Venezuela says it will annex most of Guyana—and all of that newly-found oil there

Originally published at: Venezuela says it will annex most of Guyana—and all of that newly-found oil there | Boing Boing

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In collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) will conduct flight operations within Guyana on December 7. This exercise builds upon routine engagement and operations to enhance security partnership between the United States and Guyana, and to strengthen regional cooperation.

In addition to this exercise, USSOUTHCOM will continue its collaboration with the GDF in the areas of disaster preparedness, aerial and maritime security, and countering transnational criminal organizations.

The U.S. will continue its commitment as Guyana’s trusted security partner and promoting regional cooperation and interoperability.

https://nitter.net/ChrisO_wiki/status/1732761706906984744

This is as big a “hands off” sign to Maduro as you could imagine.

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I can’t see why Venezuela can’t do what US does

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The people of Venezuela have expressed a deep lack of enthusiasm over this proposed invasion. Not that it will stop Maduro, that most desperate and incompetent Stalinist caudillo.

Maduro is so pathetic, his mustache rides him.

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Might makes right, thanks to Kissinger, and Venezuela isn’t particularly mighty.

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While the U.S. has certainly been involved in oil grabs, Maduro is more trying to emulate Putin: a petro-tyrant trying to distract people from the domestic economic disaster he created by invading a neighbour. Given his regime’s extreme incompetence and the interests of the U.S., this will end even worse for him and more quickly than the invasion of Ukraine. If he’s smart (narrator: he isn’t) he’ll back off of the claim before he gets deposed and thrown in prison.

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Yeah I must have missed that story where the US annexed Canada or Mexico. Which one did we annex? Must be Canada, otherwise the GOP wouldn’t be screaming about the Mexican border. So are we making Canada as a whole the 51st state, or are we splitting it up into several? /s

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The claim is a permanent fixture of Venezuelan politics, like the Argentinian claim to the Malvinas/Falklands. Maduro can’t renounce the claim, so if he wants to climb down he’ll have to stop making promises of imminent “liberation”.

ETA: Maduro is forming an administration for “the Guayana Esequiba” and making development plans, as well as giving an ultimatum to oil companies.

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This seems to be the background to the dispute:

So, much like the Falklands, a historical argument over boundaries that has never really gone away.

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Sending a carrier task force to “demonstrate” off the coast would deter most malcontents;
Maduro might want to reflect upon the fate of the Argentine junta after the Falklands war.

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I’d be (morbidly) interested to see just how many, and how creatively, people would deny that Venezuela in fact can, were they to try.

A country with a colonial history, a government that even calls itself ‘Bolivarian’; and a dispute that’s kinda-sorta against Britain seems like it would be absolute catnip for tankie-style logic chopping about what real imperialism is and why this isn’t it.

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because they don’t drop Trillions on their military “defense” budget?

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As a child I was convinced eventually Canada would be annexed because they’d want to be and it just made sense to my child like mind. I also thought we’d just get rid of all those state lines. They seemed unnecessary.

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Brazil’s also involved, on the side of Guyana. Venezuela’s tinpot army and navy would get their behinds handed over to them, and that would likely also cause the collapse of the Maduro regime as happened to the Argentinian junta after the Falklands War.

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Here, FTFY

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Well, that is how we ended up with Texas.

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True, although that wasn’t about oil. That was more about slavery. That makes it worse, probably.

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Yeah, and apparently the Venezuelan army would need to pass through some of Brazil’s territory to access some parts of Guyana due to the terrain. Brazil is a much larger country with a larger active-duty military so that would seem like a poor strategy.

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There was, for a few years in the 90s, a vocal group of Canadians who wanted to emulate most of what was happening in the US. Bizarrely, they were particularly focused on getting rid of our single payer health care system and copying the US omniclustershamblesfuck of a health system. Reality has not been kind to that view.

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Canada is 13 states, duh! We don’t need to split hairs over whether or not those 3 territories count as states or not because then a strong argument could be made that Alaska and Montana are not states (huge land masses with tiny human populations).

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