Why is Machado not being flown in to take over their gov't. like yesterday? Isn't she their duly elected president?

Are you not happy with this situation?

Of course, I am.

But if we are running Venezuela for a while, we have said Maduro was not duly elected, we helped Machado flee to Norway, why are we installing someone other than her as their new president?

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Originally posted by Rick Lee:
That's how a lot of people see it and especially how other countries' media (just as left as ours) portray it. I'm sure some of the drug boats we've sunk had guns on them. But short of MGs showing up in crime scenes or drug busts on US soil, especially guns that originated in Venezuela and not in the US, it just looks like we're applying our laws to everyone, when we've clearly got enough on Maduro to not have to do that.

There’s people right now protesting in Chicago because “Orange Man Bad!”
Some people just cry and whine to hear themselves. (Or they weren’t disciplined as children, and given a participation trophy).

Define- “a lot of people”.
Also, who are those “people”?
I can go out and grab a bunch (easily over 50) of people that hate YOU because you’re a 2nd Amendment supporter, Trump Supporter, and probably eat pork too. I can probably have it done in less than 60 minutes. And they don’t even know you!

Do those people really matter?
Probably not, so fuck ‘em.

The unfortunate thing is, the useless media is going to stick microphones in their faces and get their opinions because anything “Orange Man Bad” helps the leftist media’s propaganda.
Ask any of those crybabies if the Venezuelan people SCREAMING “Gracias Seinor Trump” is true, they’ll probably say it’s “fake news” and made up.

The guns on those drug boats are usually for the Narcos protection.
Too heavy and not enough value to transport guns like that.
Cocaine / Fentanyl is lighter and more valuable.
ONE Ak-47 is about 3.5 Kilos. Probably get you $400-$600 in Miami
ONE KILO of Cocaine probably get you $15,000 - $18,000 in Miami

What do you want to load your boat up with?

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
Why is Machado not being flown in to take over their gov't. like yesterday? Isn't she their duly elected president?

Um no, she wasn’t even a presidential candidate in their last election. Read this article that explains why Trump thinks Maduro’s VP would/should be their next President. However, by Venezualan Constitution, Edmundo Gonzalez, who really won the election, should be their next President.

They protested in Downtown Dallas yesterday as well. You have to keep in mind these people have nothing better to do. “There is a protest? YES!” It doesn’t matter at this point even what it is for. Venezuelan citizens are out in the streets thanking America and the President yet we have US citizens protesting it across our country. The irony is laughable.

I push myself, always, to live in reality. Most live a narrative based life instead of truth and reality. Narratives are made up, concocted, every day. Someone makes it up, out of thin air, then they go about selling it to everyone else. Uneducated folk, and younger people will believe most any narrative if it’s loud enough, especially on social medias. Their brains are just rotted out with the phone, alerts, likes, various social medias. The phones have warped their minds.

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Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
Why is Machado not being flown in to take over their gov't. like yesterday? Isn't she their duly elected president?

Um no, she wasn’t even a presidential candidate in their last election. Read this article that explains why Trump thinks Maduro’s VP would/should be their next President. However, by Venezualan Constitution, Edmundo Gonzalez, who really won the election, should be their next President.

I had not heard that she (just yesterday, so kind of fast moving here) called for Gonzalez to get it. As I understood it from when her Nobel Prize award was announced, she was the one the US recognized would have taken office, had the last election results been allowed to change the gov't.

Anyway, I'm sure Maduro will have the best lawyers the DNC can get for him.

A day into this, and it's still so surreal. Imagine living in a third world country and having your "leader" apprehended and removed from the country. It's surreal being an American. Have you ever felt as protected as we are under Trump?

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she was the one the US recognized would have taken office, had the last election results been allowed to change the gov't.

No, again, she wasn’t even a candidate. Gonzalez was. So, by their Constitution, he should be the next President, because Maduro’s election was fraudulent.

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:
Oil is a part of it. A rather big part of it too.

It is about oil, but not our oil. A lot of it is about cutting off oil for China. ChiCom was getting about 500,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela.

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DONT GET ME WRONG, IM NOT SAYING DJT SHOULDNT HAVE DONE IT!
He damn sure should have!
But let’s not fool ourselves by thinking that Oil wasn’t a major part of that equation.

It’s about keeping the oil out of China’s hands and China out of our hemisphere. It’s about keeping Venezuela out of the land they decided to annex from Guyana. It’s about taking back the assets that were illegally seized from US companies when Venezuela nationalized the oil industry. It’s about taking out the Iranians that are training inside Venezuela. It’s about destroying the Cuban influence in Venezuela. So yes, it’s about oil but it also puts Mexico and Cuba on notice. It’s not a coincidence that China was there and empty tankers were on their way. I don’t really care what the rest of the world thinks, this will be good for our safety and security.

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:
Oil is a part of it. A rather big part of it too.

It is about oil, but not our oil. A lot of it is about cutting off oil for China. ChiCom was getting about 500,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela.

Oh, I know that oil is about to get… diverted!
I know about the Iranians, and the Cubans as well.
No problem with that!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this:
And please hear me out before you grab the torch and pitchfork.

I’ll say Trump did this in agreement with the Biden Administration.

Look at all those poor people from way down South coming here to America looking for a better life!
Venezuela is going to be working rather well as a country pretty soon, all those “poor people” Biden imported can go back home and help THEIR HOMELAND be a better place! There’s gotta be a few hundred thousand from there.
Well, Adios y Via con Dios, amigos!

Is the thinking that if there was no oil, this action wouldn't have been taken?

Is it wrong to think that, just like bin laden and other global terrorist, dictator types, removing them from power is reason enough? Eliminating those who have proven hostile behavior to US safety and well being? That should be enough. Oil is just icing.

I truly believe this was mostly about China and almost as much about the Mexican cartels. We took out the defacto head of a drug cartel that also happened to be the head of state of a foreign nation. Maduro had actual trained military personnel protecting him, government infrastructure (crappy as may have been), etc in his corner. Yet we still snatched him up in a way that left him powerless. Can you imagine what we could do to the cartel heads in Mexico that just happen to be thugs supporting and benefitting off of one of the world’s most corrupt governments?

Trump made a spectacle out of telling the world that the CIA was going to be operating in Venezuela, etc. and followed up because we had other justification for snatching up Maduro, even as the head of state for a nation that was not right on the other side of our country. At the end of the day we had plenty of cover to do what we did in Venezuela. It also served as a warning that nobody is untouchable. Now that we demonstrated what we can do to another head of state, we’ve demonstrated our resolve. We don’t have the same cover to operate in Mexico right now. Moreover, our economy is much more involved with Mexico so publicized actions in Mexico would be much more messy. Yet, having said all that, I’d bet a week’s pay that Trump has operatives operating surreptitiously in Mexico. We’ve shown how far we are willing to go and have shown that we will build a case as justification to snatch up criminals that are a threat to our country. How can the leaders of the Mexican cartels NOT be checking over their shoulders. Moreover how can Mexico's leadership not be at least somewhat concerned that some of their sacred cows in the form of cartel bribes are about to get slaughtered? This is every bit as much about warning Mexican cartels that we will send our military beyond our borders to accomplish what our domestic law enforcement can’t accomplish outside our own borders.

Today: Maduro.
Tomorrow: Mandani

I watched the video a page or two back about light vs heavy crude. Since this will presumably be our primary source for heavy crude, seems like it puts the squeeze on Canada as well as we will purchase far less from them. Thoughts

Oil is a strawman.

This was about the Monroe Doctrine, unconventional low grade warfare, which includes drugs facilitated by the Chinese, and regional hegemony.

This is our hemisphere. Don't fuck with us, or make our lives difficult. If you do, you will find yourself dead, or in a courtroom in New York.

Oil is the currency that will be used to rebuild the successful Venezuela that existed before Chavez, and it is the lever that will be used to reduce the influence of Iran and Russia, and which will bankrupt Cuba.

This is a global powerplay of absolutely gorgeous scope. It is a raw assertion of American national interest, backed by American military and economic power.

As the Monkey says, oil is a strawman, Maduro is a target of opportunity.

The message is America is back, America is the ruler of its near abroad, and America will use all necessary diplomatic, economic, and military power to achieve its national interests.

End of story.