Quote from: Poker Player on Today at 06:28:54 AM

sanctions don't look to me like some evil savage capitalists preventing the country from progressing.

US sanctions certainly do have an effect. You only have to go as far from US soil as Cuba to see that this is the case. But yes, sanctions are at the milder end of the scale.

Sticking purely to Venezuela to remain on topic...

How about US involvement in the coup of 2002? Whatever the CIA was doing behind the scenes, and however much they deny involvement, their protestations are unconvincing.

Quote

Bush Administration officials acknowledged meeting with some of the planners of the coup in the several weeks prior to 11 April but have strongly denied encouraging the coup itself, saying that they insisted on constitutional means. However, the purpose of the meetings was not clarified, and it is also not known why US officials and the Venezuelan opposition broached the subject of a coup months before the attempted ousting took place. In addition, The New York Times quotes an anonymous Defense Department official in charge of developing policy towards Venezuela as saying that, "We were not discouraging people. ... We were sending informal, subtle signals that we don't like this guy. We didn't say, 'No, don't you dare'", though he denied the Defense Department offered material help, such as weaponry.

_{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Venezuelan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt#US_role_and_alleged_involvement}

Also, is it really entirely coincidental that Venezeula has the world's largest oil reserves? The US does have some history of 'interest' in countries where they can steal the oil... consider for example the 600,000 violent deaths in Iraq following the 2003 invasion.

... but I agree that this is only one aspect. Much of the fault for the current situation in Venezuela lies with Maduro, with corruption and mismanagement. I'm not disputing this, all I'm saying is that Venezuela starts from a profound disadvantage because a) it has a leftist leader, and b) it has oil. To suggest the US has had no effect on instability in the country is I think disingenuous.