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Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by keiferski on Saturday January 10, 2026 @05:01AM (#46564345)
Large states (including the US) have been intervening in nearby countries since the beginning of time. Even for Latin America, this is a "typical" intervention for the US: Cuba, Panama, Grenada, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala, on and on, all happened in the 20th century.

What's different this time is the total lack of effort (or ability to?) to construct a narrative justifying it.

Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by hshdhdhj4444 on Saturday January 10, 2026 @05:16AM (#46564424)
20th century means that we’re talking at least 2.5 decades ago. That’s a long time. And for the most part, US foreign policy regarded much of those actions as folly even if they will never say that publicly.

You’re absolutely right with your assessment but beyond that this is also a rolling back of the clock to thinking from decades ago.

Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by nasmorn on Saturday January 10, 2026 @05:19AM (#46564441)
When the Soviets were literally standing 60km from Vienna with tank brigades a lot of bullshit was easier to swallow.

Right now it seems like totally unnecessary destabilization. Don’t even get me started on proposing to seizing NATO territory by force in Greenland.

Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by graemep on Saturday January 10, 2026 @06:07AM (#46564675)
Yes, but that was because there was a golden age when the west dominated the world without facing serious rivals. There was less need for interventions and the west was deluded (by wishful thinking) into regarding this as a permanent shift.

Even in the last 25 years the US has fought in Afghanistan, bombed Libya, ISIL held territory, Syria, blockaded Yemen and probably more.

The world today is going back to a cold war like rivalry between the US and China so we can expect both sides to use much the same tactics.

Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by Heapifying on Sunday January 11, 2026 @12:57AM (#46573057)
So Latin America has to expect an Operation Condor 2.0, that implemented state terrorism across all of Latin America?
Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by elcritch on Saturday January 10, 2026 @05:20AM (#46564446)
Yep, but folks love their veneer. The morals of the American people and that of the state department / industrial complex aren't the same.

Oddly in this case the US government seemed to do something that many Venezuelan expats support. We'll see if it helps the lives of regular Venezuelans at all.

Also a number of sci-fi from the last decade or two predicted or imagined the US in a war in Venezuela in the 2030's. It makes more sense to view it not for oil but more to keep Chinese and Russian influence out of the US's "backyard". Apparently both had been getting close to Maduro.

Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by mindslight on Saturday January 10, 2026 @12:33PM (#46567832)
We also have to recognize that these particular narratives actually created some objectively positive accomplishments as well. That's what made the postwar US different than the postwar USSR. We can plainly see the results in some pretty well set up experiments (eg East Germany vs West Germany). It's very easy to criticize the failings of liberal American values and liberties looking from a vantage point where we get to take those values and liberties for granted.

... but now it seems as if people got bored of those lofty narratives, and the US can't even prevent its own domestic jihadis from overrunning the country with backwards fundamentalism. So now we're staring down their equivalent of Sharia law while they rally around regime-sponsored murderers ramping up sectarian violence.

Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by nextaccountic on Saturday January 10, 2026 @02:13PM (#46568927)
The last US backed coup in latin America was Bolivia 2019
Re:US oil giant ExxonMobil says Venezuela is 'uninvestable' by laughing_man on Saturday January 10, 2026 @03:17PM (#46569511)
Is there any evidence this is the case?