US invades Venezuela, kidnaps Maduro and wife, takes over Venezuela’s oil
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LordLundin
Eddie Howitzer
I was just going to actually ask Lord London that what people think I am a complete dick if I invest in whatever companies are going to be going to Venezuela? Dick Cheney he made a killing of his company 
LordLundin
Eddie Howitzer
Thanks Dan, I'll do it in a bit. Sorry for the delayed reply
Matt Cooper
Responding to artemis. I think considdering how much power the US has, I don't think there is an issue with us foreigners having something to say about American affairs as we would discuss other countries affairs in much the same way. But I do totally understand where you're coming from. I think we forget that even countries domestic affairs can and quite often do have a direct or indirect knock on affect for the rest of the world.
Artemis
Dan
It’s probably on book share too?
Dan
I think that’s it, but let me know if it doesn’t work
Dan
https://ia904503.us.archive.org/24/items/alfred-w.-mc-coy-the-politics-of-heroin-2003/Alfred%20W.%20McCoy%20-%20The%20politics%20of%20heroin%20-%202003.pdf
Dan
Eddie, I found a PDF on the Internet archive and imported it to voice dream reader. I’ll add a link here
Matt Cooper
Eddie Howitzer
Sadly Dan that book the politics of heroin is not on Audible, but this is something my Vietnam veteran friends have told me about whenever we sit down and have a drink at the veterans of foreign wars bar. 
Dan
A list of the US regime change efforts in Latin America over the years: 1846–1848 – Mexico 1898 – Cuba 1903 - Panama 1906–1909 - Cuba 1909 - Nicaragua 1912–1933 - Nicaragua 1913 -Mexico 1914 - Mexico 1915–1934 - Haiti 1916–1924 - Dominican Republic 1916–1917 - Mexico 1932 – Etc etc insertion point at end
Dan
Yes, Eddie, that is a classic that everyone should read. The politics of heroin is also a good read about the Vietnam era
Dan
Who do you all think made $400,000 on Polly market using insider information about the invasion? It seems like somebody very close to Trump must have done this, although the Washington Post New York Times also had information about the invasion before it happened and refused to publish it
Eddie Howitzer
Dan have you ever read the book "dark alliance" by Gary Webb? It tells the whole story of the Iran contra scandal, the Sandonistas, and the drug explosion of the crack epidemic in the 80s in Los Angeles. I think everyone should read this book right now because it will actually open people's eyes, and especially when they find out that by some miraculous way the author committed suicide by shooting himself twice in the head! Yes Dan, he shot himself twice in the head lol. 
Eddie Howitzer
Back to the celebration Dan. You're 100% right than not everyone celebrating, but it is the ones that you see celebrating that are the loudest. Those who are not celebrating our remaining quiet, and calculating what their next move as well as what the next move of the future powers  will be. 
Dan
And the US has been running drugs since the Vietnam or era, using this to fund contras all over the world
Eddie Howitzer
Not sure how old you are Dan, but I am 44 years of age. I've grown up with the whole bullshit ideology of the war on drugs, and I've come to the conclusion years ago that the war on drugs were never meant to be one.
Eddie Howitzer
Yes Dan. I was originally manufactured in Peru, and imported to America when I was around nine years old. I am familiar with the South American politics, and the involvement and at times the lack of involvement of the western nations. The drugs have always been moved through Columbia, however they are grown and made between Bolivia and Peru where the Coca leafs grow.  
Dan
Exactly, Eddie, that’s why I posted that link about the Narco stuff
Dan
Comments about people celebrating seem like a massive talking point right now, I checked my social media feed and it’s everywhere. Of course no coverage of the protests around the world, just the fact that everybody must celebrate
Eddie Howitzer
The joke Dan is. How do we know that Iraq had chemical weapons? Because we had the receipts. 
Dan
 i’m sure there were some who celebrated when we installed Saddam Hussein and armed him to fight Iran, right?
Dan
Like I said, the only people celebrating thought they were gonna get a payoff from NATO countries
Eddie Howitzer
It is when the occupational host began to settle in, that the people awake and realize that this shit is not as good as we thought it was going to be. 
Eddie Howitzer
Dan I was in Iraq in 2003 and the people were celebrating in the street the overthrow of Saddam, and they were coming up to us saying "bush good!"
Eddie Howitzer
There was absolutely celebration in Iraq in 2003, and in multiple other countries. No one is celebrating the destruction of their country because they don't see it like that at the beginning, that comes later with clarity 
Dan
There is not always a celebration by people about to be destroyed that is false
Dan
https://prospect.org/2025/12/23/narco-terrorist-elite-rubio-south-america-iran-contra/
Eddie Howitzer
The one thing all these countries have in common is that there's always a celebration beforehand, and then the suffering begins for the people 
Dan
And by the way, no one in a rock who wasn’t on NATO’s payroll was applauding the destruction of their own country for fucks sake
Dan
$17.3 trillion of oil, more than in Saudi Arabia
Romy
@Katya Yet he pardoned a Honduran drug trafficker. Besides, how many times am I supposed to fall for the "this man is bad, and we're the good guys", routine?
Eddie Howitzer
There is always a power vacuum whenever you remove a president, dictator, or leader who holds the power. The same thing that happened in Iraq with the power vacuum whith the removal of Saddam happened in Libya with Kadafi, this happened in Afghanistan in 1991 after the Russians pulled out and again after the Taliban in 2001 and as recently as today.  In Somalia when Siad Barre was removed, and as a result Somalia had no functioning national government for decades. Same thing happens Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Haiti, Sudan, and a Congo. At the end it's all about having a unstable government for someone else to go in and rule properly  
Dan
The only people celebrating are the ones who are going to take over and make a lot of money off of the oil while living in Miami or London or Paris
Eddie Howitzer
In Iraq they were celebrating on the streets because the removal of Saddam Hussein gave the Suni the power over the shias, then it became an absolute shit show with the involvement of Iran and other countries in Iraq.
Romy
This is literally the same tired playbook that has been used time and time again. There has legitimately never been a regime change the US has been directly responsible for that hasn't fucked the people in that country up the brown eye. Not once. Pinoche, the contras, the Shaw of iran, Ferdinand Marcos, Fulgencio Batista, and Saddam Husaine are just some examples that come to mind of situations in which the US has meddled in foreign affairs for profit while claiming good intent. Hell, in the case of Husaine, the Iraqi people, much like the Venezuelans of now, were celebrating as well! Look how that turned out. It's the same lie, same script, same fucking playbook. And people continuously fall for it! And this time's literally no different.
Get off my ramsack
Katya
Venezuelan’s in Florida are celebrating due to how the country was trashed under Chavez, which Medduro continued, who stayed in power even when voted out twice. He has ties to the gangs and Chinese perpetuating the drugs flowing into our country. He had it coming.
Eddie Howitzer
If they try to remove some of the funds from the military, then the companies who will be going into Venezuela which is higher private contractors such as black water. 
Brando, Balance
Ooh good post
Matt Cooper
Completely agreed with Tone smith. Just a couple of points. He's right about the UN, but as he kind of mentioned, these days, it's basically a paper tiger. I don't think many major powers have taken the UN seriously other than as a staging point for debate for decades. Enforcement of international law by the UN is something only smaller countries without much backup from major powers have to worry about. The US has been taken through the ICJ multiple times and nothing really happens other than judges using strong language denouncing this or that action they've taken. Your domestic point about republicans is interesting, but how many dissenters are there really and how many of those when push comes to shove will vote against what Trump wants? It's not impossible that he loses a vote in congress, but it's extremely unlikely, at least until next year after the midterms.
The Tone Smith
Matt Cooper
He can't be tried in the Hague. Remember the US isn't a signatory to the international criminal Corte exactly because of stunts like this.
Brandon
Dan
Many will be upset
Dan
International law and rules based order! Lol 
Eddie Howitzer
Just be honest and tell us that you're there for the oil, resources, and minerals. Not for democracy, and nation building. 
LordLundin