Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó took to the streets with a small contingent of heavily armed troops early Tuesday in a bold and risky attempt to lead a military uprising and oust socialist leader Nicolas Maduro. ...
he dramatic events began early Tuesday when Guaidó, flanked by a few dozen national guardsmen and some armored vehicles, released a three-minute video filmed near a Caracas air base in which he called on civilians and others in the armed forces to join a final push to topple Maduro.
In a surprise, standing alongside him was Leopoldo Lopez, his political mentor and the nation's most-prominent opposition activist, who has largely been unseen since he was detained in 2014 for leading anti-government protests. Lopez said he had been released from house arrest by security forces adhering to an order from Guaido.
This is not a coup. Maduro holds power illegally. Guaido is the lawful interim president authorized to hold office until Venezuela holds free elections and chooses a president.
It should always have been obvious that socialism would lead to economic collapse and political repression--despite the loud applause from Hollywood leftists when the Venezuelan socialists were still operating on the banked success of pre-socialist progress.
Will enough of the Venezuelan military give the opposition a chance against the Cuban- and Russian-backed Maduro?
The climb up from the wreckage of socialism-destroyed Venezuela will be long and difficult. Venezuela will need regional and global help.
UPDATE: May Day is an appropriate day to remember communism's massive body count and to reinforce our hatred for that vile system of impoverishment and tyranny. And remember, socialism is just a stage to reach true communism--which the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics never quite reached.
UPDATE: More. Venezuelans are suffering. Learn from that. Can we not--finally--learn the lesson that socialism kills before we have to suffer to learn the lesson?
UPDATE: Did Russia persuade Maduro to stay put instead of seeking exile? Effing Russians.
Although I seriously doubt we are planning to militarily intervene. Unless it is in support of a Brazilian-led intervention backed by the Organization of American States.
UPDATE: So Guaido was going for broke with our help and it didn't work?
Or did Guaido's move advance the cause?
I think it was a mistake for our government to credit Russia with saving Maduro on the brink of defeat. This just bolsters Putin's reputation as a dictator salvation team. Who you gonna call? Revolt Busters.
UPDATE: So far our military isn't preparing for actual intervention:
The U.S. military is focused on gathering intelligence in Venezuela, the military’s top general said Wednesday, with the crisis in the country appearing to reach a critical stage.
I would be willing to help Brazil and Colombia, but would not lead an intervention. At most we could prevent Cuba from sending personnel and supplies to Maduro.
UPDATE: Letting "Venezuela" decide its own destiny is fine in the abstract. But at the moment "Venezuela" effectively means thug ruler Maduro and his Russian and Cuban backers.
Always check the "definitions section" I always say.
UPDATE: Things are still simmering:
Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, evading arrest in a Spanish diplomatic residence, on Thursday disclosed he met with senior military officials before a failed uprising against President Nicolas Maduro this week.
Suggesting coordination continues with armed forces figures in the campaign to oust Maduro, Lopez said more "military movements" were on the way.
But I have no idea what ingredients are being added to the pot.
UPDATE: About that socialism that is wrecking Venezuela:
If the argument for socialism is that it’s a noble theory that delivers economic and social equality on paper, but that every single time it gets tried, the leaders succumb to temptation and start accumulating wealth for themselves and stifling dissent and building a secret police and gulags . . . then as a theory, it’s worthless. It would work when it’s run by human beings who can resist the temptation to take what they want through force, and those humans don’t exist.
Venezuela used to be cited by the left to prove caring socialism worked. Now the left denies Venezuela is actually socialist.
Yeah, nobody claims "real" Nazism hasn't been tried yet.
