The conformity of that image actually pleases my brain. Even if that is putin up in the balcony. But I have a weird brain.
TBF if somebody came into my country, removed the wannabe dictator from office, and completely withdrew within 3 hours I would be thrilled.
And I live in the USA.
You’re comparing a non-fiction, evolving scenario of US imperialism to a fictional scenario where a “somebody” removes a guy you don’t like with zero strings attached, no ulterior motives, and no stated motives or historical context before or after.
Your comparison is poor, half-thought (IMO), and driven by catharsis. You are tacitly endorsing hegemony - a position enabled by your subconscious knowing (or hoping) that your general safety and comfort is protected living inside of a fascist superpower.
I read statements like yours and my heart hurts.
US Imperialism, at this moment, currently doesn’t exist, Venezuela is under the rule of Vice Dictator Rodriguez, one of Maduro’s guys. Nor should it ever exist, because Congress alone has the authority to enter war, and it is to be hoped they’re not completely spineless or at least if they are that the midterms will perform spinal correction upon them.
Under rule of her by duress, not open-ended self-determination. The mission wasn’t “we’re gonna remove a dictator and let the people of Venezuela determine their destiny, let us know how we can help ma’am.” It was “your guy is a narcoterrorist [citation needed] and we’re gonna rebuild your oil infrastructure.” So in your opinion it’s not imperialism because we don’t yet have a colony there? I’m really struggling to grasp why you don’t think this is an expression of imperialism.
US Imperialism has expressed itself throughout history in many ways, regardless of congressional approval and regardless of its status as a “war” or not. You should do some reading on how Hawaii became a state, for one example among many. Also there’s this.
I don’t pretend to know what the “plan” was, Trump’s a senile fuckin moron and his whole administration are a bunch of incompetent thugs, but I think being labelled as Imperialism implies that they have an empire.
I have to think about which of these things is more important:
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I’d like Trump specifically removed
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I object to a transfer of power in the US being effected unilaterally by a foreign military
I’m not sure that disposing of one leader I hate is actually worth embracing #2 forever afterward.
That has yet to be seen in Venezuela, but I suppose the chances of any other world leader being as incompetent as Trump while also removing Trump is slim to none.
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Canada, if you’re listening…
I know some Venezuelans irl, at first they were happy believing that they would bring down the regime, when they saw that they left the vice president and only talked about oil, they have come to see that no one gives a shit about their hopes.
In my opinion, I argued with someone close to me about it, they should have seen it coming
when they saw that they left the vice president and only talked about oil, they have come to see that no one gives a shit about their hopes.
“America first”. Everyone else last.
even it’s Maduro was more evil than Trump, their internal affairs have nothing to do with the US, and this intervention is wrong under any account.
For those who don’t remember the 2000s, this is the “greet us as liberators” stage of the debate. The “you want Maduro back in power” argument is coming in hot. Followed by “True democracy in South America” after that doesn’t work.
And all of that was just a rebranding of “white mans burden” to “civilize” the less advanced races from the 19th Century.
People who know history are doomed to watch amnesiacs do the same shit over and over.
There were huge celebrations of venezuelans here in Chile, they’re just happy Maduro is no longer in charge. Some say they can finally come back home, I guess they’re waiting for a new democratic government to take charge…
We chileans have plenty of experience with US meddling, so I’m personally not so hopeful about it.
I understand your point. I don’t doubt for any second the atrocities made by Maduro and his followers.
Why the rest of the world is so shocked and appalled, is because what is to come as replacement will be much, much worse for Venezuelans, and because this attack and kidnapping has just set a bewildering precedent that now pretty much forces the entire planet in another world war.
This attack on your soil and against your leadership, wether legitimate or not, will become a major turning point in this world’s history. There’s no going back now, because there will be no accountability for this crime.
We know, because we’ve seen it before all too well, and we all know how it will end. And this time, there are no “good guys” to cosplay saviours.
There probably are some Venezuelans who are hoping that it ends here, and that a major obstacle to them was just removed. Maduro was unpopular enough that he lost a democratic election in an election he and his cronies were pushing the scale on, hard.
Unfortunately, this whole fiasco staying contained to this one operation remains extremely unlikely. That’s not even getting into the insanity of the operation itself, and what it means on a more abstract level wrt international relations.
In addition to that, removing Maduro doesn’t actually remove the apparatchiks which backed his crushing of dissent after he lost the presidential election, meaning the success of this will likely end up only ‘symbolic’, if that, even if the insanity does end with this kidnapping.
