[themeekforgotpw]

The United States has been working on a coup for Maduro, since its coup of Chavez hasn't worked out for it. This time it would really like to install Leonardo Lopez as he's willing to privatize Venezuelan oil to US companies. The US has been encouraging and organizing protests, gatherings and projecting anti-Maduro sentiment and news into the country. (https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/releasedate/2012-06-18-08-canv...)

It's possible that if their economy (amid new US sanctions) collapse that this could trigger the regime change we've been eyeing and the energy security we've been wanting to establish there.

We do have to be careful about CALEC and UNASUR, however. South American countries have been ever moving closer to isolating the US from its multilateral diplomatic plans and are regularly condemning the US for its interference, funding of death squads, war on drugs, and unilateral sanctions of various South American countries. If we take Venezuela we need to make sure that we don't isolate the rest of the continent.

[Bonsanto]

I live in Venezuela and item's prices are raising horrible, let me tell you something I am electrical engineer and computer engineer, and my salary is only 10.3$/month, ridiculous, but his is how socialism works everyone are equalized but to poverty. To buy a car in Venezuela you need to save money for 50 years without buying food supplies, to buy a house it takes 200 years, to buy dollars you need to be a friend of Maduro, my most bright colleagues have left the country so I am.

[loblollyboy]

seems to work just fine in scandinavia

[dageshi]

The US is literally producing more oil domestically than it can refine, it's got more cheap domestic oil than it knows what to do with...

I don't discount American involvement but I'm not sure that oil is the great driving factor it may have been historically, the Americans are producing enough of their own.

[themeekforgotpw]

The long term strategy of the US is to provide energy security to Europe between tar sands, crude, gas and oil. It has multilateral plans with Canada and Mexico to build North-South pipelines to achieve this.

Recently the conflict over oil off the shore of Guyana and the documents I linked to above (where it is STATED that the coup is motivated by oil) show recent actions by the US that contradict you.

And further it is not merely about TAKING the oil (though it is). Venezuela uses its energy economy to unilaterally fix political outcomes. Think their shipping of oil to Cuba despite US sanctions. The US wants control of that oil.

[sillygeese]

> If we take Venezuela we need to make sure that we don't isolate the rest of the continent.

So you don't see a problem with "you" "taking" Venezuela, as long as the consequences aren't too bad for "you"?

Nevermind that other countries are not supposed to be your colonies and nevermind that you, as in, ordinary citizens, won't even benefit from the US "taking" Venezuela.

[Kinnard]

Wow