People forget that Chavez launched his coup in response to a massive, violent crackdown on working class people protesting cuts in social services. It was called the Caracazo, and thousands of people were killed. After his coup failed, he ran for president and won. People talk about how Venezuela was a “real” democracy before Chavez, but that doesn’t mean it was free, that often just means that the parties let you vote from a list of predetermined candidates who they believe will preserve the status quo; that is, an incredibly unequal society, where a small minority of mostly white oligarchs hoarded the countries resources to themselves while the working class starved. Everything they accuse Maduro of, they too were guilty of it, and far worse. Chavez dramatically improved life for the average Venezuelan, and the people who hate him most are the ones who benefitted from the previous system, just like in Cuba and the US-backed Batista dictatorship. Meanwhile, the US had no issue with Venezuela‘s “democratic” government violating human rights as long as the profits from their oil came to us, instead of them. More on reddit.com

God foolishly buried USA’s oil under Venezuela, and Trump is merely taking back what’s rightfully his. /s More on reddit.com

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The US has essentially conceded that the unipolar global order has passed and a multipolar order is being developed. In the unipolar world, states like Cuba and Venezuela could largely be ignored as they ultimately couldn’t do any real harm. But with multiple other powers out there, they can be seen as vulnerabilities. The US’s best defensive asset is the two oceans between them and any hostile power. During the Cold War, the US nearly went to nuclear war over Cuba because the Soviets were using it militarily. Cooler heads prevailed, but the US isn’t interested in that even being an option for China or Russia moving forwards. At the moment, no outside power seems willing to go to war over Venezuela or Cuba, so now would be the time to shut them down as potential threats. And if one of those countries also has the worlds largest oil reserve, that has the bonus of buying strategic flexibility, in case the US wants to (or is forced to) withdraw from the Middle East to prevent over-extending itself. So I agree the drugs and corrupt stuff is BS, but to say it’s just about oil seems too narrow a perspective. More on reddit.com