Comment by orochimaaru
3 days ago
I think a coup was forming regardless. Fort Tiuna where Maduro was is not near the coast. So basically no one heard/saw/detected the US forces coming that far inland. Also, most importantly, no one stopped them from leaving with their president.
The whole "we got him" is a bit fishy. I think the Venezuelan military (and the current vice president) wanted Maduro out. A coup would have been messy. So the US comes in and does them a favor.
One can look at the shadow of drug boat strikes and reasonably conjecture that there are some undisclosed collaborative relationships.
Part of the function of the fleet sitting off the coast for the past month would have been first intimidating then cultivating relationships with collaborators. Collaborators are far easier to find if there's a credible chance that things are about to change.