Marco Rubio-led Trump style ‘democracy’ for Venezuela

At times the American public leaves me in awe. And not for their smarts, but for their stupidity. It is this public who is being led like sheep into accepting the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by coup.  

I too have been watching what’s happening in Venezuela. It is sad. It has been sad for some time now. I can’t say that I’m a big believer in Nicolas Maduro, the elected Venezuelan president. There are signs of corruption, as well as mismanagement, in that country. And yet, he was elected by a majority of Venezuelans. 

Ahh!! elections, something Americans say they believe in. It’s what makes them the ‘democracy’ they claim to be. Still, Maduro is not who they’d like to see as president of Venezuela so they’ve decided that a U.S.-led coup will do just fine.  

Then there’s the president of the U.S. The man elected by a minority of the voters under a system known as the electoral college that is as outdated as Donald Trump’s orange-tinted pompadour. 

Trump has turned over the keys to the Latin American south to Sen. Marco Rubio and NSA chief John Bolton to do as they please — mainly because Trump hates those ‘brown-skinned criminals and rapists’ from the South and has little time to worry about them. He sees this Little Marco-Bolton-led adventure as another sign of his (not the country’s), his military strength in an awful game of Risk, a board game of conflict and conquest. It’s also a way of strengthening his lock-hold on ultra-right Cuban and Venezuelan voters in Florida, who he believes helped him win the election in 2016, and may help him win it again in 2020… 

But our president, who seems to have never read a book, or an intelligence report for that matter, fails to see the long view of what can turn out to be a 21st century Bay of Pigs disaster, or another failed Vietnam adventure, for this country.

So in the long run, leading this dangerous game of chicken is a man who is convinced that he is never at fault. There’s always someone else to blame. He’s the guy who promised to drain the swamp. Then doubled down and promised to hire only the best to run the government he would lead.

Two years later our nation’s capital is muddier than it’s ever been, and Trump’s ‘best and brightest’ are falling prey to indictments. Others just leave under the weight of an ignoramus with dictatorial tendencies.

Now we stand on the brink of conflicts with Russia, possibly China, North Korea, some Arab nations, Iran, and who knows who else… all to please Little Marco and Bolton on an instant gratifying adventure — the type that can lead to a world war.

And yet we insist on bringing Trump-style ‘democracy’ to Venezuela — by force. Here’s a reminder of what THEIR type ‘democracy’ breeds:

• Roger Stone, a long-time Trump ally and political advisor — indicted for obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering.

• Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and “right-hand man”, who was sentenced to three years in prison on fraud and lying charges.

• Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman, who was found guilty on eight federal counts of bank and tax fraud and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and one count of conspiracy against the U.S. 

• Konstantin Kilimnik, Manafort’s right hand man, charged with witness tampering in a superseding indictment that charges the Russian citizen and Manafort with conspiracy to obstruct justice. He is alleged to have strong ties with Russian intelligence. He was in contact with top figures in Trump’s 2016 campaign.

• Sam Patten, a Republican lobbyist linked both to Manafort and Kilminik, as well as the opposition research firm Cambridge Analytica. Pleaded guilty for failing to report as a foreign agent.

• Rick Gates, indicted along with Manafort on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the US, making false statements, and failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. He was a Manafort deputy during the Trump 2016 election.

• George Papadopoulos, a 30-year-old former Trump adviser, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia.

• Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations last December with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. at the time, Sergey Kislyak.

The list of names is longer and has yet to include family members who, I understand, are sweating bullets on the sidelines…

The point is simple. Is this the kind of democracy the U.S., under Donald Trump and the dirty work of Marco Rubio and John Bolton, wants to bring to Venezuela? 

God help us all.