this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2024
459 points (95.1% liked)

World News

38977 readers
2184 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 18 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I mean its an open secret that the US likes to meddle in Venezuelan politics with varying degrees of military force. So it makes sense to me that Russia would also want to be there just because of that.

[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah. Venezuela has a TON of oil which makes it of interest to anyone in the world who likes to go around fuckin with people and taking their stuff.

[–] Gsus4@mander.xyz 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Venezuela's oil reserves are the last that should ever be pumped out of the ground in the world. It is thick sludge like bitumen, full of heavy metals and hard to extract and process because it has lots of Sulphur, so it's corrosive. It is almost as bad as burning coal and produces less high-value light hydrocarbons like gasoline and more bunker fuel that can only be used in tankers and industry...which are heavy polluters.

I'm almost tempted to say that it would be better for those reserves to be under the control of a backwards dictator who won't be able to develop them or privatize them, but China has its eyes on exploiting those reserves too, not just the US, so even that unethical argument is moot.

[–] Omniraptor@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Isn't the whole point that oil is easy for anyone to exploit, including backwards dictators? Unlike say, semiconductor manufacture which requires complex processes and therefore a functioning society

[–] Gsus4@mander.xyz 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Not always, Venezuelan oil requires high investment and gives low return (compared with other reserves), so it requires a competent government who can keep a level of education/safety and/or can let expertise flow in and set up infrastructure with an expectation that they will get a long term return. At this rate neither are going to happen and Venezuela is fucked unless China goes all in (I don't think China is going to go all in).

This former minister explains that the reasons the military are backing Maduro are mainly financial, not political https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UtcbV9HuHq8 Venezuela is essentially bankrupt and they can't default on debt to China without getting into bigger problems or becoming fully dependent on the IMF/US.