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Posted by BearOso

Speculation says the regime may have deliberately caused the blackout to prevent info about Guaido and opposition from spreading. Even if not, it would be complete negligence and mismanagement, so the regime is still to blame.

Posted by sureanem
I don't follow the news that
Why, though? You're cutting off your nose to spite the face, no? It'd have to be an almost cartoonish evil.

Posted by KoiMaxx

Most regimes aren't completely homogeneous, and there might be little control the leader has with regards to goings-on on the ground. It's completely possible someone from the ranks panicked and took independent action, without completely seeing the big picture and the repercussions of their actions. It might also be possible someone from an internal faction is positioning themselves for a takeover.

Of course it can simply due to an accident, but politics is so cutthroat (sometimes literally), and I wouldn't be surprised if it weren't an accident.

Today Venezuela basically crossed off an entire industry. In one day. No more industrial aluminum production. Just like that. It’s gone.

#8Mar CVG #Venalum just died. A reducing plant aluminum, model for Latin America, had 59 reduction cells and with the collapse of Guri lost tension in the 4 trilineas of 115 KV. Cells are turned off and once they are turned off, they are lost.

They had to shut off the cells at the Venalum plant meaning that all the molten metal solidified in the equipment. Basically it destroyed all the equipment because they had no power.
when this happens, you lose the cell, it cannot be recovered...
They had already lost some of the cells in previous blackouts but they lost all of the remaining ones yesterday, it’s a catastrophic shutdown

Posted by sureanem

b) the US did it as a step in toppling the regime

Posted by CaptainJistuce

If the US was trying to take out Venezuela, we would've DONE IT by now. The country's problems are genuinely self-inflicted, and fairly well-documented as such.
Also, the CIA probably wanted the aluminum equipment intact and usable.

Their dictator-in-chief is an inept, ham-fisted, and violent buffoon and his clumsy attempts to manipulate the mood of the people are doing more damage to his position than the CIA ever could.

According to the Venezuelan government, the blackout was an act of sabotage masterminded by the opposition leader, which is standard practice for Maduro. Every time anything goes wrong, it is the opposition's fiendish plan to destroy the country and sell it to the capitalist pigdogs. And every time something goes right for the opposition, Maduro makes sure something goes wrong in the country.

Would Venezuelans support foreign military intervention?

My research in Venezuela suggests otherwise.

All credible polling in Venezuela says that most Venezuelans desperately want Maduro out. But that does not necessarily mean they are open to desperate measures.

In November 2018, I worked with Datanálisis, one of Venezuela’s most respected polling companies, to add several questions about about military intervention and potential negotiations to its nationwide tracking poll.

When asked whether they would support “a foreign military intervention to remove President Maduro from his position,” only 35 percent said yes — hardly the warm welcome predicted by advocates. More than half — 54 percent — would reject such an operation.

Severely short of troops to spare, the British and French requested that President Wilson provide American soldiers for the campaign. In July 1918, against the advice of the United States Department of War, Wilson agreed to the limited participation of 5,000 United States Army troops in the campaign. This force, which became known as the "American North Russia Expeditionary Force"[15] (a.k.a. the Polar Bear Expedition) were sent to Arkhangelsk while another 8,000 soldiers, organised as the American Expeditionary Force Siberia,[16] were shipped to Vladivostok from the Philippines and from Camp Fremont in California.

After coming to power, the RCC government took control of all petroleum companies operating in the country and initiated a process of directing funds toward providing education, health care and housing for all. Despite the reforms not being entirely effective, public education in the country became free and primary education compulsory for both sexes. Medical care became available to the public at no cost, but providing housing for all was a task that the government was not able to complete.[6] Under Gaddafi, per capita income in the country rose to more than US$11,000, the fifth-highest in Africa.[7] The increase in prosperity was accompanied by a controversial foreign policy and increased political repression at home.[5][8]

Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, was captured and killed on 20 October 2011 during the Battle of Sirte. Gaddafi was found hiding in a culvert west of Sirte and captured by National Transitional Council forces. He was killed shortly afterwards. The NTC initially claimed he died from injuries sustained in a firefight when loyalist forces attempted to free him, although a graphic video of his last moments show rebel fighters beating him and one of them sodomizing him with a bayonet[2] before he was shot several times as he pleaded for his life.[3]

The interim Libyan authorities decided to keep Gaddafi's body "for a few days", NTC oil minister Ali Tarhouni said, "to make sure that everybody knows he is dead."[30] The body was moved to an industrial freezer where members of the public were permitted to view it [31] until 24 October.[32] Video shows Gaddafi's body on display in the center of an emptied public freezer in Misrata.[33] Some people traveled hundreds of kilometres to see proof that Gaddafi was dead; one said, "God made the pharaoh as an example to the others. If he had been a good man, we would have buried him. But he chose this destiny for himself."[34] One reporter observed gunshot residue on the wounds, consistent with shots at close range.[19]