Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/04/30/venezuela-military-coup-guns.html
Military coup supported by Trump admin appears under way in Venezuela.
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Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. We knew this was the likely outcome but damn, I was in denial about this becoming a shooting war. Are Russian troops still in Caracas? How soon before we send in “advisors?” This is how you get a real war, guys. Shit.
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They might be blocking by manipulating DNS service within the country. I wonder if VPN is even needed? Hardwire the IP addresses for social media sites into the hosts file, and see what happens.
eta: Or set a computer’s DNS to 8.8.8.8, Google’s DNS.
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So are we rooting for the guy backed by Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro and the assorted right-wing plutocrats who were behind the last few coup attempts, or for the dictatorially-inclined heir to the popularly-elected authoritarian who dragged the country into its present dire state? Nominally-leftist autocrat, or anointed choice of the leading contemporary populist crypto-fascists of the Americas? Continued economic chaos with hyper-inflation, or neoliberal shock doctrine? Do we want to see a victory for the Tangerine Tyrant, or for the morally bankrupt and economically unsustainable ghost of Chavismo?
I just want to know who I should be cheering for as the rest of the mess unfolds.
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The Russians knew this was coming in advance:
And they have “friends” there it seems…
“Though Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang denied reports that Beijing had sent up to 120 troops to Venezuela, the U.S.’ top economic rival has reportedly sold more than $615 million worth of weapons to the leftist South American nation.”
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Either way, Russia wins.
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Any friend of Trump is up to something.
Right? No matter who ends up in charge, I feel horrible for the Venezuelan people.
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I think it is safe to say there are no “good guys” in this one, only different flavors of bad. And I can see some very bad outcomes here. Does no one involved remember what a quagmire Viet Nam was? Truly?
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This may indeed be the case, but I don’t think anyone in Russia needed to get out their crystal ball to predict that “tear gas canisters and riot gear” might see some use in Venezuela in the near future …
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Hmmm. I wonder if this explains why Donald suddenly thought the Mueller investigation was a coup?
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National Guard running over protestors at the moment, hopefully Maduro will be ousted before too many people lose their lives.
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So you’re saying a U.S.-backed stooge will be a better leader?
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I’m saying a return to democracy will be better than the current despotism.
If the Venezuelans decide to elect Guaidó once they have new elections, that’s up to them.
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Why would you trust those election results, but not the ones that put Maduro in power?
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I wouldn’t blindly trust them, one would expect there to be international monitoring of them.
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And @anon29537550, take the narratives you hear about Maduro with a grain of salt. Regardless what the west thinks, he was what the majority of people wanted by a large margin in an election that international observers considered exceedingly fair and rigorous: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/29/election-observer-the-majority-have-chosen-the-path-they-want-for-venezuela/
ETA: This is a good time to critically analyze the lenses that get applied to the media you consume as a citizen of the west.
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Ah. Like there were for the election Maduro won. Got it.
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This is false, the last election to receive independent recognition was the 2013 election, the 2018 result was largely deemed illegitimate.
Here are the nations who recognised the 2018 result:
Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, El Salvador, Iran, North Korea, South Africa, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Turkey (the only NATO member), Vietnam and the disputed state of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara) recognized the election result.[170][166][114][186][187][188][189][190][191][192] Many of the Caribbean nations that recognized the election rely on Venezuela for oil as part of the Petrocaribeprogramme.[189]
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Just an FYI, the US is not the only nation that is against the Maduro regime. His presidency is also illegitimate per the Venezuelan constitution and the Venezuelan people are begging for international intervention as Maduro empties the gold reserves in the national bank and from illegal mining operations in national parks.
It really pisses me off that the Venezuelan people trying to take the country back is painted by Americans as an American initiated coup
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