Trump's Venezuela Vendetta

[Maladict]

I agree with pretty much everything Otto said above. And the conclusion: great op, great execution, now what?

Trump just said the US is going to run the country for a while. And he's going to send in the US oil companies.

[Bauer]

Knowing Trudeau he will be applying blackface disguise as we speak 

 

Yes they'll never find me in an ice deportation centre...

[Bauer]

Honestly I didn't think Trump had the balls to do something like this.

But he did now, and that's very scary indeed.  Dictators always seem to start out as all talk before putting their crazy fantasies into action later in their tenures...

[Tonitrus]

Well, I was expecting sites to be bombed, but not a full-blown surgical strike on Maduro. Apparently, it was originally going to be done four days ago, but bad weather prevented it. So I would have been right had it gone as planned, and I had bet on my own prediction.

The lack of response from leaders globally is rather interesting, other for some South American politicians. Where is the response from Russia and China? I guess everyone else is stunned by this as we are.

https://thehill.com/policy/international/5670812-russia-calls-un-venezuela-security/

Russia harshly criticizes US attack on Venezuela, capture of Maduro

Russia is offering stark criticism of the U.S. military attack on Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

Apparently their VP was/is in Russia.  And some rumors that the military (or some in the military) was paid off.

[Tamas]

Well, I was expecting sites to be bombed, but not a full-blown surgical strike on Maduro. Apparently, it was originally going to be done four days ago, but bad weather prevented it. So I would have been right had it gone as planned, and I had bet on my own prediction.

The lack of response from leaders globally is rather interesting, other for some South American politicians. Where is the response from Russia and China? I guess everyone else is stunned by this as we are.

https://thehill.com/policy/international/5670812-russia-calls-un-venezuela-security/

Russia harshly criticizes US attack on Venezuela, capture of Maduro

Russia is offering stark criticism of the U.S. military attack on Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

Apparently their VP was/is in Russia.  And some rumors that the military (or some in the military) was paid off.

Except the press conference said she has agreed to run the country as US proxy. Who knows what's true. Most likely is that she IS in Russia and Trump and Putin are going to divide up the country.

[Maladict]

Fielding a question from a reporter who said he was from Cuba, Trump told him "Cuba is going to be something we'll end up talking about".

"We want to help the people in Cuba, we want to also help the people that were forced out of Cuba.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio interjected that "when the President speaks, you should take him seriously", adding many of the guards who helped protect Maduro were Cuban.

"If I lived in Havana and I was in the government I'd be concerned at least," Rubio added.

The Western hemisphere is going to be one big puppet theatre.

[Jacob]

Except the press conference said she has agreed to run the country as US proxy. Who knows what's true. Most likely is that she IS in Russia and Trump and Putin are going to divide up the country.

You're suggesting the US and Russia reached an agreement on Venezuela, similar to how Putin and Trump have been trying to reach an agreement on Ukraine?

[Bauer]

Why would Russia even be in a position to bargain on Venezuela?  I think it's more likely this is an (attempted) return to America using Latin America as its backyard.

[The Minsky Moment]

A foreign power can't run a country with literally no personnel on the ground.  The implication is that some deal was been done with the regime to maintain the political status quo in return for getting US oil companies into the country and a more pro-US diplo stance.  But in Trumpland its hard to distinguish reality from fantasy

[Tamas]

Why would Russia even be in a position to bargain on Venezuela?  I think it's more likely this is an (attempted) return to America using Latin America as its backyard.

Yeah I wasn't very serious about it. But I have a lingering suspicion that all the Greenland nonsense and this gungho stance on Latin America at least in part comes from Putin filling Trump's head with distracting nonsense

[Jacob]

A foreign power can't run a country with literally no personnel on the ground.  The implication is that some deal was been done with the regime to maintain the political status quo in return for getting US oil companies into the country and a more pro-US diplo stance.  But in Trumpland its hard to distinguish reality from fantasy

Yeah me the big question is to what degree the Trump regime expects to be involved in profiting off Venezuela, how many American resources need to be committed to ensure that profit, and to what degree their local Venezuelan collaborators can keep control of things.

I feel like I have a good sense of the first point (they expect to make billions), but I'm much less clear on the second two points.

[Sophie Scholl]

Trump and the US get Venezuela, Putin and Russia get Ukraine, and Xi and China get Taiwan. Everyone else gets to complain ineffectually. So it goes.

[Tamas]

Trump and the US get Venezuela, Putin and Russia get Ukraine, and Xi and China get Taiwan. Everyone else gets to complain ineffectually. So it goes.

I guess that must look like a fair deal when you are extremely short-sighted like Trump and his kleptocracy. Who cares what all this ushers in in Europe and the Pacific in 5 years if you can get a few more million dollars to your personal pockets today.

[Duque de Bragança]

Fielding a question from a reporter who said he was from Cuba, Trump told him "Cuba is going to be something we'll end up talking about".

"We want to help the people in Cuba, we want to also help the people that were forced out of Cuba.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio interjected that "when the President speaks, you should take him seriously", adding many of the guards who helped protect Maduro were Cuban.

"If I lived in Havana and I was in the government I'd be concerned at least," Rubio added.

The Western hemisphere is going to be one big puppet theatre.

As if it wasn't before. 

[grumbler]

Why would Russia even be in a position to bargain on Venezuela?  I think it's more likely this is an (attempted) return to America using Latin America as its backyard.

Trump's just-issued National Security Policy statement has this goal. MAGA wants to withdraw from the Indo-Pacific and NATO and focus on the Monroe Doctrine and overturning democracy in Europe.