Andrew Yang: "Bringing Maduro to stand trial feels like a win for the region and the world."

Could be!

Could also be really bad.

Law of unintended consequences weighs heavy…

There is no unintended consequence. Regime change was the explicit consequence of wars in the Middle East, it was the intended consequence. It went very badly.

The intended consequence here is to demonstrate to an organized crime group that being part of the government does not mean they are safe. There is no other intention, it has worked.

So you’re backing the rapist, paedophile and fraudster again the criminal?

I have no idea who you are talking about. Politics isn't a team sport for me so I have no idea about the memes.

There are always unintended consequences... always.

Wonder where that trial would be considering US doesn't recognize ICC

> Wonder where that trial would be considering US doesn't recognize ICC

It has nothing to do with ICC.

Maduro will be tried in New York and then in Florida. Those are the two places where prosecutors charged him, according to CNN.

Southern district of New York

Let’s do the same for Trump. Same base idea, right?

"If they didn't have double-standards, they wouldn't have any standards at all."

He used “I feel” language. He didn’t say it is or isn’t. Every small change, like a butterfly flapping its wings, can have profound negative effects in the future. Inaction too can have profound effects. It’s not a useful question imo other than to notice that radical changes are typically favored by progressives, while no change is favored by conservatives. Here we have an inversion of that, which to me is interesting.

He’s also angling for the Supreme shortlist.

No. It couldn't be. Not even a remote chance.

One possibility is that Maduro’s security detail, mostly Cuban counterintelligence, have access to damaging Epstein records. Epstein was in contact with Castro as of 2003 and was able to travel there despite sanction which would have prevented less-connected people.

FWIW, traveling to Cuba from the US (via flight from Canada, Mexico, or a dozen other convenient spots) has never been difficult, even for completely non-connected citizens.

Plenty of far-right pages are already celebrating "Mission accomplished!"

Only reason I know, is that if I check out any of the explore pages on IG etc. I get too many of those pages.

How many are clear references to Bush's premature declaration of success?

I'd expect some of those to be made of astroturf, though ...

"Far right fascists aren't real. Don't believe your lying eyes. They definitely don't run the fucking government."

What is this endless desire to claim that the right lacks any agency whatsoever.

> "He [Rubio] anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody," says Senator Lee

Yes, he has to telegraph that to the world to try to minimize fears that the US _desires_ a prolonged intervention, regardless of what happens, and regardless of what he actually believes.

Statements made by politician need not be taken as truthful.

War powers act.

No more democracy.

What about the war powers act are you talking about? It just limits situations (or purports to) where the president can use the military without a declaration of war. Even if we were suddenly actually attacked (not just Venezuelan forces fighting back) it wouldn't give any path to "no more democracy".

The President can now tell "his" DOJ to indict someone in another country (like its leader), and use that to 'legally' justify an attack on said country to grab the person.

Ironically, the current administration thinks that American courts can hold any president accountable for crimes, except the American president.

There is a path to no more democracy, and being at war makes that path a lot easier.

I'm not American, my 'war powers act' statement wasn't pointing at specific legislation, it was a hand wave to the past.

It rhymes.

Congress hasn't declared war so there's no way we can be at war.

Question is whether the Supreme Court will sell us out or not.

We should find a new name for wars that aren't wars. Maybe a some kind of special operation?

"Special Military Operation" (Специальная Военная Операция) is what the war against Ukraine is called in Russia

Pretty sure that's the joke...

Really? Wow, I never knew that. /s

> Question is whether the Supreme Court will sell us out or not.

Trump just ended the National Guard deployment in LA, Chicago, and Portland after an overwhelming Supreme Country loss: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/31/donald-trump-nation...

Even this long-delayed (for a shadow docket case) limited ruling (can't send troops for now but left door open for a rehearing after lower court is finished) is an exception for history's most compliant SCotUS (unprecedented 90% favoring admin).

They did not do this for Ukraine either, which seems quite a bit larger.

Thanks Vlad.

Notably trustworthy individual Marco Rubio

This statement was contradicted by Trump later in the day: "we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so,"

This forum won't have any obviously partisan comments (that are visible, anyway) so you have to read between the lines. They will have an air of "hah, well, Trump already captured Maduro so what do you think of that liberal?" but instead disguised as something like this[0].

0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46474662

There is plenty of talk in MIGA/MAGA circles that say, in effect, that Venezuelans have now been liberated, there will be no occupation, and other related assumptions / coping mechanisms which they are using to preserve the facade of Trump being anti-war.

Reagan something very similar twice and it worked out reasonably(ish) fine.

Of course Venesuela isn't that similar to Panama or Granada in various ways. Given the massive amounts of internal issues, and insanely high levels of crime/murder removing the government and washing your hands might turn it into something like Haiti...

Fundamentally on the moral level removing oppressive tyrants like Sadam, Maduro, Gaddafi etc. is the right thing to do. Of course nobody ever figured out how to prevent the situation from getting even worse in the aftermath..

Examples of US-facilitated regime change that resulted in lasting stability/democracy are more the exception than the rule, when you look at the track record overall.

Why aren't we getting rid of the Saudi, Qatari, Emirati, Egyptian, etc. governments?

So I dont think we should but doing regime change - however the ones you cited appear to have broad popular support in their respective lands and are at most minor nuisances to their neighbors - they're also participants in the international community too.

> the ones you cited appear to have broad popular support in their respective lands

So you're saying that authoritarianism works and is just fine. The implication is that Venezuala is a shithole and it's people are unhappy with their leader because of sanctions, not because of the lack of democracy.

I'm saying people have a right to choose that, and moreover it's not my obligation as an American to fund overthrowing those regimes, or for that matter make them pariahs for being undemocratic alone.

As much as I dislike it, there are also an acceptable amount of human right abuses before we care, and its somewhere between punishing dissidents and genocide.

Venezuela had economic issues before sanctions due to chronic mismanagement of the economy, which led to a humanitarian crisis causing a mass exodus (which made the economic issues worse).

Ostensibly the difference lies in the monroe doctrine, though of course the real issue is practicality.

> Fundamentally on the moral level removing oppressive tyrants like Sadam, Maduro, Gaddafi etc. is the right thing to do.

If the issue was what was “right” then Trump wouldn’t have cozied up to Putin and abandoned Ukraine, or cozied up to MBS and waved away his murder of a US journalist, and on and on it goes. This administration has zero moral credibility. I don’t know what will happen in Venezuela but we should all be skeptical of fruit from a poisonous tree.

I do concede that it is possible the situation will deescalate from here on out, but there is no possible way to be sure of that. Right now the situation is very volatile and could very easily spiral into a huge mess. MAGA people don't want to acknowledge that possibility, because they want to believe Trump is honest and competent.

"MAGA people," yeesh.

Sorry, I meant "People of a MAGA Persuasion." People first terminology, right?

I think you would be best served prioritizing other areas of study over geopolitical conflicts; one that teaches you to respect people, even if their beliefs differ from your own.

Lol, you're crying about "MAGA people"

MAGAts?

Is that as socially repugnant to me as "libtard" is to you?

We should just make them a territory like Guam and instead of assuming we'll fix everything and give it back, we'll just work under the assumption that we're keeping it indefinitely.

I think Trump heard you. Stop giving them ideas.

We shouldn't stop with Venezuela, need to take the entire hemisphere while we're at it.

I sincerely hope you are joking or sarcastic. If not...

MIGA?

My favorite computer was a MIGA

Make India Great Again, something coined early 2025 around Modi's visit in US. According to brief we search.

I've also seen it stand for Make Israel Great Again, given the unwavering support for Netanyahu and his agenda from the administration

I see Google's AI and top results all give this answer, but "MIGA" most certainly does not refer to India in this or most contexts, but to Israel. It is a criticism of Trump's pro-Israel actions, and presumably Google recognizes its anti-semitic usage and so will not suggest that as an answer unprompted.

I'm pointing this out specifically because I'm surprised to see that Google and also DuckDuckGo both suppress the true definition if you don't already know it.

Anyone celebrating has the tone of "we did it, it's over". You wouldn't really celebrate if you thought anything bad comes next.

This is kind of more like a "gasp" moment, even if Maduro sucks.

> What gives you that impression?

What's the next stage then according to the administration?