FFS. Trump just said "we have many options for Venezuela…We're not going to rule out a military option." You have got to be kidding me. That will just embolden the Maduro supporters, bring more chaos, and create more refugees.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/11/trump-on...ption.html

To understand Venezuela's position, a history lesson is in order. Flashback to the 1970s and Venezula was the wealthiest and most relevant Latin American nation thanks to vast oil deposits and the demand of oil increased. The easily became the best example of a socialist state, rich and low income difference. But fast forward to now, years later unnecessary consumption has slowly degraded into a corrupt dictatorship with one of the largest income differences in the world. The government still survives through oil money from their monopoly but lower oil prices had made their situation worse. The government currently in place has no morals and they are trying to stuff their pockets as they know their time is nearly numbered. I have a cousin in Venezula who is a revolutionary leader there. He often shows me videos of gun fights and explosions. Don't you see ? It might be a revolution by the people or another USA proxy war, but one thing is certain, Venezula is on fire

Qvait Wrote:FFS. Trump just said "we have many options for Venezuela…We're not going to rule out a military option." You have got to be kidding me. That will just embolden the Maduro supporters, bring more chaos, and create more refugees.

And, what usually happens when external threats suddenly appear: Unite public opinion against the invader. NOBODY wants external intervention. That would turn this place into another Iraq. I doubt the bastard will try, however.

(08-11-2017, 09:14 PM)Malayan Singapura Wrote: To understand Venezuela's position, a history lesson is in order. Flashback to the 1970s and Venezula was the wealthiest and most relevant Latin American nation thanks to vast oil deposits and the demand of oil increased. The easily became the best example of a socialist state, rich and low income difference. But fast forward to now, years later unnecessary consumption has slowly degraded into a corrupt dictatorship with one of the largest income differences in the world. The government still survives through oil money from their monopoly but lower oil prices had made their situation worse. The government currently in place has no morals and they are trying to stuff their pockets as they know their time is nearly numbered. I have a cousin in Venezula who is a revolutionary leader there. He often shows me videos of gun fights and explosions. Don't you see ? It might be a revolution by the people or another USA proxy war, but one thing is certain, Venezula is on fire

You have a cousin here? (I'm TSP's Resident Venezuelan, nice to meet ya ) Neat.

You hit straight to the point. Venezuela's main problem is that we base our economy on the fluctuating prices of a single resource. We stubbornly refuse to diversify the economy, and every time the price goes down, the entire thing goes to shit. It happened in the late 1980's/early 1990's, and that helped Chávez get to power in the first place. The country recovered in the early 2000's, and when the prices crashed again, this happened, although it was made worse by the disastrous policies of the Government. Even before we discovered oil, it's been like this. During the 19th Century, we mainly exported coffee and cocoa, and had the same problem, the main difference being that the instability that followed resulted in countless coups, uprisings and civil wars.

I doubt the US cares as much about this place so as to be funding the Opposition (if that was the case, this would have degenerated into civil war already). I'm not sure to call this a "revolution" though... there are still lots of Government supporters, and lots of people who want to see the Government toppled, but despise the Opposition and/or the "Resistance", me included.

Spend some time defending my country on the NS forums against wannabe imperialists saying its fair game to invade because we're in America's "backyard". I reply that this isn't a vassal of the US and that they don't have any right to intervene here. One particular individual just shrugs it off, then says that we are a joke and a failure and that we "shouldn't be proud about it". As if I needed help to get to that conclusion  :dodgy:

You're nation hasn't failed, at least not yet. If we want a failed state, we can look at Somalia for the almost the last 25 years. Venezuela still has a long and dark road to follow before it becomes anything like that, a road which I doubt anyone on either side, is so blindly stupid to follow. It may take time, but, so long as there are always more Venezuelans like you, and less like Maduro, Venezuela will never follow that dark path to anarchy.

And besides, as we've seen in the last 30 years, American intervention usually does more harm than help. If it were a different president, I might think otherwise possible, but, the current administration is bound to make the same mistakes as it's predecessors. We may be able to help in other ways, but a US intervention would simply divide and doom Venezuela to a very dangerous fate.

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The... funniest (I don't know if that's the word I should be using) thing is that, after all these years of Chávez and Maduro saying that the US is totally planning to invade, intervention would prove them right. They would probably become popular again.

The only people who can change Venezuela are the people of Venezuela.

(08-12-2017, 08:39 PM)RandomGuy199 Wrote: Spend some time defending my country on the NS forums against wannabe imperialists saying its fair game to invade because we're in America's "backyard".

Nonsense. Venezuela is a great country, part of a great region, with great neighbours, and soon it'll rejoin that family. It's in nobody's backyard, neither that US' nor Maduro's.

Amen to that!

We are all Americans.