For those who don’t remember the 2000s, this is the “greet us as liberators” stage of the debate. The “you want Maduro back in power” argument is coming in hot. Followed by “True democracy in South America” after that doesn’t work.

And all of that was just a rebranding of “white mans burden” to “civilize” the less advanced races from the 19th Century.

People who know history are doomed to watch amnesiacs do the same shit over and over.

There probably are some Venezuelans who are hoping that it ends here, and that a major obstacle to them was just removed. Maduro was unpopular enough that he lost a democratic election in an election he and his cronies were pushing the scale on, hard.

Unfortunately, this whole fiasco staying contained to this one operation remains extremely unlikely. That’s not even getting into the insanity of the operation itself, and what it means on a more abstract level wrt international relations.

In addition to that, removing Maduro doesn’t actually remove the apparatchiks which backed his crushing of dissent after he lost the presidential election, meaning the success of this will likely end up only ‘symbolic’, if that, even if the insanity does end with this kidnapping.

There were huge celebrations of venezuelans here in Chile, they’re just happy Maduro is no longer in charge. Some say they can finally come back home, I guess they’re waiting for a new democratic government to take charge…

We chileans have plenty of experience with US meddling, so I’m personally not so hopeful about it.

even it’s Maduro was more evil than Trump, their internal affairs have nothing to do with the US, and this intervention is wrong under any account.

I understand your point. I don’t doubt for any second the atrocities made by Maduro and his followers.

Why the rest of the world is so shocked and appalled, is because what is to come as replacement will be much, much worse for Venezuelans, and because this attack and kidnapping has just set a bewildering precedent that now pretty much forces the entire planet in another world war.

This attack on your soil and against your leadership, wether legitimate or not, will become a major turning point in this world’s history. There’s no going back now, because there will be no accountability for this crime.

We know, because we’ve seen it before all too well, and we all know how it will end. And this time, there are no “good guys” to cosplay saviours.

The conformity of that image actually pleases my brain. Even if that is putin up in the balcony. But I have a weird brain.