I don’t care about Maduro, as far as I’m concerned, they can shoot him if they want. What matters to me is walking through the streets of my city and seeing the faces of fear on my neighbors. The military patrolling to prevent looting due to panic. It’s a collective hangover, a horrible one.

It’s 2016 all over again. It’s seeing despair entering the circulatory system of all Venezuelans, only now it’s more sudden, and we are painfully aware of it.

This is far from improving, and we know it.

    • redlemace@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      134
      ·
      6 days ago

      What about your military staff (Generals and the likes) Aren’t they supposed to refuse illegal orders even from potus?

          • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            65
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            6 days ago

            That’s why I get pissed about stories of the variety “X resigns rather than follow administrations orders”. People seem to cheer when that happens because they see it as people pushing back on illegal orders, but they’re not. They’re just bailing from responsibility when they were one of the few people in the position to legitimately be a stopgap on this runaway power abuse. In resigning, they’ve just made it easier for a loyalist or morally corrupt replacement to come in and roll out the red carpet to the autocracy. Stay right where the fuck you’re at, plant your feet, and tell them that you’re absolutely not following illegal orders from anyone. That is worth cheering.

            • cheesybuddha@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              23
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              6 days ago

              Resigning instead of refusing an illegal order is a betrayal of their oath to the constitution, and a betrayal of the American people

              • anomnom@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                12
                ·
                6 days ago

                This. It’s not upholding the constitution, it’s standing back and watching it get fucked, while selling books or speaking engagements.

                • CAVOK@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  4 days ago

                  I don’t disagree, but then they get dishonorably discharged, lose their pension and benefits, a loyalist is put in their place and the end result is the same except that they’re worse off personally. I can absolutely see that the better option for them is to resign and make a statement rather than going hard-core and fight it. Unless they plan on a full-on military coup.

          • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            16
            ·
            6 days ago

            I know youre being funny about it, but I need to point out the officer’s oath is not to the president, and the supreme court is irrelevant in this.

            Specifically any orders which violate the constitution, federal law, or (specifically an “or” here, not “and”) international law should be refused. Typical examples are torturing people who are detained, targeting civilians, etc.

          • 7101334@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            5 days ago

            Not exactly. They ruled the president cannot be prosecuted for illegal acts taken in the capacity of president. So it’s more “he can do illegal shit and we can’t stop him” and less “anything he does it automatically legal”. So refusing an illegal order would presumably still be a valid route of action.

            But from what I know about the military, they can just punish you in some other capacity even if what you did is technically legal. Ie reassigning you to some shit duty or miserable location.

      • auraithx@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        22
        ·
        5 days ago
        • “Fascist to the core… the most dangerous person to this country.”Gen. Mark Milley, Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Highest-ranking military officer). Status: Trump has suggested he should be executed for treason.
        • “He fits the general definition of fascist… he certainly prefers the dictator approach.”Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff and retired Marine General. Status: Trump has attacked him as “dumb,” “weak,” and a “low life.”
        • “Effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump.”Gen. James Mattis, Trump’s first Secretary of Defense and retired Marine General. Status: Trump labeled him the “world’s most overrated general.”
        • “I do regard him as a threat to democracy… I think he’s unfit for office.”Mark Esper, Trump’s second Secretary of Defense. Status: Fired after refusing Trump’s order to “just shoot” protesters in the legs.
        • “His sense of betrayal drove him to abandon his oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ a president’s highest obligation.”Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s second National Security Adviser. Status: Publicly attacked by Trump as “naive.”
        • “Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”Mike Pence, Trump’s Vice President. Status: Trump has spent years attacking him for refusing to overturn the election.
        • “A consummate narcissist… our country can’t be a therapy session for a troubled man like this.”Bill Barr, Trump’s second Attorney General. Status: Trump has called him a “weak,” “lazy,” and “RINO” coward.
        • “I understand what you want to do, but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law.”Rex Tillerson, Trump’s first Secretary of State. Status: Fired; Trump called him “dumb as a rock” and “lazy.”
        • “He has never cared about America… his conduct and mere existence have hastened the demise of democracy.”Ty Cobb, Trump’s White House Lawyer during the Russia investigation. Status: Dismissed by Trump as a “weak lawyer.”
        • “He makes up what he wants to say… how little of American history he knows.”John Bolton, Trump’s third National Security Adviser. Status: Trump calls him a “wacko” and a “disgruntled boring fool.”
        • “We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator.”Gen. Mark Milley, during his farewell address as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
      • ramble81@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        6 days ago

        Sadly a good chunk of the good ones were fired, and the others are too scared about their pensions to do anything. The rest have been installed by our glorious dictator and also suck his cock on the daily.

      • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        6 days ago

        He’s been getting rid of those guys since day 1. Undoubtedly they came in with purge lists.

        And then of course they gave this operation to a loyalist.

      • Mulligrubs@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        6 days ago

        Yes, they are supposed to. They also are trained to follow orders, and much more vigorously.

        But generally, overthrowing governments that oppose the USA is seen as routine. We do this frequently.

    • minorkeys@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 days ago

      You still don’t know? Republicans are all complicit in it so they refuse to use their control of Congress to do anything. Republicans don’t care about the law they only care about them having power.

    • Clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      31
      ·
      6 days ago

      Congress has not wanted the responsibility to declare war that the Constitution gave them in Article 1 Section 8.

      Ever since the civil war, Congress has handed more and more military power over to the Executive branch.

      • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        6 days ago

        No country actually declares war anymore. From Wikipedia:

        Declarations of war have been exceedingly rare since the end of World War II.[3][4] Scholars have debated the causes of the decline, with some arguing that states are trying to evade the restrictions of international humanitarian law (which governs conduct in war)[4] while others argue that war declarations have come to be perceived as markers of aggression and maximalist aims.

        That part of the US Constitution is irrelevant nowadays and should long have been updated to require any foreign (or domestic) military operations to be first approved by Congress, not just declaring war. Doesn’t make your point of Congress granting ever more rights to the President irrelevant though.

        • Clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          6 days ago

          Yeah, declaring war is only more than just words insofar as there are laws that require a declaration before certain activities or uses of powers.

          Congress has allowed the president and executive branch agencies to strike other countries, kill non combatants and soldiers, occupy countries, kill Americans, and operate torture sites without needing a formal declaration of war. There are several relevant acts of Congress, but the clearest example is the Authorized Use of Military Force. We’re still using it 25 years later and Congress keeps reauthorizing it and allowing more and more broad interpretations.

          We invaded Afghanistan, Iraq, and bombed several more countries in retaliation for 9/11

    • brachiosaurus@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 days ago

      It’s bullshit and I don’t understand why our Congress is letting him do this. It’s unjustified and illegal.

      You still haven’t understand yet that your government is rigged as fuck?

    • Soggy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      6 days ago

      If you don’t understand then you haven’t been paying attention to US history.

    • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      6 days ago

      The same congress that was totally cool with the Trail of Tears? I think people forget that there were people living here already and that the US has been invading sovereign nations to enrich white people since they stopped doing it in the name of Britain a few hundred years ago.

      • Hawke@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        17
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        6 days ago

        No, that was a different Congress. Roughly the 17th through 26th. This one is the 119th. They’re cool with different types of awfulness.

        • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          13
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          6 days ago

          Native Americans didn’t get the right to vote until 1975 and 100 years after the promise we still don’t have voting members of congress. It’s the same congress.

          • Hawke@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            arrow-down
            6
            ·
            6 days ago

            The trail of tears was 1820-1840. It’s not the same congress, there’s a new one every two years.

            • 7101334@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              5 days ago

              You’re being pedantic. The point is obviously that it’s the same institution with the same rancid values, not literally the same people.

              • Hawke@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                5 days ago

                I mean, it’s not though. Things have changed in the last couple hundred years. Some for the better, some for the worse. But it’s not the same, just like it’s not the same as even 30-40 years ago.

                • 7101334@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  2 days ago

                  It’s still an institution based on capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, and white supremacy. As is the whole country.

                  None of those things have changed.

    • theparadox@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      edit-2
      6 days ago

      This is what has been cooking since 9/11/2001.

      The AUMF grants the president the ability to just do military shit if it is in defense against “terrorism”.

      Since its passage in 2001, U.S. presidents have interpreted their authority under the AUMF to extend beyond al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan to apply to numerous other groups as well as other geographic locales, due to the act’s omission of any specific area of operations. The adoption of this law does not require the targets to be state actors, but can include non-state actors, such as individual persons. In December 2016, the Office of the President published a brief interpreting the AUMF as providing congressional authorization for the use of force against al-Qaeda and other militant groups.Today, the full list of actors the U.S. military is fighting or believes itself authorized to fight under the 2001 AUMF is classified.

      It should have been updated and repealed before G. W. Bush left office but it was left on the table and every president has used it.

      During his first term, the Trump administration officially accused Maduro with “Narco Terrorism”. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the plan all along. It’s a stretch, for sure, but all that seems to matter to the GOP is having some speck of legal cover and the corrupt SCOTUS does the rest.

    • NewSocialWhoDis@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      6 days ago

      He went around Congress. It was an illegal action. Congress may try to do something to stop him, but my odds are on the Supreme Court intervening to let Trump continue to do whatever he wants.

      • 7101334@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 days ago

        As others have mentioned, it’s most likely legal under the AUMF.

        Drug war is also legal. Slavery was legal. Legal doesn’t mean shit. But it is, probably, legal (under US law, definitely not international law but the US doesn’t give a shit about that).

    • WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      6 days ago

      I think you may have assumed America hasn’t always been a Mafia and most people in the government are just as naive as most of us regular people.

    • Stupidmanager@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      6 days ago

      Everyone needs to stop paying attention to the magic act going on center stage and go see what’s going on with the group behind the curtain.

      • freagle@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 days ago

        The Democrats have overseen scores of absolutely illegal military operations by both D and R presidents

  • TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    edit-2
    4 days ago

    Yeah, Trump isn’t the president you want doing regime change in your country. He’s completely corrupt, and he’s showing it in Venezuela - doesn’t even mind leaving the old regime in place as long as he can get to your oil. Several orders of magnitude worse than Bush, and that’s already pretty bad. I would expect him to try to work with the criminal syndicates in Venezuela and to try to come to an agreement with Russia and China for their influence in the region in exchange for giving them a blind eye to their own imperial goals elsewhere.

    From the start he’s been trying to side with the dictators of the world who want to divide it up under regions of control, and he has done everything to undermine diplomacy, soft power, and cooperation. The reason he does not prop up Machado is because he wants a despot, not democracy. It’s no surprise, given he’s one himself propped up by the richest people on Earth.

    He sees himself as controlling all social networks on the planet and as such the narrative, controlling the supply to modern computing and as such all major industries everywhere, and controlling all the most advanced military weapons on the planet. His goal is to strong arm the entire planet while having more unstable and chaotic control over it all, a recipe for disaster on a global scale that will make the overabused concept of weapons of mass destruction end up seeming ironic.

  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    74
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    6 days ago

    all the propaganda out on reddit, defending him, “oh because hes a dictator he needs to be removed”. plus Republican venuzuleans are celebrating it though/.

    lets not forget its a distraction from the epstein files, plus Smiths testinomy recently too.

      • gdog05@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        135
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        6 days ago

        It’s we. It’s our government. It’s our country. Any action or inaction is on all US citizens.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        58
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        It takes more than 7 people to produce a fighter jet.

        It takes more than 7 people to launch, fly, and navigate a fighter jet.

        It takes more than 7 people to kidnap an acting head of state.

        The US military is complicit. The US military infustrustrial complex is complicit.

        I’m not sure if I would consider US voters complicit, most of us are rendered powerless by the current electoral system, but we’ve sure got a lot of blood on our hands.

      • AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        49
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        6 days ago

        The us is a country of what? 400M people? Are you telling me 400M people can’t just kick those 7 assholes? Nah mate, it’s “you”. Because if it’s just 7 people, then it’s still “you” who are letting them do this.

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          23
          ·
          edit-2
          6 days ago

          Correct.

          I am an American, and I keep trying to explain to other Americans that nobody else is going to fucking care for 99% of our personal excuses, for all the details of why we are not right this very moment overthrowing our very obviously demented and evil, fascist dictatorship, which is in command of the most capable implement of devastation probably ever seen on the face of the planet.

          My personal excuse is that I’m literally crippled and broke and actually can’t physically do much, and I spent the last decade + warning everyone that somewhere like this was where we were headed if we didn’t collectively pull our heads out of assess…

          …but I entirely do not expect any sympathy or special consideration from any other country or its residents.

          We had everything.

          And it wasn’t enough, we threw it away in for greed, overconfidence, and frankly just a lot of racism, hatred and ignorance, wanting to just really truly feel superior to … some other kind or group of people.

          We are a contemptible nation of idiot narcissist hypocrites.

          Pariahs, a single generation after largely being viewed as heros.

          Its truly pathetic.

          • WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            6 days ago

            You should watch “century of self” by Adam Curtis. It’s on YouTube and other sites.

            Even when things were “good” it wasn’t honest or genuine. It was still just “the game” owned by evil.

            • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              4
              ·
              6 days ago

              Oh I’ve been rewatching that whole series, at least once a year, for around a decade now.

              Same with the original Cosmos, a few other kind of similar gems.

              Those were the kinds of things I tried, and failed, to inform other people of, why they were important.

              Vast majority of people didn’t care, told me I was overworrying and being catastrophic or conspiratorial.

              Anyway, your user name.

              God?

              God was a dream a good government.

              He fulfilled the innate social desire of humans to judge, and be judged. Without some way of fulfilling that desire, the cohesion of human groups is impossible.

              God is a dream of order and purpose.

              – paraphrased/bastardized from the prototype AI Morpheus, Deus Ex, 2001.

                • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  6 days ago

                  We will indeed soon have our new God, and we are indeed building it with our own hands.

                  What was it, a week ago, Joe Rogan is seriously positing the idea that… if Jesus came back, he’d come back as an AI?

                  The tech C suites clearly are already members of the AI-God cult, get ready for that kinda thing to get more and more common amongst us proles.

                  Cults tend proliferate in times of great change, hardship, and uncertainty, and quite literally, any half charismatic wacko can just make one up.

        • Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          17
          arrow-down
          7
          ·
          6 days ago

          400M people distributed over an insanely large landmass with low population density and sky-high levels of income inequality preventing ease of travel to DC. Also representation is incredibly distorted depending on state of residence and direct citizen influence at the national level is nonexistent.

        • zd9@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 days ago

          Nope. I’m doing my part. The general public isn’t personally hurting enough to take action. People are generally selfish when it comes to caring, if they have food, shelter, relative safety, etc. then they don’t care about anything else. All of that is starting to go away, which is why we’re seeing more and more actively protesting, but it’s still not enough. It’s growing though.

          Also it’s not 7 people enforcing it, it’s 7 people making the decision in the first place. The State has a monopoly on violence, and they use it to prevent the People from doing anything about their decisions. That’s why democracy was such an amazing invention, since it allowed non-violent decision changes.

        • Xella@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          14
          ·
          6 days ago

          Until you happen to live in an area where maga garbage outnumber you 100-1. Then you’re the one feeling unsafe leaving your home every day.

  • fennesz12@feddit.dk
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    136
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 days ago

    I’m from Denmark, and I think it’s just a matter of time before it’s Greenland in the news.

      • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        6 days ago

        And even just the cost of it…To take Greenland by force would easily run into the hundreds of billions of dollars, likely trillions. Greenland has a population of 56,000 people. You could cut every resident of Greenland a check for $10 million USD, and that would cost $560 billion. Would the citizens of Greenland agree to become part of the US, if we acknowledged all existing property and indigenous land rights, and we cut every Greenlander a check for $10 million USD? Maybe we even offer to waive the normal state population requirements and admit them to the Union directly as a state, skipping the territory stage? There’s precedent. We did that when the Republic of Texas became the State of Texas. That would actually be far, far cheaper than trying to do it by force. And in the end you get a new territory with all its infrastructure intact, not destroyed in the conflict or by sabotage. Oh, and you know, there’s that whole “no one has to die” thing.

        Would the Greenlanders take this offer? Maybe, maybe not. But honestly, long before any military force was used…even if you completely ignore the legality and morality of the whole thing…these are the types of offers you should be considering before trying to take Greenland by force. If you simply must have Greenland as a US territory, and you really believe that, the rational and only moral thing to do would be to at least start making offers like this. But that’s not what you see. The only offer of any direct payments to residents I’ve seen proposed was like a paltry $10k. If you’re trying to buy someone’s country out from under them, at least have the dignity to make a fair offer!

    • JamesTBagg@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      6 days ago

      Does Greenland have large oil reserves? Venezuela is about installing an American friendly/puppet regime, so that American oil companies can take control of the oil.

      • vodka@feddit.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        48
        ·
        6 days ago

        It’s one of the most mineral rich areas of the world, massive amounts of rare earth minerals, gold, silver, gemstones, all sorts of stuff.

        It’s just stuck under a thick glacier, for now.

        • P00ptart@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          6 days ago

          That’s easily solvable if you’re a cartoonishly evil supervillain, you just bomb the ice sheets!

      • Alaik@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        19
        ·
        6 days ago

        Greenland is going to be very important as climate change continues to take hold and new shipping lanes are opened.

      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 days ago

        they have alot of rare earths, which is why trump wants it, but its mostly inaccessible, and dangerous because it does not allow easy mining.

    • Aljernon@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 days ago

      Makes me sick just thinking about it. I genuinely hope Denmark prepares to wage a guerilla campaign against invaders in Greenland if needed.

    • Mrkawfee@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 days ago

      Denmark will be alone if that happens. Europeans are pathetic slaves of America and israel.

  • ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    68
    arrow-down
    12
    ·
    6 days ago

    Sorry you’re all scared. That’s awful. I’m in the US wondering when we marginalized folks in the LGBT community are getting sent to concentration camps. People are scared here too. Sorry they are awful people. I assume protest will flare up in US this week. Already had one in my home town today from what I hear. Solidarity…

  • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    84
    ·
    6 days ago

    Stay safe OP, you and your family.

    I hope this “special operation” results in blowback specifically for Trump himself.

    All sovereign countries deserve independence and freedom from invasion.

  • DupaCycki@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    63
    arrow-down
    9
    ·
    6 days ago
    • 2022 - Russia’s special operation in Ukraine
    • 2026 - USA’s special operation in Venezuela
    • 2030? - China’s special operation in Taiwan?
  • Cevilia (she/they/…)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    38
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    3 days ago

    I’m seeing a hell of a lot of parallels to the Falkland Islands from when I was growing up.

    It’s all a distraction, and they don’t care how many human lives they have to destroy. The astroturfing AI bots are, frankly, disgusting.

    I’m really sorry that you’re suffering, and I hope your beautiful country’s recovery is swift and as uneventful as possible.

  • zd9@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    70
    arrow-down
    11
    ·
    6 days ago

    As an American, we may hate him more than you do right now. I’m sorry this is happening, the oligarchs just want Venezuela’s largest crude oil reserve because greedy corporations (ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Halliburton, etc.) want more control over a dying planet. America has done this to Latin American countries 12 times in the last ~100 years, and went to war for 30+ years in the Middle East for oil too, so this is nothing new from an imperialism perspective.

    • B0rax@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      59
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      6 days ago

      As an American, we may hate him more than you do right now.

      You hate him more than people literally fearing for their lives because of his actions? I am sorry, but I don’t believe you.

      • zd9@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        24
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        6 days ago

        Yeah I personally am not fearing for my life (yet) due to him enacting violence in my city (yet). Actually that’s kind of not true with ICE, but yeah I agree it’s not quite the same, and citizens of Caracas are suffering more right now.

        However, there’s a longer history that US citizens have had to deal with, and we hate him. Hundreds of thousands or millions of people cut off from food, medicine, housing. Millions of job losses due to his corruption with Musk. There’s about 700 other things that we’ve personally dealt with. But yeah, in this exact moment, we haven’t had our city bombed and our leader abducted (yet), so acutely OP dislikes America maybe more.

        • stylusmobilus@aussie.zone
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          edit-2
          6 days ago

          That’s not true. The US returned him to power.

          If they hated him as much as you claim he wouldn’t have even ran the second time because you’d have done something about it. Certainly he wouldn’t have won.

          Nope, you don’t all hate him. Furthermore you as a nation are responsible for his actions.

          • zd9@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            6 days ago

            Who said “we all”?

            It’s about 31% who voted for him, about 35% that didn’t vote at all, and the rest that voted for someone else. There are extreme gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement efforts in place, and straight up rigging in some cases, so it’s not even just a fair contest.

            • stylusmobilus@aussie.zone
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              6 days ago

              So by voter majority at the least you don’t hate him. Those who didn’t vote obviously don’t hate him enough.

              But yeah once again we need to stop and think about US citizens while their country hurts someone else. Because they can’t get off their arse to vote.

              There’s a reason people are tired of Americas shit.

            • Logi@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              6 days ago

              Gerrymandering has no effect on presidential elections and bringing that up makes you look clueless.

              • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                6 days ago

                its mostly done by extreme voter suppression by GOP controlled states, that where all the problems occur with voting.

                • Logi@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  5 days ago

                  Sure. But gerrymandering refers to redrawing congressional districts and has no effect on presidential elections.

      • Miles O'Brien@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        6 days ago

        You hate him more than people literally fearing for their lives because of his actions?

        I personally am not their primary target yet, but this is the case for many American citizens and immigrants of any kind.

        Of course, that is not the case for most Americans, but I’d wager there’s a huge overlap in “Americans on the fediverse” and “people likely to be close to the top of the out-groups list” Hell, my old highschool once made national news for a hate crime against an LGBT student. It’s a shit hole.

        My point is, some of the people you are talking to here are likely also afraid for their lives.

      • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        I don’t know how much of it is ai bots or propaganda or what, but most sources I have been able to track down have mostly celebrating Venezuelans. I know the country has not been a good place to live in over the past decade. US corporate is going to essentially own and swallow up the resources from there, but it won’t surprise me if the general population there has it easier for a while. See what kind of kangaroo government gets put in place down there and for how long the US is going to keep their governing thumb over the country.

      • Xella@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        6 days ago

        It’s almost impossible to get the people of this country to do anything. Just 1 person is going to be sniped the second they even think to do anything. So far we’ve had a few try to fix this but they were caught or completely missed. The USA Is huge and it would take days for people on the west coast to get to the east coast where the important people are. Plus money, most of us are very poor and can’t even afford to travel that far. So we’re trying by protesting in our communities.

        • PrimeMinisterKeyes@leminal.space
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          6 days ago

          protesting in our communities

          Nobody’s ever asked for more. Just be there. Block, obstruct, make your voice heard. Civil disobedience. Keep up the pressure. The punishment must follow their deeds at once, or they will never even consider toning down. Even if you cannot light up the powder keg, you can start 100 small fires. Metaphorically speaking.
          We stand with you.

        • WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          7
          ·
          edit-2
          6 days ago

          That’s why it’s called the “ultimate sacrifice”. Right… After all I guess that American war saying was really no different than the idea the ayatollahs pushed.

      • Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        6 days ago

        I can at the state level, and I have along with my fellow Californians. We can’t do anything to change DC for the foreseeable future.

  • Kaput@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    6 days ago

    Yep the world doesn’t feel safer. I am far from being informed enough to have a proper opinion on Maduro, and I have big doubts about the opposition as well. However I totally disagree with USA taking over anywhere. Hope you guys manage to find a few good leaders to see you through this mess.

  • drspectr@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    38
    ·
    6 days ago

    The big problem with this is who is next? the US always had the power to do this but now that its actually doing it with bogus madeup reasoning… Is Canada next? Greenland? Mexico? Costa Rica?

    • Hanrahan@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      6 days ago

      Noem is already meming with Greenland draped in a US flag and Trump said Gistavo Petro has to watch his ass

      No love lost for Maduro, but then none for Trump, Putin and on and on… What’ a shit show the US is.

    • NONE@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      6 days ago

      All heads of state who are either turning a blind eye or openly celebrating this should bear this in mind: if they do the slightest thing to annoy the United States, they are next, and no one will help them.

      • 7101334@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 days ago

        They turned a blind eye in Gaza. That was the death of any pretext of international law which still existed after the “”“War on Terror”“”.

    • freagle@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      5 days ago

      Argentina - done.

      Venezuela - in progress.

      Cuba, Colombia, Haiti.

      Then Greenland gets militarized but not fully invaded. Mexico gets police actioned in the rural areas but not fully invaded.

      Brazil is the prize.

  • Solano@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    43
    ·
    6 days ago

    Which military is patrolling? Asking bc information is not being shared correctly through mainstream channels. Does USA actually have control of the country?

    • NONE@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      54
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 days ago

      La Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana, our Army.

      If I had seen US soldiers, I would have crashed out.

    • MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      6 days ago

      I saw that the TV stations are still broadcasting pro-Maduro stuff, I don’t think the US is actually in control in Venezuela.

      • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        6 days ago

        Sounds like they just went in, bombed some stuff, grabbed Maduro, and left

        I don’t really know though, only info I have is from reading the wikipedia page

        • ecvanalog@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          6 days ago

          That certainly is what it looks like at first glance. Trump has declared himself in charge but nothing on the ground has borne that out yet.

          • n0respect@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            edit-2
            6 days ago

            imo the US’ plan is: [1] destabilize Venezuela [2] “they are unstable and need intervention”

            it sounds too obvious and stupid to be true; but I wouldn’t put it past this admin

            • ecvanalog@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              5 days ago

              It’s true. I’m reminded of that old Bill Hicks routine where he likened our Iraq policy to the movie “Shane.”

              “Pick up the gun.” [shoots] “You all saw him! He had a gun.”

    • 18107@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      6 days ago

      It sounds like it’s Venezuela’s military trying to stop people looting in their own country.
      People can do stupid things when they panic.

  • redlemace@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    53
    ·
    edit-2
    6 days ago

    I’m really sorry for you all over there. Even more sorry for I truely fear the rest of the world will only say “Mr. President, sir, was this really a good idea?” and then accept any responce he gives.

  • fartographer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    ·
    6 days ago

    I’m completely flabbergasted by our actions. Apologies aren’t enough to begin to address what we did, but I’m so sorry that my government has chosen to terrorize you and the people around you.