I saw that he said he hadn't even TALKED TO Machado. Really?

I understand that maybe she may not be tough enough to go Pinochet on the commies, but to not even talk to her? Now Venezuela has appointed their VP as dictator and talk like they are going to continue to ignore Trump. What is his actual plan here?

I'm worrying that his thought process is no more deep than a personal vendetta against Maduro.

aTmAg said:

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I saw that he said he hadn't even TALKED TO Machado. Really?

I understand that maybe she may not be tough enough to go Pinochet on the commies, but to not even talk to her? Now Venezuela has appointed their VP as dictator and talk like they are going to continue to ignore Trump. What is his actual plan here?

I'm worrying that his thought process is no more deep than a personal vendetta against Maduro.

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Rubio has talked to her many times, but when he asked her what her plan was if Maduro was gone, she never had an answer. She is a good figurehead, but not a leader, especially someone that can control any of the multiple factions in the country.

aTmAg said:

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I saw that he said he hadn't even TALKED TO Machado. Really?

I understand that maybe she may not be tough enough to go Pinochet on the commies, but to not even talk to her? Now Venezuela has appointed their VP as dictator and talk like they are going to continue to ignore Trump. What is his actual plan here?

I'm worrying that his thought process is no more deep than a personal vendetta against Maduro.

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Not what I read. WSJ reported there have been numerous conversations between the WH and Machado and her group leading up to this. The WH could never get any actual plans or strategy out of her and her group so they lost confidence in her ability to take the reins and govern. They gave up on her and moved to the next best (worst) option.

Don't you know Trump is told the plan? There's a plan.

He's being coy on this because i'm guessing she doesn't have the endorsement of the military.

i think she gets installed eventually but it's going to take work to get everyone on the same page

Well Venezuela put their VP in charge, and apparently they are going after people who celebrated.

Has anybody asked him what he plans on doing about that?

Easier to take down a government than to build a new one. That takes more brains than might.

What does history tell you…….

13B said:

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aTmAg said:

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I saw that he said he hadn't even TALKED TO Machado. Really?

I understand that maybe she may not be tough enough to go Pinochet on the commies, but to not even talk to her? Now Venezuela has appointed their VP as dictator and talk like they are going to continue to ignore Trump. What is his actual plan here?

I'm worrying that his thought process is no more deep than a personal vendetta against Maduro.

---

Absolutely not! He has no plan. He never has a plan. Not a single thing he has done has worked out. He repeatedly fails over and over again. He flies by the seat of his pants. He just throws stuff against the wall and sees what sticks. He has no direction. Oh and he is a threat to Democracy with his reckless actions. I am quite certain he never researches whether he is allowed to execute certain functions of his office.

There. Is that what you were looking for? Are you happy now. Did I do it right?

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Read my posts. I am totally onboard with getting rid of Maduro. In fact, I wish we had killed him and spare us a trial. But I was assuming he actually had a plan of sorts.

Now it looks like he doesn't, and you guys aren't aren't giving me any warm fuzzies about me being wrong on that. Just excuses.

Trump's team has a plan. Especially Rubio. I imagine they will see if the VP will play ball or not, or they will depose her too if there is a campaign of oppression. They need someone to control the current military and government that they can deal with and lean on, but if there aren't deals and shortly thereafter plans for a legitimate election (the VP was elected with the corrupt Maduro elections), then we probably step in again.

flown-the-coop said:

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If Trump cured cancer, the complaint would be about his lack of plans for out of work oncologists, radiologists, nurses, drugmakers, etc.

Then complain about the climate impact of all the breaths now being taken by cancer survivors.

Dems are evil. See them for who they are.

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You calling me a dem?

No, but I never miss a chance to call Dems evil.

But seriously, getting worked up because you have not been personally briefed on Trumps intermediary steps 48 hours after we deposed their dictator… I mean arrested a threat to the US… is a bit odd, no?

What are you expecting to be revealed or accomplished in 02 days?

flown-the-coop said:

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No, but I never miss a chance to call Dems evil.

But seriously, getting worked up because you have not been personally briefed on Trumps intermediary steps 48 hours after we deposed their dictator… I mean arrested a threat to the US… is a bit odd, no?

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I respect calling dems evil.

And I agree it is odd. He doesn't deserve the expense of a trial. He should be a smoking hole in the ground. As should the VP, all of the leadership, etc. We should be doing what Israel did to Iran (but finish the job).

pacecar02 said:

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What are you expecting to be revealed or accomplished in 02 days?

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Lot's more Maduro disciples be dead right now.

Trump doesn't want to destroy the current Venezuelan government so he doesn't end up with a situation like in Iraq, where the government was completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt from scratch.

Of course he does,

The Mooch weighs in

I believe they have a plan. The question is going to be what happens when things don't go according to that plan. We're right at the Mendoza Line in successful nation-building excercises. Let's hope this one is different.

HTownAg98 said:

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I believe they have a plan. The question is going to be what happens when things don't go according to that plan. We're right at the Mendoza Line in successful nation-building excercises. Let's hope this one is different.

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Since 1950, what are you counting as a success in nation-building? I thought we were still batting 0.000 which is why a lot of people loved when Trump ran in 2016 on stopping the nation building.

aTmAg said:

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I saw that he said he hadn't even TALKED TO Machado. Really?

I understand that maybe she may not be tough enough to go Pinochet on the commies, but to not even talk to her? Now Venezuela has appointed their VP as dictator and talk like they are going to continue to ignore Trump. What is his actual plan here?

I'm worrying that his thought process is no more deep than a personal vendetta against Maduro.

---

He has concepts of a plan.

aTmAg said:

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13B said:

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aTmAg said:

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I saw that he said he hadn't even TALKED TO Machado. Really?

I understand that maybe she may not be tough enough to go Pinochet on the commies, but to not even talk to her? Now Venezuela has appointed their VP as dictator and talk like they are going to continue to ignore Trump. What is his actual plan here?

I'm worrying that his thought process is no more deep than a personal vendetta against Maduro.

---

Absolutely not! He has no plan. He never has a plan. Not a single thing he has done has worked out. He repeatedly fails over and over again. He flies by the seat of his pants. He just throws stuff against the wall and sees what sticks. He has no direction. Oh and he is a threat to Democracy with his reckless actions. I am quite certain he never researches whether he is allowed to execute certain functions of his office.

There. Is that what you were looking for? Are you happy now. Did I do it right?

---

Read my posts. I am totally onboard with getting rid of Maduro. In fact, I wish we had killed him and spare us a trial. But I was assuming he actually had a plan of sorts.

Now it looks like he doesn't, and you guys aren't aren't giving me any warm fuzzies about me being wrong on that. Just excuses.

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Having a plan does not mean it will work. Maybe they do have a plan, we are not in the Whitehouse.

I'm getting Bush on an aircraft carrier vibes

Cuba is the prize.

I think the answer is Juan Guaido.

Everybody acts like Machado and her Vente Venezuela party is the only opposition group in Venezuela.

There are several parties in Venezuela that have been battling Maduro for years, and she & her party are one of the weaker ones. Many other opposition parties and leaders have been exiled, imprisoned, or killed; and several would be more popular and potentially stronger than Machado if reinstated as the leaders.

I'd keep an eye on Juan Guaido. He was hand-selected by the Venezuelan National Assembly (kind of like their Congress) to be President back in 2019 and was considerably more popular than Machado according to most of those in the know. One of the main reasons Machado's candidate was elected in 2024 is that Guaido (back in 2021) led the charge in uniting most of the opposition parties by creating the Unitary Platform.

And for the record, Machado did not technically run for President against Maduro. She was elected by the Unitary Platform to represent them (kind of like a primary) but had to drop out before the election because Maduro invented a law many years before against "anti-government protests" which is punishable by being banned from holding public office for 15 yrs. It's how Maduro was "legally" able to reject Guaido's presidency and prevent Machado from running in 2024. She stepped back into a party leadership role so an "eligible" candidate could run instead (Edmundo Gonzalez).

One by one, Maduro has been ridding the country of opposition leaders and running off millions of their followers, and he started with the most influential. Machado had a lot of enthusiasm in her circle, but her political & popular support nationally was not as enthusiastic. Machado was selected by the Unitary Platform because she was the best of what was left. Most of the folks voting for her and Edmundo Gonzalez were associating them with Guaido, or were simply voting against Maduro.

The Venezuelans that are being overlooked most are the 8 million or so that have fled the country since Maduro's takeover and will be looking to return. Who would they support most? For most of the folks who seem to know what they're talking about, Juan Guaido is the one Venezuelans rally behind.

Another thing to consider is that Guaido has been protected here in America since he was exiled in 2023. The Trump administration (and the CIA) was a huge supporter of his back in the day, and that support has been very bipartisan through the Biden Administration and Trump 2.0 ever since.

Machado, on the other hand, was extracted from Venezuela by an American extraction team, but she was never brought to the US. Maybe that was our decision, maybe it was hers, so take that for what it's worth.

Oddly enough, Machado and her party are further to the right than Guaido and his party which is more centrist. But the question isn't really which ideology is the most comparable to MAGA, it's which group will have the most support and is more easily controlled by the US.

The people love Guaido. The legislature loves him. The political leaders of just about every group that wasn't part of the Maduro regime loves him. Trump and the US apparently love him. So again, my money is on Juan Guaido.

I thought it was strange that we didn't have people there by Saturday night with a large security force keeping the peace.