Not Unprecedented

~ Clarissa

The removal of Maduro by the US is not unprecedented. A very similar operation was conducted in Panama in 1989 when dictator (and CIA operative) Manuel Noriega was removed in an almost identical way.

The biggest difference is that the 2026 process was a lot more effective, quick, and less destructive. And Black Sabbath music wasn’t used.

Why people keep reaching for clumsy analogies with Iraq and Afghanistan when there’s a clear and meaningful analogy with an identical operation in the same region, I have no idea.

The results of the Panama incursion can be observed by anybody with two eyes. Or even one eye with astigmatism. For a Central American nation, Panama isn’t doing that badly. And all that was needed was to remove this one asshole. Venezolanos and panameños are largely the same people, so the prospects for Venezuela aren’t terrible if we look at the history of the region and not at something completely different in another part of the world.

And yes, Venezuelans can still fuck it up royally. But they are definitely better off today than at any time since 1999. Nobody is going to give them a perfectly functioning country on a silver platter. It’s now all up to them.

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Published by Clarissa

19 thoughts on “Not Unprecedented”

      1. Was honestly not sure what to think about the whole thing until this morning, having a chance to assimilate 2 things:

        -the crazy number of jubilant venezuelans chiming in.

        -Simplicius posted about it 😀 https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/major-questions-finally-answered

        fyi Simplicius is my favorite straight-up Russian propaganda outlet: if you ever want to answer the question “What does Russia want everyone else to think about this?” he’s your guy. So if he says “Trump failed, and he’s probably losing his mind, something about the Jews, OMG threatening Greenland again, Iran is a psyop, ‘attack on sovereign country of Venezuela’ (immediately using it as justification for UKR invasion of course), wah wah ‘international law’, and VEN is a desperation move to prop up the petrodollar.

        So… if those are RUS’s current talking points, I’m feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Might turn out OK. Probably won’t know for sure for at least a couple years. Buena suerte, Venezuelans!

        -ethyl

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              3. Tabarnak! That Dinde is even more of a complete utter arse-licker than Turdo the Second ;-D

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      1. It’s not up to the Venezuelans to decide. It’s up to the existing regime to decide, they have all the guns and power and the opinion of 99% of Venezuelans means nothing to them.

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        1. After the collapse of the USSR, nobody did anything to the members of the Communist Party, including in very high-up roles. Some of them proceeded to turn the post-Soviet countries into fully democratic regimes. Others did the opposite. In Ukraine, for example, the anti-Soviet dissidents never came to power. Kravchuk and Kuchma, the first two presidents of the democratic Ukraine, were standard Soviet apparatchiks. They had many flaws but they walked the country away from socialism.

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          1. The Communist Party still runs VN. They have simply found it increasingly in their interests to see that the country is more prosperous than communist. So Uncle Ho’s face is still on the money. Nobody pulls down any statues. But there’s hardly anything left that you’d recognize as Communist.

            There are all sorts of ways to be a functional, livable country. They don’t all involve violent purges. It is possible for people *already in power* to be practical.

            I don’t think the current rulers there care a whole lot about “human flourishing” or God-given rights or any romantic ideas of freedom and democracy. Their elections are still completely fake. They care a lot about not becoming a territory of China ever again, and have decided that prosperity is the best way to avoid that: whatever brings prosperity = good. Everyone’s lives have gotten way better in the last twenty years as a result. No democracy in sight.

            -ethyl

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            1. That’s a great example. It must be clear to everybody in Venezuela that the Socialist experiment didn’t work. Many people might have been very sincere about it 25 years ago but it’s been a clear failure. A great opportunity to start afresh fell in their laps. If you can run a richer, more stable country without the street protests and the need to be constantly subservient to the Cubans and the Russians, it’s not impossible that Delcy and Co will say, “hey, why not?”

              Spain is another example of a peaceful transition to democracy. No purges, no civil conflict to speak of. The elites peacefully and willingly agreed to incorporate into their ranks the clandestine socialists and communists.

              And yes, there are also opposite examples. That’s why I’m saying, it’s a decision. Not an American decision but that’s a good thing.

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  3. This extraction was 20 years in the making. Hope it was worth it.

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    1. Of course, it would have been better to nip the problem in the bud back in 1999 but back then it was all about contemplating Bill Clinton’s crotch.

      That rat bastard created so many of the problems we experience today.

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      1. 700k+ Venezuelan migrants, the rise of Tren de Aragua, and countless dead Americans. When do we start seeing the benefits of our venezuela policy?

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