Subject: Re: Venezuela - Who and How
This isn't a question of whether the individual things that Venezuela's government does or doesn't do is in the best interests of Venezuela, but whether allowing a foreign power to make those decisions for Venezuela is in their best interests. And the answer to that higher-level question is almost certainly "no."

Uh huh. BRI countries have China call the shots and Venezuela was effectively a drug cartel.

I'm just fascinated by the democrats. They're literally the only ones on the planet bent out of shape by this.

You keep mentioning "rules" and "laws" but...the folks breaking all the "rules" and "laws" are the Chinese/Russians/Venezuelans and the guy enforcing the "laws" is...Trump. Fascinating.

As for the above policies, it's not in Venezuela's best interests to oppress their own people - but the demands on the other end of that phone call aren't about stopping that oppression or requiring the country to abide by elections (else Machado, not Rodriguez, would be taking the call).

Incorrect. The calls are about pressuring their government to allow fair elections and knock things off.

As for smuggling oil, that could very well be in Venezuela's best interests - it's economically valuable for them, and just like America First doesn't abide subordinating the needs of Americans to any global rules-based system, it's no shock that "Venezuela First" might take the same approach.

Or they could...sell oil on the open market!

And Venezuela isn't really operating as a giant drug cartel Yes it is.

Venezuela has decided not to undertake the massive expense (in money and blood) necessary to clamp down on the illegal trafficking

LOL. They're literally enabling this.

to help the U.S. solve the drug problem that stems from our demand.

So it's our fault, then.

Anyway.

Venezuela is a lynchpin: get them off the chess board and Cuba is screwed (who, by the way, was supplying a lot of muscle to Maduro. A lot of those guys are dead now.) China loses oil imports. The Russians lose their money laundering.

Iran and Hezbollah lose a base of operations and the lucrative oil and drug cash.

No...the only shocking thing here is that successive US Presidents ALLOWED all this sh1t to build up in our hemisphere for so long.