Sammy Sofa

Who is on his team?

Aw, when did that happen? He most definitely did not before the last two elections.

I want to make a move but I'm terrified I'm gonna completely screw it up.

Yeah, you're a horsefeathers useless Tankie who supports corrupt totalitarian governments that brutalize their own people (and their neighbors) so long as they do it with enough anti-US/West gusto. Later, dingus.

Modern liberals are just conservatives; quit being such a nerd. And you won't answer the question be cause you know Maduro is horsefeathers awful and you're trying to damndest to not out and out defend him since anyone not completely lying to themselves can see he is horsefeathers awful and is horrible for Venezuela. He is literally indefensible, but Tankies can't help themselves (you've repeatedly done the same sort of thing with Ukraine & Russia, too). The driving force is Maduro is using the country's dwindling finances for himself; he's run the oil industry into the ground because it's run only by his cronies. If he actually wanted to make money for Venezuela via their oil industry he could! The vast majority of the world has no sanctions against Venezuela. This isn't at all to excuse what the US is doing, but it's the truth (yes, we all know you'll just claim some version of "the US/CIA will just lean on/manipulate anyone who deals with them) is that a non-corrupt version of their state run-oil industry could easily make money for the people. Iran, NK, Russia, Turkey, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil alone are all ride or die for Venezuela; where do you think the money for the oil from them is going?

I don't give a horsefeathers about the semantics; liberals and neoliberals are the same turds to me. Now answer the question: if the sanctions were lifted, why do you think Maduro would do the right thing instead of continuing to raid the country's resources as his own piggybank like he's obviously been doing the entire horsefeathers time he's been in office? Why is a dictator who has driven away nearly 30% of the country's population via his oppression and corruption the better option right now?

I support Maduro being out of power. The liberal opposition isn't ideal, but it's sure as horsefeathers better than how he's been willfully running the country into the ground and grinding his people under his heel. At least with Machado and Gonzalez Venezuelans would have a chance for something, horsefeathers ANYTHING better than what Mauro has reduced them to. And you dismiss literally any source from anywhere in the world you don't like as being controlled by the CIA. That's propping them up to a level they neither deserve nor are capable of. Now, shut up and quit talking about that stuff because you've just said the same thing a bajillion times over. Just answer me this: if we could wave a magic wand and magically lift all of the US sanctions right now, do you truly believe Maduro is the person who could turn things around? If so...why? What is his track record makes you believe he has any interest beyond benefiting himself and staying in power by any means necessary?

Bull horsefeathers. You dismiss literally anything and everything the runs contrary to the narrative that Maduro won or is the better option for Venezuela as the work of the CIA/US. It's typical conspiracy theorist spiraling: the enemy is simultaneously the greatest and most powerful villains, but also weak and incompetent and easily exposed. Your only standard is whether or not someone is sufficiently anti-US for you. You don't give a goddamn at all about what that person is actually doing.

That's the rub; when you've constructed an enemy that is globally all-encompassing and comic book super scientist-levels of hyper-competent, the endpoint is being crushed emotionally/psychologically by this omnipresent Thing that can't ever be escaped or beaten. Like, your vision of what the US and the CIA are capable of would essentially be impossible to defeat. Every example of evidence to the contrary of what you believe is dismissed as some variation of "the CIA did it," which effectively acts like they have the power to control literally everything and anyone at any time. You describe them like they are capable of doing whatever they want to do, to the point that they flawlessly control the entire global media narrative and economic relationship towards Venezuela (I mean, if they're THAT powerful, why don't they just take the country over?). And don't get it twisted; this isn't explaining away the awful horsefeathers the the US has done and continues to do. But, at the same time, the answer also isn't explaining away the cartoonishly corrupt actions of an obvious dictator, and especially not flat out saying that the people suffering under him just need to suck it up until a governing alternative that YOU find palatable comes along. This has already gotten bad enough to the point that you're carrying water for truly awful people and completely willing to ignore the people suffering because of them. That doesn't help anyone, and in the end it'll just drag you down, too, because the reality you've constructed for yourself will be too awful to deal with.

I genuinely hope you have someone to talk to. This is the kind of all-encompassing paranoia that leads to some truly crushing depression.

Yup, you've got it all figured out.

Just gish galloping all over the place with babeh's first foreign policy takes.

You are yet again doing the whole "THOSE people couldn't possibly be capable of doing these things!" horsefeathers you've been spouting the whole time, so no surprise there.

Imagine seeing the scope of what Venezuelans are willing to risk to try and vote out Maduro and dismissing it all as, "nah, that's just the CIA doing CIA things!" https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/10/gonzalez-proof-win-venezuela-election-vote-tally-maduro People are getting snatched up and vanishing for setting up these safeguards and this information network, and dipshit foreign Tankies (yet again, actual Leftists IN horsefeathers VENEZUELA hate Maduro at this point) just handwave it all away because to them it can never graduate beyond the level of "Maduro good because he makes US big mad!" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/10/world/americas/venezuela-election-maduro.html

Guys, starving your own population to death to own the Global North is just how you build good character.

"No, what you don't see is that this very bad thing Maduro is doing is actually a very good thing!"

Maduro is absolutely 10000000% the source of what Venezuelans are going through right now. Stop horsefeathers squinting and trying to "well, akshually" through the horsefeathers sands of time to downplay the horsefeathers he's doing. He disappears his enemies, he denies there's any humanitarian crises in Venezuela, dismisses people who have fled as cowards, mocks starving people, and refuses humanitarian aid. Consistent medical care and education have practically vanished under his regime. Reliable power and clean water is an increasing rarity outside of Maduro urban strongholds. Dismissing getting rid of the source of all of this as a "minute/short term influx" is horsefeathers insane and just emphasizes how unserious a person you are. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2024/06/25/hunger-healthcare-schools-reasons-leave-venezuela-maduro-poll-win

Tom, you're preaching to the choir about the history of US colonialism in the Global South; none of that justifies what Maduro has done and is doing to the people he should be protecting and helping. None of the sanctions are forcing him to be this corrupt and damaging; that's all his own choice. He is actively the biggest immediate threat to the Venzuelean people, and you're still always just dancing around that your only shred of support for him is that he flips off the US. He's not an actual Leftist or socialist. Socialism should be a replacement for capitalism, not any kind of democracy. I mean, the actual Venezuelan Leftists are at odds with him: https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-28/the-fallout-between-venezuelas-communist-party-and-the-maduro-regime.html https://latinoamerica21.com/en/maduros-government-intervenes-even-in-the-venezuelan-communist-party/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/11/venezuela-elections-maduro-chavism-left-socialism-communist-party/ https://www.marxist.com/maduro-accuses-left-cp-party-being-agents-imperialism.htm https://efe.com/en/latest-news/2023-11-29/venezuelan-communists-fear-maduro-will-suspend-presidential-election-over-guyana-dispute/ https://peoplesworld.org/article/split-between-venezuelas-communists-and-maduros-ruling-party-deepens/ I'm done with you over this until you stop refusing to see that wanting him out isn't some tacit endorsement of Venezuela falling under the thumb of the US; it's wanting out a corrupt, jumped up dictator willfully oppressing his people and doing everything he can to illegitimately stay in power. Approx. 8 million people have fled the country since 2015, so please don't insult everyone's intelligence trying to say that's only due to US sanctions.

You're still bootlicking when all you do is just switch to another pair of boots; supporting the dictator still ain't it, chief. You're trying to dismiss the challenges to Maduro's election fraud as fringe Right Wing hype, which it just objectively is not. You're dismissing the possibility that Maduro is unpopular enough to have a huge majority voting against him seemingly just because you don't like the vibes (like, you're dismissing every single outlet or person that has anything anti-Maduro to say or evidence against him as being "CIA." Super normal and productive!) Again, you still can't offer up anything to justify what Maduro has done is doing beyond "he's not back the US."

Pretty horsefeathers awesome Khelif took all of that horsefeathers and turned it into gold.