The good guys® holding a nation at gunpoint until they're handed money
this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2026
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Next they'll tell us the war will be over by Christmas. :mission-accomplished-1::mission-accomplished-2: :mission-accomplished:
the kidnapping was apparently originally scheduled to happen on Christmas day, which would have fundamentally changed how we culturally perceive the phrase War on Christmas.
We could have said cool things like Trump is joining the War on Christmas. On the side of War!.
just keep kidnapping ppl til the situation sorts itself out
Wonder if they're gonna recycle the "ebil brutal authoritankie dictator" line for every other political figure they kidnap like with Maduro, all the while Miami gusanos continue to make performative celebrations even while they're currently being detained in ICE facilities for being POC or deported back to Venezuela
I wanna know if they'd do it with Mexico , a country with Liberal elections
The consent manufacturing machine has been working to that effect since Sheinbaum took office. If you speak to any right-wing Mexican they'll tell you that Sheinbaum is in cahoots with the cartels (which ones? no idea) because the streets are not overflowing with blood like during the Calderon administration. It's been repeated so much that it's considered truth to some degree by most people outside of Mexico.
My Mexican friend supported her before the election and she Monera generally improved Mexico and that the majority of Mexicans agree
The consensus among my leftist Mexican friends is one of critical support, because Morena has been consistently terrible when it comes to Indigenous Peoples' rights, environmental issues, and prioritizing large urban areas at the expense of rural Mexico. This is my position as well.
When asking Mexican Media or my Mexican acquiantances who are not as politically literate as my friends, she's corrupt and bought by the cartels. Every politician is, but she's soft on crime and the cartels. Working class Mexicans I know admit it's been better, but they're not full believers, because politics is only for corrupt people.
My complaints would be less along those lines (because thats the bogus line that whitexican libs love) and more along the lines of the usual comprador bullshit, regressive taxation that affects working professionals instead of financial speculators, lackluster funding of healthcare/transportation and stupid MBA bullshit within IMSS, lack of local level anti-corruption institutions and protectionism in favor of US companies while acting like it's to protect Mexican jobs.
It's honestly mostly the protectionism and the lack of local accountability, because most of that shit would be solved , I swear to god local politicians jump from the corrupt ass PRI and it's like they've been baptized in the holy spirit of morena which somehow absolves them of adhering to a national strategy of development or even having to sort of hide the usual blatant embezzlement.
Not saying the first part is completely false but you can see a clear and marked progression unlike those I pointed out which seem to be one step forward and two steps back.
because thats the bogus line that whitexican libs love
I'll tell my campesino and indigenous friends and their orgs they're whitexican because they have complaints about the Mexican gvmnt, specifically about the way their land is handled, and how they're being abandoned unless there is something to extract from there in the name of 'progress'. I am not Mexican, and haven't lived there in years, so i'm missing a lot of reality on the ground, particularly what you mention, but dismissing those concerns as "whitexican" shit is really reductive and erases the reality of some of the most vulnerable and vocal people in Mexico who have spent decades demanding their rights be upheld.
The lack of local accountability seems to be endemic to most local politics throughout latam though. Parties and party lines stop existing at the municipal and regional level, and local power brokers change parties like they change socks, only to allow for the graft to keep going. It seems that many leftist parties/governments struggle with maintaining discipline at the micro level, because they focus so much on national and parliamentary politics.
My theory is that the "Maduro is in cahoots with the Cartels" line was specifically to prepare the public for when that line is used as a justification for couping Sheinbaum.
I think the cartel may have a few opinions on that; would be hilarious if they start releasing some of their more horrific videos but the victims are American troops
If you think the cartels are going to turn patriotic and defend the motherland from their primary customers you are quite the optimist
The cartels are the stay behinds. They're the ones that the US would put in power.
Lumpens only care about their money. If the US bombs the cartels they will absolutely flip on a dime and attack US troops. It would get really bloody at the border. The cartels are pretty much as armed as the state.
The cartels being motivated entirely by money is why they would turn on their primary customers?
They not only supply the US but Europe as well. Either way, a cartel would fight back the US government if they get droned same way they would do any rival.
The consumers are the US upper middle class for cocaine and the working class for fentanyl and meth, not specifically the US government per se. If the state becomes a liability then it becomes a target.
As much as I hate his guts, see Pablo Escobar
Pablo Escobar was one among many Colombian drug capos, and he had been one in a long list of former CIA operators that were deemed more trouble than they're worth and had to be put down like the rabid dogs they were handsomely paid to be. The right wing militias that killed Escobar's men weren't arming themselves, nor were they getting sponsorships out of the kindness of the US government.
Narcos in all of Latin America are just Operation Gladio with a different coat of paint.
Yes, but as with all US puppets, some of them end up biting back when they figure out they have been hung to dry. See Al Qaeda, ISIS, or the Ukranians.
these people are usually sell outs but a man can dream
[Chile has entered the chat]
Chile just elected the son of a Nazi who is pro Israel
I get you are referring to the 73 coup
I'm already seeing people pointing fingers at my president (Lula) just because Bolsonaro is in jail. I have to constantly listen to American reactionaries calling my country a Communist (we never had a left-wing majority congress) Autocracy (We have right-wingers are paid to commit acts of treason in the open) These people are so low that they will even threaten to coup a SocDem just because they're not bowing down to the God Emperor Trump. Casus Belli be damned.
They will likely try something with Brazil.
But when I say I’m going to kill all the hostages unless the bank hands over the money, I’m the bad guy?
I find it absurdly disturbing how the United States of America went full mask off and isn't even trying to hide their blood thirst. At least in the past, the United States still had that "cordiality" and constantly used buzzwords such as "Freedom of Speech," "Democracy," and "Rule of Law." I don't think there's anything more treasonous than being a right-wing reactionary in the global south in 2026. These people will hate you if you're inside, and outside of their countries. I pay taxes so my damn politicians (Nikolas Ferreira and Eduardo Bolsonaro) can travel abroad and openly talk about how they want to get us bombed, sanctioned, couped, and occupied. And then these SAME PEOPLE will whine about being under a dictatorship, even though they're free to commit multiple crimes. ...While also not being here. America is so lucky for having a right-wing like ours, they don't even have put them on a payroll like in the past. I can't even call them sell-outs because they do it for free.
Trump has proven that the "cordiality" of government isn't worth the effort when you can just do wtfever you want and nobody can stop you, not that other politicians even want to stop him.
I think they have recognised that the western world (and possibly everywhere else) just blames this on Trump, and once he is no longer in power the US will commit their atrocities in a more "civil" way once again. They've dropped the mask because they can always walk it back later.
if real lives weren't at stake this would be beyond funny
Imagine getting into a war like an old man gets into a pool
What is the possibility of getting new air-defense systems into Venezuela? Like even if Russia wanted to help?
About zero. Venezuela already has the most expensive long range air defence system Russia offers for export, the S-300VM/SA-23 Gladiator/Giant. However Venezuela only has one battalion of the system, and it's usually located further inland, protecting a major military base. It likely played no part in defending Venezuela, too far away from the action to detect stealth aircraft and low flying helicopters. As for the air defence that was engaged, a command post and several TELAR (Transporter Erector Launcher And Radar) vehicles part of the Buk M2/SA-17 Grizzly air defence system were destroyed. This is quite a new and advanced medium range air defence system, first integrated into the Russian military in 2008. Ukrainian pilots say it's a big threat for them. Russia does have a newer version of the Buk, the Buk M3/SA-27 Gollum, first available for export in 2018. But I doubt that Venezuela can get any, Russia is the sole operator, it's too expensive for most export customers, and Russia is also focused on Ukraine.
Venezuela could try get Chinese systems or even Iranian ones, but I doubt that would happen.
Russia too far away. It is difficult for Russia to help Venezuela. Considering the current war in Ukraine.
It would be suicide. Let's imagine Russia has some air defense systems they're not using in Ukraine right now, and if they managed to get them into the country and set up, the US would just support Ukraine even harder in retaliation. Not to mention that the usual benefits of that kind of help (cheap venezuelan oil going to Russia) are even harder to materialize now that the US is pirating tankers in the caribbean. There's no benefit for Russia (or any other country with the capability to create remotely modern air defense systems) to help Venezuela.
tbh China is the country I thought would have the spare hardware for donating AA to Venezuela, whether or not they want to or can do it fast/secretly enough is what I'm wondering.
Venezuela has a lot of Chinese surveillance radars.
I'd hope someone is in the process of trying to arm any nation opposed to USA in the region with the maximum amount of firepower.
Probably not by boat
Very cool and legal