Has your perspective on the Venezuela situation changed?
First of all, I have plenty of views that align with both liberal and conservative policies/positions. One that I find myself aligning with conservatives on is that our intervention in Venezuela was important, positive, and good for the security and prosperity of both the United States, Venezuela, and Latin America.
Maduro is an evil bastard, and he ran Venezuela ruthlessly. \~80 percent of Venezuelans have an optimistic view of where their country is heading, and millions of people that fled the nation are thinking about and actually are returning.
In Colombia, one of the most important political debates has been “what do we do about the Venezuelans” simply because of the sheer number of them that fled to
Colombia. After maduro? Hundreds of thousands of people in the streets of bogota cheering as they can now return home to a safe country.
A big argument I see is that the US is exploiting Venezuela and we should feel bad for them because of that. Well, before us, it was China and Russia who controlled their country’s economy. Now, with our help, we are rebuilding their oil industry to levels they haven’t seen in literally decades with the incredible skill and expertise of companies like Chevron. With that help, yes, the United States will undoubtably see some significant tangible benefits whether that be low gas prices, taxes from drilling, or any number of other ways. I think it’s stupid to expect us to not try to gain something from this. However, I also think it’s unfair to say we are exploiting Venezuelans because, if all goes according to plan, their country should start seeing incredible amounts of money pouring in. Without the US this money would’ve gone to holding up maduro regimes and secret police, but with our guidance that money is going to go to a democratically elected government that will hopefully serve its people.
A lot of this is not guaranteed, and nobody can see the future. What we do KNOW is that the situation in Venezuela, on the ground, is far better than it was a year ago, and that there are a number of signs and indicators that point to a positive trend for the country whether that be economically, socially, or politically.
I know many liberals (and plenty of conservatives) were very against this from the beginning due to the question of legality, general anti violence sentiment, a hate for trump, or a fundamental misunderstanding of Maduros regime.
Has your opinion on our intervention changed?
Have your beliefs been reaffirmed or changed?
Can you acknowledge that your concerns at first were perhaps outweighed by the benefits of the intervention?
Was your initial criticism perhaps too harsh and emotional?
I get some of these sound like asshole questions or like a subtle dig but I promise they aren’t.