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Venezuela's Navy Begins Escorting Ships as U.S. Threatens Blockade
- Havoc 10mo agoUS really is intent on starting a shooting war by the looks of it. Perhaps even some light special military operation'ing...
- mgiampapa 10mo agoIf its not in the middle east it's just a sparkling police action.
- prmph 10mo agoHow does this affect Trump's chances of ... ahem, getting the peace prize? I though he and his followers said he was anti-war? Oh yup, this is probably just a "special military operation"
- davidw 10mo ago> getting the peace prize Maybe if they can pinpoint its whereabouts at a specific time when it's not heavily guarded, they can send a team to snatch it with minimal casualties.
- simonsarris 10mo agoYou do realize the US is supported in the current actions by the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner? (María Corina Machado)
- dzhiurgis 10mo agoHow financing ruSSia with oil money promotes peace?
- tim333 10mo agoHe already got the very prestigious FIFA peace prize.
- duxup 10mo agoTrump talks a lot of shit but generally he chickens out from that kinda thing historically speaking. Granted considering his statements as things has gone on I'm not at all sure about his grasp on reality. Maybe he sees the wrong tweets and does something stupid(er) than usual?
- beloch 10mo agoIt's almost like there's something happening on Friday that is so scary that there's a need for a full-on "Wag the Dog" shooting war.
- general1465 10mo agoQuick in'n'out we are home before Christmas 2031: After 4 year struggle Maracay has finally fallen, An F35 has been shot down by unknown energy weapon, probably provided by China.
- jameskilton 10mo agoThis is the dumbest timeline.
- vdupras 10mo agoThe dumbest timeline is the one with nuclear war. This might not be it. If we're optimistic and assume that Trump, Xi and Putin have some kind of deal for a new world order where the US is no longer a world police, and the US gets to have its oligarchs just like Russia has. Maybe that part of the deal is that Trump gets the Americas. It sure sucks for the new vassal states, but it beats having a nuclear war.
- DivingForGold 10mo agoPutin seems intent on keeping up his threats, he might just use a "low yield" nuke to shake out the weak hands in Europe - - which it appears there are plenty of - - the question is how EU NATO would respond. I doubt they would then match him, nuke for nuke. Could it be Trump is leaning towards just letting Putin and the EU settle their own differences by themselves - - while Trump concentrates on his side of the world, which Venezuela is a too easy prize to win. The old playbook: Find a US leaning Venezuelan leader who can be bought off with CIA money, get rid of Maduro, by force if needed, then the huge discoveries in the oilfields of Guyana next door that Exxon, Hess Corporation, CNOOC and others have their hands deep in are secured.
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- YY4987439827 10mo agoGood move. Venezuela shipping oil to Cuba violates NO international law and America is committing an act of terrorism with their "blockade" (an act of war according to the UN). America can never win a war with Venezuela, seeing their humiliating defeats in Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam against much smaller and less developed nations. Godspeed to all Venezuelans resisting the ongoing American aggression.
- foogazi 10mo ago> America can never win a war with Venezuela, seeing their humiliating defeats in Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam Iraq’s Republican Guards rejoice!
- pixl97 10mo agoI mean technically US doesn't have to go to war in land, if they sink the navy(which would be accomplished in minutes) then all Venezuelan oil is trapped in country and they go bankrupt.
- ryandrake 10mo agoHonestly it looks like someone is just Wagging The Dog[1] in anticipation of the DOJ deadline to release more Epstein information. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_Dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_Dog
- jmpman 10mo agoThis seems like the most logical explanation.
- ncr100 10mo agoNotice also the tell-all in Vanity Fair by the loyalist? To me this is suspicious timing. It would serve to darken Trump's image a bit while affirming he's a Strong Man (a quote from the article).
- stocksinsmocks 10mo agoIt’s a complex issue which deserves a complex explanation. I wouldn’t oversimplify and discount that at least some people with decision making clout in the US want Maduro to be made an example of. Nearly all leaders in the Americas (including in the US) are generally hostile to the US population, but Maduro is probably the most open and aggressive. Sending the worst prisoners to us is laudable as a resourceful and creative form of biological warfare, but I would still want to see him on the business end of US ordinance. Incidentally reducing the supply of narcotics, even if it’s a small percentage, is a win for working class folks on net, and at least some people care about them. Chinese and Russian interests getting cute and forward positioning offensive or dual-use material is likely in play. A smoke screen for the only country the US policy-making establishment actually cares about is also an interest served. A little jingoism probably polls well. Unfortunately, we don’t have a monarchy and policy is basically unexplainable. Sort of like how it is when companies get too big and anybody who can buy shares gets a say.
- JohnTHaller 10mo agoThey're gonna release it. It's not like they shut down the House to delay it. Oh, wait.
- sailfast 10mo agoTo quote Hunt for Red October: “This business will get out of control.”
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 10mo agoAnd we'll be lucky to live through it!
- belter 10mo agoAnother quote from the movie: "...Listen, I'm a politician, which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops. But it also means I keep my options open..."
- nradov 10mo agoRegardless of any legal or moral issues, in practice the Venezuelan Navy has almost no capability to escort merchant vessels. It was never a very strong force and has been badly degraded by years of socialism. I doubt they will try to do anything more than a symbolic show of force near the ports.
- clanky 10mo agoThe main purpose is probably to get American ships to fire the first shot, and thereby firmly establish that it is the U.S. empire that is the aggressor.
- metadope 10mo agoThat ship has sailed.
- clanky 10mo agoI see your point, but it's kind of one thing to blow up a handful of "drug boats" (only a complete idiot believes that story, but simply having _any story_ seems to be the only requirement these days), quite another to start going after tankers carrying oil or their escorts. Maybe they'll try to arrange some kind of Gulf of Tonkin style false flag.
- nradov 10mo agoAre you seriously claiming that the the boats blown up so far were not smuggling drugs? I think that sinking them was bad policy and possibly illegal, but I know enough about boats to be pretty certain that those guys weren't out there fishing.
- tedggh 10mo agoThis is barely an inconvenience for the Venezuelan regime. Oil contributes very little to the economy these days. The oil industry was dismantled many years ago and replaced mostly by drug trafficking and illegal mining. With over 9 million expats fleeing the regime, “remesas” also keep whatever is left from the economy moving. Most Venezuelans don’t work, or at least not for money, just to keep their sanity, as salaries cannot buy any basic goods. Exceptions are doctors and some emergency trade occupations like plumbers or mechanics, which are entirely $US based. Most families depend on relatives sending money from abroad. There’s also some tourism, mostly Russians and Chinese. Other than not much going on there, the 0.0001% in power already made their fortunes in illegal markets (and in crypto, as some in the regime used the limited power in the country to mine bitcoin) so they have little to worry about some dirty oil not being “sold” to Cuba or Iran. The rest of the population continues surviving however they can.
- AlotOfReading 10mo agoOil contributes very little to the economy these days. The oil industry was dismantled many years ago and replaced mostly by drug trafficking and illegal mining. Mind sourcing that? It's not what's on the Wikipedia page for Venezuela's economy, nor the CIA world factbook for the country. The largest estimate I could find for drug trafficking was 8 billion USD, which came from transparency international, an org with sketchy history on Latin American numbers. The latest petroleum export numbers I can find are much higher.
- tedggh 10mo agoDon’t need to source it. I lived under the regime and still have many relatives there. I know exactly what I am saying by my own experience not by reading a journalist from the NYT. The drug business is very real and has deep roots in the military since the early 2000s so this is not new. Even the presidential plane has been used to transport drugs, that’s well documented. Chavez himself didn’t like it once his son got involved, but he died and Venezuela became the Wild West. There are two factions controlling the country, the ideological one and the “business” one. Both are involved in drug trafficking but the ideological branch supports Cuba and other communist regimes with free oil. Cuba hasn’t paid one dime for oil in more than 25 years. In fact many of the ships leaving Venezuela are bound to Cuba’s “customers” directly. The non ideological branch of the regime hates this “deal”, and many senior military are actually anti-Cuba, they have never been there, reason why the Cuban regime keeps Maduro in power. All of Maduro’s security ring is Cuban for that reason. The non ideological branch made a deal to stay out of oil in exchange for illegal mining. There’s a human and environmental catastrophe happening in the Amazonas state, with natives being displaced or killed and one of the most beautiful naturals reserves in the planet being destroyed. This is also well documented. Most of the gold is sold to Russia and Iran. There’s also some mining for uranium which Iran needs for their nuclear program. And that’s it, there’s really no other economy in the country. Don’t be naive believing Maduro is selling oil and keeping the country funded. As I said the economy is largely supported by “remesas” from the exodus and by the informal economy which is completely dollar based, no one takes local currency there.
- rich_sasha 10mo agoOne thing I cannot make out is of these tankers are legitimately sanctioned or not. They are sometimes described as "sanctioned", but what does it mean here? Does it mean Trump tweeted so? Is that by UN? US Congress? Trump is clearly acting with bad will in Venezuela regardless, but I think the criticism should focus on the many parts where he is doing something wrong. If there were internationally-recognised sanctions that simply weren't enforced, I'd criticise Trump for all the other parts.
- nradov 10mo agoIt was legitimate as far as we know. A seizure warrant was issued under 18 U.S.C. §§ 981, 982, 2332b(g)(5), and 2339B(a)(1). So far no court has ruled against that. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/us-unseals-warrant-tanker-seized-coast-guard-coast-venezuela https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/us-unseals-warrant-tanker...
- rich_sasha 10mo agoThanks for this. The warrant claims this ship was involved, basically, in financing Hezbollah and the Iranian regime. So kind of bad things. I think we need to be wary of the pattern where: - some bad things happen but are ignored / uncontested by the "good" side - the "bad" side comes in and does a lot of genuinely bad things of their own - but also, perhaps selectively, contests other "bad" things that were left hanging by the "good" side, where it fits their narrative - the "good" side is up in arms against the "bad" side following the law Clearly this argument hinges on recognising Trump as a baddie and the Democrats, somewhat, as baddies. As a non-American, this is roughly how I see it, but I can't stir up outrage against Trump for enforcing sanctions according to his country's own laws. Bullying Venezuela, sure, but not this particular fragment. I remember how defensive Democrats were of illegal immigration during the last election. I'll agree with anyone who wants to treat people fairly and humanely, but the Democrats were almost making out that illegal immigrants are some kind of modern day martyrs. If you think the immigration laws are not right, change them, but don't sit on and praise a system perpetuated by illegality. It's just a hypocritical, massive own goal, and I detracts from all the genuinely bad things done by the "bad" side.