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.

Your wife and the 60,000 other Venezuelans in the U.S. should go home and set up the government they want. It's not the United States' job to police the world.

Anonymous wrote:The latest is that Machado wants to return to Venezuela soon and is urging that the country hold elections. Trump has no plans to allow that anytime soon.

"I'm planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible," said Machado, 58, who escaped from Venezuela in disguise in October to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated to Trump. "We believe that this transition should move forward," she told Fox News in an interview. "In free and fair elections, we will win over 90% of the votes."

Trump, however, has said the U.S. needs to help address Venezuela's problems before an election, calling a 30-day timeline unrealistic. "We have to fix the country first ... There’s no way the people could even vote," Trump told NBC.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/maduro-opponent-machado-vows-return-venezuela-wants-election-2026-01-06/

Anonymous wrote:For OP, does your family think trump will allow an election? He is known for tampering with ejections and not honoring the results… what is the thinking in Venezuela?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hang on. Are these posters here who still think this is not about oil? Trump has been abundantly clear since the weekend that this is about oil. Like, no one is pretending it's not.

Rubio tried to walk back Trump’s words about taking Venezuela’s oil and say it was about drug trafficking on Sunday. And got pissy when people quoted Trump’s words back at him.

Anonymous wrote:My question--

How many people in the world don't like the govt they're stuck with? And if you think another country should rescue them, what should be the basis for picking the countries to rescue? In one site I looked at which rates countries by their "freedom" score, Venezuela's score was not great--but there were 28 countries (including Russia, and a separate entry for Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine) with worse scores.

Anonymous wrote:My question--

How many people in the world don't like the govt they're stuck with? And if you think another country should rescue them, what should be the basis for picking the countries to rescue? In one site I looked at which rates countries by their "freedom" score, Venezuela's score was not great--but there were 28 countries (including Russia, and a separate entry for Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine) with worse scores.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Hang on. Are these posters here who still think this is not about oil? Trump has been abundantly clear since the weekend that this is about oil. Like, no one is pretending it's not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fake AI pro-Trump Venezuela rallies. Literally no one in the world supports Chump and his mercenaries except the 30% of nimrods in America who still support him plus Israel and its 80% of Israelis that support genocide.

You think all videos and celebrations are fake, but I’ve seen video on news stations in Europe (reporting from Columbia, Argentina, Chile, Florida) with their own correspondents. Those were not fake. Those were live reports from news stations. I also know several Venezuelan colleagues - all these people are expats - yes, but they are all genuinely celebrating.

Anonymous wrote:Fake AI pro-Trump Venezuela rallies. Literally no one in the world supports Chump and his mercenaries except the 30% of nimrods in America who still support him plus Israel and its 80% of Israelis that support genocide.