Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is Venezuelan. She desperately wants to be able to go back someday—to visit safely, to see family, to recognize her own country again. Right now, that’s not possible. Much of her family is current or former military, and they want exactly what civilians want: freedom from an oppressive regime that destroyed their country from the inside.

She does not like Trump. Let’s get that out of the way. But let’s also stop pretending Venezuela is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s not.

Under Maduro, people were run over by armored vehicles. Protesters were shot. Elections were a farce. The country became a narco-state while ordinary people starved or fled. That reality didn’t change depending on who was in the White House.

And for those suddenly clutching pearls about U.S. involvement—Biden continued dealings with Venezuelan oil despite repeated warnings from human-rights organizations. So please spare us the selective outrage.

China and Iran didn’t embed themselves in Venezuela out of goodwill. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage. Everyone knows this. Acting shocked now is disingenuous.

Here’s what’s missing from most of these takes: the majority of Venezuelans want the regime gone, even if that comes with hard compromises. They understand the cost because they’ve already paid it.

This isn’t about loving Trump.
It’s about wanting Venezuela back.

Who gives a shit? There are people in every country who don't like their government. If China invaded the US and overthrew the government there would be Americans posting about welcoming their new Chinese overlords. People making claims like this does not justify the US military invading a sovereign country and taking it's president hostage.

+1

I've seen things suggesting the opposition has 70% of the people in support. And I believe Maduro clearly cheated in the last election. I do think the Chavistas need to step down, regardless of whatever the US wants. The stuff going on with Machado wasn't 5 CIA plants and fake protests. There's a genuine suppression of majority will in Venezuela. That is a totally separate issue from Trump wanting the oil.

What is with all the straw man arguments? no one thinks maduro isn’t a terrible guy!

This thread alone is FULL of Maduro apologists. It’s like, “but Hitler made the trains run on time!” all over again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is Venezuelan. She desperately wants to be able to go back someday—to visit safely, to see family, to recognize her own country again. Right now, that’s not possible. Much of her family is current or former military, and they want exactly what civilians want: freedom from an oppressive regime that destroyed their country from the inside.

She does not like Trump. Let’s get that out of the way. But let’s also stop pretending Venezuela is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s not.

Under Maduro, people were run over by armored vehicles. Protesters were shot. Elections were a farce. The country became a narco-state while ordinary people starved or fled. That reality didn’t change depending on who was in the White House.

And for those suddenly clutching pearls about U.S. involvement—Biden continued dealings with Venezuelan oil despite repeated warnings from human-rights organizations. So please spare us the selective outrage.

China and Iran didn’t embed themselves in Venezuela out of goodwill. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage. Everyone knows this. Acting shocked now is disingenuous.

Here’s what’s missing from most of these takes: the majority of Venezuelans want the regime gone, even if that comes with hard compromises. They understand the cost because they’ve already paid it.

This isn’t about loving Trump.
It’s about wanting Venezuela back.

Who gives a shit? There are people in every country who don't like their government. If China invaded the US and overthrew the government there would be Americans posting about welcoming their new Chinese overlords. People making claims like this does not justify the US military invading a sovereign country and taking it's president hostage.

+1

I've seen things suggesting the opposition has 70% of the people in support. And I believe Maduro clearly cheated in the last election. I do think the Chavistas need to step down, regardless of whatever the US wants. The stuff going on with Machado wasn't 5 CIA plants and fake protests. There's a genuine suppression of majority will in Venezuela. That is a totally separate issue from Trump wanting the oil.

What is with all the straw man arguments? no one thinks maduro isn’t a terrible guy!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is Venezuelan. She desperately wants to be able to go back someday—to visit safely, to see family, to recognize her own country again. Right now, that’s not possible. Much of her family is current or former military, and they want exactly what civilians want: freedom from an oppressive regime that destroyed their country from the inside.

She does not like Trump. Let’s get that out of the way. But let’s also stop pretending Venezuela is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s not.

Under Maduro, people were run over by armored vehicles. Protesters were shot. Elections were a farce. The country became a narco-state while ordinary people starved or fled. That reality didn’t change depending on who was in the White House.

And for those suddenly clutching pearls about U.S. involvement—Biden continued dealings with Venezuelan oil despite repeated warnings from human-rights organizations. So please spare us the selective outrage.

China and Iran didn’t embed themselves in Venezuela out of goodwill. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage. Everyone knows this. Acting shocked now is disingenuous.

Here’s what’s missing from most of these takes: the majority of Venezuelans want the regime gone, even if that comes with hard compromises. They understand the cost because they’ve already paid it.

This isn’t about loving Trump.
It’s about wanting Venezuela back.

Who gives a shit? There are people in every country who don't like their government. If China invaded the US and overthrew the government there would be Americans posting about welcoming their new Chinese overlords. People making claims like this does not justify the US military invading a sovereign country and taking it's president hostage.

+1

I've seen things suggesting the opposition has 70% of the people in support. And I believe Maduro clearly cheated in the last election. I do think the Chavistas need to step down, regardless of whatever the US wants. The stuff going on with Machado wasn't 5 CIA plants and fake protests. There's a genuine suppression of majority will in Venezuela. That is a totally separate issue from Trump wanting the oil.

What is with all the straw man arguments? no one thinks maduro isn’t a terrible guy!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of countries have oppressive regimes that persecute citizens. No one else is sitting on the world’s biggest oil reserve though. 🤔

h

+1
If this was about drugs, we’d be talking about Mexico.

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are wasting your breath on DCUM’s rich white progressives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is Venezuelan. She desperately wants to be able to go back someday—to visit safely, to see family, to recognize her own country again. Right now, that’s not possible. Much of her family is current or former military, and they want exactly what civilians want: freedom from an oppressive regime that destroyed their country from the inside.

She does not like Trump. Let’s get that out of the way. But let’s also stop pretending Venezuela is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s not.

Under Maduro, people were run over by armored vehicles. Protesters were shot. Elections were a farce. The country became a narco-state while ordinary people starved or fled. That reality didn’t change depending on who was in the White House.

And for those suddenly clutching pearls about U.S. involvement—Biden continued dealings with Venezuelan oil despite repeated warnings from human-rights organizations. So please spare us the selective outrage.

China and Iran didn’t embed themselves in Venezuela out of goodwill. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage. Everyone knows this. Acting shocked now is disingenuous.

Here’s what’s missing from most of these takes: the majority of Venezuelans want the regime gone, even if that comes with hard compromises. They understand the cost because they’ve already paid it.

This isn’t about loving Trump.
It’s about wanting Venezuela back.

Who gives a shit? There are people in every country who don't like their government. If China invaded the US and overthrew the government there would be Americans posting about welcoming their new Chinese overlords. People making claims like this does not justify the US military invading a sovereign country and taking it's president hostage.

+1

I've seen things suggesting the opposition has 70% of the people in support. And I believe Maduro clearly cheated in the last election. I do think the Chavistas need to step down, regardless of whatever the US wants. The stuff going on with Machado wasn't 5 CIA plants and fake protests. There's a genuine suppression of majority will in Venezuela. That is a totally separate issue from Trump wanting the oil.

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t about drug trafficking or drug smuggling or corruption. It’s about oil. Power vacuums rarely lead to peaceful transitions of power. I hope your wife gets to visit her family sometime soon, but Trump doesn’t actually care about the people of Venezuela. See the hypocrisy of pardoning the Honduran president.

Anonymous wrote:OP Again:

I’m cautiously optimistic about what comes next. This could end worse, or it could end better. But the part many seem to miss is that under Maduro, the trajectory was already only “a lot worse.” There was no stable status quo—just continued decline.

Hope doesn’t mean certainty. It means recognizing that doing nothing guaranteed more suffering.

The dancing in the streets sight will be short lived if the conditions don’t stabilize. I hope that the VP (and now acting president) remains in power until the next election. My wife on he other hand wants a special election right away. I’m not sure what the US will do and understand that the more tinker with things the more it feels like we are installing a government. I definitely want to feel a sense of protection of American interests…oil and minerals…and potentially even US bases…but at the same time I want the people to have their own fair and true elections.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is Venezuelan. She desperately wants to be able to go back someday—to visit safely, to see family, to recognize her own country again. Right now, that’s not possible. Much of her family is current or former military, and they want exactly what civilians want: freedom from an oppressive regime that destroyed their country from the inside.

She does not like Trump. Let’s get that out of the way. But let’s also stop pretending Venezuela is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s not.

Under Maduro, people were run over by armored vehicles. Protesters were shot. Elections were a farce. The country became a narco-state while ordinary people starved or fled. That reality didn’t change depending on who was in the White House.

And for those suddenly clutching pearls about U.S. involvement—Biden continued dealings with Venezuelan oil despite repeated warnings from human-rights organizations. So please spare us the selective outrage.

China and Iran didn’t embed themselves in Venezuela out of goodwill. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage. Everyone knows this. Acting shocked now is disingenuous.

Here’s what’s missing from most of these takes: the majority of Venezuelans want the regime gone, even if that comes with hard compromises. They understand the cost because they’ve already paid it.

This isn’t about loving Trump.
It’s about wanting Venezuela back.

Who gives a shit? There are people in every country who don't like their government. If China invaded the US and overthrew the government there would be Americans posting about welcoming their new Chinese overlords. People making claims like this does not justify the US military invading a sovereign country and taking it's president hostage.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is Venezuelan. She desperately wants to be able to go back someday—to visit safely, to see family, to recognize her own country again. Right now, that’s not possible. Much of her family is current or former military, and they want exactly what civilians want: freedom from an oppressive regime that destroyed their country from the inside.

She does not like Trump. Let’s get that out of the way. But let’s also stop pretending Venezuela is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s not.

Under Maduro, people were run over by armored vehicles. Protesters were shot. Elections were a farce. The country became a narco-state while ordinary people starved or fled. That reality didn’t change depending on who was in the White House.

And for those suddenly clutching pearls about U.S. involvement—Biden continued dealings with Venezuelan oil despite repeated warnings from human-rights organizations. So please spare us the selective outrage.

China and Iran didn’t embed themselves in Venezuela out of goodwill. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage. Everyone knows this. Acting shocked now is disingenuous.

Here’s what’s missing from most of these takes: the majority of Venezuelans want the regime gone, even if that comes with hard compromises. They understand the cost because they’ve already paid it.

This isn’t about loving Trump.
It’s about wanting Venezuela back.

Who gives a shit? There are people in every country who don't like their government. If China invaded the US and overthrew the government there would be Americans posting about welcoming their new Chinese overlords. People making claims like this does not justify the US military invading a sovereign country and taking it's president hostage.

Anonymous wrote:Many of you haven’t been paying attention to the atrocities committed by the Maduro regime for years:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of people who have been to boarding prep schools from the 1970s on can claim to have friends they lived with for 1-4 hears who are from Venezuela.

It is/was very regular to send girls from Asia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to US boarding schools. Often schools in other places stopped at 9th grade. The US would pay for children of US foreign workers to complete grades through 12 here.

Also, the international students were all full pay. At that time it was like "only 15K a year" but I got 100% scholarship to that school. Today I think it's like 70K+

I didn't pay a dime for my whole education at that school. I had work study. I wiped down some classrooms on the off hour and clapped some erasers and washed some blackboards. I lackadaisically patrolled books in the library on the Dewey Decimal system to see when kids had put back books in the completely wrong place.

The international students from Venezuela, Asia and Saudi Arabia financed my education.

Now I'm thinking of the kids from Venezuela because they all live in Caracas

Anonymous wrote:My wife is Venezuelan. She desperately wants to be able to go back someday—to visit safely, to see family, to recognize her own country again. Right now, that’s not possible. Much of her family is current or former military, and they want exactly what civilians want: freedom from an oppressive regime that destroyed their country from the inside.

She does not like Trump. Let’s get that out of the way. But let’s also stop pretending Venezuela is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s not.

Under Maduro, people were run over by armored vehicles. Protesters were shot. Elections were a farce. The country became a narco-state while ordinary people starved or fled. That reality didn’t change depending on who was in the White House.

And for those suddenly clutching pearls about U.S. involvement—Biden continued dealings with Venezuelan oil despite repeated warnings from human-rights organizations. So please spare us the selective outrage.

China and Iran didn’t embed themselves in Venezuela out of goodwill. They wanted oil, minerals, leverage. Everyone knows this. Acting shocked now is disingenuous.

Here’s what’s missing from most of these takes: the majority of Venezuelans want the regime gone, even if that comes with hard compromises. They understand the cost because they’ve already paid it.

This isn’t about loving Trump.
It’s about wanting Venezuela back.