The MSM has actually done a reasonably good job of reporting on Venezuela. I’ve seen a lot of news reports which seem to be relatively unbiased and don’t spin the facts in favor of the Maduro regime.
If the downward spiral toward a communist dictatorship continues in Venezuela, the South American democracies and the US will have some tough decisions to make. If conditions get extremely tough in Venezuela, even worse than today, we’ll begin to see refugees leaving and crossing the border into neighboring countries. At that point, the US would have to help pay for basic support for the refugees, just to stabilize the western hemisphere and help our friends in South America.
If Venezuela turns into complete chaos and a de facto civil war, then the US and the South American democracies might have to organize a combined military force to surround Venezuela on all sides, let all the refugees and political dissidents out of the country, and then blockade the country and take it back one mile at a time. If they cut off the food supplies, it wouldn’t take very long until the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan military surrender. While the blockade is in place, of course, the combined military force would provide security for all refugees fleeing to get food and essential supplies in neighboring countries. I have a hunch that this blockade option is being considered already as a worst-case contingency plan. This is all my own thinking and I have no inside sources in Washington. Let’s hope it never gets that bad in Venezuela.
One of the keys to the blockade option is to get as many people as possible out of Venezuela before the blockade starts. Then the remaining people would be almost entirely Maduro supporters and the military. At that point, the blockade starts and the combined military force liberates the country one mile at a time. If done correctly, it doesn’t have to turn into a big bloody war. Use air power to push the Venezuelan military back a few miles at a time while the combined military force moves into the unoccupied area and slowly liberates the country. After they run low on food and water, Maduro and the Venezuelan military would then have to surrender within a few months.
This kind of operation would take patience and a lot of spending on food and humanitarian supplies for millions of refugees, and of course all the neighboring countries in South America would have to be on board.