World's largest proven oil reserves.
Located in Western Hemisphere.
Marco Rubio, 29 August 2018: “I believe that the Armed Forces of the United States are only used in the event of a threat to national security. I believe that there is a very strong argument that can be made at this time that Venezuela and the Maduro regime has become a threat to the region and even to the United States.”
John Bolton tweeted 25 Jan 2019:
"Pleased to hear that my good friend Elliott Abrams is rejoining State as Special Envoy for Venezuela. Welcome back to the fight."
Elliott Abrams, "assistant secretary of dirty wars."
https://www.salon.com/2019/01/28/trumps-axis-of-evil-are-john-bolton-mike-pompeo-and-elliott-abrams-plotting-venezuela-coup/
Mike Pompeo, UN Security Council, 26 Jan 2019:
"Now, it is time for every other nation to pick a side. No more delays, no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you're in league with [President Nicolás Maduro] and his mayhem."
Countries (about 50) maintaining recognition of Nicolás Maduro includes China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia and Syria.
Countries (about 50) recognizing Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela includes US, Canada, Brazil, and many in the EU.
Bernie Sanders, 21 Feb 2019:
"I think the United States has got to work with the international community to make sure that there is a free and fair election in Venezuela.. (US) must not use military force and intervene again.."
Republicans = War over oil.
1
We could have helped
Too late especially with our despot president dictator trump in the mix.
The Venezuelans will Rise Again but many will die.
And we here must realize trumps militia will wage a coup and we are in essentially a civil war
All sides threatening to fire guns at people on hit lists and entire populations.
Yesterday’s news and trumps response as usual sides with nationalistic white haters class!!
Resist!!! Our leaders are not going to help us.
That is why it is a coup!!!!!!!!
Protect our Fourth Estate. Protect Truth
1
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.
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
Seems to me that the Venezuelan military is trying to defend its borders against a hostile foreign attempt by the US to overthrow its government and install a more compliant one. Violent incidents will be increasingly fomented to provide justification for an actual invasion. Yeah Brazil, with its new fascist government all too willing to help the evil Empire.
5
Venezuela has oil, a lot of it, America could care less about the people. Be honest.
6
Whatever dictatorial form of government has been practiced in Venezuela, it has NOT been Socialism, despite Donald Trump's specious and mendacious mischaracterization.
Socialism is a PEACEFUL and NON-COERCIVE form of government, unlike Communism (which misappropriated the term "Socialism" for its own misuses), unlike Fascism, and unlike Nazism. We look to nations such as Sweden and Canada for examples of Socialism -- which are not and have never been dictatorships whilst under the Socialist banner.
Do not confuse peaceful, noncoercive Socialism with the despotic criminal syndicate that has been running into the ground what once was one of the most economically robust nations in South America. No Socialist nation would ever starve its own people in order to preserve its misruling elite who are nothing but criminals.
2
Ahhhh, that irrestibly alluring Socialist promise: “Put yourself in our hands, we’ll take care of you”. But when the dream falls disastrously short, the economy crashes, people can’t get basic necessities, then begin to starve to death, out come the tanks and guns—to keep The love affair alive. It’s like the jilted lover, who takes a partner hostage—to prevent them leaving. The East Germans built walls (yes,they work), to keep its citizens from leaving.
There is only one thing that can restore Venezuela—the reinstitution of free market capitalism. Yes...it might create a few millionaires or (gasp) billionaires, but at least there will be reliable electric service, food on store shelves, and medical supplies in the hospitals. And yes, there will be some poor people, (there always will be), just not as many as there are now. Seems like a small price to pay.
And for all of you “Socialism descends into dictatorship” deniers—who shout, “this ain’t OUR BRAND of Socialism!” —do you really think Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, or Maduro intended to become tyrants? Do you think they ever imagined it could go so wrong? Well...Socialists never do.
Socialism’s leaders are never prepared for the arrival of the Yellow Vests—or the need for tear gas. After all, they started with good intentions— to take care of us—just like every Democrat currently running for President. Shame on us if we ever let them. Our military is well trained—and will show up with the very best weapons.
4
This is about oil....Putin's hands are all over it... Trump just does what he is told....
1
5 will get you 10 that it was the CIA.
2 killed at border? That's the headline?
Not tens of thousands killed by starvation?
4
This is what happens when socialism fails....
4
Let's send Ocasio-Cortez down there to live for a while, so she can get a first-hand look at the kind of chaos her kind of policies cause.
4
US major press reporting is shall we say, "incomplete." But that's ok, because others are helping out. Here independent journalist Max Blumenthal goes shopping at the supermarket in Caracas, see for yourself how the shelves are stocked and what exactly is the problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=mbXqGiNlWWw
2
This time.. Let's go in and take the oil..
Maduro and his cronies need to be arrested and shipped off to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
2
I doubt a C-17 engine was being revved up. One: it has no accelerator. Two: the engines of a jet aircraft are not have their power suddenly increased and decreased. Three: is not “revving up” an informal terms of speech and has no place in a story published by a major newspaper?
1
There is no products crisis there is a costs crisis, and it's because we tanked their currency with sanctions.
"Investigating Venezuela's 'humanitarian crisis': Max Blumenthal tours a supermarket in Caracas":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbXqGiNlWWw
3
“Egregious violation of human rights by Maduro and those who are following his orders will not go unpunished”, said a man who represents a President who ordered innocent children ripped from their parents arms and then had them incarcerated. A man who then had these same parents deported. Many, never to see their children again.
So, please, remind me again which country is being run by a despicable, inhumane, ethically bankrupt man with the heart of dictator?
By what right does a moral sleazebag like Donald Trump condemn anyone, anywhere?
3
Once again, following in the history of many "once agains", the United States is pursuing a path to igniting a bloody civil war. The talent this country has for undermining any kind of due process and creating instability is as disgusting as it is predictable. Action to help the people of Venezuela should have come through the UN or the OAS. WE are the real villains and criminals here as WE have been so many other times. Our failures are always bloody, always massive, and always needless.
Grow up America!!!
3
The US Gov and CIA is up to its old tricks again toppling another democratically elected president to install their authoritarian stooge to the bidding of oil companies and Wall Street to further the neoliberal economic class war bombing campaign against the poor and working class to serve the ruling elite, bankers and corporations.
Just like Chile in 1973 when Nixon and Kissinger installed that butcher blood thirsty General Pinochet and then Reagan in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and even all the way back to 1953 when Kermit Roosevelt and the CIA installed their favorite butcher The Shah!
This is absolutely disgusting and there is no opposition party to stand in the way of the war criminals like Elliot Abrams and his death squads and Bolton and his sweaty lust for blood and oil.
Pelosi and the rest of the Wall Street drones in the Democratic Party cluck their approval, click their heels, and give these butchers cover.
Funny how there isn’t a way to vote this type of foreign policy out of Government...
And we call ourselves a democracy and think we promote democracy, freedom, liberty and peace. What a complete ruse.
10
The economy and wealth available from Venezuela’s natural resources have been destroyed by self serving politicians. The people of the country are desperately seeking food and other basics. Yet many comments here - simply to take a cheap slap at President Trump - are defending this dictator and his Russia backers who are intentionally harming millions of Venezuela’s citizens.
5
If the US was really interested in providing humanitarian aid they would have gone through the International Red Cross, not an opposition political party.
If the US was interested in a peaceful resolution of this crisis they would have accepted the offer for mediation from the Pope. Even the Maduro government has offered talks with the opposition which have been refused at the direction of the US.
The Citizen's Committee of the Defense of the Constitution, an opposition group in Venezuela has proposed a peaceful resolution. They have been ignored by the US and the American media.
Why? Because the rule of law means nothing to those who simply wish to seize power, especially the power that controlling Venezuelan oil would provide.
Trump may recognize Guaido as president, but the Venezuelan people have not. To unilaterally install him in office is no less corrupt than anything Maduro has done.
The US has a choice. Do we support democracy and free elections, or do we support a puppet regime whose goal is to seize power for the oligarchs and sell off the oil industry to American capital?
The Venezuelan constitution provides for a referendum in between presidential elections. Let the people of Venezuela vote to keep or remove their president and if they vote to end the Maduro government, let it happen lawfully and peacefully.
This current plan for regime change is illegal, dangerous and will result in the unnecessary loss of innocent lives.
4
While the president trumpets a familiar theme against "socialism" he hits a discordant note. The evil is dictatorship, and conflating socialistic programs with totalitarian regimes is an old Conservative theme to distract and attract voters. Ironically, it is Trump who inches us towards a dictatorship. Sadly voters only want to hear the tired talking points, eschewing any actual critical thinking, and the leaders know this a prey on ignorance.
2
My wife and her family are Venezuelan; she was born and raised there. The level of ignorance and utter stupidity in 95% of these comments is amazing. Did you people miss that Maduro forces opened fire on a group of peaceful indigenous people? Have you missed the stories of the Maduro terrorist gangs that go around the country abducting, torturing and murdering people who oppose the government?
And you want to talk about “weaponized aid”: in Venezuela you wither support the government or you don’t eat. You vote for the government or you lose your job and are blacklisted for life. And to the people saying the US sanctions caused the economic crisis: did the US nationalize every industry and business, from agriculture to food production to manufacturing to oil, and run every single one of them into the ground, run every single privately owned company out of the country? Meanwhile I’ve seen with my own eyes Maduro officials flying first class to NY, while food prices double every 3 days and their countrymen starve. And let’s not forget that this is a narcostate. The generals are running drugs and everyone knows it. The first lady’s nephews were convicted of trafficking 2 years ago.
I abhor Trump with every fiber of my being, but he’s right on this one. Why he’s right I don’t know and I don’t care. We are doing the right thing here. My mother-in-law lives with us because they have no food and medicine in Venezuela. Defend that. These people are STARVING to death.
4
Is this the US backed regime change that is being done for the "right" reasons? Forget Chile. Forget El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruaguay, and Cuba. This time the USA (and its complicit allies) has only honest intentions.
Never mind that the bridge in question has always been closed. Never mind that this aid is attempting to cross the borders of a sovereign country illegally (and you would think Trump would be a little bit weary of promoting illegal border crossings). This is honest to goodness being done for the good of the Venezuelan people.
This is such a manufactured ginned up crisis by aging relics of the Regan and Bush (Sr. and Jr.) that being unable to see through it is only possible if your eyes are closed.
1
Trumps motives regarding the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela have nothing to do with alleviating that crisis, but everthing to do with oil.
It is a Trojan horse to gain access to the worlds largest oil reserves in the world for his oil buddies.
This crises needs to be dealt with by honest players.
1
In 1933 as a terrible famine raged in Ukraine and mothers tried to give away their babies, so they would have a chance to survive, Stalin refused humanitarian aid from the West, calling it an imperialist ploy. He was supported by many “liberal” Western intellectuals whose devotion to their ideology blinded them to human suffering. Nothing has changed. Another socialist dictator perpetrating a genocide of his own people and another coterie of craven “liberals” supporting him because they hate capitalism more than they love humanity.
3
Of the many articles and opinion essays about Venezuela, this and the article about the refugee diaspora (3,000.000 and growing) are most important because they limn the human cost of Maduro's criminal vainglory.
Inasmuch as the President and John Bolton don't believe crimes against humanity should be prosecuted internationally, I hope democratic Latin American and European governments which support the Juan Guaido presidency will refer Maduro to the International Criminal Court. Like former Yugoslav war criminals, Maduro should be charged and tried for the massive suffering he has inflicted on Venezuela's people.
I have no idea how the events of today unfold but I hope Venezuelan security forces refuse to fire on their fellow citizens and permit Venezuelans to get access to the food and medicines they must have to survive. If not, I expect the U.S. and the many Latin nations which support Guaido's legitimacy have a Plan B for semi-clandestine introduction of relief supplies. . Drone drops in public squares. barges to deserted beaches. riverine drop offs, whatever.
Absent a bloodbath by Venezuela's military, war should not be the default option if Maduro's thugs prevent relief from getting through today. Many who support Guaido's legitimacy dislike the Trump administration's saber rattling. Trump's hackneyed "all options are open" lacks clarity. A coherent public explanation of administration policy is needed, at home and abroad.
2
Maduro's time is up. Now it is only a matter of the number of lives it will cost to free the Venezuelan people from this tyrant.
5
I am seeing more propaganda agents working this story than I have seen since right before the midterm election. Don't believe anyone who says the UN and the Red Cross are denying there is a crisis. The folks making those claims are most likely Cuban, Russian and Chavista propaganda agents trying to prop Maduro's incompetent dictatorship up.
3
These socialists lost control of the situation and now are using violence to regain it. Russians are backing up the maduro’s regime. Venezuela is the now the Syria of the Americas. All countries in the region must address this problem ASAP .
Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders: what we see in Venezuela is socialism in its final stage! It starts with a promise of free stuff and ends with blood.
3
The members of the military behind this atrocity will pay a heavy price after Maduro leaves office -- in a coffin or a jet ( to Russia?)
4
I guess this is strikes another blow against socialism in America's sphere of influence, not to mention the oil.
Brazil--and now Venezuela. Look out Mexico.
2
I've got a good solution to Maduro's little social problem: "Build a Wall!"
On the one hand you have blowhards like Richard Branson talking about "white roses" and acting like his publicity stunt is actual humanitarian aid; on the other you have astute commenters like Roger Waters who understand what U.S. intervention means. Waters also knows a thing or two about walls.
Of course 95% of the U.S. media coverage is skewed to Branson contingent.
3
We seem to have completely forgotten the enormous humanitarian crisis in Yemen and for which the U.S. is complicit by its support of Saudia Arabia. What is happening in Venezuela is terrible indeed but coverage of the crisis in Yemen shouldn't be ignored. I would have expected more from the NYT.
1
I, like many if not most Americans, am confused by this ideological battle being played out at the expense of the Venezuelan people. Bad governments run by bad leaders known for their lies and authoritarian tendency’s make it difficult if not impossible for democratic solutions. It’s hard to trust Trump and his managers with this confrontation since it’s so obvious that the humanitarian needs will be exploited for political and ideological gain. Same for other outside powers.
Perhaps the best path forward is for Guiado to gain the support of the military and find a real power transition without blood or retribution and work towards a true democratic base that takes advantage of outside support but is not controlled by the self centered interests of those forces.
I wish the US government had a more trustworthy leader to navigate this difficult and dangerous crisis. Our democracy is not a good example for those struggling against corrupt authoritarian leaders at this moment.
12
Trump is on the right side of this argument, but basically by default. This has nothing to do with socialism, which is an economic system. It has everything to do with Maduro being a horrible dictator who does not understand how to govern. In typical Trump fashion, he is using a horrible humanitarian crisis to win points with the American right-wing. This lack of education and evidence in the GOP is stunning, but I have come to expect it by now.
10
Do not confuse an economic system -- whether socialism or capitalism -- with a political system. Authoritarians can arise in either.
13
The Berlin airlift required almost 20,000 plane loads of supplies a month to feed a population 1/15 the size of Venezuela.
The combined 400 tons in supplies from the US and Brazil provides less than a half-ounce per Venezuelan. Then what?
6
How appropriate, Elliot Abrams, the butcher of Latin America appointed as special envoy by Trump to this farce at the Colombia-Venezuela border-
And what about these writers. here who call Maduro a dictator. The last I heard was that a dictatorship does not allow a opposition, press , radio or t.v to function freely in opposition too the Maduro government
10
It’s very disappointing that such a prominent publication still refers to Mr. Maduro as the legit president and to Mr. Guaido as the oppposition leader. If you had done research with Venezuelan lawyers, it would have been evident that the legitimate president is Mr. Guaido, a fact that is reinforced by the recognition from the international community. Also, there is ample evidence that the military have been doing the drug trafficking through Venezuela to the Caribbean and the US (e.g. the nephew of Mrs. Maduro - aka Cilia Flores was already sentenced in the US for coccaine trafficking in conjunction with military). Thus, an intervention by foreign powers with the suspport of Venezuelans is the only way out of the narco-totalitarian regime that Mr. Maduro leads!
7
Trump sending Elliot Abrams into this as U.S. rep shows what is really happening. He's a criminal who never had a problem with violation of human rights as long as it was against the communist take-over of San Salvador, Nicaragua, or Guatemala. Trump is making a another reality show that he thinks just might work against creeping Socialism.
Maduro has been blaming all of his problems on the gringos for years now. Trump is just proving him right.
Venezuela is hitting bottom, but great care needs to be used and nothing done in isolation by the U.S. We have made way too many costly mistakes in South and Central America and have usually only made matters worse.
7
The U.S. imposes sanctions on Venezuela. The U.S. flies aid to Venezuela. Does the U.S. know what the heck it is doing?
Well yes it does. It is a despicably cynical strategy to manipulate an end result in Venezuela that fits tidely into Trump's, Bolton's, and Stephen Miller's philosophy to squash the world beneath their collective thumbs. To equate the aid with humanitarianism is beyone the pale. These men aspire to be lords of the earth as in "The lord giveth and the lord taketh away." They forget the rest of the verse: "Naked (they) came into the earth and naked (they) will depart."
5
Sit back world and watch the US neocon Regime Change machinery do its stuff. They have been going from country to country over the years honing their craft. They are getting pretty good at it.
6
If the Trump Administration really wanted to delver aid to the people of Venezuela, they would just load transport planes with food, medicine, and toiletries, and drop them over Venezuelan cities and towns
Billionaire Richard Branson owns airlines and even a 'Spaceship Company.' I'm sure he could deliver aid if he really wanted to.
According to SOS Bolton, the Trump Administration is blocking $7 billion in oil payments we owe to Venezuela and is planning on blocking $11 billion more over the next year.
How does this help the people? Are they delivering $7 billion in aid?
I've seen the U.S attack the economies of too many countries over the last 40 years, with the goal, not of helping people, but helping global corporations. Trump has no credibility.
And from Forbes: "American sanctions provide an opportunity to re-route PDVSA’s the roughly 500,000 barrels of crude per day it produces to the Indian and Chinese markets," says Siddharth Aryan, a Director of Energy and Infrastructure at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). "In the past, Venezuela has agreed to make payments for the oil in Indian rupees that had allowed both countries to [effectively] bypass U.S. sanctions. The most recent slate of sanctions by the Trump Administration may provide a similar opportunity to India and China."
I have a hypothesis that Trump keeps talking about Russia to distract from his relationship with China. Maybe this is why Maduro is the only dictator Trump doesn't love.
3
Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela...
10
@BK
And? Those are four situations that are more interesting for their differences than for the common thread of the US projecting power overseas and coming up against the limits of that power.
3
Millions of Venezuelans are fleeing or have fled Venezuela because the Maduro government has completed the destruction of the national economy begun by Chavez. You don't have to be a fan of Trump (I hate the man) or ideologically inclined in any way to find that there is a humanitarian disaster underway in Venezuela. The last thing I want is for Maduro's removal to be seen as a win for Trump or to be used as a cudgel with which to beat the Democrats, but there is a larger issue at hand. The Maduro government needs to go for the sake of the Venezuelan people. It's as simple as that. Then you can work to see that Trump and the oil interests don't take over.
6
Trump blames socialism for Venezuela’s problems. I assume he considers Most Nordic states to be socialist as well. He doesn’t complain about those.
The problem in Venezuela is the same problem most failed states have had: corrupt leadership that consolidates power and wealth and doesn’t care about the people. That situation is not a concern to Trump, but rather an objective.
4
While I applaud US attention on the plight of the Venezuelans (however belatedly), why aren’t we helping the Yemenis who are also starving because of our support of the the Saudi regime? Is it because Venezuela provides the current administration with an opportunity to disparage their new bogeyman for 2020 - socialism? Are Americans once again going to buy into fearmongering from the GOP?
5
This is not only about humanitarian aid. This is a very important effort to oust a dictator committing genocide, Of course, the humanitarian aid is needed desperately but what will fix the problem is calling to democratic elections and start the very painful road to recover the economy.
This humanitarian aid is the trigger for the events to come. Maduro will not leave today. Unfortunately, there will be more than 2 killings.
The one thing Trump got right.
3
@Aurace Rengifo
“Unfortunately, there will be more than 2 killings. The one thing Trump got right.”
What???
I really don't care where Trump's alleged heart and head are. Humanitarian aid to Venezuela is necessary.
Chavez created a utopia in which all rights were revoked, and everyone was guaranteed equal opportunity to be poor ... just like his ally in Cuba. The Venezuelan people need help.
4
@Sequel Not everyone was poor though. Some animals are always more equal than others.
I agree the Venezuelan people need help. I just don't think the United States is the right country to ask for help.
The ideal outcome would be that the profits of the oil industry were divided among the citizens of Venezuela, like a universal basic income.
Most wars start for legitimate reasons of outrage over actions of a misguided leader or two. Wars appear to be the only solution for the moment to rectify all the ills of the day. However, war widens like wild fire and takes the participants in unchartered directions.
Forcing the humanitarian aid on Venezuela does not solve the evils of socialism or the excesses of a dictator. Remember that there is a substantial fraction of the population that supports the dictator and his philosophy.
Now that other regional actors like Brazil, Chile and Paraguay are busy at work, the US may not want to meddle with Venezuelan internal affairs in the guise of forcing the so called humanitarian aid upon them or challenging the election results.
This is time to sit back and let the events take their own course. The Maduro government and its communistic ideology will implode. The US may choose to send aid when there is a regime change brought about by such an implosion.
2
This is a profoundly cynical exercise. The US has been engaged in a prolonged campaign to sabotage the Venezuelan economy of which the sanctions regime is only the most recent chapter. This in order to promote a political crisis for the purpose of forcibly removing Venezuela's elected president from office. Then they staged this circus of delivering aid to the people their policies hoped to agitate. Now two people have been killed.
Guaido is not the president of Venezuela, 80% of Venezueland disn't even know who he was 2 weeks prior to his self-appointment.
There are real problems with the Maduro government, but the claim that it is illegitimate is tendentious. The opposition demanded an early election and then split over whether to participate or not with the jailed leader of Guaido's party calling for a boycott. Turnout was low, but Maduro's 65% of votes cast is not in serious doubt. His share of the total potential electorate is roughly the same as that received by Obama in 2012. There were some irregularities reported, (mainly the distribution of groceries near polling sites to get out the vote) but none that compromised either the secret ballot or the validity of the count. Say what you want about Hugo Chavez, he modernized and secured the voting process to make Venezuela's on e of the most transparent in the world and nothing Maduro has done has seriously compromised that.
4
“ … struggle over who can claim to be the country’s legitimate leader.”.
There is no doubt; current President Maduro is the legitimately elected leader of Venezeula and is so recognised by the United Nations.
It is true that the United States is trying to achieve ‘Regime Change’ in Venezuela. However, the fact that the USA is the most powerful country in the world does not mean President Maduro is not legitimate.
The American Empire has a long history of bloody regime change in Central and South America. This attempt will result in a bloody Civil War.
5
This isn’t about democracy or the people unfortunately! It’s really about the oil there. The people are caught in the middle of the conflict between oil interests in the US and Maduro who probably represents whatever oil interests he uses to sell Venezuelan oil. That’s what this is really about. This is a manufactured crisis by the sanctions. The Trump administration doesn’t really care about democracy there, as evidenced by Trumps embrace of people like Morsi in Egypt or Duterte. You just have to feel sad for ordinary people, cause they’re doomed either way!! They’re simply being used.
2
This is what happens when you try to use humanitarian aid as a political weapon. Innocent people get killed.
It's the US economic sanctions against Venezuela (aka: economic warfare) that are causing the shortages of food and medicine. The same strategy Kissinger used against Chile under Nixon. The same economic warfare the US uses against Iran and North Korea. Creating mass suffering in an innocent population because you don't like the ruling party.
End those sanctions, and Venezuelans will solve their own problems.
Get the US out of Venezuelan affairs, NOW!
5
On the one hand we could blame socialism. On the other, would the lurch towards socialism have taken place without extreme corruption prior to the Revolution? Doubtful. VZ was a toxic mix ready to explode. See Iran for an example. What to do now? It is in the hands of their neighbors. Besides sending humanitarian aid we need to keep out of it. We only spoil the milk if we dip our holier than thou Yankee toes in.
2
From the time of the Spanish the people of Venezuela, black and Indian and mixed, have lived under the thieving tyranny of the whiter Spanish descendants. The government has been consistently despotic and the upper classes have stolen and abused whatever they could. The tragedy of Chavez and Maduro is that they could have combined overthrow of the whites with rational economic development and they failed because of a narrow vision. Now that the US is, practically speaking, a minority majority nation the notion that US influence is just more white imperialism does not hold (considering the Trump phase as the last gasp of dying white majority). The US will have a black female president in the near future. The US should demand a referendum in Venezuela and give US citizenship to all Venezuelans. Contrast the development of Texas and California, both oil states that were Mexican, with the development of Venezuela, Veracruz in Mexico. The lines at the border tell us that the common people of Latin and Central American would much rather be in the USA. Unlike the current migration situation where the migrants are coming without resources and need to be supported by the commons, if Venezuela, or Mexico, for that matter, were integrated into the US the US could free itself from under the oily thumb of the Muslim dictatorships and have the resources to provide a decent standard of living. Minorities are just as impacted by the mideast oil tax.
Does anyone seriously believe humanitarian aid is a Trump concern? He has stated he wants their oil. He will use the dire situation in Venezuela for his political advantage, as well. He is using the excuse of the failure of a "socialist" government to instill more fear in his few remaining followers and steer US voters away from Democratic candidates who embrace elements of socialism. Military intervention will be his ultimate distraction. Watch for the timing.
2
It shoud be obvious that "humanitarian aid" is being used to set up a violent border confrontation that can justify military intervention under the "Responisbility to Protect" doctrine of the National Endowment for Democracy and employed by the Obama administraration in Syria. While being fully backed by the neocons within the administration, it's lasting effect is to force President Trump to not only betray his stated oppostition to regime change, but also his often declared respect for sovereign borders. Such aid could easily be distributed through negotiated channels, and delivered in a non-threatening way, such as by air, as has already been done by Russia. Unfortunately, however, any
ongoing communications between Maduro and President Trump have been rejected by the White House. Moreover, it has been clearl stated that this is only the first step in Bolton's plan to overthrow the governments of Nicaragua and Cuba, setting up confrontations with Russia and China, thus having far-ranging implications for the president, his war-avoidance stategies, and "unintended consequences" for the nation.
2
It’s critical the US only provide humanitarian aid to Venezuela- no military intervention can take place - none. It’s up to the Country’s military- at some point there will be a coup - but America can not get involved under any circumstances.
5
If Trump provides food and medicine to starving people, the American Left concludes he is up to some “dark” plan to promote his “evil” agenda.
If Trump does not provide food and medicine to starving people, the American Left would conclude he is being a racist.
I voted for Clinton. But with each passing day, thanks in large part to the far left New York Times, Bernie Sanders and AOC lunatics, I find myself moving more and more towards the Trump side.
As another commenter said... There’s a reason much of the world population wants to live in the (capitalist) United States such that we have walls up because we can’t take in everyone who wants to come in. Meanwhile, such “socialist paradises” need walls to keep their people in.
The United States is the best country in the world. Despite some negatives associated with it, capitalism, and dreams to make one’s life better, that can be fulfilled with hard work, is what got us here.
14
I live in Sweden, one of those so called “socialist paradises”.
We have no walls, period.
But we do have a minimum of 5 weeks paid vacation, a modern infrastructure, free education, full healthcare and paid child leave for both parents up to 16 months.
We also have a strong capitalist economy and no deficit.
You were saying?
4
@ABC123
Don't use your antipathy towards the Far Left as an excuse to re-elect Trump. Help get a better Republican candidate nominated.
1
The real purpose of this "aid" is confrontation. The more casualties the better. Those casualties will then be used for international propaganda and to antagonize the Venezuelan people against Maduro. It is a classic color revolution strategy.
The incident at the Brazilian border suggests that Maduro isn't well prepared for this.
2
Trump's crude power play instincts have turned even the humanitarian aid effort into a humanitarian tragedy at the Venezuelan border.
2
Many comments here suggest that humanitarian aid to Venezuela is being manipulated by the United States to the detriment of the Maduro government, and express more anger at these imputed political motives than at the economic disaster created entirely by Maduro’s socialist dictatorship, even when protestors trying to get food and medicine through a blocked border with Brazil are killed by Venezuelan military police. Such comments ignore the collaboration of several Latin American countries, Chile, Colombia, and especially Brazil which has extended huge humanitarian aid on its own, without US prompting, to alleviate the misery of refugees crossing the border. Aid is not the exclusive responsibility of the United Nations or non-governmental charities, as some comments erroneously assert. Natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods have prompted immediate help from foreign governments to prevent the spread of starvation and disease, and Venezuela’s un-natural disaster of criminally bad government has provoked a similar state of emergency. These comments also lack any degree of compassion, and sound just like the cynical, shrill propagada spread by Maduro himself.
68
@Michael George
First, the Maduro government is not a dictatorship. It is an elected government. Maduro won a contested election. Half of the opposition boycotted because their preferred candidate, Leopoldo Lopez, was barred from running because of his involvement in organizing political violence. But the election was contested and Maduro won. Ther is no serious question as to either the privacy or security of the votes or as to the count.
Second, it is impossible to know to what degree Venezuela's present economic difficulties are a result of its own socialist policies and to what degree they are a result of the US-coordinated effort to sabotage the economy to promote political instability.
What is obvious to all independent observers is that the US campaign which was conducted clandestinely before Obama initiated sanctions, has been a muscular one that has inflicted serious costs on teh Venezuelan people.
Like many oil producing countries, Venezuela is highly dependent on imports. US sanctions have seriously disrupted Venezuela's access to imports of food and medicine on which it depends.
25
@Michael George This collaboration of some South American regimes is hardly evidence of Latin American enthusiasm for US regime change in the region. Not to mention that quite a few of those leaders - such as Bolsonaro - came to power in rather dubious circumstances in which the US played a major role.
11
@Christopher
The truth is quite simple: the people of Venezuela expressed their will at the latest parliamentary election and it has been thwarted by the authoritarian Maduro regime, backed by China and Russia. In 2015, the opposition won a 2/3 majority in the National Assembly. It was subsequently nullified by a corrupt judiciary controlled by Maduro. Having finished his presidential term in office without holding free and fair election, the National Assembly, acting in accordance to the Constitution, appointed an acting President to enable a fair election validated by the international community. It is as simple as that.
It’s quite unfortunate that the corrupt Trump administration has been allowed to take the lead in forcing a resolution of the Venezuelan political crisis. Neither the Church nor the political left in Latin America have been able to face the challenge.
The vast majority of the Venezuelan people, and almost all the democratic countries of the world, support the restitution of democracy in Venezuela. The corrupt Venezuelan military leadership is the only remaining impediment for a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela. They are the ones holding the key to prevent a bloody outcome to this conflict.
Do not believe the hypocritical calls for peace and dialogue. These two words have been abused and devalued by the Maduro regime, remote controlled from Havana to protect its oil interests in Venezuela.
JB
10
Guaidó is young, idealistic, and, I believe sincere. He has galvanized Venezuelans en mass to openly oppose the corrupt dictatorship of Maduro. Initially responses to the hope of change can make people elated and excited, but can also blind them to the realities of the difficult the road ahead and what the consequences will be if Guaidó and the opposition succeed.
My biggest worry, and it should be theirs as well, is the very real possibility of an insidious take over of Venezuela organized by the deceitful, deadly trio of Bolton, Abrams, and Pompeo. These guys are right wing war mongers who live in the past and have only American interests at heart. I hope Guaidó has intelligent advisors around him who are firmly warning him about this every single day before they get in too deep with American intervention which ends up to be yet another violent coup.
I believe this humanitarian aide stunt is a mistake that could escalate to violence and even civil war. If that happens a military dictatorship ( probably American backed) will surely emerge and the Venezuelan people will again be the losers.
38
@Gwen Vilen The 'humanitarian aide stunt' is intended to result in a violent and bloody Civil War.
Abrams track record in Central America is proof positive of how he goes about his murderous business.
8
@Gwen Vilen
This post sounds like it's from RT (Russian TV) - anything American, anything Trump, is by definition sinister. Foreign aid becomes a "stunt."
Rallying South America's legitimate leaders and verbally supporting an emerging Venezuelan presidential alternative with us only providing humanitarian aid is an ideal strategy. So far this administration has so handled the Venezuelan crisis brilliantly. Far more professionally than last administration with its "hit and run" in Libya, draw a "red line" and run in Syria, or the "turn the other cheek" in Ukraine.
4
@Gwen VilenI disagree wwith you. There are literally millions of people fleeing Venezuela to Columbia and elsewhere. There is malnutrition among those remaining, and misery. Humanitarian aide is never a stunt in such circumstances. Fight the politics later, get the food and medical supplies to the Venezuelan people now.
3
It is disheartening but not surprising to see that even in the darkest hour for Venezuelan people, who have now to suffer not only impoverishment, hunger and oppression, but also murder, American leftists still cater only to their ideology. A large number of comments to this article are busy explaining how it’s all the fault of the US, or playing semantic games about what socialism is.
Of course, Venezuela was Socialist when the Chavistas were giving some hand-outs while pocketing the bulk of the oil money. When the economy went into a spin and the oil money dried out, the American left discovered that Venezuela is ruled by corrupt kleptocrats.
That’s the perennial contradiction of the left: it always wants to make the world a better place but couldn’t care less about the people who make up the world.
8
Its actually an act of blatant journalistic negligence to not report the fact that the UN and the Red Cross have both described the aid as political motivated and have refused to participate in it, and that the paltry aid flown in today is literally nothing compared to the billions of dollars in gold and assets the US and Britain have seized from the Venezuelan government, their refusal to allow Venezuela access to capital and financial markets, and the continued economic warfare they are waging against the country.
10
@Patrick
Amen.
@Patrick
So maybe dictators should not put their money in US or British banks.
The “billions seized from the Venezuelan government” ? You mean the money to which access was denied to the self-elected dictator Maduro, so he would stop paying his death squads and lining up his pockets and those of his accomplices ? The money that went to the interim president recognized by most of the Latin-American countries ?
1
The US is wrong for encouraging civil war in Venezuela. Maduro still has a fair number of supporters and any sort of armed conflict will result in thousands of deaths and a huge refugee crisis that could reach America. The US needs to stay out.
2
Richard Branson started complaining about peak oil in 2015. The first peak oil book came out in the 1990s. So he's a bit late to the show. While the Saudis pretend to have a lot of oil, the peak oil book said that they would be running out and that Iraq and Iran had the largest unexplored oil reserves in the world. Well, lots of oil was stolen from Iraq and Syria. It was probably channeled through one of the regime change flash mob's corporations to be sold on the international market. But the Russians pretty much ran ISIS out of Syria.
Now Branson has his own oil exploration and refining company. Why do you think he's promoting regime change for Venezuela?
3
The people voted for the socialist promise of an even more just and better future. Now they have a quasi dictatorship no food no medical, no freedom. And can't get rid of socialism.
5
The corruption of the government has nothing to do with socialism.
I wonder if those who criticize socialism as the problem ever think about criticizing the misery caused by corrupt governments in capitalist countries.
Richard Branson has started his own petroleum company Virgin Oil And he has taken Saudi investment money. So he has joined the flash mob of regime change scam artists who hope the profit from the disorganization inherent in overthrowing the legitimate Venezuelan government.
5
if trump is for it, there is a good reason to question it.
12
Many commentators seem to need to pick a side, yet none of the actors in this face-off are worthy of defense, except the people of Venezuela. Maduro is an immoral, corrupt despot (whether of the rightist or leftist stripe is immaterial); Venezuela is a failed state, its people hungry and sick. AND Trump's deployment of humanitarian aid is a provocation and a ruse. He is indifferent to human suffering. His geopolitical dealings are crudely transactional and badly informed; ousting "Socialist" Maduro is a convenient way to give U.S. companies control of Venezuela's oil economy. Putin, Rosneft and Gazprom wait in the wings. When we stood by while Maduro stripped parliament of power and attacked peaceful protestors in the streets, the game was up. The United State's record in South America denies us any mantle of credibility (enter Elliott Abrams). This is a powder keg threatening to become a proxy war for oil.
10
As usual, the blame America first crowd is out in force. Of course, were Obama still president in identical circumstances all would be well and praised. Petty politics.
9
@George S
100% predictable. If Tump cured cancer, they would find that the cure is contributing to global warming and that it should not be considered a success for him because not every single living person in the world can be cured.
2
Who is the legitimate ruler of Venezuela? Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó give different stories to justify themselves. In a monarchy such as Saudi Arabia, they have a different story. In America, King George or Washington, Trump or Clinton? -- again different stories. If, ignoring all the stories, we asked, who's entitled to rule the rest of us in reality, the correct answer is, no one. The rulers might be better than us -- wiser, wealthier, nobler, paradigms of ethics, expert tweeters, handsomer -- but are no more entitled to rule you than anyone else.
As Sting of The Police told us in 1980, "Poets, priests and politicians have words to thank for their positions, words that scream for your submission ..."
2
Why did Donald Trump get involved in this? Even he must know that his involvement gives Maduro an opportunity for a honorable stand against the big USA bully (both the person and the country). Trump could have left the international face to the presidents of Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay -- at least they are Latin American.
This show in Cucuta comes off as "I'll make a big show, a grand demonstration of my international leadership and then the Prime Minister of Japan will nominate me for a Nobel Prize."
2
Despite the rhetoric of Mr. Trump, and of many NYT reader's, the current political and social confrontation in Venezuela has absolutely nothing to do with "Socialism". Mr. Maduro is a dictator, period. Political ideology is, for him and others like him, simply a vehicle to gain and maintain power, nothing more. He, and Mr. Chavez before him, have done everything they could to strip any semblance of Democracy from the political system, and to completely undermine the separation of powers and the rule of law on which all actual Democracies depend. Mr. Maduro is corrupt, violent, and completely indifferent to the welfare of his people, and to the institutionality of his State. He needs to go. The economic crisis was absolutely not created by US sanctions, but by the horrible inefficiency and waste created by the incompetence and greed of the Generals appointed to run the State oil company as a payoff by Mr. Maduro to keep them loyal, among other, equally idiotic, economic policies.
That being said, the US should be taking a back seat, at best, in the efforts to restore Democracy, a reasonable economy, and to provide needed resources to the Venezuelan people. The vast majority of Latin American States do not recognize Mr. Maduro, and the lion's share of the work of getting rid of the Usurper should be left to them.
49
All Socialist regimes that do not have the strong brakes of the civil society end as dictatorships. If nobody pushes back strong enough, why nationalize a few industries when you can nationalize everything ?
6
@Peter Wendell
The US will not take a back seat because they view this as an opportunity to gain control of Venezuela's oil.
@Peter Wendell Maduro is a corrupt leader hoarding power. There is no balance of power at the top. It is the opposite of democracy. (Warning to the U.S. of the importance of maintaining the balance of power, a free press and unfettered democracy -- corruption is a clear and presnt danger).
When there is such corruption concentrating power and money into a few hands without a fair and equitable economic system for distribution of the coutnry's wealth, it is the opposite of socialism. It is criminal activity, organized crime, racketering.
Its corrution has left Venezuela vulnerable to being torn apart by outside entities eager for its oil wealth.
4
This so called Humanitarian aid to Venezuela reminds me of the visit of our Ambassador Ford to Homa in July of 2011, I just hope I am wrong and the Venezuelans do not face the same fate that of the thousands of Syrians.
I do hope that the UN SG would do the right thing and stop this madness and force both parties to negotiate and back down.
26
@Wizarat The Secretary-General of the United Nations has no authority over anyone. He's just a bureaucrat. Let's hope no one uses force on anyone. Let them fight it out in concerts.
1
@John Smithson
Battle of the Bands!
1
I believe talking to North Korea is the right thing to do... and we should have diplomatic relations with Russia... and with regards to Venezuela, I'm inclined to support the opposition...
I just don't want Trump to handle any of these. I don't trust him to order his own breakfast. The jury is literally still out on whether or not this guy is bought and paid for by Russia... that means every action he takes must be viewed from the standpoint that Russia approves of that action and thinks it will hurt America.
Sure, Russia backs Maduro, but that doesn't mean they don't want America to further divide itself locally in support polls and militarily by fighting in two hemispheres. I think Russia gains more than it loses if America intervenes in Venezuela militarily. Maybe they do... maybe they don't...
I just don't trust this administration to give it to use straight and to not use the situation to somehow better themselves, even if at the expense of America or national security. None of us should.
21
Socialism and autocracy are completely opposite in meaning. One cannot be the other. The ridiculous thing in calling a county that claims to be socialist, but acts autocratic means that that country cannot be defined as socialist, it literally has the opposite meaning. So I am unsure as to why the Trumps propoganda machine continues to suggest this narrative when most of these countries that had a socialists they claim to be socialist revolution, are in fact being lead by autocratic dictators. In the same way communism has never been implemented in the way Marx wrote it to be. That's why it's called Maoism, or Leninism or whatever else they manipulated the teachings to be to justify dictatorships. Leaders have for a long time now, claimed to look after the poor, claimed to redistribute wealth, claim to care about the ones missing out, to be voted in or sworn in after civil revolutions on this premise. Only to become the autocratic authoritarians they portrayed as evil in the first place. Yes I am describing Animal Farm, but this is also true. It is also not in any way the meaning of socialism or communism. So one cannot call autocracy, socialism. Just because someone says they are something, does not mean it to be true. Just look at the self proclaimed genius in the White house.
51
@Alex I just wonder whatever happens to the problem of the toilet paper that was a big problem several months or perhaps years ago and apparently it is not a problem anymore? If it is no longer a problem perhaps they should apply the same solution a what is happening now. And by the way is there any dictator in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Finland?. Are there any millionaire and or billionaire in those countries? I think there are both.
1
Socialism leads inevitably to autocracy, because it calls for radical, traumatic changes around which it is impossible to build a consensus. Socialists either water down their ideas to find a compromise - that’s social democracy, a version of capitalism - or they use “all means necessary” to implement their ideas: lies, theft, murder, genocide.
5
Alex. Your hypothesis is deeply flawed. Socialism in action depends on who is doing the Socializing. Let’s see, didn’t work so well in Russia, Cuba, and should I continue? Cue the NYT echo chamber to shout me down here and illustrate how well this works in some countries (Denmark is not socialist - ask someone who lives there). Capitalism wins every time and has relieved human suffering a thousand fold more times than the shared misery of socialism.
4
This is just the latest shameful development in a crisis that has largely been promoted and stage-managed by the US and some of our clients in the region. After torturing Venezuela with years of sanctions, we are, yet again, working to foment a coup and using "aid" as a weapon to bring down a government our own rulers despise.
The list of US interventions and misadventures in Latin America, already disgracefully long, just keeps on growing.
28
@Douglas can you please specify what are the years of sanctions that you speak about? There were no sanctions to the country or government, until a few weeks ago. We've been struggling for 10 years now, the last five being the worst.
6
Maduro, Putin, Trump, Orban, Jong-in, Jinping etc.
Western democracy is under siege by men who believe themselves above those that are actually better than them. Democratic values have been sundered in these places where high powered men with immense egos act like spoiled brats on this ever-increasingly, smaller planet.
There is plenty of wealth to cure education, global warming, poverty. The money is there. It is there in the rich getting ever richer. But it is getting ever more difficult to pry away the hands of clinging and grasping rich men and power brokers who want only for themselves.
And yet, I have hope. With Cohen giving more testimony against the Trump Crime Family and the house going democrat, with Europe taking America’s place as the bulwark against dictatorships and tyranny and, as well, making England feel the bitter taste of their chauvinism, there are some good signs. Democratic values have to be fought for. It is not easy to fight monied interests but this fight is taking place by liberals in America, Canada, Australia, the UK and Europe.
There is great anticipation that Guaido takes the reins of power from Maduro and helps turn Venezuela into a country of greater democratic values. It is my wish he is successful.
16
@Tom,
You wrote, "There is great anticipation that Guaido takes the reins of power from Maduro ... It is my wish he is successful."
Exactly what Trump wants, too!
4
What Trump wants is to be able to proclaim a victory over socialism, in favor of unrestricted predatory capitalism, and to receive a Nobel peace prize.
It's blindness to attribute a humanitarian motive to a man who has contnuously demonstrated that his main interest has always been his own ego, and who leaves behind him a trail of people he has manioulated and defrauded.
Socialism is working fine in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, The United States (where our entire agricultural system is 100% pure socialism) and many other countries around the world. When has Venezuela ever had a stable political situation? Not under US supported governments and not under governments not supported by the US.
36
@DSD That is an absurd statement. None of these countries is socialist. In fact, the Prime Minister of Denmark gave an interview recently where he explicitly stated ‘we are not a socialist country.’
They are, in some cases, ‘social democracies’, although most of them (eg, Britain, Australia, Japan, Germany) are not even governed by Social Democrat parties.
Social Democracy developed in Germany, after Bismarck unified the country, in opposition to Socialism. They espouse a free-market economy, heavily regulated and taxed by the state in order to finance a welfare state. This is not socialism! Do your homework, at least read some Marx or Lenin, and stop spouting such nonsense.
14
@Observer
You can hardly blame DSD for the comment. You are correct of course, but this is a highly propagandized country and excess reaction must be understood. The contempt with which Trump and the GOP view our 'allies' is an example of what they feel is 'socialism'. Nothing more than their corrective reaction to the destructive effects of laissez faire capitalism.
2
I hope Mr. Trump finds it in his heart to also send a large food convey to Yemen. The UN has not declared Venezuelan children starving, while Yemeni children have been.
If Mr. Trump is truly concerned about starving innocent infants, then why is he treating Yemeni children differently? So far the only thing Yemeni children have received from the US are bombs that are dropped on their school buses and their hospitals.
38
@Eddie B. Dead children in the number of about 85,000 mostly from the curable disease (cholera) very inexpensive using a formula developed by a very smart American doctor (should have won a Nobel Prize for Medicine long ago) and the formula cost about 10 American cents a dose, but this is a mind-boggling to figure out why not.
1
I read the comments and shake my head. People seem to be so blinded by their Trump hate that they cannot think straight. Three million people have fled. That would be the equivalent of 35 million people fleeing the U.S. to escape Trump. The U.S. has not sent troops. They have not armed the opposition. The U.S. has sent medicine. The U.S. has sent food. Maduro would rather see his people starve and die. I have seen no one who is knocking the U.S. and, in effect supporting the dictator Maduro offer any solutions. It is easy to knock things, but, I would for once like to read a comment suggesting a rational path that would actually help these starving, fleeing, dying people. I am open to listening, but, the if Trump is for it I am against it stance does not offer anything in this situation.
61
@Robert Perhaps this kind of humanitarian aid should be implemented in Haiti, especially the birthrate that about 20% to 35% of maternity beds of the hospitals close to the border with the Dominican Repubic are occupied by women from Haiti at not expenses for them nor their goverment and some more if you are traveling using the international road (incredibly bad road) you are exposed to be assaulted by a horde of people begging and you have to stop so you do not have accidently hurd or kill some of them and then even more people appear from nowhere and, and, and, someone figure out what is next.
5
Trump is blowing his own horn over Venezuela in order to rail against "socialism." A victory in Venezuela would feed his huge ego and his defense of free-market, predatory capitalism.
He cares nothing for the suffering of people in countries that he cannot criticize as "socialist."
2
You can be for the right thing but for the wrong reasons. And despite the fact that Maduro needs to go, it is obvious that Trump does this only because it helps him with exile Venezuelan voters in Florida. And to create a “battle against socialism” to distract from his home crisis.
1
Venezuela in need of foreign aid.
Strange state of affairs when one considers that Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves. The second largest are in Saudi Arabia. But therein lies the rub. The world's largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, is Saudi Arabian. Venezuela doesn't have an oil company in the world's top ten
So - Venezuela - are the problems caused by socialism or exploitation by foreign oil companies?
7
@Mike Edwards
PDVSA was once a great oil company, until Chavismo happened. Look it up, I think the NYT has a couple of stories about it.
BTW Venezuela nationalized it's oil industry in the 70s and Citgo is Venezuelan.
3
@Mike Edwards. I think Venezuela has an oil company and it is called Petroleos de Venezuela, Sociedad Anonima PDVSA for short. I sincerely hope I am correct.
It seems that Maduro is doing the same thing Trump is - except there really is an emergency in Venezuela. Trump has no moral authority to criticize anyone.
7
While right-wing countries build walls to prevent people from entering, leftist countries build barriers to prevent people from leaving.
15
Place the blame for this where it should go....with the US sanctions/ embargo that have crippled Venezuela for the last few years.
This is the definition of terrorism.
12
Unfortunately, recent global events suggest that violent, unrestrained, and relentless destruction of one's own civilian population is a successful method of quelling dissent.
4
I guess that‘s what big media and the US gov have been waiting for. Finally some violence.
8
Non-governmental organizations and/or the UN should be in charge of the food and medicine relief. No nation, including ours, should use humanitarian aid to incite a popular uprising against the government of another nation, which is what seems to be happening. Many nations with different forms of government have gone through economic crises that result in food shortages for many of their citizens and disruptions of public services, e.g., the United States of America during the Great Depression. The citizens of nations in economic crisis must be allowed to solve their own political problems without interference.
33
@abigail49 The Red Cross and other NGOs have declined to take part in the relief efforts given the politicization of aid, which is being cynically used to fuel unrest. The Maduro government finds itself in a bind, carefully crafted by US politicians such as Marco Rubio and now the infamous Elliot Abrams. You are right in that humanitarian aid is being manipulated to serve other interests.
20
Where is the UN, then? Nowhere! Your faith in these organizations is misplaced.
15
Bernie Sanders quote, Aug 5, 2011
These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who’s the banana republic now?
44
I don’t think starvation and dead children are the American dream unless you’re a socialist and admire what’s happened in Carcass. Our poor people suffer from obesity not starvation. I for one would rather be poor and obese in a country where there were wealthy people than starving and everyone had about the same amount of money. How about you Bernie?
7
@T R Carr Bernie is right: Incomes in Venezuela are more equal than in the land of Horatio Alger. Everyone save for the ruling socialist elite is poor ...
17
@T R Carr
Let’s be very clear. What’s happening in Venezuela is due to CORRUPTION - massive corruption and an economy based on a single product - oil. When oil prices were high, they could bribe the people and buy their votes by making their lives better, better food, better health care, etc. AND still have plenty to steal. Feeding the poor didn’t break them, the stealing did.
The corrupt government never cared to grow the economy beyond oil, that would have taken time, work and left less money to steal. Of course oil prices fell and the money dried up. They still needed to buy votes and the allegiance of high ranking officers including those in the army and the stealing probably continued.
If we get close to Venezuela, it will be because of the corruption of the Republican Party and their billionaire owners.
12
NYT coverage of Venezuela has been atrocious. Yes the maduro govt is terrible but after the cataclysmic effects of our wars in the Middle East the US has no moral authority left on the world. The “crisis” created at the border is a manufactured stunt. That’s why the Red Cross is not assisting calling the aid politicized. We are one day away from fomenting a coup in Venezuela and no one is talking about the implications.
91
@Zach Medow Because the Red Cross in VZ is under the control of the Maduro government, that's why...
14
@Zach Medow
And there only ONE reason Trump “cares” - oil! That’s what the billionaires care about and Trump is their guy.
8
@Zach Medow spot on. It is disgraceful that the liberals so critical of Donald Trump and Russian meddling are now cheering on his violent coup against Venezuela, with the usual 'coalition of the willing' giving the facade of international consensus.
10
"The biggest potential flash point is the bridge at Cúcuta, Colombia, a major border crossing where the Venezuelan authorities have blocked the lanes with tanker trucks and fencing."
But I read a NYT article saying the aforementioned bridge has been closed years prior:
https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000006360134/venezuela-border-bridge-guaido-maduro.html
The fence there since 2017, while the containers for the last 2 weeks. So the aforementioned quote is inaccurate.
13
The US needs to stay out of this.
we are not the policemen of the world
36
@paul No, we're just the ones who exploit other vulnerable cultures. We are certainly not police by any means.
2
But I’ll take any help. You have no idea how bad the situation is.
1
Where in the world is the U.N.? It seems like they ignore this part (The Americas) of the planet!
31
@Stephen Where is the UN? Their busy criticizing the US sanctions as a big cause of the strife in Venezuela - and it's true.
8
@Stephen the UN and the Red Cross has criticized the US as politicizing aid.
A UN special rapporteur to Venezuela, Idriss Jaziary, said the following January 31 in a media release:
Sanctions which can lead to starvation and medical shortages are not the answer to the crisis in Venezuela... Precipitating an economic and humanitarian crisis... is not a foundation for the peaceful settlement of disputes — I am especially concerned to hear reports that these sanctions are aimed at changing the government of Venezuela [and at] the growing risk of violence and implicit threats of international violence.
12
@Stephen . That's the thing USAid is not coordinating or cooperating with the UN and The Red Cross. The Red Cross issued a statement on stating that the USAID Humantarian Aid is "politicised".
“We will not be participating in what is, for us, not humanitarian aid,” stated Colombia’s International Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson, Christoph Harnisch. "
Humanitarian action needs to be independent of political, military or other objectives," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York last Wednesday.
Currently, The Red Cross IS currently providing medical assistance under the pre-existing and recently expanded agreement with the Maduro Government.
So, the Red Cross and the UN are not participating in the US's USAID "humanitarian aid" because both organizations believe the US's aid is politicized.
12
Once again, as so many times over the last 500 years, indigenous peoples are being used as pawns by larger (white) political forces--and their treaty rights completely ignored. And yet not a single commentator thus far seems troubled by this, or even to have noticed it.
The Pemón people have lived on both sides of the Brazil-Venezuela border since long before either Brazil or Venezuela existed as states or even colonies. They have traditionally circulated back and forth across that border (and also in and out of what is now Guyana) at will, and largely had their needs ignored by the central governments in Caracas and Brasília because their region is so remote.
But now Maduro wants to make a political point, and the Pemón are his hostages. If he needs to kill a few to make that point, what does he care? They are just índios, with no rights. Except that they are guaranteed protections under international law, and their Macuxi and Ingarikó brethren on the Brazilian side of the border have every right to provide their fellow tribesmen in Venezuela with food and medicine.
I have just seen the video of the Pemón demonstrating in Santa Elena de Uairén and chanting "you are killing us with hunger." Rather than resort to violence, they have taken Gen. Montoya Ramírez prisoner--as is also their right as a sovereign people. I salute them and their forbearance and hope for their continued survival as a sovereign people
29
@Elmer Hopkins
Maduro himself is indigenous.
Hmmnnnn?? Closing the borders of Venezuela from "invaders" by an autocratic despot under the guise of "border security'' in an national emergency. I'm having a vague feeling of deja vu.
17
This unfortunately is just the beginning of I'm afraid a bloody battle between starving Venezuelans and a ruthless dictator.
18
@OldTimer
in pix the Venezuelan opposition look well fed,
certainly compared to pix of Haitians demonstrating against the corrupt US installed Haitian government
5
It is well known that Maduro is opposed by most Venezuelans. However there are many who also don't trust Gauido and others in the opposition. Gauido has aligned himself with right wing extremists like war criminal Elliot Abrams, Marco Rubio, John Bolton, and other Neo-fascists in the Trump Administration who are involved with Venezuela. This is why there are not enough Gauido supporters and military defections to topple the Maduro regime.
38
@Curt Bender- You claim that many Venezuelans don't trust Gauido because " Gauido has aligned himself with right wing extremists like war criminal Elliot Abrams, Marco Rubio, John Bolton, and other Neo-fascists..." I very much doubt that the 3 million or so Venezuelans who have fled their country because of hunger, disease, poverty, 1 million percent inflation, government crackdowns including killings of protesters and opponents of the dictator even know who Abrams, Rubio or Bolton even are.
1
Seized 1 general. Only 1999 to go.
2
The authoritarian governments of USA and Brazil need to leave Venezuela alone. Hasn't this country learned anything from the fiasco in Iraq!? Providing humanitarian aid is a farse, controlling VZ oil is the really intent here. And why isn't the media providing a broader perspective in this conflict? The Washington Post is acting cowardly, exactly like they did during the drum up to the Iraq war. True journalists should be telling the American people what this is all about: OIL.
28
@carmen - Do you have a way to let the people of Venezuela in on your theory. Because they are under the mistaken idea that they starving, lacking in basic medical care and have watched 3,500,000 of their fellow country men flee for their lives.
12
@carmen In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t get oil from Venezuela.
Who is the most dangerous person in the world? The person with nothing to lose? Praise to the heroes confronting irrational power. Hopefully Brazil will step in, too.
7
This is what Trump and the GOP are starting by not allowing the people to come and work on our farms which the Americans don’t want to do. I bet when Trump heard about the violence he was glowing. America has been started by immigrants and that is what made it great. A bridge is better than a wall.
6
Well I guess Trump is right about one thing - now we do have a crisis at the border.
5
In order to stay in power, there has to a lot of corruption. Why don't the people who want to bring in supplies split the supplies with the soldiers at the border? As the soldiers on the front line, they probably don't get the perqs of the generals. So, maybe for every 2 trucks the soldiers let in they get 1 truck of goods to sell or for their families. Don't be fooled, some of the supplies that go to the aide agencies will walk off or be sold, too, or horded for later use. These poor people are desperate.
There is no way we could invade that country. It is too big and mountainous. If Maduro and his gang want to be rebels in the hills, they could do that. I doubt they would as they all probably have nice villas somewhere.
3
This is a but glimpse into the future of human life if we don't stop climate change before it's too late, if we continue to allow the 1% tiny fraction of obscenely wealthy pathological humans to hold power over the rest of us, and if people don't let go of their insane and irresponsible medieval religious beliefs that have led to overpopulation.
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Here is a good summary of the Venezuela crisis by a former colleague:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tragedy-venezuela-how-tropical-socialism-destroyed-one-griffith?trk=portfolio_article-card_title
2
The authoritarian governments of USA and Brazil need to leave Venezuela alone. Hasn't this country learned anything from the fiasco in Iraq!? Providing humanitarian aid is a farse, controlling VZ oil is the really intent here. And why isn't the media providing a broader perspective in this conflict? The New York Times is acting cowardly, exactly like they did during the drum up to the Iraq war. True journalists should be telling the American people what this is all about: OIL.
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@Holly
This is what dictatorships do -- NOT "Socialists"
Madura is a dictator.
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@misplaced modifier.
yes, Maduro is a dictator resulting from failure of promises of socialism that folks voted for. now they have socialism a dictator but no food nor medicine.
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Nobody voted for socialism in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez said time and again that he was not a socialist before being elected. That grenade was launched after he had secured a new constitution giving him unrestricted power to do whatever he wanted. By that point, the cult of personality was so strong that his supporters went along with it — kind of like Trump. Twenty years later, with the country in shambles, most of them finally regret their blind loyalty.
There are an amazing number of Maduro's (and Cuba's) trolls on this comment page. They don't reflect American thinking. Americans want to feed the hungry and American charities (CRS) are raising money to do so, but the Venezuelan government won't let us.
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@Jonathan Katz
Oh please, many are paying attention and are well read on what is going on in Venezuela and other countries. If you want to help Venezuelans, lift the sanctions and allow them to renegotiate their debt. This appears to be another regime change operation.
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@Jonathan Katz
You don’t know any of that. You can’t speak for what intelligent Americans believe or what motivates the criticism.
I have no relations with Venezuela but I have experience with the Times and mainstream reporting on a different foreign culture, and I know that the American media can be guilty of hugely misinforming it’s readers and making them thing everything is morally black and white. I have been deeply frustrated to see the same uncritical, unnuanced reporting here. It is easy to look a bit further and see a much more complex story.
I read the comments for the nuance and big-picture thinking. I read it because I don’t believe that simple narratives like the blockade of millions of dollars of food for starving people reflects the many layers involved in such large political events. It is not at all about Moduro, whom folks here aren’t exalting at all.
1
I am 100% born and raised American and I agree with those comments objecting to starting a war in Venezuela just so we can rob them of oil. War criminal Elliott Abrams, now Special Envoy to Venezuela, is responsible for some the largest and most brutal massacres of families in Latin America so that the US could rob them of natural resources and because as in Vietnam Nam, we were afraid of communism. Don’t you dare tell me that the American way of thinking is not represented in these comments. BTW, we are U.S. citizens or North Americans, not Americans. All of these nations are The Americas.
These crooks we have running the country need a hot distraction of some kind as the walls of justice close in... I hope a little war in Venezuela isn't the solution but it seems possible. Senseless.
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I hope all the people in the NYT commentariat who are so blinded by their anti-Trump hatred, the ones that fail to see anything good about him and his administration even in this instance, will volunteer to deliver the aid to these hapless, starving Venezuelans who are being decimated by a sicko.
Otherwise, please at least have the moral decency to shut up and move along...
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Dystopia in Venezuela. And in Syria. And in Egypt. And in Myanmar. And in Afghanistan. And parts of Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine. And in the Philippines.. the list is growing. Psychotic suicidal behavior dots many nations.
Warming is undeniable. Damage to insects is seeeping the planet.
We are destroying the smallest living things.
Are we next?
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I think what everybody fails to see is the geopolitical implications. Essentially the world is divided into the 2 groups with 1 group being the US, EU, etc. (aka the west) vs. Russia, China, North Korea etc.(axis of evil). Venezuela (just like Cuba is) is being backed because of its proximity to the US. So while some are saying "what about Yemen, Palestine" etc etc...those countries are not even in the same hemisphere and have little to do with the immediate security of the US. Having Venezuela on the Chinese/Russian's side allows them to cause another Cuban missile crisis. They can be nearly right on our doorsteps with intermediate with intermediate range ballistic missiles...which Russia has been developing prior to Trump pulling out of the treaty. The reality is the instability of Venezuela is a national security threat to every country on its borders AND the US. So while I do not support trump...the current decision is the right decision...
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@Nova The instability is being compounded by the reckless support of this country to a right wingnut who showed up out of nowhere to declare himself president. Venezuela has the right to its sovereignty and to the control of its own oil reserves. Trump's humanitarian aid is a farse!
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@Nova
the current decision is the wrong decision
The US has been working hard since 2002 to oust first Chavez, now Maduro.
After the first US supported coup failed, the US has supported the opposition financially and with covert actions.
You might keep in mind that whatever the US does to other countries, it is fair for other countries to do the same to the US.
Russia only became involved after the US had so destabilized Venezuela, it needed help from whomever was willing to provide it.
useful reading:
https://www.salon.com/2019/02/15/inside-the-neoliberal-laboratory-preparing-for-the-theft-of-venezuelas-economy_partner/
https://grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/29/the-making-of-juan-guaido-how-the-us-regime-change-laboratory-creat
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@Nova No. More Scare and Fear tactics from the right Wing. Trump gave N Korea a free hand to build nukes; making the World less safe. Trump destroys NATO; which should be the one to intervene; if anyone.Trump does not get a free pass. Trump is in this to profit; himself or his rich buddies.
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Maduro's days are numbered. The Brazilian military could crush him and his regime like a grape. Don't think this provocation will be lost on the Venezuelan military generals.
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@paul Let Venezuela decide what is best for them. The Brazilian president is a far-right US puppet who has no business interfering in Venezuela. The US wants to profit from the world's largest oil reserves, learning nothing from the fiasco in Iraq. Shame on this country!
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@paul Many said the same about Bashar Al Assad.
2
Is there any situation any where in the world that US intervention can't make worse?
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@John Taylor
Flint, MI
11
Is there any situation where lack of US intervention makes things better?
4
How do you prove that a non-event caused a result?
Lifting the various US sanctions and economic blockade on Venezuela would quickly resolve many problems in that country. Such a truly humanitarian move, however, does not suit our cruel leadership.
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@Cord MacGuire So sadly uninformed...
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You clearly do not understand the Maduro regime-
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@Au Gold Uninformed? Explain!
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Venezuela has been accepting aid, from numerous countries. They have decided not to accept any aid delivered with American military vehicles: This is wise on their part. Aid has been used as a pretext for the US military to enter Latin American countries before: In fact, it has been done by none other than Elliott Abrams, who is a foreign policy adviser to the Trump White House, and is council to this operation in Venezuela specifically. Abrams, who was previously indicted for pulling this same kind of Trojan Horse operation (Iran-Contra) is very transparently trying to do it again. Maduro is wise to see through the trick.
Another factor here, which is of considerable relevance, is US sanctions, and how they undermine the idea that this aid is being offered with humanitarian aims. The Trump administration has rather explicitly said the sanctions are intended to starve Venezuela into submission. They wanted this type of unrest, and were willing to sacrifice the Venezuelan people to do so, to create an opportunity to slip in and perform a regime change.
Regardless of your opinion on Maduro, US led regime change in Latin America (and elsewhere) has always been disastrous. Respect Venezuelan sovereignty. It has never been about humanitarianism (see: starving people with sanctions) or democracy (see: propping up unelected, US friendly figures); it has always been about US hegemony. Hands off Venezuela, now and forever.
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@Derek
Your narrative ignores that all of S. America's major countries feel the same way the US does on this. While the US get the most press about here in the US, which should come as no surprise; Maduro has no real support among his immediate neighbors either. Nor Western Europe for that matter. Yes Venezuela is a sovereign country, but they do not exist in a vacuum. There problems have been spilling over their borders for some time now. It is only reasonable that the effective countries do something about it if Venezuela refuses to.
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@Still Waiting for a NBA Title
How did "doing something about it" by toppling the government work out in El Salvador? Guatemala? Argentina? Brazil? Lifting sanctions is doing something about it. Smuggling in weapons under pallets of aid, and installing US friendly leadership is promoting autocracy and mass murder.
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@Derek When a government starves or murders its people, it is time for outsiders to intervene.
13
Steve below is absolutely correct. Oil is the main objective, as Neo-Con Bolton said on Fox News - “It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies invest in & produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela.” In other words, we want their oil. In case you didn't know, Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the known world.
There are two other reasons why we're fomenting a coup de état there.
1: dropping the US dollar.
- Iraq dropped the dollar. We invaded.
- Syria dropped the dollar. We invaded.
- Iran dropped the dollar. We want to invade.
- Libya dropped the dollar. We invaded.
2: being a "socialist" in our own backyard. Can't have that…look at the evil Cuba!
And then there are the US sanctions - which are the main reason for the economic troubles. Not to say that Maduro has done a great job - he hasn't. But that’s what our sanctions are designed to do. They’re devised from day one to hurt poor & average people the most, in order to make them angry enough to rebel.
And of course, there is the North Carolina-based, CIA-friendly, private freight company 21 Air LLC that has made 40 secretive flights with arms for Venezuela from the U.S. in the past month. Even McClatchy couldn't keep mum on that.
And Guaido - self-declared Pres - recognized by about 20 out of 300 or so countries. Guaido - went to GW University, trained with IMF economist Luis Enrique Berrizbeitia.
Our pawn in Venezuela…who wants our "help."
25
As we now export oil, why would we invade a country to get them to produce more oil. Countries are free to use any currency as a proxy for their own currencies. It does not really matter to the the US what currency Venezuela uses.
11
Trump sticking his nose in here. How is Trump profiting from this? Oil? Investments? Powerful friends? Trump does nothing without a profit for Trump. Ray Sipe
14
This action by Mr. Maduro reminds me of what happened to Berlin in 1948, when Russian forces sealed off access to the West Sektor of the city, which was regulated by the Allied Forces in an effort to starve and freeze its residents into submission.
Generally recognized as the first salvo in what would soon become the "Cold War" involving several nations, it lasted almost a year.
And if history tends to repeat itself -- this is not a very good omen.
3
That Twitter video looks like it came straight from a scene in Sergei Losnitsa's movie "Donbass". Except Maduro's cohort clearly didn't understand the satire.
2
The Trump administration isn't attempting to provide "humanitarian assistance" to the Venezuelans suffering from a very real economic, social and public health crisis in Venezuela they have engineered. The Trump administration has weaponized aid in pursuit of regime change.
Since 2017, the Trump administration has expanded economic sanctions on Venezuela as the country was recovering from a recession that began with the steep drop in oil prices that began 2015. The sanctions deepened the economic problems and have caused the social and public health crisis that impacts the most vulnerable members of Venezuelan society.
The Red Cross, United Nations and other organizations associated with delivering humanitarian aid refuse to collaborate with the Trump administration's use as a regime change weapon.
The Trump administration has refused to support attempts by the Vatican and others to negotiate a settlement and allow Venezuelans to decide their fate. Instead, it illegally and immorally threatens military aggression against Venezuela and weaponizes a pittance of 'aid'.
And if you still doubt what the plan is, consider the insertion of Elliott Abrams, former Iran-Contra felon and genocide apologist, into the deadly calculus.
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@J Albers Some people may not like Maduro and Venezuela's style of socialist government, but the open takeover and subsequent robbery and destruction of the county that US it attempting right now is 10 times worse!
For sure, Venezuela has internal problems, but not worse that half of the countries around the globe. So how can this be a moral or legal excuse for the US to overthrow the government of a sovereign country?
3
Just because the Trump administration supports the legitimately elected interim President Juan Guaidó does not mean it is sinister and about regime change. The United States has been restrained in Venezuela in spite of Chavez and now Maduro being allied with Russia, Cuba and Iran for more than a decade. In this case we are joining a coalition of South American leaders of surrounding countries, Canada and the democratic countries in Europe to help the desperate people there. You cannot ignore 1,000,000% inflation, starvation and emigration of nearly 10% of the country's population as not representing a humanitarian crisis caused by the Maduro government not the United States. As for the Vatican, you ignore the fact that the bishops and cardinals in Venezuela have pleaded with the Pope to intervene on the side of the suffering people, remove Maduro and restore democracy. The United Nations is impotent because Russia will prevent any action against their client Maduro. For once Trump is on the right side of history.@J Albers
3
@J Albers,
Yes, and the 2015 drop in oil prices was too steep and too large to be attributed to excess supply. It can only be understood as a market manipulation, aided by Saudi Arabia, which could increase oil supply enough to drop the price, in order to damage Venezuela, Russia, and Iran.
Thanks, Obama! Enjoy your Nobel Peace Prize!
1
All dictators are evil. Trump supporters beware what you wish for because that is exactly what he wants, to become a dictator answerable to no one.
10
@LAM - is there a possibility these idiotic supporters might think they want a dictator? The Trump Organization will become a case study in business schools everywhere if it isn't already and I bet a lot of young folks go into Psychology much less Psychiatry as a result of the events of the first years of the latter half of the decade we're in now.
What about the hungry in Yemen? Palestine? What about Chad? Why isn’t anyone discussing the state of affairs in Chad or South Sudan?
Down the memory hole...
What about the fact that Venezuela has already accepted tons of (non-weaponized) aid from Russia? How about the fact that about 40 years ago Elliot Abrams, (now special envoy to Venezuela) ran weapons to contra forces under the guise of humanitarian aid?
Down the memory hole...
30
@Daniel Mashrick No one is hungry in "Palestine". UNRWA has been feeding them for 70 years, down to the great-grandchildren of the supposed "refugees".
4
This is just a premeditated provocation. Venezuela announced yesterday it was closing its border with Brazil, for security reasons. Everyone knows this so called "humanitarian aid" is just a farce and a way to violate Venezuela's sovereignty. The fact is that tons and tons of humanitarian aid has arrived in Venezuela from Russia, China, and other places/countries and has been distributed by the Red Cross and other organizations. Meanwhile, the Red Cross has refused to participate in this border "humanitarian aid' farce, as it sees it as "politically motivated" and not truly humanitarian.
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@Julioantonio
spoken like a true believer in the dictator's regime. Unfortunately, the Russian aid (paid by oil) was distributed only for those "friends" of the government, while the most of the population starve. But then again, this is common in socialism...
56
@Julioantonio So you have some insider knowledge that this is a farce being perpetrated by the West and Mr. Branson? That the west spearheaded by the US is planning an 'invasion' of humanitarian aid? We would like proof before you start spouting off in such a dismissive manner. I suggest you read about the social, economic and environmental devastation being perpetrated by the regime instead of supporting the status quo in the country oh and did I mention that upwards of 3 M people have voted with their feet because this brutal thug will not lead?
37
@Levy It's common in corrupt governments run by lying demagogues, who appoint toady judges, attack the free press, lock up political opponents, make addresses to cheering mobs, purge their Party of members loyal to country but not to them and loot the nation's Treasury for personal profit.
23
What a horrific state of affairs here, people starving, a country rich in natural resources plundered by thugs like Maduro and his patrons in China and Russia and its neighbors almost powerless to act. It is heartening to see that a large part of the world community is standing up for what is right for once. It is incumbent on them to bring the much needed change, as the US has a checkered history in the region. It is hard to see an end to this fiasco brought on by Maduro's mismanagement and arrogance but we must continue to support a peaceful solution to this standoff and provide Maduro and his cronies like Diasdado Cabello, who has run a quasi narco state, with a way out. Perhaps a one way ticket to Beijing or Moscow should be offered.
21
I'd say Venezuela must be pretty close to a military coup.
Maduro doesn't have enough money to pay off the entire military, and I'm sure planning by younger officers is already in advanced stages.
8
@dmckj - if the Venezuelan people accept the consequences of a military coup they must be careful not to fall into the trap that has ensnarled the people of Thailand.
1
The Venezuelan regime doesn't have a brain. They can't think appropriately, As of today only a handful of guys is supporting Maduro. They managed to attract the rejection of dozens of governments and a large part of the people around the world. No food, no medicines. Crazy.
6
BDS Venezuela for its human rights abuses and unwillingness to accept food to feed its own people. Oh, it's a socialist paradise? Never mind.
8
Maduro is a reincarnation of Idi Amin.
9
Cliodynamics models now include factors such as equality and demography that correlate with political violence. Statistical analysis of previous societies suggests that this happens in cycles. As population increases, the supply of labor outstrips demand, workers become cheap and society becomes top-heavy. This inequality undermines collective solidarity and political turbulence follows.
There are, simply, too many people there. There are too many people in the world. Unchecked population growth is going to be a collective disaster world wide.
5
of course violence is going to erupt -- obviously trump wants to send in troops to show how manly he is.
14
This article does nothing to explain why Maduro is declining aid other than a quote saying, "we are not beggars."
This does not make sense, and the article does nothing to help us fully understand.
26
@MJB Same reason that Stalin didn't let aid into Ukraine in 1932 and 33. The point is to starve the people, to punish them for standing up and speaking out. It's a common tactic used by socialists. People are nothing but property of the state, slaves that have no value unless they are supporting the state 100%.
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@Holly
LOL wrong. It's a common tactic among fanatical dictators, not socialist.
16
@MJB He is declining aid because he is a monster who doesn't care about his people at all. Maduro & his predecessor, Chavez, both hang/hung their hat on opposing the vile Yankee oppressors to the North. They have always blamed the US & the wealthy elite for their plight.
19
This is awful on it’s own, and significantly compounded by Trump’s need to distract from his personal messes. He’s apparently has already been threatening “Wag the Dog” maneuvers against Venezuela. Let’s hope this doesn’t give him the cover he’s been hoping for especially since he seems to have an admirer in the Brazilian leader.
7
where is Sean Penn??
He loves Maduro
16
@ianmacrostie
Reading comic books, no doubt.
6
Wait until Brazil starts shooting back.
1
@John Mardinly
The Venezuelan military is not crazy to try to go into Brazilian territory. They know very well that the Brazilian army would shred them to pieces with no effort at all.
7
@John Mardinly
As a Brazilian-American I really hope that the Venezuelan military is not stupid enough to start shooting into Brazil. The last thing people in Brazil want is a war; we have never started one and the last one we participated was WWII (with the Allies in Italy).
4
NPR says it best:
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/16/695154567/u-s-masses-aid-along-venezuelan-border-as-some-humanitarian-groups-warn-of-risks
“The U.S. effort to distribute tons of food and medicine to needy Venezuelans is more than just a humanitarian mission. The operation is also designed to foment regime change in Venezuela — which is why much of the international aid community wants nothing to do with it.
Humanitarian operations are supposed to be neutral. That's why the International Committee of the Red Cross, United Nations agencies and other relief organizations have refused to collaborate with the U.S. and its allies in the Venezuelan opposition who are trying to force President Nicolás Maduro from power.”
The US is supplying weapons and air support for the Saudi’s genocide in Yemen starving over 20 million people. Where is the humanitarian aid for them. And the last I checked the Saudis were a dictatorship, yet we are close allies. The US supports 73% for of the worlds dictators. So Venezuela is not about humanitarian reasons or supporting democracy, but about stealing their oil and natural resources. Venezuela is not a threat to the US. And the US needs to follow international law, not install their own puppets.
190
@steve nice!!!
9
@steve
So, you propose that the whole world sits quietly while this madman starves his own people!
I despise Trump, and he definitely wants this to take the attention of his own misdeeds, but the international community must not be silent on this.
21
@steve The US wanting to steal Venezuelan oil? What have you been reading laterly? The US is now the top world producer of oil and Texas has contributed to that boom almost singelhandedly. Please stop fomenting these ridiculous tenets about US ambitions. As for humanitarian aid, nearly the entire world, save for China, Russia and Turkey are whole-heartedly supporting Juan Guaido and support this effort, so please do not implicate the US as the spoiler here.
26