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Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

reuters.com

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Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#431

I just spent way too much time reading through this thread looking for a single post more concerned about Venezuela and its people than the poster's own politics. I gave up when I noticed I was only a 1/4 of the way through thread, should have started from the bottom.

My concern for Venezuelans is precisely what makes me believe "removing Maduro good" even though things are more nuanced and complex than those three words.

Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#432

  Maduro is a dictator who stayed in power by force after losing an election. No one who believes in democracy should mourn his fall. Trump's pretexts and potential geopolitical deals especially w Russia deserve scrutiny, but the Venezuelan people deserve a chance at freedom. 
  
  As with everything Trump does, his motivations will be about personal power and enrichment. This does not contradict that Maduro was an illegitimate thug allied with others like him. However his removal was arranged (deal?) it shakes the global forces of dictatorship.

  Condemning a nation's people to authoritarianism and repression because of potential bad outcomes after the fall of their dictator is a free world observer's luxury. Democracy and prosperity can never be guaranteed, but the opportunities for them should be promoted.
-- Garry Kasparov

https://x.com/Kasparov63/status/2007435764678705347

Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#433

It's funny how many people already see this as a book that is opened and closed on the same day. That's not how these things work. This is like the first stone of an avalanche. It could stop here, or it could roll on for quite a while. It will take months or even years to know whether or not the outcome here was desirable or not and what the final tally is. Remember the 'Arab spring' and what came after.

Or Afghanistan

Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#435

It's funny how many people already see this as a book that is opened and closed on the same day. That's not how these things work. This is like the first stone of an avalanche. It could stop here, or it could roll on for quite a while. It will take months or even years to know whether or not the outcome here was desirable or not and what the final tally is. Remember the 'Arab spring' and what came after.

"Events in the present determine events in the future".

Very deep observation.

Maduro had to be removed, this is a win for Venezuela. On one side he's a criminal, on the other side people at the country are cheering for this [1].

He didn't even win the most recent election. I'll write that again, he was not elected.

I haven't seen a convincing argument about why it would have been better if he remained in power.

1: https://x.com/SofyCasas_/status/2007455810884886992

Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#436
As a European:

His voters thought Trump would be different, he would bring the troops home, put the homeland first, and that he would fight the Deep State.

In reality, he's building out Imperium Americanum, he is fighting wars without Congressional approval and proper casus bellis, he's not bringing the troops home and it is clear he represents the fucking Deep State even more than any of his predecessors since JFK. Shame on him for renaming the Kennedy Center the Trump-Kennedy Center. Which is absolutely disgusting given the reality of things!

Prime example: Invading Venezuela to steal their oil, just like his predecessors did with Syria (if you do not believe me, look where the US Army is located in Syria, and the prime locations of their oil fields).

Additionally: Trump's United States now has given Putin's Russia and Xi's China precedent to do whatever they fucking want to whoever or whatever. Because who fucking cares about international law if even the United States government, home of freedom and democracy and the rule of law, currently doesn't even give a fuck?

So now fucking what?

(And yes, as you might have noticed I AM FURIOUS AS HELL.)

Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#438

Maduro is a dictator who stayed in power by force after losing an election. No one who believes in democracy should mourn his fall. Trump's pretexts and potential geopolitical deals especially w Russia deserve scrutiny, but the Venezuelan people deserve a chance at freedom. As with everything Trump does, his motivations will be about personal power and enrichment. This does not contradict that Maduro was an illegitim…

I can understand this position and have always admired Kasparov's principled ideology, but I think this is too narrow of a look. More things could've been done to peacefully attempt to oust Maduro with the cooperation of other countries.

Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#439

Two wrongs don’t make a right. Regardless of your opinion on Maduro, you can still acknowledge that the head of a sovereign state being captured in an unannounced/unnamed military operation by a superpower is wrong from a principled standpoint, and that it’s destabilising a country with 30+ million people if not the entire region.

What principles are you citing? Are they principles that someone made up out of nothing and that no one has ever consistently applied?

Is Maduro the head of a sovereign state? Says who?

Re: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured after strikes

#440

Maduro is a dictator who stayed in power by force after losing an election. No one who believes in democracy should mourn his fall. Trump's pretexts and potential geopolitical deals especially w Russia deserve scrutiny, but the Venezuelan people deserve a chance at freedom. As with everything Trump does, his motivations will be about personal power and enrichment. This does not contradict that Maduro was an illegitim…

I don't like our dictator, but I am glad our dictator took out this other dictator (for personal reasons) who was working with other dictators (some of which our dictator supports) because it might mean that we have less dictators even if it comes with the risk of severe instability.

Ok, thanks Garry.

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