Trump can't run his own country and is nothing but a liar. The whole world is laughing at him and Americans by default. Sanctions is not the way to bring about a quick regime change. Food and aid would have helped Hondurans and probably stopped the caravans he is now pretending to be so worried about. Oh--but then he couldn't line his pockets with oil from them, so let's spend taxpayers money on an unnecessary wall to not keep them out. Get your affairs at home in order trump before you clean someone else's house.(trump does not deserve the respect of a capital letter)
7
Halliburton and Chevron are exempt from the sanctions so when the US takes over, they will be ready to loot Venezuela's massive oil reserves.
3
@april cooksWell we know Trump only makes deals that enrich himself.
1
That’s right; kick them when they’re down and expect them to love us. When are we going to learn that sanctions hurt the people; not the government.
This is when I would vote for a female president, only if she changes our approach in foreign policy and occasionally (not always) uses some soft power. Not a Hillary who tries to prove she’s as « tough » as a man.
10
@Kam Eftekhar We know what sanctions do to nations, that is why we use them, destroy their economies, it is warfare against the people, just like the trade war with tariffs against China and the EU is, and yes Russia and Iran and Cuba and more, it is all the same. We do love the brutal Saudis and see no reports about their societies, only photos of their shiny cities. Where and how do the Saudi people live?
The PNAC people are in charge in the State Department. Look at our troika, Trump, Bolton, and Pompeo.
5
@Kam Eftekhar
Senator Clinton is not trying to prove she is tough as a man, she quite simply,...... >>is<<.
This whole story could have been boiled down to one quote from John Bolton (unreported in the article) made last Thursday to Trish Regan on Fox Business: "It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela." So much for the oil belongs to the people of Venezuela.
10
The Venezuelans are suffering, not because of Maduro, but because of the US sanctions, which are used like road rage on any country that uses its natural resources for its own people. The minute any leader (rightly) decides to nationalize oil or any resource, the US pulls its old trick of sanctions and devastates the country to the point where the US can take over, for "humanitarian reasons and democracy." After all, the US deserves ALL the money, power and control of ALL resources in the world, and no one can stop the powerful elite "exceptional" Americans from getting what they want! By preventing Venezuela from receiving it payments that are its due, the US lies about the "corruption" in Venezuela, and sells the lie that it's Maduro's fault, when, in fact, it's the corruption of the billionaire class of Americans.
The US is doing to Venezuela what it did to Iran in 1953.
All the US led wars and coups since WWII have been ILLEGAL. BTW, everything US citizens hear about Russia, Cuba, Iran, and any other "enemy" is a lie.
17
@robroy
Venezuelans have been suffering because of Maduro and his ill conceived policies. A healthy balance of capitalism and a stable and ethical government would help restore the Venezuelan economy.
3
@Joe M Let's take the specific example of the Insulin shortage, which specific "Maduro policies" are responsible for that?
Are you suggesting Maduro is just hoardings thousands of doses of Insulin for himself?
The reality here is that the U.S.-based Citibank refused to receive the payment from Venezuela for 300.000 doses of Insulin, as a result, the Insulin was held up in port for many days.
Venezuela purchased Malaria medicine from Colombia based BSN Medical, just for that purchase to be blocked by the Colombian president. In the end, Venezuela had to import the Malaria medicine from India.
There was literally NO international outrage over this absolute anti-humanitarian behavior by Colombia.
Even the former UN rapporteur to Venezuela, Alfred de Zayas, has openly stated how these kinds of tactics, and the sanctions, have had a major impact on the generally worsening situation in Venezuela and the resulting emigration.
The country is being sanctioned into ruin by massively influential outside sources. No kind of government policy, whether "socialist", "capitalist", "communist" or whatever would be able to thrive under these circumstances.
7
The blatant hypocrisy and mind numbing arrogance of the United States takes one’s breath away. The nation which has railed against Russians meddling in its political affairs and attempting to install their favorite candidate as President now seeks to install its own favorite as the leader of Venezeula. And with what brutality! The Russians used Facebook ads and stolen emails. With these oil sanctions the Americans have created in effect an economic blockade against Venezuela; and they are threatening military intervention if things don’t go their way.
In the past the excuse for such interventions was always an alleged desire to “spread democracy”, somehow miraculously restricted to countries whose foreign policies we don’t agree with. Well give the Trump regime some credit. They’re not even bothering with that pretense.
2019-01-29 17:15 NY
10
If people know anything about elections world-wide, they are aware that Venezuela is famous for having the fairest and least corrupt elections, as observers have noted at every major election (ask Jimmy Carter). Maduro is not an illegitimate president; he was elected by the people and no usurper can just claim to be president and be recognized by the US and the EU and simply be the president. It's crazy. But US policy is so arrogant that they just do whatever they please. You will notice that the US illegally invades and attacks sovereign countries, going again international law. That is why a world wide poll showed the US to be the most feared country in the world, followed by Israel.
14
Swagger is what those guys are. After China and Russia have warned USA, no one will touch Venezuela.
1
I agree with Russ Dallen. The Venezuelan oil funds of Maduro's illegitimate government can go to a fund controlled by President Encharge Guaido.
As for accepting Mexico's offer to try to find a "third way of a peaceful solution" to the situation, it would be the same as asking Raul Castro to mediate. Lopez Obrador and Chavez are the same.
The effort should continue. If the Trump administration is serious in this initiative, it should target the fund coming from the drug activity as well. If the fact that the Maduro regime is an organized crime entity is acknowledged and acted upon, Maduro and his gang will be ousted faster. Follow the money. Lots of it is in this country. Just consult with DEA.
1
@Aurace Rengifo Please explain how Chavez and AMLO are the same. Living here in México and following the news carefully, I really don't see any evidence of that. This sounds like typical US whining when it can't get it's way. If the US had not been interfering in Venezuela for the past 150 years, the country might have had a chance. And now you sound like you want to extend US interventions once more into México, whose territory the US stole in the nineteenth century, and whose president the US assassinated in the twentieth century. What other delights do you propose the US to impose on Latin America?
6
Most countries in South America also condemned the election of Maduro as well as his treatment of citizens. However, I don't see how these sanctions change anything. Will they hurt the Venezuelans or just Maduro? I suppose that the billions quoted in the article wouldn't have reached the people anyway. Maybe Russia will move in; that's not a good outcome.
1
Perhaps the Spanish can offer Maduro and his key supporters a a nice set of villas on the Mediterranean coast in exchange for a peaceful handover. It would save lives.
A restructuring of the Venezuelan economy would be needed to lift those who were poor before Maduro and Chavez took over occurred along with those newly impoverished by the corruption and mismanagement.
1
Any kind of move against Venezuelan oil is almost laughable. Venezuelan oil is one of the worst grades of crude due to its high sulfur content. When the world's crude prices were above $100 per barrel Venezuelan oil could be refined, including the removal of much of the sulfur, profitably. These days the margins of production are such that the money Venezuela got drunk on have become a fraction of what they were. Sanctioning Venezuela seems at best kicking an opponent that is already beaten by its own limitations.
2
Remember how previous interventions went: Iraq and Libya a mess; Ukraine more corrupt and poorer than ever. It is easy to demonize another country. It is a lot harder to make it better. In the long tem it is nearly always better to let countries have their own process.
Guaido won't bring democracy to Venezuela. Before the people go to the voting booths he will have arrested all the important Chavez supporters - alleging corruption, abuse of power and whatever he can think of. If that doesn't help enough he will just forbid the party.
The US side won't improve things. It is led by Abrams who led the failed coup against Chavez in 2002 that had a very undemocratic agenda. A guy who has been involved with death squads and who well might deliver us the next Pinochet.
5
It’s always time to do the right thing. Those opposing support for a starving populace do so in support of evil not good.
Firstly, I thought we were done with Banana Republic Diplomacy and trying to support Tin Pot Dictators. Leave it to the Trump Administration to come up with such an odious plan. Secondly, I was in Curacao this year. The refinery there deals exclusively with Venezuela and is nearly idle. Evidently, they owe so much money to Curacao that Venezuela can no longer afford to have their oil refined. A senseless move by our President.
2
Before the U.S. tries regime change in other countries, let's remove the Trump regime, get rid of massive secret legalized bribery to our representatives, and stop giving corporations the rights of Citizens.
We need to get our own house in order. Messing with Venezuela will not help the people of Venezuela.
13
I keep reading about how the Maduro's administration in Venezuela has crippled the economy because of its leftist government, but how much of that crippling is the direct affect of the 4 plus -year-long US sanction?
7
As much as I sympathize with the Venezuelan people and wish the monster Maduro had put their best interests before his desire to cling to power, I cannot help but feel disgust with the hypocrisy of our own administration jumping into the fray feet-first, by calling for regime change. If Trump and Pence were really that interested in democracy and human rights, the past two years would have seen them trumpeting these views long before now.
2
@Leslie Fatum Trump and Pence and previous American Administrations have been working on the destabilisation of Venezuela for a long time. They desire to install a right Wing Dictator who will favour American Imperial interests. Remember Pinochet and the murderous campaigns in Central America.
5
Regime change again? When was the last time a U.S. backed regime change made a government better?
1945.
From imposing the Shah of Iran, Nixon ordering Kissinger to "make the economy scream" in Chile before installing a mass murderer, to creating Al Queda in Afghanistan, to killing 4,500 U.S. troops and half a million Iraqis in a war based on lies, to the failed state in Libya, U.S. led regime change has been one long blood bath of unmitigated failure. We installed Noriega in Panama then took him out, and Panama us still corrupt.
How did regime change in 1950 North Korea turn out?
We already did regime change in Venezuela, and it resulted in mass kidnapping, torure, and murder, and a failed capitalist kleptocracy.
The term banana republic comes from global fruit companies taking control of countries, with the help of CIA, and using state terror and paramilitary forces with impunity from persecution to overtime the will of the people for corporate profits.
Trump never met a dictator he didn't like, but suddenly he, and corporate media are treating a coup or invasion as an inevitability. Trump is a corrupt, lying, thief, but the media is just repeating his talking points like fact. This morning CNN called the losing presidential candidate the "interim president!" Since when does CNN get to decide who Venezuela's interim president is?
The corruption that exists in Venezuela is a direct legacy of U.S. regime change.
Experience means nothing if you f don't learn from it!
9
I fear the day when the WORLD believes that it is time for a regime change in the USA. No power / country remains at the top forever.
May God have mercy on us.
1
Hurt the people some more. I’m sure they’ll come around and love us. Everybody loves us,
don’t they?
3
Way to go! So Venezuelans can now "eat cake" ??
2
You will notice that John Bolton (which by the way was nowhere to be seen in Vietnam) never denounced the brutality, the corruption and looting of their people by the dictators of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Well what can we say. USA needs the Saudis against Iran and the Palestinians and the Trump organization has business in Saudi Arabia and Egypt but not in Venezuela.
2
Venezuela is a beautiful country with beautiful beaches, Andes mountains, the Orinoco river, with unique animal life and plants. It has the potential to be a totally stable economic country. What prevents Venezuela from being a great country is the red communist government it has. Please don’t be nice and call Venezuela a socialist country. Those living in the capital of Caracas even have a problem buying daily toilet articles, bath soap, even food. Even children are dying from hunger.
Cuba is still a red communist country and in 2016 (barack hussein obama) paid a visit to Cuba and was seen hugging communist Fidel Castro.
Our country must learn from the fractures of Venezuela, WWII German Nazi empire, the Roman empire, and the Greek empire and other countries where the people gave too much power to their central government, and latter regretted their action but could do nothing to reverse their horrible future. Total freedom to do whatever you want is a fictitious crystal ball dream. Nothing is free, not even freedom. Everything has a price to pay.
2
Every time I read about "regime change", it makes me shudder. Shudder to think of the suffering in whatever country we've chosen to intervene in, and what the motivation might be. In the case of Central America, it always seems to come back to what financial profit or profits are at stake for American business interests. Will it ever be possible for our country to evolve to a new national mindset that doesn't result in such harm?
7
I think any effort to remove Maduro should be brought through the UN General Assembly. This would provide a precedent for a mechanism to use non-military actions by various countries to end regimes that do not satisfy the broad sense of understanding of governance adhered to by a majority of the nations of the world.
There really does need to be a discussion on this.
The effect would, however, be to push the people of the country, through sufficient suffering to overthrow the government themselves.
1
The U.S trying to force regime change... what could go wrong?
This administration does absolutely nothing that is not in the financial interest of Trump personally or his friends/allies. So you can bet that profit motive from other oil companies (hello Halliburton) is part of this equation.
2
The sanctions were easy to come by - there was an entire box of spare sanctions behind the President's desk from the several times in recent weeks he removed sanctions from his Russian masters with whom he is Definitely Not Colluding .
1
WAR. WAR. WAR.
The Con Don, Netanyahu, Putin and all the other supposed "strong men" want WW3. The Con Don is stacking his administration with war mongers and democracy destroyers. They are ramping up chaos and anger around the world.
Are WE THE PEOPLE really going to sit idly by while they try to destroy OUR lives and world again in their demented power wars?
This is what happens when 42 people control over half the wealth of the world. They use their inherited/stolen wealth to play WAR games with OUR lives.
WE THE PEOPLE are the only ones who can/will stop them and NOW is the time.
https://thinkprogress.org/oxfam-inequality-report-ab3f596312b1/
3
"The move marked the first punitive step by the United States to force Mr. Maduro to give up power since the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, declared"
The first "PUNITIVE STEP" by the US to force Maduro to give up power.
With what right does the US meddle in Venezuela, how does it differ with what Russia did in the US elections?
7
@R. Littlejohn, the US is not meddling in Venezula - yet. The US government has every right to impose economic sanctions on bilateral trade and freeze assets, as it has done with DPRK, to help to bring down a ruthless dictator.
Liberals have to suck it up and admit Trump and senior advisors got one right. If Trump starts sending troops there that's another story, but I'm not at all surprised Bolton is fired up about that possibility. At least his steno pad didn't read, "Nuke Caracas?"
1
Seldom is there a good guy and a bad guy in these regime changes. Usually what you have are two bad guys, and picking one seems to lead to no end of problems. You'd think we'd learn. What we need, what the world needs is a paradigm shift in human thought that takes us beyond petty politics and wars. It appears impossible, but if we are to survive as a species, this sea change in human behavior must occur.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a linguistic "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
2
Is it too late to ask for regime change in the United States? Asking for a friend.
23
Just another diversion by this Administration. Trump lost on the wall, more of his associates are being indicted, and Mueller will continue his investigation regardless of Whitaker comments about it wrapping up.
And all these sanctions will do is give more of a foothold in Venezuela with China and Russia.
4
The move to overthrow the elected government of Venezuela demonstrates that the USA is not committed to democracy, and should raise the question of whether or not we are ourselves a true democracy.
In May of 2018, some 9 million Venezuelans apparently went to the polls to vote in the Presidential elections. In spite of the severe economic hardships gripping Venezuela at that time, President Maduro was reelected with close to 68% of the vote. In the USA, neoconservatives and neoliberals were dismayed by the outcome. Now, many neoconservatives and neoliberals, in both political parties, either openly or quietly support President Trump's moves to overthrow the Maduro government.
The NY Times, along with other mainstream media organizations, seems to tacitly support this Bolton-Trump coup. The Times has long referred to the Venezuelan Presidents as dictators, even when they were freely elected by large majorities. But then, the NY Times has frequently aligned itself with intervention. This is unfortunate. In encouraging the worst instincts of President Trump, the Times is helping to convince an ever more informed US electorate that Democracy is rigged. True dictatorships, like those in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, can count on our support. Elected governments attempting to address inequality within their own borders are likely to suffer economic sanctions, boycotts and asset thefts, designed to destroy their economies and overthrow their governments.
13
@John McCarthy: You got a very good point to that I would add that the USA has no lesson to teach about how to conduct an election. We found the following: suppress the vote legislations, corruptions thanks to United Citizens, long waiting hours before you can cast your ballots, secretaries of states supervising their own election, equipment vulnerable to hacking or out of date and changes to the States constitution if your side lost.
5
@John McCarthy The US was never committed to Democracy.
Maduro was elected, so was Allende and Chavez and others in Nicaragua. For almost a century they have tried regime change in Cuba, doing all they could to destroy the Cuban economy as they are doing to Venezuela now.
The US has supported every brutal right-wing dictator worldwide. Democracy is good for propaganda, nothing else. Socialism is the enemy, economic competition is the enemy as in China and the EU. It is all about control of resources like oil and markets. Venezuela has oil and Bolton said so. The oligarchs in Venezuela work hand in hand with the oligarchs in the US.
All wrapped in the cloak of DEMOCRACY for the poor people in Venezuela after the oligarchs destroyed their economy.
7
@John McCarthy
Yes, you would think that the NY Times, or at least its readers would have learned from the run up to the Iraq War, when the NY Times kept putting Bush's lies in the headlines, while burying all the evidence that his statements were lies in the international section. I give the NY Times credit for having the proof in the international section, which is more than most news sources, but the NY Times and the rest of global corporate mass media sold us a war based on lies for corporate profit.
If you are not Venezuelan and only know about Venezuela from what you get from corporate media, don't assume that what you are being told is true. Mass media lies by omission. There is more to the story.
I don't know if Madurai is good it bad. What I did know is most Americans don't know either, but far too many want a coup our even a war, anyway.
A hundred years ago William Randolf Hearst said he could start war using his news paper, and then proceeded to start the Spanish American War, which led, among other things to the massacre of Philippinos and to Castro in Cuba.
Don't be manipulated into violence.
2
Funny how this regime is suddenly promoting Democratization after the two-year long love fest with every anti-Democratic, authoritarian, Right Wing leader on earth.
Oh, I see! Venezuela has oil! And soon they will also have an anti-Democratic, authoritarian, Right Wing leader who will make Venezuela safe for corporate domination.
The lie here is that this has anything to do with the “people” of Venezuela.
17
It is not made clear if, or whether, any of the oil profits benefit the people of Venezuela. Knowing how rotten the socialist government is, the answer is probably: No.
It is clear, however, that any change of ruling regime would improve the life of Venezuelans. Any change.
If the oil embargo addresses these issues, then the SJWarriors should cheer Trump's actions.
But they will just keep on whining.
2
@boroka
You say you don't know the answer, but you run with "probably."
You definitely don't know the future, but you go with any change would be better.
Even Trump now says that thee Iraq War was a "disaster" bases on lies. But he backed it then, and I bet you did too.
Going for the most extreme solutions you can think of based on incomplete information and obvious lies led to 45,000 dead or wounded American troops and half a million dead Iraqis and created ISIS.
THINK
OK, if they don't get the money for the oil why do they keep delivering any oil (frankly, on cui bono basis, this bit seems set up to get CITGO gone as a competitor).
What I hope for is the Venezuelan Government sets out ground rules for engagement with "protest marches". Saying of course that peaceful demonstrators have nothing to fear ("we are a democracy, after all") BUT, that anyone attacking police/military OR Government property or essential economic infrastructure will be dealt with Maximum Force.
Since US overthrow game book always included seeding some gun men to take potshots at authority in order to create a massacre of innocents. (Specifically the Venezuelan Gov should say, unlike in Ukraine, cops on the line will keep their sidearms, in order to deal with firebombers coming ...)
The Government should strongly suggest "if you see a gun, a bomb, a Molotov cocktail- get away from there quick! (and of course a dirty trick is then to seed crowds with agents Provacateurs who from time to time scream GUN! to set off panic)".
Isn't it odd that the potential satraps, who would carve up the spoils, in the "opposition" have not been named to Guido's "cabinet"? Maybe, as hejpumped the gun, and set the crown on his own head- which was not in the script- there is a question of success, and some of his allies are hedging their bets /
mass street protests? Well we all remember how millions of people taking to the street ended the Viet Nam adventure. In 1967...
1
@M. J. Shepley The CIA knows what to do, they are experienced hands in handling such conditions. They are well organized. Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Venezuela all have oil, and Trump did say we just get their oil, it is ours, not word for word but the meaning of it anyway.
@R. Littlejohn
Wouldn't give up on Chavismo yet...
I am a bit surprised Maduro has not come out with "where's Guido's government? Who's Minister of Defense? Or Interior? Or Treasury... oh that's right, he doesn't want to say John Bolton's Defense, MIke Pompeo Interior & Jared Kushner Treasury...Trump may get to select puppet Presidents in Columbia and Brazil but Venezuelans are too smart and strong...etcetc"
@M. J. Shepley
of course we could go full tin foil hat.
The real point is to cut Venezuelan supply of Gulf Coast refineries engineered for heavy sour crude. So they need the Tar Sands, and the trains must run, then the Pipe gets built.
Meaning the folk betting on the Pipe have dropped a few million in chips in Macau ("A" will get that where it has to go) or have invested in a Tower in Doha...
Which is worth sacrificing year's of black budget networking down there for...
Trump can not solve the problems in the US and now he and Bolton are off to Venezuela,
So here is how it's going to play out... the Venezuela military steps in, promises elections at some future date, takes more money out of the country and then flees with billions.
4
@Kevin Bitz or the US ends up in control of the oil for Exxon and dutch petrol, that is more likely.
For almost 30 years, every administration has tried to put a puppet government in every country with oil. We have used political excuses, wars, economic pressure and sanctions to obtain regime change to make sure that we own and/or control the world's oil.
We have destroyed societies, their people, culture, and cities to do so. The ruins we have left in the wake of our successes like Iraq and Libya and our failures, like Syria and Venezuela do not bother the big oil men, the big oil companies or the big bank accounts in NY, Texas, Washington DC, etc.
We have even murdered and destroyed what was left of our native Americans for oil (read the incredible, non-fiction book KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann for an incredible close-up.)
Oil is the ugly black stain on America and has been for a century. Venezuela is just one of the latest and ugliest chapters.
9
There is something off about these Venezuelan sanctions, and choosing Guaidó over Madero. Innate skepticism about any Trump administration choices, plus the adamant far right support of John Bolton and Marco Rubio, engender suspicion.
The US has sided with a self-proclaimed new leader against an apparent dictator. Little is known about Guaidó.
The sanctions are all about oil, to squeeze Venezuela's broken economy, and maximize profits. The U.S., not known for cleaning up its messes, probably will not provide promised food and healthcare to the suffering masses.
The U.S. is in this for the oil. It's interesting that the only oil companies not sanctioned to trade oil with Venezuela are the 3 U.S. refineries located there, plus the American oil company Chevron, along with Halliburton and Schlumberger, two large American oil services providers.
Mexico is not "on board" with the sanctions or the new leader...they're suspicious, too, and seek a third way.
In the meantime, Venezuelans will continue to suffer, while rich American oil barons continue profiteering from Venezuela. No one knows what Guaidó will do; he's not even elected.
The biggest beneficiaries, U.S. oil companies, are not lifting a finger to help, e.g., setting up food and healthcare facilities. To give aid would diminish their bottom line, and frankly, neither they nor the Trump administration care about the plight of Venezuelans.
9
@LilouThe Democrats too are part of the game. Not a peep of criticism from them either. When it comes to foreign policy they are alike, maybe a bit more discreet, no more.
1
It's about time that maduro creep is put out of commission. On the other hand, no wonder Kasoggi has been given a blind eye...
This is a waste of time, we send the Marines in, we would have control of the country in three days, then we can install a proper government, no need for all of this...
@There Like in Iraq and Libya and Iran and Syria and Egypt and all over Latin America and the rest of the world. We only want the best for the people. We do know best what is good for them.
@There
Been listening to Tom Lehrer?
@There
70 years ago we followed that advice and North Korea is sill building nukes.
Violence always seems like the simple solution, but always sets of uncontrollable chains of events that boomerang and hit you in the back of tree head.
Three days? Iraq is coming up on year 14!
Go read about U.S. foreign policy in South and Central America for the last fifty years and how we supported corrupt dictators using mass kidnapping, torture, and murder then tell me it can't get any worse.
Trump distraction alert: Start a war then say the war justifies an emergency wall AND you won't notice Roger Stone or Mueller-will you?
Time to resign Trump. The never ending lies need to go.
2
Good work by Trump and some of our allies like Canada.
Maduro will not give up power through "talks" with his adversary like the Mexican diplomat suggests.
He will go screaming in the night like all others in that position.
The people there are starving and do not have access to basic needs.
There truly is an emergency at the border: the Venezuelan one.
5
@Ari
How does not paying Venezuela for their oil help people who are starving because the price of oil dropped?
The U.S. has been attacking Venezuela economically since Chavez was ELECTED.
U.S. led regime change in South and Central America has a long history of backing mass kidnapping, torture, and murder. I have read the declassified documents that prove it. A CIA torture manual was even found. Whatever is going on in Venezuela pales in comparison to what we have supported around the world for decades.
Suadi Arabia is also mostly very poor. The have a monarch who beheads and dismembers his own people, women are not considered adults, but wards of their husbands (or even their sons), and they are terrorising the People of Yemen from the air causing mass death and starvation.
Even though they are the leading exporter of terror propaganda around the world and supplied most of the 911 hijackers,, we were still supporting the Saudi regime and selling them weapons.
Whatever the reason that Trump wants to overthrow the president of Venezuela, it had nothing to do with justice, morality, or helping the people of Venezuela.
If the U.S. is going to change a regime, let's start with Trump.
1
@Ari and created by the oligarchs in Venezuela and the US. We do have oil corporations doing business in Venezuela, lots of oil in the ground there, and it is ours.
I don't believe America should be the world's policeman. I think America should stay out of other countries affairs and we should take care of our problems first. Even thinking about military intervention, is sending the wrong message to Venezuela that America wants them to change their behavior.
13
We have waited too long for this response in Venezuela and as a result too many have suffered for too long. It has been the same with trade with China and other nations, we have waited too long before holding them accountable for their actions on stealing IP. And internally, we have ignored the skyrocketing debt due to "entitlements", but it eventually will get so bad we will take action. Why must we always wait?
2
Might be a good idea; might be a bad idea. We have not always had good results when we decided to facilitate régime change. Sometimes it looks good in the short term, e.g., Maduro goes, but the new guy(s) turns out to be a problem making us rue the opening support (USA initially liked Castro over Batista, supported the Mujahadeen fighting the Soviets - the former were the seeds of the Taliban & included Ben Laden - we supported Sadaam in the Iraq-Iran war...).
Beyond that, I wonder what Trump's motives are. Given that he has never, ever really cared about human rights he likely has not suddenly grown a great big heart for the people of Venezuela. Is this a move to keep them from migrating north? Is there some financial advantage? Is this an opportunity to look tough, in charge, and like a world leader at a time when he looks increasingly weak and ineffective at home? Who knows.
19
@Anne-Marie Hislop
Have we ever had good results with regime change anywhere at anytime?
9
@Anne-Marie Hislop
Trump probably wants more migration from Venezuela, because he needs more excuses to shut down the government.
The last time the U.S. did successful regime change was WWII, and we had no choice.
The evidence shows that South and Central America (not to mention the Middle East) face rampant corruption because of, not in spite of, constant interference by U.S. intelligence agencies and global corporations.
We spent decades helping dictators kidnap. murder, and torture any citizen of those countries that dared to demand their governments serve the people instead of global corporations.
To see the raw declassified intelligence that proves that I am correct, go to George Washington University's National Security Archives.
To see the evidence plus interviews with many of the major players, condensed into thoroughly researched narrative form, that shows how the shocks from natural and political disasters have been used to remake political-economic systems around the world to benefit global corporations, not citizens, with CIA and the University of Chicago Economics Department leading the way, read Shock Doctrine.
The phrase."economic shock treatment" was coined by Milton Friedman, hero of the "Chicago Boys," as they are called, and eyes to using national shocks (including U.S. backed coups) to change government policies while citizens were to dazed to stop them.
1
@Daniel Our history of regime change is rather mixed, but it does seem to have worked in Germany and Japan. Some African countries have taken steps to improve.
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“We think a third way of a peaceful solution can be found,” she said. “Mexico has offered and is willing to help to find a solution if both parties agree on that. It is up to the Venezuelan people to solve the situation in Venezuela.”
Clearly, Maduro and Guaidó need to be talking. That should be the purpose of any action taken by the U.S.
The U.S. has no legitimate purpose in imposing regime change on the country.
The extreme danger is that a provocation takes place that invites reprisal by force, which has happened elsewhere. If an outside power were interested in triggering a civil war, that appears possible. A civil war would be fundamentally counter to U.S. interests. A civil war could serve the interests of extremists and powers interested in weakening the U.S. as a global power. A civil war would set Venezuela back by decades and result in millions fleeing the country.
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@Vid Beldavs Venezuela has already tumbled back decades and millions are already (and have been) leaving the country.
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So I can't say that I feel this is bad or the incorrect response given the information in the article. This action might actually be something this administration does that I approve of.
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@Jim
I don't always believe what the NYT says. Remember Judith Miller?
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@Jim "Given the information in the article". Which was written by the US State Department with amply support from the CIA. When was the last time US intervention worked out? Iraq maybe, Libya? Oh, sure there was Syria and Yemen. Nicaraguan intervention only led to the creation of the dictator Ortega. As Madura said recently the bad old days of Gringo intervention are over. Once too many people see the strings being pulled, the puppeteer's days are numbered.
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@Jim
The U.S. media is beating the drums of war again, just as they did for Iraq, a war based on lies, that killed 4,500 U.S. troops and half a million Iraqis, and cost trillions of dollars.
There are two sides to this story, but the only side we are being told is Trump's side. How much sense does that make?
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