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Comment by monerozcash

5 days ago

Your question rests on the assumption that Maduro is the legitimate leader of Venezuela, that's a huge assumption.

30 comments

monerozcash

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sph  4 days ago

You rest on the assumption that a foreign nation can decide who is the legitimate leader or not.

Ah, but when it's the US it's fine. They're the champions of democracy, aren't they?

  • Fade_Dance  4 days ago

    In general, that term is mostly used outside of the borders of a country looking in. After all, "illegitimate leaders" tend to be authoritarians who take power and quell dissent within the borders.

    Not at all arguing that it somehow leads to justification for an illegal invasion.

    In this specific case the claim comes down to assertions of a sham election. If this was indeed the case (with the lens of an international survey obviously the US view is suspect considering the attack), then the Venezuelan people themselves do not view him as a legitimate leader, which simplifies the situation.

    • stoneforger  4 days ago

      You really believe this, right? That you can decide for someone else, specifically a whole nation, what their view is and what they want to do with their nation. That you are doing the world a favour. Guess it's worked in the past, a new sucker is born every minute.

  • monerozcash  4 days ago

    Ah, but then who can?

    I think my assumption that the legitimacy of a government rests in the eye of the beholder is pretty reasonable.

    • sph  4 days ago

      Your original comment is justifying the bombing of a foreign country and kidnapping of its leader, not whether a leader can be seen as illegitimate. That is not reasonable at all.

      Step out of your American exceptionalist bubble for a second. How would you like if the inverse were true? There's some shady elections in US so Venezuela decides to throw bombs on Washington. How would you enjoy that?

      1 reply →

padjo  5 days ago

No it doesn’t. If he was a fruit vendor in Caracas it would still be outrageous to spirit him out of the country by force.

  • monerozcash  5 days ago

    What if he was the leader of a brutal coup and the legitimately elected government requested foreign help to have him removed?

    It's really really difficult to paint this as inherently bad, it's hard to see how the conclusion here doesn't entirely depend on how you feel about the results of the previous Venezuelan elections.

    • padjo  5 days ago

      It shouldn’t be difficult to see this as bad, but I guess the future will tell. I hope for the sake of the Venezuelan population things go better than the last time the US decided to initiate regime change.

      18 replies →