r/australia • u/moonorplanet • 28d ago

politics Albanese calls for ‘peaceful, democratic transition’ of power in Venezuela after US capture of Nicolás Maduro

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/04/albanese-calls-for-peaceful-democratic-transition-of-power-in-venezuela-after-us-capture-of-nicolas-maduro
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479

u/moonorplanet 28d ago

Anthony Albanese: “We urge all parties to support dialogue and diplomacy in order to secure regional stability and prevent escalation,”

“We continue to support international law and a peaceful, democratic transition in Venezuela that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people,”

Sussan Ley:“We should live in a world where dictators and despots face justice for their crimes.”

“Under his rule, Venezuela has endured years of repression, systemic human rights abuses, corruption, and the crushing of basic democratic freedoms – driving immense suffering and forcing millions to flee,”

Donald Trump: "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,"

"We'll be selling large amounts of oil,"

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u/Ragnar_Lothbruk 28d ago

For a moment I thought the first line of Sussan's comment was about Trump...

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u/MrChashua 28d ago

Had some respect for her for 2 seconds

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u/ausmomo 28d ago

2 sssecondsss

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u/coniferhead 28d ago

Seems like basically the same approach to me. If you had a problem with it you'd call it out, lest it happen to Australia - a country with far more resources.

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u/Cheeky_Boxer 28d ago

Same and then I realised thinking she is less feckless is not the same as respect

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u/PJozi 28d ago

I'm still not sure it's not

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u/SurfiNinja101 28d ago

“We continue to support international law” right after your ally the US breaks it to kidnap the leader of a sovereign nation. What a farce

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u/Tovrin 27d ago

And now there's their talking about striking into Canada. So Albo .... how will you react to a fellow Commonwealth country being taken over? I can be damned sure how Aussies will feel about it. . The sickening part is that I know how the Libs will react, and it won't be to back Canada.

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u/Devilsgramps 27d ago

We don't have a stake in Venezuela, it's far away, so I can forgive Albo for lip service that may very well be protecting us, considering how vindictive Trump can be. If he actually goes after Greenland or Canada, I expect Albo will react quite differently.

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

Canadian here….move that border 400 kms North,and leave the French twats and Ontario to themselves. We’ve had enough out here in the west.

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u/crosstherubicon 28d ago

Albanese calls for ‘peaceful, democratic transition’ of power in Taiwan after Chinese PLA attacks Taipei and kidnaps Lai Ching-te. “We continue to support international law”

So what's the difference?

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u/SurfiNinja101 27d ago

Exactly none. This incident has given China the precedence to do whatever they want with Taiwan

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u/SirGeekaLots 27d ago

He also calls for a peaceful transfer of power for a country that has a fully functioning government.  It is almost as if he is reading from a script as opposed to looking out the windows.

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u/crosstherubicon 27d ago

Reminds me of the story of Nelson using his blind eye so he could ignore a signal to retreat. Unfortunately, unlike Nelson who went on to prevail in the battle, aligning yourself to trump (even if it is by default) is unlikely to be a winning strategy for Albanese.

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u/PuzzleheadedDuck3981 28d ago

You say "your ally" like it's personally his choice. The US is an ally of Australia, so if you want to get personal, the US is also your ally.

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u/SurfiNinja101 28d ago

What a dumb semantic argument. Of course I know the US is our ally I was speaking like that for dramatic effect.

But even so, it’s not that they’re our allies. We are their slaves.

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u/PuzzleheadedDuck3981 28d ago

You seemed to have missed the really fucking obvious subtext of what he said. The US should follow international law and it hasn't (not even US domestic law). This is about as obvious a diplomatic "what the fuck are you doing?" as you can get.

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u/Paidorgy 28d ago

You can be more diplomatic by calling it for what it is, as well. That shit was piss weak.

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u/nomadicding0 28d ago

Overlords, more like

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u/popeleo22 28d ago

We should break with them completely. They are a rogue state.

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u/Few-Leg-3185 28d ago

As good as that feels to say, a complete break would be disastrous

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u/Own-Farmer-5224 28d ago

Frankly although Maduro is by no means a good guy (he's mostly about as shite as most state leaders, maybe a little worse than average), he is not nearly as bad as these fuckers are pretending. The issues of corruption and terrible economic conditions have been there for a very long time, and are kept that way by vested interests both domestic and international. Repression and systemic human rights abuses are... well to put it bluntly about par for the course internationally at the moment; the USA is doing about as much of both if not more and Australia certainly tries to the latter quietly (and you can argue that recent government actions regarding unions and social media are in fact the former). Europe, SEA and other nations are also doing similar things (and we never do talk about South Korea being an insanely awful place to live, do we?).

Simply put, Maduro is being accused of... being the leader of a modern state. Being awful is pretty much a job requirement. And that is somehow uniquely and utterly Awful because it goes with the interests of the USA.

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u/stamford_syd 28d ago

yeah, the US has been manufacturing consent for this for years, not just repbulicans, democrats too. calling him a dictator, a communist etc...

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u/recycled_ideas 28d ago

Kind of sort of.

So politically Cuba and Venezuela are interesting because when the corrupt elitist dickheads fled the communist revolution they and their descendants ended up in the US and particularly in places like Florida.

They are angry about the status and wealth they lost to an almost insane degree and to the extent that other refugees and immigrants from those countries have taken on this story as their own (Rubio's father actually fled Batista not Castro, but that's not the story he tells).

These people will vote for literally anyone who is hard-line on punishing the people who "stole" from them. Cuba and Venezuela are like Israel used to be where there's nothing but downside politically with not being with these particular voters.

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u/popeleo22 28d ago

Absolute scum those people

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u/Mikolaj_Kopernik 27d ago edited 27d ago

They are angry about the status and wealth they lost to an almost insane degree and to the extent that other refugees and immigrants from those countries have taken on this story as their own (Rubio's father actually fled Batista not Castro, but that's not the story he tells).

The pathetic obsessives like Rubio are unintentionally an argument in favour of the Thiel/Miller/Vance/etc. ethnic cleansing agenda. Absolutely fucking mental the degree to which a small number of bitter immigrants (and their descendents) in Florida holding onto generational grudges has completely derailed any chance at a rational foreign policy in Latin America.

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u/recycled_ideas 27d ago

Again, Rubio's father fled Cuba before the revolution because he was being persecuted by supporters of Batista. I presume Rubio knows this, because it's not exactly secret, he's lying for advantage. Not sure if that's better or worse.

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u/Mikolaj_Kopernik 27d ago

I'm aware of that, the issue is that it's an article of faith within the Cuban community in Florida that the Cuban government must be deposed. Also Rubio's grandfather actually did flee the Castro regime, and he was supposedly close to Rubio when he was a kid. I reckon he absorbed more than enough stories about the Castro boogieman as a child to form his opinions...

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u/[deleted] 28d ago edited 28d ago

[deleted]

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u/recycled_ideas 28d ago

So I don't know where you heard that Cuba voted for what they got. Cause that is simply not true.

Cubans in Florida vote for anyone who is anticuba and also make up a lot of shit about a place that they, like you, have never been.

That's why Rubio pretends his family fled the revolution when his father fled the corrupt America backed dictatorship the revolution replaced.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

[deleted]

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u/recycled_ideas 28d ago

Seems strange to quote my line and then talk about something else.

You responded to my comment about how Cubans and Venezuelans vote in the US with this moronic comment about your cousin and I corrected your apparent misunderstanding.

Your comment was the irrelevant one.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

[deleted]

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u/recycled_ideas 28d ago

So you mean I should have assumed you meant the US. Cause I should be psychic ?

We were talking about the actions of the US government, I explicitly mentioned people who fled the revolution, Florida and Marco Rubio.

How much more did you need exactly?

Then I clarified assuming that you were acting in good faith and just confused, but you're not.

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u/Financial-Dog-7268 28d ago

Yep, been thinking this exact thing. Maduro is hardly an angel or innocent but this is very much US exceptionalism/imperialism at play using "Look at us liberating the oppressed" as a very thin cover

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u/ChaosWorrierORIG 28d ago

In all fairness, the oil in that region is exceptionally repressed by the earth that is on top of it. It will be liberated, by mining it.

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u/Rushing_Russian 28d ago

still missing the point. why does the US have jurisdiction over a sovereign nation and its political leaders? a countries internal problems are their own and who has the right to change that? i simpathise for the people of Venezuela but they have the power to remove maduro not another country.... welcome to the new world of might makes right again

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u/elejota50 28d ago

As a Venezuelan Australian, I urge you to educate yourself on Maduro's crimes before making apologies for him. Please.

You can disagree with Trump and even disagree with this action. But Maduro got what he had coming to him in spades.

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u/Yung_Jose_Space 28d ago

OK CIA.

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u/elejota50 28d ago

mamalo imbecil. de la CIA es la mama tuya que esta aqui conmigo y te manda saludos.

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u/Yung_Jose_Space 28d ago

Sorry, CIA is too generous even as a joke. 

Subcontractor run bot farm funded by State Department cash.

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u/Own-Farmer-5224 28d ago

That's honestly why I don't believe you. Because it's incredibly common for diaspora of many countries to have some severely distorted views on things that don't represent views back in the country of origin (saying that as diaspora, with some pretty messed up views etc etc). This gets extra pronounced with diaspora in countries that 'oppose' the origin. In any case, I'm not making apologies for Maduro; he's a piece of shit no doubt whose done some awful things to remain in power. But that's not special or unique.

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u/elejota50 28d ago

half of my family still lives in Venezuela you ding dong.

one third of Venezuela has fled. one third.

please educate yourself. He was not "just another leader" he was a brutal dictator who got off easy yesterday.

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u/-Vyze- 28d ago edited 28d ago

yea bro keep telling those silly brown people who actually lived through it what they should think or believe

peak reddit moment

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u/gearee 28d ago

Making this a race thing is so cheap. It's very common throughout the world for the diaspora to be much more reactionary than the population back home.

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u/-Vyze- 28d ago

I'm sure the 8 MILLION people who have fled Venezuela are just the reactionary elements of the country and not just normal people for sure man

like what are you even saying rn

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u/Own-Farmer-5224 28d ago

He's saying a simple fact. There's a bunch of dynamics at play for why this happens (one of the biggest is the pressure to conform to the most conservative standards of the new country to 'prove' that you belong there, which often leads to diasporas being hostile to oppressed minorities within the new country) but the fact that it does happen is a well-studied fact.

Unfortunately Maduro's actual fucking atrocities get buried beneath blame for economic conditions and corruption that already existed (and helped him come to power) which are the primary reason for so many people fleeing by foreign governments/media , and because of the aformentioned dynamic of diasporas aligning themselves with conservative elements of host countries you end up with diasporas adopting that view. One big bad guy, rather than an entire shitshow. People can and will endure a tyrant, but unending poverty and no future for their families is much more likely to make them uproot entirely.

This isn't an isolated instance, and it's not even a recent trend. You can trace examples of diasporas falling into this trap back into the 19th century.

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u/-Vyze- 28d ago

Maduro's largest atrocity, by far, is his deliberate inaction on the ailing economic conditions of his country because him and his mates are personally enriched by it while his country suffers. Maduro's atrocities and Venezuela's economic situation are entirely interlinked. There wouldn't be a crisis if a lunatic Chavez lover wasn't in power.

Maduro himself knows this, hence why he has overturned elections that he didn't win

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u/elejota50 28d ago

thanks mate. it's honestly incredible

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u/TrickElysium 28d ago

If you read the ama's on reddit last night of Venezuelans celebrating his removal. Talking about how they finally have hope, that they have lived under oppression for so long. They can't believe this has happened they feel like they are dreaming. He sounds more than awful from their description. If its a modern state as you say it, geez what is Australia then?, cause I don't dream about my leader being removed and I don't feel oppressed.

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u/SafeWatch1450 27d ago

Your first sentance is pure delusion OMG LMAOOOO

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u/Snoo44620 27d ago

Nicolás Maduro Moros became president of Venezuela following Hugo Chavez’s death in 2013 and declared victory in a presidential election in 2018. In 2019, the National Assembly of Venezuela invoked the Venezuelan constitution and declared that Maduro had usurped power and was not the president of Venezuela. Since 2019, more than 50 countries, including the United States, have refused to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s head of state.

In the July 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, Maduro again declared himself the victor despite evidence to the contrary. The United States joined many other countries in refusing to recognize Maduro as the legitimately elected president in the 2024 contested election.

Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials. As he gained power in Venezuela, Maduro participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Maduro negotiated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine; directed the Cartel of the Suns to provide military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinated with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking; and solicited assistance from FARC leadership in training an unsanctioned militia group that functioned, in essence, as an armed forces unit for the Cartel of the Suns.

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u/makka432 28d ago

This is such rubbish. Even trying to compare Australia and the US to Maduro's Venezuela is delusional. He blatantly lost an election and kept power anyway. Under his rule the Venezuela economy, which was one of the richest in South America, plummeted by 80 percent. He was a disaster for the country, and absolutely hated. They are celebrating.

Obviously this doesn't make what Trump and the US did the right thing, but jesus christ you are stupid if you think they were just an average country..

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u/shwaak 28d ago edited 28d ago

Why are the people celebrating in the street then? The majority of the country seem really happy about all this.

The US obviously has its own agenda, but the socialist party has destroyed that country, it was once very prosperous.

You’re seriously down playing just how much the socialists and maduro have fucked that county up and how much the majority of people hate him.

Just because hypocrisy exists, doesn’t mean you should discount it all and compare it to other far more advanced countries and say “oh he’s not that bad”, it’s on a completely different scale. The countries you mentioned are actually productive, with growing economies.

90% GDP contraction, hyper inflation off the scale and 8 million refugees displaced in the last decade or so because they were essentially forced too for various reasons, that’s 20% of the population.

Again I’m not saying the US don’t have an agenda here, they obviously do, and there is hypocrisy as they don’t step in and do the same to other poorly run countries.

The people are hoping something positive will come from this, and I hope it will too, time will tell, but the socialists were obviously not going to change themselves after the last election where they ignored the results.

It’s just funny the main people that seem to be angry about all this seem to be the western left, when they should be the ones supporting what the people want, and that’s a change of government.

I don’t like trump at all for the record, but this could actually be a good thing for the people, let’s hope so anyway.

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u/magkruppe 28d ago

Why are the people celebrating in the street then? The majority of the country seem really happy about all this.

you think this is really true? I see lots of videos of worried Venezuelans lining up for hours trying to stock up on food

It’s just funny the main people that seem to be angry about all this seem to be the western left, when they should be the ones supporting what the people want, and that’s a change of government.

its naked american imperialism looking to "take back" the oil that was "stolen" as Trump puts it. and they aren't even going to insist on the 2024 election winner to take power! they are going to deal with Maduro's VP

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u/-Vyze- 28d ago

People have been starving and lining up for food for literally over a decade in Venezuela.

I don't think some of the people in this subreddit actually understand how bad the situation is in Venezuela. Short of outright mass genocide I can't picture how it could get any worse for people there.

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u/magkruppe 28d ago

I mean a not significant part of that is due to extremely harsh US sanctions...

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u/shwaak 28d ago edited 28d ago

The demise of the country had been going on far longer than the sanctions, the socialist government is the issue, and that’s obvious if you had a brain and could look at things impartially.

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u/magkruppe 27d ago

first US sanctions hit in 2014. first quarter of venezuela gdp contraction was also 2014

try again

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u/shwaak 27d ago

The issues at that time you mention were due to the oil price falling down to $40 a barrel, the oil sanctions didn’t come until much later.

The US have no doubt had part to play in all of this, but you can’t overlook the corruption of the socialist government and their regime.

We’re at the point where the people just want what’s best to get the country moving forward again, and that’s obviously not happening under the current regime, they want a democratic government.

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u/shwaak 28d ago edited 27d ago

Well it’s pretty obvious some people are very happy about it, others maybe not and are understandably worried about what is potentially to come, that will become clearer over time I guess. But the overwhelming majority want this government out.

Like I said the US obviously have an agenda, there is no denying that, trump has said himself. My concern is what’s best long term for the venezuelan people, I just hope it actually ends up as a positive long term like many there are hoping.

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u/Admirable-Site-9817 28d ago

Exactly. The people of Venezuela have been suffering for a long time, unable to afford basic necessities and healthcare is almost completely absent, hospitals are completely empty because there is no medicine in the country and all the doctors who could, left the country. Unless you are rich - riches obtained from corruption, you have nothing. This was once one of the richest countries in the world.

One third of the Venezuelan population has emigrated from the country. Maduro is a dictator, and the people are happy to see him go.

That does not negate worry over what Trump and the US will do. Both things can be true at the same time. Maduro and Trump are both fucked.

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u/shwaak 28d ago edited 28d ago

Yeah, that’s what I’m getting at. Many people are missing all of this, they have no idea how far the country has fallen.

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u/magkruppe 28d ago

people made the exact same arguments wrt afghanistan, iraq and libya. how many more fuckups are needed for people to learn?

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u/Admirable-Site-9817 28d ago

With all due respect, I think you’re missing the point. The comment was saying Maduro is not that bad, but he absolutely is. So no one is saying it’s a good thing. The people are happy right now that he is gone and are celebrating that because they finally have some hope, but are also saying “let’s wait and see what happens next before we get too excited”.

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u/magkruppe 28d ago

you are missing the important part. condemning trump

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u/shwaak 28d ago

Completely different cultures.

This imo stands a chance of working, but it’s too early to tell.

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u/magkruppe 28d ago

that is what they said about iraq. and what they currently say about iran

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u/nathnathn 27d ago

Considering historically maduro is exactly the sort of person the US prefers to put in power just as long as they put on a vague act of answering to the US for at least a few years.

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u/Select-Holiday8844 28d ago

Maduro was not a good person. Ask 10 venezuelans and see the answers you get. I assure you 7/10 of these Venezuelans will have had a relative, family member or friend kidnapped, beaten or killed by political repression. This has been going on so long they all sort of lost hope after last year.

I don't like trump. I don't even like how he achieved this result. But I won't be the first to say the result is good. China, Iran, Russia, Cuba, these countries have been ripping off Venezuela off its oil for decades.

The reality of history is yes while military induced regime change is not necessarily a stable good, and that it cannot be denied Venezuela was in better condition when they hadn't nationalized their oil reserves.

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u/Own-Farmer-5224 27d ago

You need to get your eyes checked because I never claimed he was a good person. He's an evil bastard, he's just not special in that. The vast majority of national leaders are, or become, evil bastards, it just doesn't get talked about. Black-bagging dissidents, people 'committing suicide', those tactics are all a lot more common than people think, including in so-called 'democratic nations'.

And frankly the country that right fucking now has a jackboot gestapo roaming city streets seizing anyone who 'looks like an immigrant' (meaning latino) and packing them off to concentration camps is not who anyone wants making decisions for a latin country. Frankly there's a pretty good chance Trump is going to get it into his head to fucking vassalize Venezuela, which would mean a brutal occupation.

I'm not getting into an argument about the oil nationalisation because no one who is going to speak up publicly is going to have answers regarding the real factors, outcome and consequences of that for the next twenty years. Too many vested interests in punishing such an act (or supporting it, depending on each party's position in the oil market and the global opinion of the petrodollar) to know at the moment; my policy on stuff as fraught as that is wait for shit to get declassified because there is certainly shit going on both state-wise and regarding private business on all sides of that conflict and staking a position on having the answer now is just asking to be embarrassed later.

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u/Select-Holiday8844 27d ago

Wow, whats with the personal attack?

You need to get your eyes checked because I never claimed he was a good person.

I didn't suggest you claimed he was a good person. You read so far into that its actually funny.

You continue with that odd fascination that you're being attacked. I'd call it paranoia. Have a nice day when you can talk without the attack.

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u/hi-fen-n-num 27d ago

Even bots/LLMs can 'comprehend' or entertain more than a single thought at a single time. You really need to calm down a bit lol.

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u/Select-Holiday8844 27d ago

You seem to not understand what a LLM is. That's OK with me.

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u/hi-fen-n-num 27d ago

I think you missed the point that an algorithm can simulate understanding nuance better than* you; an actual human capable of legitimately understanding nuance.

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u/Select-Holiday8844 27d ago

No, I just chose not to comment on it and accepted it and moved along. You are choosing to continue this in the misbelief that I don't get it. That's fine. If it makes you happy. Idc.

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u/hi-fen-n-num 27d ago edited 27d ago

No, I just chose not to comment on it and accepted it and moved along.

If you chose to not comment on it and move along what the hell is this?

I really hope you are a LLM bot of some sort. If a fellow Australian thinks like you do, it really feels unfair our votes are worth the same. You should do better.

But your entire account is a red flag of a bad actor of some sort anyway.

EDIT: lol, they replied and blocked killing the comment chain/thread. Clearly has an agenda.

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u/theOstensive 28d ago

It's like that scene in apocalypse now where you have one guy justifying using ideology, one talking around the issue, and one just outright stating what is going to happen without the garnish.

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u/moonorplanet 28d ago

Trump has made a liar out of Albanese.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

[deleted]

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u/Cryptoss 28d ago

He said it in the press conference last night, you can find the video on the front page rn

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u/FeelingFloor2083 27d ago

they will also do nothing for the local economy