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Caribbean-Latin America
Forced to Bathe With a Bucket of Water, Juan Guaido Soldiers On
2019-06-10
[BLOOMBERG] On Thursday, Juan Guaido woke up and doused himself with a bucket of water.

It was his shower. Like millions of Venezuelans, the man who dozens of countries recognize as the legitimate leader of his broken country can’t rely on the taps to run. "It’s one of the things I hate most," the 35-year-old politician said in an interview. "It’s a symbol of poverty, and during much of my life I had to do it."

And yet, he was for the most part characteristically upbeat, exuding that can-do spirit that his followers love and his detractors find naive, as he talked about how Venezuela would have to tolerate much more suffering in order to topple Nicolas Maduro
Venezuela's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy...
’s autocratic regime. Despite the pain, he said, the U.S. shouldn’t ease up on the sanctions that are deepening the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.

"It’s going to get worse" before things turn, he warned.

Ultimately, he insisted, the opposition movement, rekindled after he became leader of the National Assembly in January, would succeed. New elections could be held in six or nine months because the pressure simply won’t let up on Maduro’s closest collaborators to break ranks, he said.

Posted by:Fred

#16  How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil? That might be something neocons want to control, yathink?

Name me a political group anywhere in the world which would not want to control a resource.

Except those who think 'mountain of oil' is a dorky turn of phrase, even though that particular oil is most likely to be formed and keep its shape.

So I ask you, as someone who wants as little to do as possible with Venezuela, please stop arguing that position as you are - it comes across as a fat dude wearing a mankini yelling at a faucet.

Perhaps you can clear this up for me, as you advertise as a true believer, because other libertarians have tried to untie this gordian knot - how come other countries can have a foreign policy, but it is immoral for the United States to have foreign policy?
Posted by: swksvolFF   2019-06-10 15:25  

#15  How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil?

Thick tarry goo that can only be refined in a couple of places around the world.


The world is swimming in oil, Mr. McCoy. Iraq is now making money hand over fist, replacing the now sanctioned Iranian barrels. Every month or two there are new announcements of discoveries in unexpected countries — even Israel has become a significant producer, courted by the countries of Europe — and even Egypt, which only a few years ago held blackmail power over it because the oil flowed the other way. But America, which you want to covet what Venezuela cannot pump out of the ground without the aid of American engineers, is now one of the biggest suppliers in the world. Us desiring Venezuela’s oil would be like us feeling an overwhelming need to replace Slovak folk dance troupes with hiphop so that we get the last pennies of their CD sales.

Nobody wants Venezuela's oil, not even the Chinese Communists who own all the output for the next few decades.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-06-10 15:08  

#14  This is the short version for "thug" :-)
Posted by: European Conservative   2019-06-10 14:56  

#13  kleptocraticusurpator.....? Is that one of those 'German only' words ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-06-10 14:20  

#12  Guaidó is not a "neocon" but I'd definitely prefer a democratically elected neocon over a socialist kleptocratic usurpator.
Posted by: European Conservative   2019-06-10 14:16  

#11  How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil?

Thick tarry goo that can only be refined in a couple of places around the world. Yes, the US is one, so in a sense we already control it. But in terms of making money, much easier to frack up something lighter & sweeter, which we are already doing here at home.

We all have our pet peeves and theories. But there is a certain danger in trying to analyse a current situation through a fixed world view of events past.
Posted by: SteveS   2019-06-10 13:31  

#10  Nothing we want? How about that Venezuela is sitting on a mountain of oil? That might be something neocons want to control, yathink? Do they have any tracking record of stationing troops in rich oil regions, with or without consent of host governments?

Come on, you people have been so long in an echo chamber you've forgotten how to think. Much like the Left, I am sad to say.
Posted by: Herb McCoy    2019-06-10 12:57  

#9  I think Herb does this on purpose. Nobody can be that, err... dismissive of facts and patterns.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-06-10 11:11  

#8  Back up your assertions with evidence and citations.

Many contributors here are proven men and women of action that choose when and when not to engage, Herb. Not untested academic fantasy dissertationists like yourself.
Posted by: Skidmark   2019-06-10 10:59  

#7  Bloomberg shilling for a neocon tool

As I was scrolling down to read the comments, I came up with a new game: Herb / Not Herb

Let me go out on a limb and predict: The US military will *NOT* invade Venezuela.

There may be loud threats of the "Don't make me come over there!" nature, but that's just diplomacy. You will see some jockeying for post-collapse influence among the usual suspects like China and Russia. But there is nothing there we want, nothing we need and nothing we can fix.
Posted by: SteveS   2019-06-10 09:18  

#6  #5 Would you like to make some actual arguments, or just play like children?

Says the Macro Troll....
Posted by: Frank G   2019-06-10 08:39  

#5  Would you like to make some actual arguments, or just play like children?

Neoconservatism advocates the violent invasion of countries which haven't attacked us and pose no threat to the USA. Discuss. Back up your assertions with evidence and citations.
Posted by: Herb McCoy   2019-06-10 08:13  

#4  Your #3 is going to leave a nasty mark Raj.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-06-10 07:41  

#3  This situation or Herb mentioning neocons?
Posted by: Raj   2019-06-10 07:36  

#2  No. This is predictable.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-06-10 05:48  

#1  Bloomberg shilling for a neocon tool. How predictable.
Posted by: Herb McCoy    2019-06-10 05:42  

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