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bif

(26,678 posts) Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:29 PM Jan 3

WTAF?!?! We're going to "temporarily" run Venezuela?

How the hell is Congress letting him get away with this bullshit?

10 replies

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WTAF?!?! We're going to "temporarily" run Venezuela? (Original Post) bif Jan 3 OP

Run? Run the oil right out of there, is what that will amount to. n/t NH Ethylene Jan 3 #1

After the Iraq war, Trump made some claims that we should have "taken all the oil" lapfog_1 Jan 3 #4

Congress... DO something? buzzycrumbhunger Jan 3 #2

Repukes don't care what Dump does, as long as they stay in power sakabatou Jan 3 #3

Weird how they wanted no more wars or involvement... oh wait, they have no values. Jbraybarten Jan 3 #5

What we've learned about regime change in the past LogDog75 Jan 3 #6

Congress? What Congress? Vinca Jan 3 #7

He forgot to ask. DFW Jan 3 #8

He's done such a great job running this country bif Jan 3 #9

trump will NOT be running Venezuela- It was regime decapitation, not regime change. LetMyPeopleVote Jan 3 #10

NH Ethylene

(31,294 posts)

1. Run? Run the oil right out of there, is what that will amount to. n/t

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:32 PM

Jan 3

lapfog_1

(31,676 posts)

4. After the Iraq war, Trump made some claims that we should have "taken all the oil"

Reply to NH Ethylene (Reply #1)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:44 PM

Jan 3

I posted here on DU just how impossible this is to do. Logistically speaking.

The number of wells, the time it would take to put in more wells, the number of oil tankers, and finally the place to put the oil once it arrives.

billions if barrels of oil.

The only place to keep it... is just where it is.

So... to steal that much oil means running the place that controls the land ( and sea ) where the oil is located.. not for a few months, or even a few years, but decades.

And that is simply never going to happen. Didn't happen in Iraq, ain't going to happen in Venezuela. The best Trump and the Oil Company robber barons can hope for is a stable friendly government in Venezuela. But the people in Venezuela are going to demand that the oil revenue be used to help the people of Venezuela... and not the profits of Big Oil. That means decades of civil strife, repressive regimes, rigged elections, and poverty. Pretty much the same as Maduro. Only now we will pump massive amounts of money into the nation to pay for the military and police force.

And, in the end, we won't get the oil anyway.

buzzycrumbhunger

(1,655 posts)

2. Congress... DO something?

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:37 PM

Jan 3

sakabatou

(45,782 posts)

3. Repukes don't care what Dump does, as long as they stay in power

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:38 PM

Jan 3

Jbraybarten

(180 posts)

5. Weird how they wanted no more wars or involvement... oh wait, they have no values.

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:47 PM

Jan 3

LogDog75

(1,109 posts)

6. What we've learned about regime change in the past

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:54 PM

Jan 3

We saw what happened with regime change in Afghanistan. When our country does regime change we occupy the country alienating its citizens and generally causing resentment towards our troops and country. I doubt the Orange Turd has any plans for what happens now that Maduro has been removed.

I see thre possibilities for the near future.
1. The US puts in a puppet president and US troops will be needed to "stabilize" the country resulting in our long-term presence there.

2. The oil company(s) will form puppet government and bleed the country dry.

3. The US withdraws leading to chaos which China offers to help and then they establish a military base(s) in the country and control the country's oil.

Vinca

(53,364 posts)

7. Congress? What Congress?

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:58 PM

Jan 3

DFW

(59,747 posts)

8. He forgot to ask.

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 12:58 PM

Jan 3

I'm sure hell get around to it when time permits.

bif

(26,678 posts)

9. He's done such a great job running this country

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 01:50 PM

Jan 3

Lord knows how badly he'll fuck up Venezuela.

LetMyPeopleVote

(175,026 posts)

10. trump will NOT be running Venezuela- It was regime decapitation, not regime change.

Reply to bif (Original post)

Sat Jan 3, 2026, 06:48 PM

Jan 3

All trump did was to "arrest" and remove Maduro. There was NO regime change. See https://democraticunderground.com/100220907148 and https://democraticunderground.com/100220907041 for Professor Vladeck's explanation. trump did not remove the current government and is NOT in control.

Trump claims the U.S. will run Venezuela. What's the plan?
The raid to nab Maduro was brilliantly executed. The aftermath could get extremely messy.
By @maxboot.bsky.social
archive.md/2026.01.03-2...
— Voice4Justice (@voices4justice.bsky.social) 2026-01-03T20:57:57.418Z

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/03/trump-maduro-raid-military-venezuela/

In Venezuela, by comparison, U.S. troops staged a quick in-and-out raid. It was regime decapitation, not regime change. At his Mar-a-Lago news conference, Trump said, “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” What is he talking about? There are no indications that U.S. troops are preparing to occupy Venezuela. If such an operation were attempted, it could easily turn into a debacle, just like the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and it would violate Trump’s repeated pledges not to engage in “nation-building.”

Maduro was not a one-man band. He presided over a large apparatus of oppression, including, among others, the army, the national guard, the national police, the intelligence service, and a Colombian guerrilla group ELN. All of those forces remain intact after the U.S. raid. Also still in place are many of Maduro’s top lieutenants, including the ministers of defense and interior, who were implicated in his alleged crimes.

They give no sign of willingness to cede power to the democratic opposition led by María Corina Machado, who recently left the country to accept the Noble Peace Prize. Edmundo González, who was widely believed to have won the rigged 2024 presidential election, is also out of the country. On Saturday, Trump spoke dismissively about Machado and said Secretary of State Marco Rubio is talking with Maduro’s hand-picked vice president, Delcy Rodríguez.....

Like George W. Bush after the invasion of Iraq, Trump enjoyed his “Mission Accomplished” moment on Saturday. But if there is one thing we have learned over the past quarter-century, it is much easier to topple tyrants than to build stable and secure societies afterward. History’s ultimate verdict on Trump’s military operation will be based on the fate of post-Maduro Venezuela, and the U.S., despite what Trump said about running the country, has only limited leverage to determine its fate.

As noted by Prof. Vladeck, this was an FBI arrest operation where the military was merely protecting the FBI

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