Posted on 05/12/2019 9:37:12 AM PDT by Kaslin
After self-declared interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaido failed in calling on his nation’s military to oust dictator Nicolas Maduro, the attempted revolt appeared to have been strangled in the cradle. Only a handful of military leaders came over to his side and the civilian protests in the major cities fizzled for the most part. Guaido himself still hasn’t been arrested, but his deputy and several other opposition party leaders in the National Assembly have been locked up. This week, Guaido seemed to be getting a bit more nervous and he sent out an even more emphatic “invitation” to the United States. This announcement is as close as he’s come to a direct plea for American troops to ride to the rescue and take Maduro into custody themselves. (Associated Press)
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó on Saturday said he’s instructed his political envoy in Washington to immediately open relations with the U.S. military in a bid to bring more pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to resign.
The leader said he’s asked Carlos Vecchio, who the U.S. recognizes as Venezuela’s ambassador, to open “direct communications” toward possible military “coordination.”
The remarks, at the end of a rally Saturday, mark one of his strongest public pleas yet for greater U.S. involvement in the country’s fast-escalating crisis. While Guaidó has repeatedly echoed comments from the Trump administration that “all options” are on the table for removing Maduro, few in the U.S. or Venezuelan opposition view military action as likely nor has the White House indicated it’s seriously considering such a move.
Guaido’s desire to have a military “coordination” plan is understandable, given his current position. He certainly holds the moral high ground and enjoys some broad support among the citizenry. There’s also a definite argument to be made that he is technically the interim president, though a more formal recognition process would have been helpful. But the fact is that without the support of the military in his own country, he lacks the ability to exert true control or rule the nation.
And that should remind us that what Guaido is looking for is not military “coordination” between our two countries. He’s asking for an invasion, but the military doesn’t answer to him and would not follow his directives. Meanwhile, Maduro has not only the military leadership in his corner but also the secret police, armed militia units, Russian special forces, and Cuban troops.
I would love to see Maduro gone as much as anyone else. The guy is a monster, growing fat off of the plundering of his nation’s coffers while his people literally starve in the streets. But if he’s to be removed, it needs to be done by Venezuelans, not a foreign invasion force. Even setting aside our country’s history of military misadventures in South America, this is obviously not a war we want or deserve. The presence of foreign military units in Venezuela complicates it even further.
We should stand ready to support Guaido if he is able to take power and perhaps even give Maduro a free lift to safety (as the President has suggested) if that helps ends the conflict peacefully. But sending a squadron of B-2s to conduct a midnight bombing run on Caracas would simply not end well and could very likely subject us to the law of unintended consequences.
Research “Are sanctions an act of war”. I just did, again. They are.
Nicoláe Ceausescu did essentially the same thing for four decades in Romania... he similarly beat the populace down to a deadened pulp and disarmed them. Yet, in 1989, the people rose up and - with the help of the Army’s rank and file - took Ceausescu down in relatively short time. The difference is, the people wanted out of that miserable existence. I’m not seeing that with Venezuela.
The point I was trying to make is that in the case of Japan, cutting off resources, strangulation if you will, precipitated war.
Iran however will not attack America I don’t think. Iran will attack Israel or Saudi Arabia or the UAE.
And I have little doubt Americans are anymore popular there now than they were then. There’s no evidence the Venezuelans want to turn away from socialism; they’re just longing for Chavez.
Yup, we got are own problems trying to hang on to our own freedom!
“Can’t we get a covert team in there to knock off Maduro and make it look like the locals did it?”
We could, but why? If the Venezuelans aren’t inclined to do it, why should we?
Japan was headed on a course for war long before any action by the US. The only question was whether they would fight Russia or us.
Yeah, I researched it too. You liked the ones by Paulistas like yourself, but I guess you ignored results you didn’t like.
It’s a TRAP!!!!
Perhaps a better description of us should be that we're Eisenhower Republicans, opposed to the military-industrial complex.
“The people of Saudi Arabia live under a more fearful dictatorship than Venezuala. In Venezuala you’re free to go to church. Not so in Saudi. But Freepers are fixated on overthrowing Venezuala, with no comparable concerns about Saudis. I smell double standard”
Double standard? I don’t think so. Most people in Saudia Arabia are muslims and have no problem getting to their mosque. They also aren’t starving in Saudia Arabia as is the case in VZ. In addition VZ is much closer to home. The situations are quite different.
Having said that ... I don’t support meddling in VZ because I think it’s important for the world to see communism overthrown if that’s even possible. Installing some US puppet is not that instructive.
Also — as others have stated — we might be just replacing one socialist with another.
“” “” Double standard? I don’t think so. Most people in Saudia Arabia are muslims and have no problem getting to their mosque. They also aren’t starving in Saudia Arabia as is the case in VZ. In addition VZ is much closer to home. The situations are quite different.”” “”
Venezuela was rich when Chavez took power. It was still rich for a long time during his presidency.
Government propaganda in Venezuela says the troubles are consequences of the US sanctions and CIA sabotage.
US officials on all levels are saying about ‘strangulating the regime’ read Venezuela.
An average Venezuelan listening to US statements believes government propaganda as true.
Now we also have Guaidó who first claimed military behind him which proved wrong. Now he is sitting in a foreign embassy demanding US military to bomb his country and you believe he has popular support?
You are basically forcing the people of Venezuela to choose between a Communist they know and another Communist they don’t know anything about other than that he is a puppet of a hostile foreign power which has empoverished and wants to bomb them.
I don’t see a bright future would Guaidó prevail. They love socialism in Venezuela and don’t see it as their problem. They used to blame US for their problems. One thing for sure US would own the result in any intervention. It already is in a sense. Let’s also look into a violence which was allegedly a ‘red line’ I mean police vehicles ramming the Guaidó supporters. What would be the reaction when it would be found that CIA or Guaidó provocateurs were behind the wheels?
Polls show 69% of the people want Maduro gone.
Awesome. Let’s cheer them on whenever they decide the energy’s right to dump him.
And I’d like to know how many of that 69% simply pine for Hugo Chavez.
True - but, in a way, we set the guy up by declaring, along with other countries, that we recognized him as the rightful President of Venezuela...
100% of the polls said Hillary would win.
What does what some fake poll in Venezuela have to do with the United States? We've got the enemy inside the wire, and you want something done about a fake poll in a foreign country?
“These countries need to do this themselves!!”
Yes. As KT McFarland told Varney, “These people need to own their revolution”. I figure if they do it themselves they’ll appreciate freedom more and take bigger risks to maintain it.
Why don’t you calm down? Trump has not sent even one US soldier to Venezuela as far as you or I know. Likely he won’t.
Maduro needs to go and we need to support efforts to get rid of him. Food shortages and power outages are driving hordes of desparate refugees across the border into neighboring countries who probably don’t have the resources to take care of them. It could lead to destabilization of the region.
I dont know about you but I don’t want Russia building a military base in our hemisphere. Especially in the most oil rich country. China and Cuba are swarming there also.
So far Trump is using a combination of diplomacy and rhetoric to try to get Maduro to leave. If Gauido fails hopefully another stronger opponent will emerge. We need to keep the pressure up.
All I can say is THANK GOD for the Darien Gap.
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