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.
These countries need to do this themselves!! They VOTED for Socialism....plus Guaido is also a Socialist!!
Not “no,” but “HELL NO!”
What they need is for the Russians to parachute AK 47’s into the countryside to aid the peoples revolution! et them have their own fast n furious!
The legislature of Venezuela removed Maduro from office and installed Guaido as the interim President. He is the legal commander in chief, but the military remains loyal to the man removed from office, not to mention the many thousands of Cuban forces that are propping up Maduro.
Not our circus, not our monkeys.
Exactly. They voted for socialism, so if they want out of it, it’s on them to get out. If Venezuela were ripe for revolution, the people and the military would’ve turned out a couple weeks ago by the millions.
NO freaking way! Let them fix their own mess.
Good point...more needs to be known about this guy. Is he seeking to restore freedom and constitutional government to the people of Venezuela or is he just wanting to be in charge? If the former, he has his work cut out for him as the military is not listening to him and he was the constitutionally installed President - they still take orders from the man the legislature removed from his office...can’t say removed “from power” as he still has it.
The largest democracy in the world (India) did not need American help. It was all internal struggle to dislodge the British rulers. Of course WWII helped because the British military was too exhausted to suppress Indian freedom fighters in 1947.
Another armchair quarterback.
Guaido is pathetic
If you are willing to sacrifice a building, we could airmail you a few GPS guided bombs.
Maybe we should air drop arms wrapped in copies of the
Constitution and Declaration of Independence along with
food and new blue jeans.
They voted themselves into socialism, they are going to have to use guns to get out of it.
The operative word being THEY. Them, not us, not the US. The most should do is supply THEM with the arms necessary to re-assert the consent of the governed.
If the USA intervenes WE will end up fixing it for them, and we will end up with another intractable mess. If anyone should be going in there is should be the Brazilians and the Columbians. Not the USA.
Sorry, if you want the job done, find a “Pinochet” in your country to do the job.
Yep, he’s a losing horse.
I agree, get Russia and Cuba out of there by sanctions. Cubans are Maduro’s henchmen.
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