MADURO OUT!

The dictator Maduro has been put on notice.  The USA just shut off their money supply, and also effectively shut down their oil industry, their only real source of capital.  Canada, USA, Central American countries, All countries in South America except Uruguay and Bolivia, The EU, Australia, and others are backing the head of the Venezuelan Legislature, Juan Guaido as the rightful President of Venezuela. 

The people of Venezuela are starving, and the inflation rate is now over 8000% and rising.  The promise of Socialism turned one of the richest countries in the world into a living nightmare, incapable of even feeding its people.  The corruption is rampant, and those that actively support Maduro are the only ones enjoying the largess of their once great oil industry.  This jewel of South America is now just a shell of what it once was, and the people are in the streets screaming for change. 

Maduro refuses to step down or hold new elections to certify his standing as President.  He has the military at his side, along with 25,000 Cuban military and Russian mercenaries to ensure that he is not deposed.  He also has the blessings of Turkey, China, Russia, Syria and Iran, who in lockstep promote him as the legitimate leader of his country, and at the same time Russia threatens the USA about the use of military force in what they call an illegal and immoral coup.  Uruguay, Bolivia and Mexico pay lip service to the legitimacy of the Maduro regime. 

Russia and China have a lot to lose if Maduro is ousted.  Both countries have lent the regime billions of dollars, money that likely will not be paid back by a democratically elected government.  Both countries also have a strategic investment in the regime.  China is looking at Venezuela as a prime supplier of oil to power its economy, and both Russia and China are moving towards using Venezuela as a prime source for instability in the region.  They want to minimize our sway over the Western Hemisphere, and keeping Maduro in power is a big part of that plan.  Russia also needs their own oil revenue to fund their government, and a free Venezuela with foreign investment in their oil fields, which have the largest amount of proven oil reserves in the world, would decimate the Russian economy with lower oil prices. 

Our President is supporting regime change.  He has stated that all possible actions are on the table, including the military option.  The new Cold War between Western Democracies and the China/Russia alliance just got warmer!