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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP AGAIN:
Two things can be true at the same time.

Yes, this is about human rights. About political prisoners, sham elections, protesters run over by armored vehicles, and families forced to flee or rely on remittances just to survive.

And yes, it’s also about international security and oil.

Venezuela sits on enormous resources. The U.S. helped build much of that oil infrastructure decades ago, when Venezuela was a functioning partner with one of the most advanced energy systems in the world. That system wasn’t “sanctioned into collapse”—it was gutted by corruption, politicization, and a regime that rewarded loyalty over competence.

Pretending China and Iran embedded themselves there out of altruism is laughable. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage, and influence in the Western Hemisphere. That matters whether you’re progressive or conservative.

This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. Biden continued Venezuelan oil dealings despite repeated human-rights warnings. Trump taking action doesn’t magically erase the reality on the ground.

For families like ours—sending remittances, shipping boxes of food and medicine, hoping one day it’s safe to return—this isn’t abstract. It’s lived experience.

You don’t have to deny strategic interests to care about human rights.
And you don’t have to ignore human suffering to acknowledge strategic interests.

Refusing to admit both is exactly how the conversation gets dumbed down.[/quote]

What's confusing me about your post (and many comments from Venezuelans) is why are you feeling so optimistic about human rights?  I understand that Maduro was a monster, and in that sense his abduction at least offers a glimmer of hope.  But nothing I've heard has suggested that conditions will improve in Vz after his departure.  The same people are in power.  The Chavist paramilitaries are still blocking roads and enforcing loyalty.  The economic system is the same.

This isn't "Trump will get the oil in exchange for an improved human rights situation on the ground".  Trump doesn't give a rats ass about human rights, and he'll make no demands on the new government to improve the domestic situation in the country.  [/quote]

There is much uncertainty surrounding the near future in Venezuela and especially so with an incompetent American POTUS running the show but the first step in getting people out from underneath an oppressive dictator is to remove the dictator. There will be inevitable challenges with steps 2 and 3 but Venezuelans celebrating step 1 is completely understandable.[/quote]

I am hopeful that by removing maduro business and tourism will return to Venezuela, providing stable economy and an opportunity for future prosperity for the people. [/quote]

Trump kidnapped Maduro but left the Chavista power structure in place, so I'm not sure I see how anything has been solved.[/quote]

And how many of our tax dollars were spent on this illegal action, with zero Congressional authorization.

So much for the US Constitution, and all player’s oaths of office.,[/quote]

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