The shit-orange infused Monroe Doctrine, dubbed “Donroe Doctrine,” was not invented in the last couple of days. The term that appeared on a January 2025 cover of The New York Post, and it was discussed many times, including on Nov. 17 in the NYT. In Trump’s Presidential Message on the Anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, the term was not used, but only the new “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine: “That the American people—not foreign nations nor globalist institutions—will always control their own destiny in our hemisphere.”

1. This is our hemisphere ● 2. Many things can be said on a plane ● 3. Let’s recap what I already wrote these days ● 4. What happens in, with, and to Venezuela? ● 5. Why not María Corina Machado ● 6. From a feature in the WSJ ● 7. An opinion in the same WSJ ● 8. AI-generated explanatory visuals ● 9. The wrong argument about Maduro ● 10. Some other wrong arguments ● 11. Moscow, Beijing, Budapest, and other fuckers ● 12. How about us? ● 13. Long live the glorious Red Army! Sorry, Orange Army.

1. This is our hemisphere

But now Trump himself said, “The Donroe Document”:

“This is OUR Hemisphere,” posted the State Department.

Change this to “Emperor of the Americas”:

Donald Duck – The Golden Helmet (1952)

2. Many things can be said on a plane

  • Trump: “Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall. I don’t know if they’re going to hold out. But Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from their Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it. And Cuba is literally ready to fall.” (Rubio: “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I would be concerned, at least a little bit.”)
  • Trump: “Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. He’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you.”
  • Trump: “And, by the way, you have to do something with Mexico. Mexico has to get their act together, because [drugs are] pouring through Mexico. And we’re going to have to do something.”
  • Trump, on Iran: “If they start killing [protesters] like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”
  • Trump: “We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days. I will say this about Greenland. We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it. I can tell you.”

3. Let’s recap what I already wrote these days

In my first post, I was shocked that courts would accept a kidnapped defendant: Grok: Kidnapping by a state is lawful everywhere.

In comments, I marked Trump’s admission that “We are going to run the country”; that that “male captus, bene detentus” does not apply to Belgium; some comments from El País. I then made some preliminary predictions, then Trump’s reiteration of his “need” of Greenland.

In my second post, Plans for US Imperialism 2.0 predate Trump 2.0, I included (and cited from the transcripts of) 3 videos from 2022 and 2023 featuring General Laura J. Richardson, highlighting the US interest in the “lithium triangle” (Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile). In the 3rd video, Carlos Vecchio, former Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States, said (verbatim) that “the only way to create energy, security for this hemisphere and for the Western democracy, to defeat authoritarianism, is to have a transition that will allow us to develop fully our energy capacity.”

In comments, I mentioned the Hague Invasion Act of 2002 and famous scene from Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (YouTube), which aligns with Richardson’s “on the 20-yard line to our homeland.”

In my third post, Beware of what you do: you can be tried in the US even if you never set foot there!, I explored the extraterritorial jurisdiction claims held by the US, which are unique to US imperialism.

In comments, I quoted Nixon. Of course, “when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal” only applies to US presidents.

In my fourth post, A premonition that aged very well: this is not about drugs!, I presented a video from Dec. 11 in which Sky’s data and economics editor Ed Conway explained The real reason Venezuela matters, with screenshots and the transcript. In brief, the US needs heavy oil for its refineries, but it only has light crude. Most of the heavy oil can be found in 3 countries: Canada, Venezuela, and Russia. And Venezuela’s oil reserves are the world’s largest, but the extraction has dropped dramatically since Chávez.

“Well, there’s more to this than just drugs.” Much more.

As we’ll see later, that oil is expensive to extract, but I’m not sure that Trump knows that. I’m not sure that he knows anything beyond a 5th-grader.

4. What happens in, with, and to Venezuela?

At first, I thought that Trump would have a lot of trouble trying to “run” Venezuela. That country was not occupied; it still has an army, and Delcy Rodrigues has been sworn as the acting president. If Venezuela resolves to resist, it would eventually fall, but not without some losses on the American side. Heck, not only the paramilitary “colectivos” but even the drug cartels swore to fight the American invaders! And MAGA is already disappointed that “America First” doesn’t have any kind of focus on the economy. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “We don’t consider Venezuela our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is right here in the 50 United States, not in the Southern Hemisphere.”

But now, apparently, she posted this statement on an unspecified social media platform:

A message from Venezuela to the world, and to the United States:

Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to peace and peaceful coexistence. Our country aspires to live without external threats, in an environment of respect and international cooperation. We believe that global peace is built by first guaranteeing peace within each nation.

We prioritise moving towards balanced and respectful international relations between the United States and Venezuela, and between Venezuela and other countries in the region, premised on sovereign equality and non-interference. These principles guide our diplomacy with the rest of the world.

We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.

President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. This has always been President Nicolás Maduro’s message, and it is the message of all of Venezuela right now. This is the Venezuela I believe in and have dedicated my life to. I dream of a Venezuela where all good Venezuelans can come together.

Venezuela has the right to peace, development, sovereignty and a future.

If this is not a de facto capitulation, then I don’t know what it is. But will Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello support Delcy Rodríguez, regardless of what she’d decide? That’s a very big question. Because, according to Brian Naranjo, a former senior US diplomat who served in Venezuela, Cabello and Padrino “could very easily take action against her and sideline her immediately. Those are the two guys who control Venezuela right now. These are the guys who command people with guns.”

Otherwise, the US Administration can’t even run the United States, which mostly runs on the States’ governments. 85% of the federal budget is “on autopilot” (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, national defense, interest on the national debt, veterans’ benefits, SNAP, refundable tax credits, etc.), with only 2% for transportation, 2% for science & medical research, and most of the 15% “discretionary spending” going to defense. There is very little headroom for public investments, and bridges and roads are collapsing in the US, too, not only in Venezuela!

Was America able to ensure the proper governance of Iraq after they deposed Saddam? Fuck, no! They can’t even leave a country other than in panic (see Vietnam, Afghanistan).

Not to mention that Venezuela and its neighbors are a hot potato. Here’s a news report from Cúcuta, on the Colombian side of the Simón Bolívar Bridge across the Táchira River:

Two different groups bustle up to the visiting foreigner, a gringo approaching the bridge from Colombia into Venezuela.

“Don’t go left or right of the road – you’re OK on the bridge, but don’t wander into these streets left or right. They’re controlled by Tren de Aragua gangsters who will rob you or kill you,” says a young woman sweeping drizzle out of her eyes.

The next, a young taxi driver, gets out of his car to explain: “You can cross the bridge to see the Venezuelan side, but it’s not a good idea.

“The Colombian army and the Venezuelan forces won’t come to get you if you get shot in no man’s land, and everything under the bridge is controlled by guerillas.”

So, ¡buena suerte, presidente!

5. Why not María Corina Machado

Indeed, why doesn’t Trump promise general elections (although, with a country that’s still sovereign, I can’t see how)? If Maduro was illegitimate, a legitimate president is what’s needed, right?

Wrong.

María Corina Machado is the liberal type, not the MAGA genre. “Liberal” as in “classic liberalism,” not in the North American meaning of “more or less socialist.” I’m not sure what “liberalism” means in Latin America, but it looks like they use it in the European sense. María Corina Machado advocates free market economics, reducing state control over the economy, individual freedoms and civil liberties, and democratic governance. She doesn’t seem all “libertarian” or “economically conservative” enough, and she definitely isn’t populist.

So yeah, she “stole” Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize. And she’s not orange.

But did you know that María Corina Machado planned to privatize the country’s assets in a $1.7 trillion sale that would be “the single biggest economic opportunity for decades to come in this region”?

Here’s the original reference in Fortune (archived, because the original seems to be missing right now), and here’s an article from Jan. 3 reiterating this intention: “We’re talking about an opportunity, business opportunity, of more than $1.7 trillion. This is unique.” This value is an estimate produced by her economic advisory team: “With regard to the oil sector, the plan envisions recovering Venezuela’s role as an energy hub in Latin America, leveraging $420 billion in potential investments to increase production capacity to 4 million barrels per day by year 15.”

I’m not sure that I like María Corina Machado; I guess I don’t. Socialism doesn’t work, but her plans might be too brutal and create even more famine in the short term. But at least she would try to do something honest from her ideological standpoint. And Trump only likes gangster-like deals, which makes them incompatible.

Michele Goldberg, in the NYT, sees Trump’s imperialistic gangsterism this way:

But attempting to install Machado in Venezuela would be a genuine regime change operation, with all the American sacrifice that implies. It’s far easier for Trump to leave the current junta in place, minus its leader, with the threat of future violence if the administration’s demands on oil and immigration aren’t met.

At his news conference on Saturday, Trump threw Machado under the bus, describing her as a “nice woman,” but one who doesn’t have the “respect within the country” to lead.

Then:

John Feeley, a career diplomat and former ambassador to Panama who resigned in protest during Trump’s first term, said that to understand what’s unfolding in Venezuela, look to the mob, not traditional foreign policy doctrines. “When Donald Trump says, ‘We’re going to run the place,’ I want you to think of the Gambino family taking over the Colombo family’s business out in Queens,” he said. “They don’t actually go out and run it. They just get an envelope.”

Trump wants a few things in that envelope, chiefly access to Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world; less migration from Venezuela; and the country’s acceptance of more deportees from America. At least in the short term, he may well get them.

And here’s the clue I already talked about:

Initially, Rodríguez sounded defiant, saying in a televised statement, “Never again will we be slaves, never again will we be a colony of any empire.” But the experts I spoke to assume her words were for domestic consumption, describing her as not just an ideologue but also a canny pragmatist. By Sunday night, her public posture had grown more conciliatory. “We extend an invitation to the U.S. government to work together on a cooperative agenda, oriented toward shared development,” she wrote on social media.

Rodríguez has rivals in post-Maduro Venezuela, namely Padrino López and Cabello. But for now, said Gunson, “their own survival instinct tells them that the best thing to do is to hang together.” Obviously, no one knows what’s coming, but Gunson is more worried about increased repression than imminent implosion.

“This is going to be essentially a military government with a civilian facade,” he said. Power will lie with “the people who wield the guns and who hold the keys to the jail cells of all the political prisoners.” As Reuters reported, the government has already ordered “the national search and capture of everyone involved in the promotion or support for the armed attack by the United States.”

Nobody knows what will happen, but here’s Sen. Tom Cotton:

When the president said the United States is going to be running Venezuela, it means that the new leaders of Venezuela need to meet our demands. Our demands are now what they were before yesterday, that we want them to stop the drug trafficking, we want them to stop the weapons trafficking. We want them to expel the Cubans and the Iranians and the Islamic radicals, and we want them to return to the civilized world.

¿Está claro?

On the other hand, it is unclear who will finance the investments announced by Trump. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, whose assets were nationalized during Hugo Chávez’s presidency, have not made any public statements regarding a possible return to the Venezuelan market. In fact, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips are still seeking more than $10 billion in compensation for assets confiscated in the past. Who will compensate them?

So these investments will most likely not happen.

Here’s the funniest conspiracy theory found on social networks:

It is now becoming increasingly clear why Trump did not want María Corina Machado, winner of the Nobel Prize, at the helm of Venezuela. Because the CIA recruited Delcy Rodríguez through the sheikhs of Qatar. It was a coup d’état orchestrated by the second-in-command, a woman whom Maduro trusted most. It was a game played by the American intelligence services; there was no war, no victory. Trump does not want to re-democratize the region but only to control it by colluding with anyone who hands him Venezuela’s resources on a silver platter.

In the press, with more details. Daily Fail:

During the covert talks, mediated by a senior member of the Qatari royal family, Delcy Rodríguez presented herself to American officials as a ‘more acceptable’ alternative to the 63-year-old dictator.

¡Por el amor de Dios!

6. From a feature in the WSJ

Excerpts from Trump Was Skeptical of Ousting Maduro—Until He Wasn’t:

Six months before he sent U.S. forces to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, President Trump wanted to cut a deal with Maduro, not forcibly remove him from power.

During a July meeting in the Oval Office, Trump told advisers that he wanted to keep negotiating with Maduro’s regime to reach a deal to give priority to U.S. oil companies seeking to pump Venezuelan crude—opting for diplomacy with the autocratic leader.

Wow, “autocratic leader,” not dictator! Remember that.

In late December, the president decided in favor of military action, fed up with repeated efforts to persuade Maduro to leave office in exchange for amnesty for his alleged crimes.

Well, no. The preparations started in August! But if this is true and back in July Trump didn’t favor such a military action, that means this orange gibbon is unpredictable!

Now, guess who did what?

In Trump’s second term, Venezuela quickly became an unlikely convergence point for his priorities—mass deportations, drug trafficking, the lure of the country’s vast oil and mineral reserves, and a longstanding push by Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, and other hard-liners to depose its brutal regime.

“Venezuela is a perfect storm, it’s everything the Trump administration is concerned about,” said Elliott Abrams, who handled Venezuelan affairs in Trump’s first term.

Trump’s fixation on the country’s resources, expressed to allies after he took office for the second time, triggered behind-the-scenes jockeying among his advisers and oil lobbyists over the shape of his Venezuela policy. Trump made it clear he cared more about a bargain from Caracas that served his America First agenda, including cooperation on deportations and favorable oil deals, than pressing for a democratic transition.

Ultimately, Rubio and Trump’s other hawkish advisers came out on top after they convinced the president that Maduro was a drug-trafficking terrorist who wouldn’t leave power on his own.

Advisers, advisers, advisers!

Trump—for now—has cautiously embraced the Venezuelan leader’s second-in-command, Delcy Rodríguez, after advisers told him the ambitious 56-year-old socialist might be more open to working with U.S. companies.

And then, shithead Rubio:

Rubio warned the president that the Venezuelan leader had made five deals with different administrations over the past 10 years and had broken all of them, according to a Rubio aide.

Trump decided to offer Maduro a way out.

In May, the U.S. offered Maduro a deal to leave Venezuela for a life in exile in exchange for an amnesty that would shield him from drug charges, according to people familiar with the matter. The sanctions against him and some other regime officials would be lifted and the U.S. in turn would work with a transition government, the people said. One of the people said that there were early discussions about the government being led by Vice President Rodríguez.

The strongman rejected that offer, as well as similar ones that followed.

Amnesty? The president of a foreign country is not subject to US law!

But why are the oil companies silent now?

As U.S. officials juggled priorities on Venezuela, oil remained front and center. Energy companies were pushing hard to convince the government to ease off on sanctions, which they said were excluding Americans from lucrative oil deals and recouping billions of dollars in debts while giving China a stronger foothold in the hemisphere and stoking outward migration from an economically crippled Venezuela.

In July, Chevron regained the ability to pump oil in Venezuela, reversing a move earlier that year to rescind a Biden-era license.

Oil industry lobbyists were fighting for more companies to return to the country. They told Trump administration officials that the regime in Caracas was so desperate that they would welcome U.S. firms with tantalizing terms not seen by the industry in decades—including no-bid contracts and little environmental or regulatory oversight. But U.S. officials were wary that striking business deals while allowing Maduro to stay in power would anger elements of the president’s political base who wanted the Venezuelan leader ousted, according to people familiar with the administration’s thinking.

Thinking? Is anyone thinking in this shit of an Administration?!

Trump 1.0 had it in plan:

In his first term—when he unsuccessfully tried to topple the autocrat with oil sanctions—Trump had similarly considered a variety of options, including military ones. But he was met with pushback from the Pentagon. Defense officials never developed detailed plans to execute military strikes, according to Juan Cruz, the top White House official handling Latin American policy in Trump’s first term.

This time, the Pentagon moved quickly to operationalize Trump’s orders to execute military strikes in the region.

Well, that’s enough. I’m not buying this story. One of the following must be true:

  • Trump entertained this idea from his first Administration, but he was deterred by the Pentagon back then. Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s command has been monopolized by “good old fascists,” like they always used to be.
  • Trump is hesitant and unpredictable, and other fascists, including Rubio and advisors from the military, the CIA, the oil companies, and the techno-fascist mafia, managed to persuade him to do it.

Tertium is implausible.

7. An opinion in the same WSJ

Four Myths About the Capture of Nicolás Maduro: “And the reality: It was a superbly executed act of strategic opportunism that removed a vexing enemy.”

Myth One: This was a law-enforcement operation to bring to justice a notorious narcotics trafficker.

The officially stated reason for Operation Absolute Resolve is also the least plausible. I have great regard for Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and I have no doubt he will bring a watertight case against Mr. and Mrs. Maduro, but no one buys the claim that this was an initiative primarily in pursuit of criminal justice.

For one thing, the last Latin American head of state convicted in a U.S. court on drug-trafficking charges was just granted a pardon by Mr. Trump, so the administration’s commitment to rooting out narco-presidents seems less than solid. For another, Mr. Trump, with his characteristically blunt capacity to say things that contradict his own officials, waxed lyrical all weekend about the operation’s blessings for Venezuelan freedom, democracy, oil, and the “Donroe Doctrine.”

Which brings us to Myth Two: The removal of Mr. Maduro will result in an energy bonanza for the U.S.

The prospect of access to oil was surely a big factor in the decision to effect a regime change, but its implausibility lies in the unlikelihood of its being realized. There has been excited commentary about how Venezuela sits atop 300 billion barrels of oil, and how that means, at current crude prices, that the U.S. just took control of an asset worth $17 trillion.

This is flawed thinking geologically, mathematically and economically. The country’s heavy oil isn’t easily extracted. It will require massive capital expenditure to get back to the 3 million barrels a day the country was producing a few years ago. In the unlikely event it did open up significant additional production, the addition to world supply would depress oil prices. For many U.S. energy producers, $50-a-barrel oil is below production cost. Whatever benefits may flow from Venezuela won’t change America’s energy equation.

Myth Three: This latest exercise in U.S.-led regime change represents the ultimate discrediting of “America first” foreign policy “restrainers.” …

But Mr. Trump’s foreign policy was never as restrained as some of his supporters wanted it to be. As he showed in his first term with the successful strikes against Iran’s Qassem Soleimani and Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, he has never been shy about deploying U.S. force. The same was true for the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities last summer. The Maduro raid is entirely consistent—a quick and apparently successful strike that delivers a blow to America’s enemies without resulting in lengthy entanglements.

Myth Four: The operation is a disastrous break with U.S. historical respect for international law and sets a terrible precedent that will be exploited by Russia and China as an excuse to achieve their own objectives.

Give me a break. Two, actually.

First, the U.S. has a long history of removing unfriendly leaders on questionable legal grounds going back at least three-quarters of a century. From Iran’s Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 to Chile’s Salvador Allende in 1973, Panama’s Manuel Noriega in 1989 to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in 2003 and many more in between.

What’s more, this latest action hardly constitutes a green light for dictators everywhere.

Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) suggested the seizure of Mr. Maduro would now be emulated: “What prevents China from claiming the same authority over Taiwan’s leadership? What stops Vladimir Putin from asserting a similar justification to abduct Ukraine’s president?”

I have news for Mr. Warner: Mr. Putin has not declined to capture Volodymyr Zelensky because of his deep regard for the niceties of law. Xi Jinping, fresh off defying international law in the South China Sea and tearing up his country’s treaty with the U.K. over Hong Kong, isn’t somehow being prevented from seizing Taiwan’s leader because some lawyer in Beijing has been telling him that isn’t how America behaves.

So much for the myths. The reality is this: The Maduro grab was a superbly executed act of strategic opportunism that removed a troublesome enemy in the region most vital to U.S. interests. Ultimate judgment on it will rest on its long-term outcome. But for now it sends a message to friends and foes alike: We have the capacity and the will to eliminate ruthlessly those who would cause us harm.

I have my objections regarding China, but I’ll keep them for later.

8. AI-generated explanatory visuals

Operation Absolute Resolve, explained: Jan. 4, How US Special Forces Infiltrated Venezuela? “How did they find him? Simple. The CIA tracked his ‘Pattern of Life’—what he ate, what he wore, and exactly where he slept. They didn’t just guess; they knew. Back in the US, Delta Force built an exact replica of his safe house, rehearsing the raid until they could do it blindfolded. And the blowtorches? Those were for the panic room. Intelligence knew Maduro slept behind bank-vault-style steel doors. The team brought heavy-duty thermal cutters to burn him out. But in the end, speed was their weapon. Operators breached the room so fast, they caught him before he could even lock the door.”

Before Operation Absolute Resolve took place, only a generic invasion plan was known. Jan. 3, US Invasion Plans Against Venezuela Explained: “Intelligence suggests that Moscow and Beijing are not just visiting Venezuela; they are attempting to set up permanent military bases. The US sees this as an existential threat—a violation of the Monroe Doctrine that they cannot ignore.”

Nice propaganda, eh? My take is that this operation wouldn’t have been possible if people from Venezuela hadn’t betrayed. There was treason in some key places. The CIA has a long experience in Latin America.

9. The wrong argument about Maduro

One of the arguments invoked by all kinds of cocksuckers, including European “leaders” and “analysts,” was that Maduro was not the legitimate president of Venezuela. The 2019 and 2024 elections having been marred by allegations of fraud, Western countries do not recognize him as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

A specialist in Russia made the following categorization in political science terms: the regime in Caracas is hyper-presidential:

The “hyper-presidential republic” is the form of government, and the type of regime is “electoral authoritarianism.” I also use this concept for Russia. Other colleagues use the term “competitive authoritarian regime,” or there is also the concept of a “hybrid regime.” This means that there are elections, but they are not free and fair, yet they are important for legitimizing the regime.

The secret services are the pillar of the regime; they are used to control society and carry out extremely harsh repressive operations. The services that play the role of political police are subordinate only to the supreme leader, Chávez or Maduro. Political opposition is formally tolerated but systematically disadvantaged by administrative and legal measures. The courts issue rulings against their leaders on a conveyor belt, the press is controlled and corrupt, honest journalists are subjected to public lynching and have to flee the country to save themselves and their families.

But the exact same thing could be said about Vladimir Putin and Russia!

  • Putin didn’t have real competitors in 2004, 2018, and 2024, with a somewhat valid competitor only in 2012 (Zyuganov). But the 2024 elections have been a mere formality.
  • Political opponents are systematically invalidated by courts on made-up pretenses.
  • The few independent journalists have been beaten or killed, and the remaining ones have had to leave Russia.
  • The police, the FSB, and the judiciary suppress all opposition, and they even arrested and sentenced to years in penal colonies people for the “crime” of having said that the “special military operation” in Ukraine is actually a war.
  • There is systematic torture and rape in police stations and in the penitentiary system, but the corrupt establishment makes any correction and reparation impossible.

Why do we recognize Putin as the legitimate president of Russia instead of fucking him in the ass? That red carpet in Alaska was a monumental disgrace!

Oh, he has nukes. I see.

Moving forward, in what way is Kim Jong-un the legitimate leader of North Korea? There hasn’t been any trace of democracy or of free elections in the DPRK under any of the three dictators of the Kim dynasty!

Only Maduro had to be punished.

The world is full of authoritarian regimes, of unelected kings, emperors, and sheiks, and of dictators of all kinds!

But only Maduro had to be punished by denying him the status of head of state.

I want to add a special note on Xi. By Western standards, the regime is authoritarian, with censorship and limited transparency. Moreover, its single-system party doesn’t allow for political competition. Doctrinally, since they adopted a free market economy while still claiming their party to be communist, they also assumed the following definition: the CPC is not a political party in the traditional meaning of the term. It’s a social and national movement that selects and trains the most valuable people to rule the country. Therefore the “organic” competition within the CPC is everything that’s needed. Socialism with Chinese characteristics, if you really want to believe in fairy tales. But it is what it is.

Either way, should you claim that Xi is not the legitimate president of China, then who would the legitimate one be? The president of Taiwan? Who in continental China voted for him? They didn’t vote for Chiang Kai-shek, either! The US supported the military dictatorship in Taiwan (the martial law was lifted in 1987, and the first direct presidential election was held in 1996) only because any dictatorship was considered acceptable as long as it wasn’t a communist one! Similarly, South Korea was another right-wing dictatorship until 1987. Not being a communist doesn’t make you a democrat. Finally, all those dictators installed by the CIA in various Latin American countries, have they been legitimate presidents?

10. Some other wrong arguments

There is this article in Romanian that I couldn’t fully read for the sake of my blood pressure: Asistăm la colapsul ordinii internaționale bazată pe reguli? Sau mai degrabă la renunțarea la o „vrajă” sub care acestea au fost ignorate timp de decenii? It translates to: Are we witnessing the collapse of the rules-based international order? Or rather the abandonment of a “spell” under which these rules have been ignored for decades? And that’s a short title. The retarded Romanian journalists can concoct titles that take up half of  a screen!

The four main ideas that are then developed in 2,200 words:

  • The US is abandoning international law as a cover for a show of force, but dictators are also losing the cover of this law that they used to stay in power.
  • International law did not collapse in eight decades of being systematically ignored by the major powers; nor will it collapse now, especially for small and medium-sized countries.
  • Russia and China do not respect the norms of international law anyway, so concern about a precedent they might exploit is unjustified; they are already doing so.
  • Small and medium-sized democratic states must urgently unite against the major players and exponentially increase the costs of their disregard for the international norms that protect their existence and prosperity.

The last one is retarded. What could we do? We’re pretty much under US military occupation in Europe:

Depeding on how you count them, the US maintains at least 128 military bases located outside its national territory, spread across at least 49 countries. Broader definitions and older data mention up to 750–877 sites in 80+ countries, including smaller installations and contingency locations.

160,000–175,000 US troops are stationed outside the United States and its territories, the top host countries being Japan, Germany, and South Korea. The US Navy alone operates about 4,000 aircraft globally. The Air Force does not issue public data. The US Navy has 299 deployable combat vessels (including 11 aircraft carriers, 68 submarines, 76 destroyers) and maintains a significant forward-deployed fleet in the Pacific, Mediterranean, and Persian Gulf.

Also, as much as we fear that Russians have infiltrated our Governments, the same can be said about the CIA.

But back to the main arguments. 

“Dictators are also losing the cover of this law that they used to stay in power” is an abject mantra. It starts from this idea: “Maduro hoped that the same international law would allow him to remain dictator in Venezuela, sheltered by rules prohibiting interstate violence and regime change even when the regime systematically violates human rights and exports organized crime to the region.” As expected, the argument had to end this way: “The US justified its action under its domestic criminal law—arrest warrants for Maduro and his wife—rather than under international law. On the other hand, Maduro was no longer protected by the internationally recognized sovereignty of his state.”

I can’t even. A country’s domestic criminal law is DOMESTIC. One cannot breach it from abroad, except by breaking a computer situated in that jurisdiction. But a terrorist state like the US can invoke global jurisdiction BECAUSE IT CAN DO IT!

“International law did not collapse in eight decades of being systematically ignored by the major powers; nor will it collapse now, especially for small and medium-sized countries.” Of course it did! It was in shambles, and whatever was left of it is now gone!

At least, the article admits as much as this:

Donald Trump did not invent the stomping on international law. He just does it without hiding behind high ideals. … Through the intervention in Grenada in 1983, then the intervention in Nicaragua (1986), following which the US rejected the jurisdiction of the ICJ, the invasion of Panama in 1989, and that of Iraq in 2003, the US has always reserved the right to decide unilaterally what “kinetic” actions quickly resolve a problem of national interest, outside the UN charter and international law.

They forgot about the decades of interventionism in Latin America. Ignorants.

Other countries mentioned to have disregarded international law include the USSR, Russia, France, the UK, Israel, Turkey, Myanmar, Iran. Special guest star:

China, for its part, refuses to apply the rules of the UN Charter in what it considers to be its illegal territorial waters, builds artificial islands in flagrant violation of international law, and ignores arbitration decisions that are contrary to its interests. In addition, it is visibly preparing for an invasion of Taiwan.

Now, a bit of propaganda:

One idea often repeated by analysts is that international norms have somehow been the source of relative peace over the past 35 years.

This, as we have seen above, is factually incorrect.

The source of relative peace over the last 35 years has been the creation and expansion of the European Union, the economic, political, and social collapse of Russia, and the Chinese elite’s focus on lifting the country out of poverty by abandoning ideological struggles and accepting foreign investment.

These developments have allowed the US to be the sole global policeman, and its soft power strategy has benefited not only America but also countries that have aligned themselves behind an international order based on rules that are only broken “in moderation.”

Oh, my, without the EU we would have had at least 3 or 4 new world wars in Europe! I’m so sick of this shitty argument.

I liked the part concerning “the Chinese elite.” When will the elite in Brussels abandon the dogmas that have screwed the European economy?

As for how good it is to have the US as the sole global policeman, no comment.

Question asked in the article:

Will Russia and China use the same reasons to invade or escalate their invasion of neighboring countries, with the aim of plundering them, sorry, “better managing” their resources?

Russia already did, of course, especially since 2022.

Assertions made:

  • China is flexing its muscles toward Taiwan, but it knows that its army has zero combat experience and that any failure to conquer the island will come at a huge cost, not so much because of penalties from the international community as a whole, but because of the dramatic shift in the balance of power in Southeast Asia, which has already triggered the militarization of Japan and more belligerent positions on the part of South Korea and Australia. India, the Philippines, and Thailand will not stand aside in this equation either.
  • The equation is more complicated when it comes to America. The Trump administration has already made it clear that Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico could follow, and territorial claims on Greenland and the new American strategy could even jeopardize peace with Europe.

In the end, let’s face it: we’re screwed. In the end, let’s face it: we’re screwed. We’re fucked in all the orifices. Without real “checks and balances” and military force, the only policeman in town just decided that we’re all born to be his victims.

11. Moscow, Budapest, and other fuckers

The most hilarious thing happened to a huge MAGA fan that is also a huge fan of Putin.

Viktor Orbán, a traditional ally of the White House leader, harshly criticized the operation in Venezuela.

“In the first days of this year, we received an important reminder that the liberal world order is in a state of disintegration,” Orbán said, referring to the US military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. He also noted that Trump’s return to the White House a year ago was “a fatal blow” to the world order.

“However, the new world is still taking shape. Even more unstable, unpredictable, and dangerous years await us,” the Hungarian prime minister wrote on Facebook.

Oh, my, where’s your love for Daddy Trump?

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, another admirer of Trump and Putin, had to make a similar choice:

The US military action in Venezuela is further proof of the collapse of the world order established after World War II.

International law does not apply, military force is used without a UN Security Council mandate, and anyone who is big and powerful does whatever they want to promote their own interests.

As the prime minister of a small country, I must resolutely reject such a breakdown of international law, as I did in the case of the war in Iraq, the non-recognition of Kosovo as a sovereign state, the use of Russian military force in Ukraine, and the assessment of the situation in Gaza.

But he’s a fucktard. Robert Fico initially condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but his position has shifted significantly over time, now having reached a strong pro-Russian stance, refusing to condemn Russia’s actions and instead blaming the West for the war. He repeatedly called for “normalizing” relations with Russia, and he met with Vladimir Putin multiple times, aligning with the Kremlin’s narratives.

Anyway, it’s tough to be left with a single god: Vladimir Vladimirovich. No MAGA, no orgasms.

Upstream in Moscow, morosity reigns.

Russia has watched with great jealousy the American “special military operation,” which bears no comparison to the Russian one in Ukraine. On television, however, although the invasion is criticized, it seems that direct criticism of Trump is avoided, which indicates Putin’s desire to maintain his “privileged” relationship with Trump. Of course, no statement from Moscow mentions providing military support to Venezuela.

In fact, although Putin has sent military equipment to Venezuela and China has sent some radars, some of the Russian systems are outdated and poorly maintained, which has severely diminished the capacity of the Venezuelan army. See also the first of the two videos above.

Sometime in 2025, strange things started to happen. Russia’s military and diplomatic support to Venezuela weakend significantly, and China’s economic interest diminished close to zero. Both countries have ignored Maduro’s insistent requests for assistance.

Was Maduro sacrified by Putin for the sake of an entente with Trump?

In China’s case, I don’t buy the theory that Xi didn’t want to upset Trump in the midst of a tariff war. Xi didn’t bend to Trump’s request, and he literally was the only one who negotiated with Trump. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit was proof that Xi had a message to send, not one to receive.

Apparently, Venezuela has received about $60 billion from China between 2005 and 2022 but couldn’t pay back much. What with its economic collapse and the drastic decrease in oil production, it became irrelevant to China. Good deals make good friends, but Venezuela stopped being a reliable partner.

With China’s lack of motivation (Venezuelan oil amounts to less than 1% of China’s imports) and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Maduro was left with lip service. It didn’t help much. Like, at all. And there were traitors, too.

China happened to be honest when it expressed “shock.” They’re literally deeply shocked in Beijing. China’s interests in Latin America are huge. Or should I say, “were”?

The only compensation that they might have, but they’re not ready yet, would be to “take back” Taiwan. After the Japanese colonization (1895-1945), the new Chinese emperor, Mao, couldn’t have Taiwan back.

I don’t care that the West decided to support the military regime in Taiwan (ROC) against the communist one in PRC. It was a pragmatic choice. What I care about is the untenable position of the West.

On the one hand, after an initial assignment of a seat in the UNSC to ROC as representing “the entire China,” they eventually reconsidered. It was like saying that Puerto Rico should represent the United States. But then, what they did was this:

  • The US adopted a position of “strategic ambiguity” by agreeing to sell arms to Taiwan (through the Taiwan Relations Act) but without recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign state.
  • Furthermore, an entire planet, save for the Vatican and a few islands (until 2003, also Honduras), agreed to have trade with Taiwan, but also without recognizing its statehood.
  • Finally, with the few aforementioned exceptions, EVERYONE “acknowledges” the “One-China Principle” that asserts there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it, but applies a “One-China Policy” (especially the US) that allows for unofficial relations with Taiwan. Still, this means VIRTUALLY NOBODY challenges the PRC’s claim over Taiwan, except that they expect the “two Chinas” to “reunite peacefully.”

If Taiwan is not an independent country (“state or territory”) but part of “One China” (except for its “rebellious government”), how on Earth would a Chinese forceful “bringing into line” of Taiwan amount to a war?

Taiwan was abandoned BY AN ENTIRE PLANET decades ago! With only the Vatican and 6 or 7 island states recognizing it, IT LITERALLY DOES NOT EXIST as an independent state or territory!

It’s like the US only passed the Taiwan Relations Act not to ensure the island’s independence, but to make money by selling arms!

Oh, wait! The US now sells arms to Ukraine (to be paid by the EU) also to make money, not to win the war with Russia!

12. How about us?

We’re fucked, but we like cock. Our leaders, when they don’t have brown noses, their mouths are sticky. Among the calls for unity, they still try to persuade themselves (and us) that “America is our ally.”

America is no one’s ally, and it never was.

It has always been imperialistic, and it was never truly democratic.

They were indeed preaching about human rights in the countries behind the Iron Curtain, while the KKK was lynching Negroes, and schools, buses, hospitals, ambulances, bars, and shops were segregated.

They boasted of their “checks and balances.” Yeah, sure.

A few proofs of how much the US government, the US Army, the US Navy, the CIA, and amoral doctors and scientists cared about democracy and human rights:

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Where were those “checks and balances”?

But even today, Nicolás Maduro and his wife are held in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, famous for its violence but also for the winter 2019 heat and power outages: “In January and February 2019, over 1,600 inmates were kept with little to no heat and power for a week during the January 2019 North American cold wave. Numerous inmates reported ill health and were seen banging on windows for help.” 1,694 people sued. “According to the complaint, following the outage the jail was locked down, with inmates not permitted to leave their frigid cells for days at a time with no light. They also did not receive hot food or adequate clothing to keep warm under the conditions … during the outage, visitors, including counsel, were turned away … jail staff failed to communicate about the situation … inmates did not receive adequate medical care.” On August 18, 2023, an agreement was reached by with the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) paying $10,936,250 to settle claims.

The same Maduro-Flores couple will be tried by Judge Alvin Hellerstein, age 92. Is this a joke?

13. Long live the glorious Red Army! Sorry, Orange Army.

A Romanian fan of Trump’s brilliant plans (but otherwise a pro-EU public figure, not a pro-Putin retard!) has posted on FB a long and detailed verbal diarrhea about Greenland. It ends this way: “De facto, the US will take over Greenland, and no one in the EU can do anything about it, especially since Greenland is not in the EU. “

He then added a comment for those too lazy to read the full shit: “In short: Greenland is of immense strategic importance to the US. And it is of zero importance to the EU/Europe; no one would invest money there or fight for Greenland. So it’s clear, there’s nothing else to discuss.”

And people still create French surrendering memes just because during World War 2, France surrendered to Germany in just 46 days of war? Today’s Europe surrenders even before the war! “Donald, take me; I am hot!”