Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro holds a document as he speaks during a meeting with ministers in Caracas, Venezuela January 30, 2018. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS
Reuters: Tillerson raises prospect of Venezuelan military ouster of Maduro
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday raised the prospect that the Venezuelan military could decide to oust President Nicolas Maduro but said he did not know whether that would happen.
In a speech at the University of Texas ahead of five-nation Latin America tour, Tillerson insisted the Trump administration was not advocating “regime change” in Venezuela but said it would be “easiest” if Maduro chose to leave power on his own.
He predicted there would be “change” in Venezuela and said the United States wanted it to be a peaceful one.
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Update: Tillerson to Seek Unified Venezuela Stance on Latin America Trip (Bloomberg)
WNU Editor: Talk about the U.S. administration giving a green light to the Venezuelan military to over-throw the Maduro regime. But I am very skeptical that the Venezuelan military will stage a coup to oust the current regime. The senior commanders are invested in the system, and the lower rank officers are too afraid to conduct such an operation.
6 comments:
Well, the situation is more and more fluid and we can hardly predict what could happen.
Venezuelan leaders or military officials do not care whether the US government gives them a "green light." If they deem it in their interests to make a change at the top, they will. If they don't, they won't.
What the American government thinks is of no consequence to them except to the extent they can maximize the pain to America. After their chiel allies are countries like Russia, China, and Cuba. They certainly aren't going to disappoint them by taking a pro-American stance furthermore their entire system is built on opposing America. This is not about to change.
Of this we can be absolutely certain, if by some chance there is a coup and t he government is overthrown, the new government will be as hostile to America as the current one and probably more so. As such, US leaders should probably take a deep breath and refrain from commenting.
As for the sanctions, they are of no consequences. The leaders aren't affected, they are easily circumvented, and due to vast Anti-Americanism around the world sanctions rally support to governments such as this prolonging their survival.
If Rex Tillerson really wanted this government removed, he should exoress American support for it!! This might csuse its supporters to cut it loose. Even still a new government there is not going to be any friendlier to America than the current one and will probably be worse.
America is in no position to tussle with Venezuela or its supporters. The best we can do is deploy our military properly to give us the most utility for national defense, try and build up our military, and grow our economy. At least, we may have a fighting chance this way.
Don't agree than the lower ranks are afraid, there has been a few attempts on rebellions from lower rank members in the past months
America is in no position to tussle with Venezuela or its supporters. - B Poster
America is in no position to tussle with Iran or its supporters. - B Poster
America is in no position to tussle with China or its supporters. - B Poster
America is in no position to tussle with Russia or its supporters. - B Poster
America is in no position to tussle with (Insert name of one of the 195 countries here) or its supporters. - B Poster
Aizino,
The biggest problem with American foreign policy is the nation is trying to punch above its weight. When you are 5"11' and 175 pounds and lack great speed, strength, stamina, or coordination its probably not going to be a good idea to get into a fight with a world class athlete who is 6"5' and 265 pounds of strength, speed, stamina, and coordination.
Without the nuclear arsenal, in other words with strictly conventional forces, America is at best a mid level power. Don't try to punch above your weight, respect the top powers, try and add value to them where and when possible, and, in general, behave like a mid level power. Do so and good outcomes are possible. Continuing trying to punch above our weight and its not likely to end well.
The military officers might overthrow the government. They might not. If they do, the new government will be just as hostile to America as the current one, perhaps more so. As for America giving a "green light," THEY DON'T CARE WHAT AMERICA THINKS!! If they deem it in their interests to change the government, they will. If not, they won't. We aren't a factor except in how they are going to try and maximize our pain. Come to think of it, if Mr. Tillerson wanted this government removed, the proper approach would have been to actually express support for it!!
As for them trying to maximize our pain, we can mitigate against this. Properly deploy our forces and financial assets in such a way as to make it so costly to attack us that an adversary would think very carefully before doing so and would likely decide such an attack as to costly and would refrain from it. For now, this is about the best we can do. Continue trying to punch above our weight and we continue placing the American people in grave danger.
Something else to think about. With the invention of fracking we are now in a position to become a very wealthy country. This makes us a prime target for someone to attack us and steal these resources from us. A strong enough and properly deployed military to defend our homeland and these resources is going to be of vital importance.
" to get into a fight with a world class athlete, who is 6"5' and 265 pounds of strength, speed, stamina, and coordination" - B Poster
"Young Chinese are 'too fat and masturbate too much to pass army fitness tests'"
www.standard.co.uk/news/world/young-chinese-are-too-fat-and-masturbate-too-much-to-pass-army-fitness-tests-a3617881.html
B Poster, you & which army?
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