[tdeck]

> Most people from Venezuela are happy Maduro is out.

Based on what? There's a poll already about the US bombing Venezuela and kidnapping Maduro? There's a big difference between removing a leader through a legitimate domestic process and this.

[semiquaver]

What legitimate domestic process are you envisioning? He lost an election and stayed in power anyway. Any domestic process to remove him would look like a coup.

[whateveracct]

> He lost an election and stayed in power anyway

Hey, we had a guy who tried to do that too! Thank goodness it didn't work out.

[tommica]

Not everything is about your country

[jdiff]

No, but the referenced individual is responsible for this geopolitical mess we're discussing, so it's certainly relevant.

[IncreasePosts]

Maduro is responsible for the mess by stealing an election and installing himself as dictator

[whateveracct]

that doesn't sound like a United States issue

[olelele]

This is such a bad take I don't even know where to start.

[IncreasePosts]

We did. And if he was successful, and then started threatening Canada, I think I'd be totally fine with Canada performing a special operation and taking him to stand trial.

[tdeck]

There have been uprisings that weren't coups in many countries in the world.

[monerozcash]

And if that doesn't work? You could, for example, envision a situation where 10% of the people are well treated and armed by the government. It'd be very hard for an unarmed ill-treated 90% to conduct any kind of uprising if the government was sufficiently well organized and brutal.

[aglavine]

At some point is what you believe, but based on lost elections and literally millions of exiled people.

[lurk2]

The word “exiled” implies these people were forced out by the Maduro regime, which is not the case; virtually all of them left the country due to deteriorating economic conditions.

[googlryas]

Venezuelans for the past 5+ years have been the most or almost the most numerous asylum seekers in the US. And "poor economic conditions" or general poverty is not a valid reason to claim asylum

[lurk2]

> Venezuelans for the past 5+ years have been the most or almost the most numerous asylum seekers in the US.

That by itself does not demonstrate that the majority have been exiled, even if we want to expand the definition of "exile" to be inclusive of those who were not actually forced to leave, but felt it was necessary to leave due to political persecution.

The majority of Venezuelans will never have a legal option to reside in the United States. This incentivizes Venezuelans to make asylum claims in order to gain entry. Similar abuses of the asylum process are seen at far smaller scales in Canada and the European Union.

What sort of persecution are these people claiming to have experienced, and more specifically, what rights are they alleging to have been deprived of by the Maduro regime?

[ralfd]

Venezuelan social media. It is likely dominated though by opposition who left the country.

[mvdtnz]

Please, educate yourself on Maduro and the people of Venezuela. It would be hard to find a less popular leader. A quarter of Venezuelans have fled the country under his regime. 82% of Venezuelans are living in poverty and he has presided over hyperinflation. Exit polls showed him losing the last election in a landslide and he stole the country anyway.

[tdeck]

Please educate yourself on the history of US "interventions" in south and central America.

[mlindner]

> Based on what?

Well the videos of ~200,000 Venezuelan people partying in the capitol of Argentina is a start. As well as many other pictures and videos of gatherings wherever there is significant Venezuelan refugees.

[nonethewiser]

Im shocked that anyone would contest this.

[potsandpans]

It's completely baseless.

[solenoid0937]

Have you ever actually talked to a Venezuelan? I mean, come on. One thing that is indisputable is Venezuelans' hatred of Maduro.

[tdeck]

My question wasn't about whether he was popular, it was about whether people approve of this specific military action by the US. People can hate their leaders and still not want a foreign country directly replacing them.

[solenoid0937]

In this case you are just objectively wrong. Venezuelans are thrilled with this military action. They are happy they don't have to die by the millions to oust their dictator. For many, this was the best-case scenario (assuming democratic elections are held at some point in the future.)