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This is a crime to the Venezuelans, the US citizens, and the whole of South America.
by the-smug-one 9mo ago
This is a crime to the Venezuelans, the US citizens, and the whole of South America.
- Sprotch 9mo agoIt’s also a crime against the US constitution and the international legal order. By condoning “might is right” Trump has given an excuse to every tinpot dictator, from Putin to Kim, to invade and kill whoever they want
- gtirloni 9mo agoAnd the voters who elected Trump because he promised to stop with "nation building". But with Venezuela's +300bn oil barrels at Trump's disposal now, I bet the gas prices will plummeted. I wonder how the MAGA fanbase will react (probably will be happy to let just this one "nation building" project to slip through their ethics).
- sejje 9mo agoI doubt they'll like it, but like most Americans, I think they mostly gloss over foreign policy. Most Americans can't find Venezuela on a map. (Presumably most humans can't) They'll overlook this (and similar moves) and pay attention to domestic policy, unless we're dragged into an extended war.
- mythrwy 9mo agoIf you remember the aftermath of the Iraq2 invasion (which a lot of people claimed was about oil) gas prices did not plummet at all but the reverse. Gas doubled at the pump, maybe slightly more.
- herewulf 9mo agoBecause the US completely botched stabilizing the country despite 10s of thousands of troops on the ground for years. Meanwhile the indigenous insurgency and the previous to the invasion non-existent but subsequently massed foreign Al-Qaeda in Iraq both ensured no meaningful exports could be accomplished. In Venezuela it's extremely unclear how suddenly creating a giant power vacuum will allow the US to obtain Venezuela's oil. On one hand, this seems classic from the Trump Admin in that rash actions have been taken with no future plans in place (cf. DOGE), on the other hand this does appear in line with the promise of "no forever wars" (no sustained US ground presence) and if the US does actually end up with the oil, then it will be at a very low cost (in terms of US blood and treasure).
- Sprotch 9mo agoGas prices would have plummeted in any case, we have an over supply of LNG that is scheduled to get exponentially worse in the next 5 years
- thrownato 9mo agoIt's really not a crime against the US constitution. And "International Law" isn't really law, because there is no enforcer. International politics is anarchy. Rules are enforced by the hegemon.
- Sprotch 9mo agoArticle I of the Constitution, Section 8: only Congress has the power to declare war. International law exists - it’s the very purpose of the International Court of Justice
- thrownato 9mo agoWar hasn't been declared. > The War Powers Resolution of 1973 (often called the War Powers Act) is a U.S. law designed to limit the President's power to commit the U.S. to armed conflict without congressional approval, requiring presidential consultation with Congress before deploying forces and mandating reports within 48 hours, with a 60-day limit for troop deployment without a formal authorization, though presidents have often challenged or sidestepped its provisions.
- cbeach 9mo agoThe US casually eliminating a nasty despot is likely to have a chilling effect on the other nasty despots. Putin and Kim will -not- be emboldened by this act - quite the opposite.
- selfmodruntime 9mo agoMost Venezuelans will make a very loud point to disagree with you.
- gorbot 9mo agoSource?
- selfmodruntime 9mo ago8 Million refugees?
- thrownato 9mo ago[flagged]
- ErneX 9mo agoVenezuelans are cheering.
- pelorat 9mo agoAnd what are they going to to do against the militias and military that are loyal to Maduros political party? I'll tell you. Nothing. They are going to do nothing. Because they can't.
- ErneX 9mo agoWe’ll see about that. In the meantime I get to see Maduro handcuffed and blindfolded on a US warship heading to NY. Life is good.
- Dumblydorr 9mo agoLife is good? Your feeling about the goodness of life depends on if a powerful country captures the leader of another country? Whatever you think of the morality and ethics of the man, the precedent, the outcome, the extrajudicial action is opening the door for less law and order in the world. This sets a precedent that the US is back to regime change and world policing, and that went swimmingly in the past as we all know.
- mvdtnz 9mo agoAre you under the impression that Maduro is a fairly and lawfully elected leader? Because he absolutely is not.
- jacquesm 9mo agoThat's true. But a similar case could be made for many other world leaders, they just don't happen to be sitting on top of a lot of oil and/or are able to credibly defend themselves. This was never about Maduro or democracy.
- FergusArgyll 9mo ago
- tim333 9mo agoThis lot of Venezuelans don't seem too worried https://www.nbcnews.com/video/venezuelan-community-in-miami-celebrates-after-maduro-s-capture-255333957665 https://www.nbcnews.com/video/venezuelan-community-in-miami-...
- torginus 9mo agoDidn't most Latin Americans living in Florida move there to escape their generally left-leaning countries? Makes sense they would celebrate.
- gorbot 9mo agoIf someone murdered Obama while in office you could have filmed a video just like this in America, crazy that you’d post this
- tim333 9mo agoBut it's not murder. It's an arrest of someone who wouldn't leave office after losing an election. Admittedly the people celebrating are Venezuelans abroad rather than in Venezuela. Hope it goes ok there too.
- gorbot 9mo agoi know, I was being hyperbolic, same point of have <country> arrest Obama while he was in office..
- hackable_sand 9mo agoIt's not hyperbolic. At least the last four American presidents are war criminals.