Let's talk about Trump's changeless regime change in Venezuela.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump's changeless regime change in Venezuela.

A statement in the video the day of Trump's move that got a whole lot of push back and criticism was that we didn't see any kind of coherent strategy for a transition of government functions and that the military and security services still seemed firmly in control. We were told we didn't know what we were talking about and didn't understand the planning that went into this. Well, now we know why there was no apparent transition plan. It's the obvious reason. There is no transition plan. It appears that the administration is content to leave the rest of the regime in power.

To all those who sent videos of celebrations in Miami that you thought occurred in Caracas, you might want to check in on them. They're probably feeling pretty played right now. It's foreign policy. It's not about democracy. It's about power. And with Trump, it's primarily about money.

At least for the time being, the Trump administration seems perfectly happy, leaving Maduro's VP, Delcy Rodriguez, in power. I know the obvious question is why the administration didn't throw its weight behind the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Karina Machado. The humorous answer is that she got the peace prize he desperately wanted. The real answer is that she would only be considered if this was about democracy.

First, it's foreign policy. It's about power, not democracy. Second, is there something in Trump's history I'm missing that would lead me to believe he's an advocate for democracy? So, what's the plan? The plan is to basically use the constant threat of US military force to obtain economic compliance from the parts of the Maduro regime left in power.

What's this look like in real life? Well, during the first Banana Wars, Cuba wound up in this position. Cuba saw an intervention that lasted from 1898 to 1902. Then another from 1906 to 1909, then another in 1912, and then finally the sugar intervention from 1917 to 1922.

Likewise, the Dominican Republic saw interventions in 1903 and 1904 and 1914 and then it was occupied from 1916 to 1924. Notice they end with lengthy interventions, right?

Trump said, "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country."

So, if this is about business interests, why aren't American companies cheering and promising to invest? There's a bunch of oil business reasons dealing with the type of oil that's there and the infrastructure costs, but an overshadowing reason is because they understand the region better than Trump. They're familiar with the list of dates. They're also familiar with the risks.

Chevron has a presence in Venezuela already. their statement, “Chevron remains focused on the safety and well-being of our employees as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.” It's their people and assets exposed in country. They're the visible presence. They don't want to be seen as part of the US intervention because it's risky. There is no transition plan. Trump has likely created another mess some later president will have to clean up.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.