Alvin Holsey just took over the US southern command late last year for a position that normally lasts three years

  • Zombie-Mantis@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    We’re not trying to steal their oil. The reasons are much stupider than that: fascists need an external enemy to justify their militarism. They’re desperate for a rally around the flag. Same as with Iraq.

      • Zombie-Mantis@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        Well, Trump has had some harsh words against Putin recently. The issue for him is that he’s too fucking impatient. He wants to be the man who solved the war in a day, but neither side is willing to give up like that. First he supported Russia, but the Ukrainians wouldn’t give in, then he supported the Ukrainians, but the Russians wouldn’t give-in. Then he pivoted to the middle East, hence the “12-day war” that he “ended.”

        This business with Venezuela is no different, in my eyes. He wants a big win under his belt, and an external threat to bring a rally-aroud-the-flag. It’s like Mussolini desperately invading Ethiopia, in hopes of strengthen his position at home, only to isolate Italy from the world. It’s all just very, very stupid and evil and shortsighted.

    • Cruxifux@feddit.nl
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      21 hours ago

      Ok but capitalist interests like Kraft literally want to reinstate capitalism in Venezuela so that they can re privatize their oil industry and put it back into the hands of foreign private interests. It’s a big part of it.

      • Zombie-Mantis@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Reopening Venezuela to the global markets is certainly a part of it, but “stealing their oil” isn’t. It’s more about the fact that they’re a thorn in America’s side, by not being part of the established political order, and calling themselves Socialist. It’s just all politics, and balancing coalition interests with public image.

        Though, they wouldn’t really be “reinstating capitalism” either, just reopening them to markets and (hopefully, from their perspective) privatizing parts of the economy. Or, more specifically, bringing them into the global investment capital system. Venezuela only ever really nationalized a few key industries, there aren’t giant worker-enterprizes to disassemble, like in the Russian Civil War. It’s a much easier transition, and still, in pursuit of domestic political capital, not resource rights.

        • Cruxifux@feddit.nl
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          5 hours ago

          What always got me with Venezuela, and why I read a couple books about it, was that they aren’t even that staunchly socialist. They nationalized A FEW KEY INDUSTRIES. That’s why I became curious about it. Obviously there’s the whole “we can’t have socialist countries existing without abject poverty” schtick that the states likes to do, but it is largely because the private oil interests that dominated the country want back in, and probably a personal vendetta with how Chavez removed them.

          Which, by the way? How he did that? cheffs kiss

          • Cruxifux@feddit.nl
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            5 hours ago

            Literally though. That’s the be all and end all of everything that’s been happening with the Venezuela/USA thing.

    • Urist@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      Nelson Mandela voiced his opposition in late January, stating “All that (Mr. Bush) wants is Iraqi oil,” and questioning if Bush deliberately undermined the U.N. “because the secretary-general of the United Nations [was] a black man”.

      But “oil” is mentioned 43 times: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War