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Just the other day, half of the Maduro supporters here on HN were expressing outrage over US interference regarding just this the same thing, in a reversal of principles and roles. What we are witnessing on this board is a raw demonstration of politics and power. Who or what principle you support merely depends on where folks sit.
Both sides of this debate make fair points-- what's regrettable is that so many participants seem unwilling or unable to recognize they are reflexively taking the position opposite the US, or Israel and lack any sounder organizing principle.
Russia tried to do this to Zelensky and Bush Sr. did do it to Noriega in 1990.
will all of the military and paramilitary forces there suddenly become to compliant? will other nations try to turn it into a proxy war to drag the us down possibly as payback for Ukraine?
maybe everyone moves on I have no idea, I'd personally rather just not be involved
It should not be contentious at this point, the US only cares about the geopolitical value of Venezuela, and if supporting another dictator helps towards this end, then that's what will happen.
A tell tale is how they tend to completely overlook (to the point of pretending it isnt happening) the role of economic sanctions, blockades & other forms of coercive pressure on the economies of those countries. Instead, putting it all down to local actions by local actors.
There won't be much mention of any of the social improvements & economic uplift which Chavez in particular was able to do, before the external economic pressures became overbearing.
When you can control the narrative on both sides of the equation to this extent, kidnapping the leader of a sovereign (until today) country seems almost normal.
Jeffery Sachs summed it up best a couple of hours ago. The US is not even pretending to be a constitutionally-governed state any more, and this is just 1 sign of that.
The Wehrmacht lost because numbers kind of matter in war. When you look at the natural resources Russia had, the population disparity between Russia and Germany, and the size of territory the Germans attempted to conquer, it really wasn't a close contest at all.
The entire concept of a 5th column is just fear-mongering by most countries who faced defeat due to their incompetence. And the term was used by countries to impose draconian controls and oppression.