Russian air force planes land in Venezuela carrying troops -reports

[Fex Bluse]

10 minutes ago, Sakeopete said:

A Lot of America bashing on TV. They are not perfect but most of the free world has slept well under their watch. Can anyone here honestly say the world would be better under China or Russia? 

Exactly. People forget that it is human nature for people to want to be on top of the power pyramid. Some country is always going to wield the most power. 

 

US is definitely not close to perfect, but there is not much scarier than the idea of totally corrupt Russia or worse China ruling the world. 

[MadMac]

Hope the Chinese join the party too and get rid of the American wannabe Gods.

[Pedrogaz]

Clever move by Putin. He is streets ahead of any other leader on the world stage. I do worry though that the Neo-con nut cases, like Bolton and Pompeo running the US would rather start WW3 than lose face. 

To me this is similar to Libya and Syria. Maduro has strong support among the populace otherwise he would have fallen already. Similarly Assad has huge support among Syrians which is why the US was unwilling to allow him to enter any post-transition election. Also Gadhaffi would have fallen if he lacked popular support, it required direct US/UK participation in airstrikes to turn the tide against him in the civil.

[Guest Jerry787]

the trumpest fellow, just handed over to Russia Venezuela, the oil and the gold mining....
smart trumph ? 

[ExpatOilWorker]

Did they pick up the 20 tons of gold?

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-30/venezuela-has-20-tons-of-gold-ready-to-ship-destination-unknown

[ThaiFelix]

1 hour ago, Pedrogaz said:

Clever move by Putin. He is streets ahead of any other leader on the world stage. I do worry though that the Neo-con nut cases, like Bolton and Pompeo running the US would rather start WW3 than lose face. 

To me this is similar to Libya and Syria. Maduro has strong support among the populace otherwise he would have fallen already. Similarly Assad has huge support among Syrians which is why the US was unwilling to allow him to enter any post-transition election. Also Gadhaffi would have fallen if he lacked popular support, it required direct US/UK participation in airstrikes to turn the tide against him in the civil.

Well said!

[ThaiFelix]

2 hours ago, Sakeopete said:

A Lot of America bashing on TV. They are not perfect but most of the free world has slept well under their watch. Can anyone here honestly say the world would be better under China or Russia? 

I actually feel quite relieved that today Russia, China, and Iran are serving as a counterbalance to the USA's bullying.  Lets face it, they surely couldnt possibly be as ruthless and self centered as the USA. 

[Prissana Pescud]

7 hours ago, Tug said:

Agree with smedley it will require leadership Donald?

I doubt if it will happen. US has lots of short term oil and gas reserves as does Russia.

 First you deplete and cost the Russians to find out the cost to ship to Russia is astronomical ( not that either country needs it in the short term)

 Then you put pressure on countries like India to stop importing oil from Venezuela because it is cheaper from Arabia.

Russia and Venezuela choke. Big input, no output. Russia demands corruption but its host has oil but no facilities.

It is a win for US, because Russia is nearly bankrupt with the effort in Syria and Ukraine. It is called attrition.

The west did it in the cold war (which under Putin never stopped) Russia is economically poor. US wins and

 while a gang of criminals in Russia rule, they always will.

The gang in US has a larger resource base. And a tiny bit of democracy to support it.

[farcanell]

7 hours ago, smedly said:

hope he is prepared to support the people and country with huge finance especially since Russia is so rich

Maybe if sanctions were lifted, they wouldn’t need as much help.

[farcanell]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

why only a 100 if they really want to help the Venezuelan people?...

Advisors perhaps, not fingers on triggers? How many do they need to establish themselves? how many would have to die, to invoke a huge Russian build up? This is symbolic, at the very least, and a forewarning of what might happen if the US ramps up its meddling in Russia’s sphere of influence.

 

the US could have incorporated Venezuela more firmly within its sphere, but chose not too.... this is a repercussion.... it’s not quite as close as Cuba.... but way better positioned.

 

what a failure by A45!

 

[nervona81732]

Don't blame Americans for what Bolton and DEEP STATE does. These are globalist hold overs from previous sold out presidents. There sure is many here that point fingers at Americans ( many who are well aware of the detrimental effects the the globalist"s imbedded in our government same as your's. If you want to sling <deleted> at us I would suggest you go look into your own mirror ( mess ). 

[Benmart]

8 hours ago, Tug said:

Donald won’t like that or maybe he might cut and run like he did with NK 

Please elaborate on your statement.

[ballpoint]

After reading some of the posts by Americans making claims about the altruism of their country, I'm reminded that, once again, George Orwell is worth reading.  No, not 1984 or Animal Farm, but Burmese Days:

 

'Our burra sahib at Mandalay always said', put in Mrs Lackersteen, 'that in the end we will simply leave India.  Young men will not come out here any longer to work all their lives for insults and ingratitude.  We shall just go.  When the natives come to us begging us to stay, we shall say "No, you have had your chance, you wouldn't take it.  Very well, we shall leave you to govern yourselves."  And then, what a lesson that will teach them!'
 

[zydeco]

11 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

After reading some of the posts by Americans making claims about the altruism of their country, I'm reminded that, once again, George Orwell is worth reading.  No, not 1984 or Animal Farm, but Burmese Days:

 

'Our burra sahib at Mandalay always said', put in Mrs Lackersteen, 'that in the end we will simply leave India.  Young men will not come out here any longer to work all their lives for insults and ingratitude.  We shall just go.  When the natives come to us begging us to stay, we shall say "No, you have had your chance, you wouldn't take it.  Very well, we shall leave you to govern yourselves."  And then, what a lesson that will teach them!'
 

Didn't happen quite like that. Instead, the "natives" went begging to get into the UK, apparently in such numbers that they almost now rule the place.

[ThaiFelix]

1 hour ago, farcanell said:

the US could have incorporated Venezuela more firmly within its sphere, but chose not too.... this is a repercussion.... it’s not quite as close as Cuba.... but way better positioned.

JFK, after the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban missile crisis, admitted in his memoirs that he could have handled that situation better by instead offering a hand of friendship and cooperation to Castro.  However, as in many of these situations, and particularly at that time, a third hand was playing in the background.  And that third hand was the greedy United Fruit Company who previously owned or controlled most of the arable land in Cuba and whose dealings with the peasantry was the root cause of the unrest. 

 

Imagine the course world history could have taken had the US offered a hand of friendly cooperation instead of threats and bullying.  Castro was originally a socialist but the US left him no choice but to join hands with the soviet's communism because the US would not support, but rather opposed, his countries fight for freedom from oppression.  Likewise could be said about Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam.  If the US had listened to Ho's pleas for help in shaking off the French there would not have been a Vietnam War, 58,000 US boys, however many million Vietnamese and numerous allies would not have been killed and the supposed dominoes would have remained standing.

 

History has shown us that threats, intimidation and interference in another countries affiars always brings on greater complications and repercussions further down the road.  Why not work alongside Venezuela for the benefit of all?  Its all about oil lets face it.  So ok we are all supposed capitalists so why not just buy it on the free open market instead of trying to have some imagined control over it (its usually only short lived in any case eg Iran).  It can easily be imagined that the USA does not want to get involved in a "fair deal" because in every case it is always assisting directly, or indirectly, in overthrowing popular leaders and supporting unpopular ones.  Is that "saving the world"??

 

 

[farcanell]

http://www.coha.org/think-guatemala-1954-when-hugo-chavez’s-venezuela-springs-to-mind/

 

20 minutes ago, ThaiFelix said:

And that third hand was the greedy United Fruit Company who previously owned or controlled most of the arable land in Cuba and whose dealings with the peasantry was the root cause of the unrest. 

We tend to overlook the underlying issues when concentrating on the immediate situation... good post ThaiFelix.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

[KKr]

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

When the US has its forces stationed overseas, it's mostly to help, serve and protect the people of said places from outside menace, when the Russian are sending troops it mostly to selfserv, establish a foothold and protect a dictators and providing them with full military hardware that kills and displace people such as in Syria,

why send troop now when the region is so volatile? and why only a 100 if they really want to help the Venezuelan people?...

not like the u.s. is concerned about oil supply, no, "protect and serve" is why one wants to get a finger on the pulse before some other peace doctor comes in.

[KKr]

6 hours ago, MadMac said:

Hope the Chinese join the party too and get rid of the American wannabe Gods.

Not just wannabe, from recent interview: ""... ... ... Mike Pompeo Thinks God Might Have Sent Trump To Be A Saviour ... ... ... ""

Polly from Fawlty Towers comes to mind when Fawlty wants her to impersonate a member of the family.

[Loung Steeb]

11 hours ago, Lungstib said:

When you consider how many parts of the world the US has their forces stationed its hard to understand their idea that Russia or China is forbidden to do likewise. A severe case of 'dont do what I do"

WIKI says: The military of the United States is deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with approximately 165,000 of its active-duty personnel serving outside the United States and its territories.

..and there is pretty much peace in most of those territories.

[Kasane]

13 hours ago, smedly said:

Putin Putin his nose in again - very dangerous stuff

 

hope he is prepared to support the people and country with huge finance especially since Russia is so rich

 

nope

 

US need to tell him to remove himself from S.America , he went unchallenged in Syria but there is a line that needs to be drawn and Putin has crossed it many times 

 

Provocation to the extreme - very disturbing

Neither Russia nor USA has any business to dictate terms to sovereign Venezuela. 

[Baerboxer]

13 hours ago, smedly said:

Putin Putin his nose in again - very dangerous stuff

 

hope he is prepared to support the people and country with huge finance especially since Russia is so rich

 

nope

 

US need to tell him to remove himself from S.America , he went unchallenged in Syria but there is a line that needs to be drawn and Putin has crossed it many times 

 

Provocation to the extreme - very disturbing

 

Russia mines gold in Venezuela - I'm sure the Russians pay a fair price, pay the workforce well, ensure health and safety etc etc. Just like Maduro ensures the money paid all goes to good causes benefiting the whole country!

 

Putin's protecting his assets - no more, no less. 

 

If the EU/Brexit thing gets sorted, and all the silly witch hunts against Trump stop, and some Western countries sort themselves out, Putin will sliver back. He's thriving on the chaos and discord in the West which also makes dictator Erdogan fancy chancing his arm too.

 

Meanwhile Xi stands aloof no doubt quietly smiling whilst India's too busy chasing it's own arse.

[ballpoint]

Charles and Camilla are in the neighbourhood.  Maybe they should pop in for a visit as well, to show that there's still a bit of life in the old bulldog?  (Jokes mentioning Camilla and bulldog to start now...)