Venezuela Crisis: Failed coup attempt by Juan Guaido; Military remains supporting Nicholas Maduro
- Thread starter 88m3
- Start date
Hey @Nobu you said Trump can't fix this: ‘It Is Unspeakable’: How Maduro Used Cuban Doctors to Coerce Venezuela Voters
OK.
How do YOU fix it?
OK.
How do YOU fix it?
You're applying it wrong.
I'm saying the US is supporting a state who does all of the things you say the US opposes, and creating a situation worse than Venezuela elsewhere, so it's illogical to believe they will make things better in Venezuela.
US foreign policy actions anywhere are relevant to analyzing US foreign policy anywhere.
Json
Superstar
You don’t even have to look far.
Trump is blowing away our Constitution and normal procedure for power but is telling Maduro to follow their Constitution and give up power.
Maduro should be like you first.
Tres Leches
Empire Business
They are loyal to whatever is left of Chavez revolution
Tres Leches
Empire Business
Cuba is doing everything they can to keep maduro in power..they don’t want to have a special period part 2
Whats that got to do with Venezuela?
I'm saying the US is supporting a state who does all of the things you say the US opposes, and creating a situation worse than Venezuela elsewhere, it's illogical to believe they will make things better in Venezuela.
Would you believe a habitual child rapist's assurance that they will take good care of your child, simply because they haven't abused your specific child yet?
You know why, right?Cuba is doing everything they can to keep maduro in power..they don’t want to have a special period part 2
Basically after the Soviet Union fell, Cuba needed a lifeline, as The USSR was their main supporter. They found it in Venezuela by processing their crude oil
Cuba’s Reliance Upon Venezuela for Cheap Oil Looms as Potential Threat
wsj.com
Cuba’s Reliance Upon Venezuela for Cheap Oil Looms as Potential Threat
John Otis
9-11 minutes
HAVANA, Cuba—The potential collapse of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime poses a threat to Cuba, which relies on Caracas for about 28% of the island’s oil needs.
Venezuela’s opposition says the government’s longstanding oil-barter agreement with Cuba is irrational, coming amid an economic free fall at home, and benefits a Communist dictatorship it reviles.
If Juan Guaidó, who is recognized by the U.S. and about 50 other countries as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, wrests control of the country from Mr. Maduro, his government is expected to quickly halt the oil shipments. The result would be power outages, fuel shortages and government spending cuts that would cause the Cuban economy to shrink by as much as 10%, according to Omar Everleny Perez, an independent Cuban economist in Havana.
Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, waves as he stands next to Vice President Mike Pence during the opening of the Lima Group Summit in Bogotá, Colombia. Photo: Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EFE/Zuma Press
Ted Henken, a Cuba expert at Baruch College in New York, said the end of bargain-basement-priced oil for Cuba would cause a seismic shift on the island. “Cuba has limped along for the past 15 years thanks, basically, to the relationship with Venezuela,” he said.
For now, Mr. Maduro continues to governwith the backing of Venezuela’s armed forces, which receive advice and intelligence from Cuban operatives. The opposition is trying to sow division and provoke a mutinyamong the armed forces keeping Mr. Maduro in power.
Cuban officials aren’t speaking publicly about a possible energy crisis. Last week, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described the growing pressure on Mr. Maduro to resign as an “imperialist coup” led by Washington.
Cuba’s state-controlled media continues to paint a rosy picture of Venezuela, even though the economy has contracted by more than half since Mr. Maduro took office in 2013. Widespread food shortages and hyperinflation have led 3.4 million people to flee Venezuela.
With so much riding on Mr. Maduro, Cuban advisers are likely urging him to resist the pressure, as they did after Cuba’s benefactor, the Soviet Union, gave way in 1991, said a Washington-based person who is familiar with the inner workings in both countries. The Cubans who advise Venezuelan officials “ate grass for nine years after the U.S.S.R. collapsed,” the person said.
Trump Leads Allied Approach to Venezuela Crisis
From the beginning of the Trump administration, critics have chided President Trump for not working more closely with allies. But right now the U.S. is working with allies in Venezuela. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains. Photo: Getty
Cubans with internet access who read news about Venezuela are bracing for tough times. Indeed, Trump administration officials hope that severing the ties that bind the two socialist allies will cause both regimes to fall.
The end of Venezuelan oil “would cause tremendous chaos,” said Alberto González, a 43-year-old former police officer who drives tourists around Havana in a green 1950 Ford sedan that seats six. He predicted that Cuba’s periodic gasoline shortages would get worse, adding: “I might have to just park my car and leave it.”
Others play down the impact of a possible Maduro ouster, pointing to the depths of deprivation in the 1990s. With massive subsidies from Moscow severed, the economy contracted by 35%. Amid shortages of food and gasoline, many Cubans lost weight and moved around on foot, bicycle or horse cart.
“Cuba has been in crisis for 30 years, but it never really collapses,” said José Jasán Nieves, an independent journalist based in Havana.
Cuba emerged from its post-Cold War funk thanks to Venezuela. In 1999, Hugo Chávez, the leftist firebrand whose hero was Fidel Castro, took power and began to take Venezuela on a path to socialist revolution. The next year the two leaders signed a deal for Venezuela to provide Cuba with 100,000 barrels of crude per day—about two-thirds of the island’s daily need. In exchange, 20,000 Cuban doctors, teachers and sports trainers were deployed in Venezuela, along with an unknown number of intelligence agents to help modernize Mr. Chávez’s security apparatus.
President Fidel Castro and Mr. Chávez spoke at the opening ceremony of the annual International Book Fair in Havana in 2006.Photo: Javier Galeano/ASSOCIATED PRESS
This barter arrangement allowed Cuba to export any excess oil at market prices and freed up cash to import food and other necessities, said Jorge Piñon, a Cuban exile and energy expert at the University of Texas.
But under Mr. Maduro, Venezuelan oil production has collapsed, and shipments of crude to Cuba have fallen off.
Mr. Piñon said Cuba now receives about 40,000 barrels per day. Those shipments are worth more than $800 million annually, but the sharp reduction from what Cuba once received has led to belt-tightening, including electricity and gasoline rationing at state enterprises.
A billboard with images of Cuban national hero Jose Marti, right, and Venezuelan Simon Bolivar is seen at the entrance of the Cienfuegos oil refinery.Photo: JEAN-HERVE DEILLER/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
To prepare for an energy crunch, he said the Cuba government has built new oil storage facilities. It has also placed tighter rules on where and how taxi drivers can purchase gasoline. Many were accustomed to buying stolen fuel on the black market but must now pay nearly $4 a gallon at state-run filling stations.
In December, that prompted independent taxi drivers to stage a rare, 10-day strike.
Taxi-driver union leader Rafael Macías, who was briefly jailed for organizing a December protest, predicts that if Mr. Maduro falls there will be more unrest in Cuba.Photo: John Otis/The Wall Street Journal
Taxi-driver union leader Rafael Macías, who was briefly jailed for organizing the December protest, predicted that if Mr. Maduro falls there will be a spike in gasoline prices in Cuba—and more unrest. “If there is a new president in Venezuela, they will break relations with Cuba,” said Mr. Macías, who drives a beat-up 1982 Soviet-made Moskvitch. “There will be huge, huge problems.”
Amid the gradual squeeze on oil supplies, Cuba has avoided a recession through more remittances from Cubans abroad and a brief thaw in relations with Washingtonthat boosted tourism, said Pavel Vidal, a Cuban economist who teaches at Javeriana University in Cali, Colombia.
But he said an economic plunge would be unavoidable if Venezuelan oil stopped arriving altogether.
Cuba would have to cut spending on social programs—a hallmark of its revolution—to come up with the cash to purchase oil elsewhere, Mr. Piñon said. It could also try to broker a deal with Russia or another ideological ally. Cuba, though, would be unlikely to receive anything near the generous terms provided by Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Mr. Piñon said average Cubans would tighten their belts and press ahead.
“Why do you think we have 1956 Chevys still running around?” he said. “We always manage to get by.”
A car pulls into a gas station in Havana. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Cuba’s Reliance Upon Venezuela for Cheap Oil Looms as Potential Threat
John Otis
9-11 minutes
HAVANA, Cuba—The potential collapse of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime poses a threat to Cuba, which relies on Caracas for about 28% of the island’s oil needs.
Venezuela’s opposition says the government’s longstanding oil-barter agreement with Cuba is irrational, coming amid an economic free fall at home, and benefits a Communist dictatorship it reviles.
If Juan Guaidó, who is recognized by the U.S. and about 50 other countries as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, wrests control of the country from Mr. Maduro, his government is expected to quickly halt the oil shipments. The result would be power outages, fuel shortages and government spending cuts that would cause the Cuban economy to shrink by as much as 10%, according to Omar Everleny Perez, an independent Cuban economist in Havana.
Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, waves as he stands next to Vice President Mike Pence during the opening of the Lima Group Summit in Bogotá, Colombia. Photo: Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EFE/Zuma Press
Ted Henken, a Cuba expert at Baruch College in New York, said the end of bargain-basement-priced oil for Cuba would cause a seismic shift on the island. “Cuba has limped along for the past 15 years thanks, basically, to the relationship with Venezuela,” he said.
For now, Mr. Maduro continues to governwith the backing of Venezuela’s armed forces, which receive advice and intelligence from Cuban operatives. The opposition is trying to sow division and provoke a mutinyamong the armed forces keeping Mr. Maduro in power.
Cuban officials aren’t speaking publicly about a possible energy crisis. Last week, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described the growing pressure on Mr. Maduro to resign as an “imperialist coup” led by Washington.
Cuba’s state-controlled media continues to paint a rosy picture of Venezuela, even though the economy has contracted by more than half since Mr. Maduro took office in 2013. Widespread food shortages and hyperinflation have led 3.4 million people to flee Venezuela.
With so much riding on Mr. Maduro, Cuban advisers are likely urging him to resist the pressure, as they did after Cuba’s benefactor, the Soviet Union, gave way in 1991, said a Washington-based person who is familiar with the inner workings in both countries. The Cubans who advise Venezuelan officials “ate grass for nine years after the U.S.S.R. collapsed,” the person said.
Trump Leads Allied Approach to Venezuela Crisis
From the beginning of the Trump administration, critics have chided President Trump for not working more closely with allies. But right now the U.S. is working with allies in Venezuela. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains. Photo: Getty
Cubans with internet access who read news about Venezuela are bracing for tough times. Indeed, Trump administration officials hope that severing the ties that bind the two socialist allies will cause both regimes to fall.
The end of Venezuelan oil “would cause tremendous chaos,” said Alberto González, a 43-year-old former police officer who drives tourists around Havana in a green 1950 Ford sedan that seats six. He predicted that Cuba’s periodic gasoline shortages would get worse, adding: “I might have to just park my car and leave it.”
Others play down the impact of a possible Maduro ouster, pointing to the depths of deprivation in the 1990s. With massive subsidies from Moscow severed, the economy contracted by 35%. Amid shortages of food and gasoline, many Cubans lost weight and moved around on foot, bicycle or horse cart.
“Cuba has been in crisis for 30 years, but it never really collapses,” said José Jasán Nieves, an independent journalist based in Havana.
Cuba emerged from its post-Cold War funk thanks to Venezuela. In 1999, Hugo Chávez, the leftist firebrand whose hero was Fidel Castro, took power and began to take Venezuela on a path to socialist revolution. The next year the two leaders signed a deal for Venezuela to provide Cuba with 100,000 barrels of crude per day—about two-thirds of the island’s daily need. In exchange, 20,000 Cuban doctors, teachers and sports trainers were deployed in Venezuela, along with an unknown number of intelligence agents to help modernize Mr. Chávez’s security apparatus.
President Fidel Castro and Mr. Chávez spoke at the opening ceremony of the annual International Book Fair in Havana in 2006.Photo: Javier Galeano/ASSOCIATED PRESS
This barter arrangement allowed Cuba to export any excess oil at market prices and freed up cash to import food and other necessities, said Jorge Piñon, a Cuban exile and energy expert at the University of Texas.
But under Mr. Maduro, Venezuelan oil production has collapsed, and shipments of crude to Cuba have fallen off.
Mr. Piñon said Cuba now receives about 40,000 barrels per day. Those shipments are worth more than $800 million annually, but the sharp reduction from what Cuba once received has led to belt-tightening, including electricity and gasoline rationing at state enterprises.
A billboard with images of Cuban national hero Jose Marti, right, and Venezuelan Simon Bolivar is seen at the entrance of the Cienfuegos oil refinery.Photo: JEAN-HERVE DEILLER/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
To prepare for an energy crunch, he said the Cuba government has built new oil storage facilities. It has also placed tighter rules on where and how taxi drivers can purchase gasoline. Many were accustomed to buying stolen fuel on the black market but must now pay nearly $4 a gallon at state-run filling stations.
In December, that prompted independent taxi drivers to stage a rare, 10-day strike.
Taxi-driver union leader Rafael Macías, who was briefly jailed for organizing a December protest, predicts that if Mr. Maduro falls there will be more unrest in Cuba.Photo: John Otis/The Wall Street Journal
Taxi-driver union leader Rafael Macías, who was briefly jailed for organizing the December protest, predicted that if Mr. Maduro falls there will be a spike in gasoline prices in Cuba—and more unrest. “If there is a new president in Venezuela, they will break relations with Cuba,” said Mr. Macías, who drives a beat-up 1982 Soviet-made Moskvitch. “There will be huge, huge problems.”
Amid the gradual squeeze on oil supplies, Cuba has avoided a recession through more remittances from Cubans abroad and a brief thaw in relations with Washingtonthat boosted tourism, said Pavel Vidal, a Cuban economist who teaches at Javeriana University in Cali, Colombia.
But he said an economic plunge would be unavoidable if Venezuelan oil stopped arriving altogether.
Cuba would have to cut spending on social programs—a hallmark of its revolution—to come up with the cash to purchase oil elsewhere, Mr. Piñon said. It could also try to broker a deal with Russia or another ideological ally. Cuba, though, would be unlikely to receive anything near the generous terms provided by Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Mr. Piñon said average Cubans would tighten their belts and press ahead.
“Why do you think we have 1956 Chevys still running around?” he said. “We always manage to get by.”
A car pulls into a gas station in Havana. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
dudes keep thinking I don't follow this shyt...
@88m3 @dtownreppin214
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Do you support Maduro?You literally sound like John Bolton right now
Why do you support Bolton breh ?
Secure Da Bag
Veteran
Venezuela doesn't have a democracy at the moment. And its impinging on the sovereignty of others with their internal corruption and mismanagement.
It can reach a point where the international community must intervene.
