelf lives) so you can make critical purchases when the masses are still trying to figure out what’s going on.

VERY IMPORTANT:

1. Communicators!  Become proficient with your communications equipment right now.  Don’t wait for an Elmer or the next AmRRON meeting in your area.  Internet search PDFs for every piece of commo gear you have and download it and print hard copies.
   1. Watch youtube vids and read tutorials on every piece of equipment you have.  Take ownership of it to the level that you can teach others.
   2. Quickly develop a plan to power that equipment in a grid-down situation.
   3. Join an existing AmRRON net in your area and practice.  If you don’t have an active AmRRON Net in your local area, START ONE.  Lots of resources at www.AmRRON.com
   4. Develop a parallel communications plan with AmRRON nets adjacent to yours in the next town, county, state, and region.  Expect the nationwide AmRRON Net to be compromised or disrupted at some point in the future, especially if a hostile government is controlling communications.  They will enforce a monopoly on information!
   5. Develop comms outside of the AmRRON Plan, such as full power GMRS, business band, Marine Band, and ‘others.’
   6. HF-capable communicators, begin developing 6 meter, 11 meter, and 160 meter capabilities.
   7. All communicators, develop your digital communications
   8. PORTABILITY IS A MUST!!!  Configure your stations so that you can grab and go in minutes.  Prepare and TEST your ability to communicate outside the environment of your home, permanent, base station.  At least be able to quickly move your equipment off site.  In nearly every martial law case in recent history, ham radio equipment was deemed “contraband” and has historically been confiscated.  Be prepared to abandon your 60’ towers and have portable, ready-to-grab wire antennas an any supporting equipment.
   9. If you can, have TWO stations or multiple back-up communications configurations.  Consider keeping one off-site that you can retrieve or recover en route to ‘somewhere’ else.
   10. In the coming weeks, I want to strongly encourage you to take EMP mitigation steps with regard to your ham gear, especially if you only have ONE piece of particular equipment.  It’s a pain, but it will be worth it.
   11. Develop  or knock the rust off, and maintain, your RDF (Radio Direction Finding) skills.  Hold “fox hunt” practical exercises They’re fun and useful!
   12. Brush up on your SPOT report skills.  Practice filling them out while observing a road construction crew, or whatever.  Just practice, and then practice sending them to each other.
   13. BLACK ECHO Stations:  This goes for all communicators actually, but be prepared to:
   • Be mobile & portable while broadcasting
   • Be self-sufficient regarding power requirements (solar, smaller portable batteries, etc.)
   •  Map out routes and elevated locations you can broadcast from in short segments, and test your equipment with the help of friends in various locations.
   •  Volunteer to be the ‘fox’ with your local AmRRON group.
   •  Be prepared to monitor every source possible for information and inform your community with truth and encouragement!

Have Self-Contained stations and have Portability, Mobility, and Redundancy!   People will be depending on you for information and truth!  Each of us.  When the internet goes down, all of you will be John Jacob Schmidt.  After all, my name is your name too!

God bless the Redoubts and God bless the patriots!

-John Jacob Schmidt

 

Survivalblog article can be found at:  http://www.survivalblog.com/2014/03/shtf-lessons-from-venezuela-by-csr.html

With other points the author addresses, such as:

–        Foolishness is the Norm in the Face of Slowly-advancing Tyranny.

–        Social Chaos Benefits Organized Criminals.

–        Creative Community Defense is Vital.

–        The Enemy Will Use Food, Water, and Power As Weapons
        (and to buy loyalty  — note from JJS).

–        Lack of Communication Causes Panic and Rumors.

–        The Enemy Will Use Psychological Operations Against You.