With Chavez he always remained in the country. I think in this case, if it’s true he’s been successfully captured and flown out by the US, it might be over for Maduro. The rest of the government remains.
What happens now is the real question. These people think Machado will peacefully ascend to power and open the floodgates to looting, but the military is Maduro loyal and the people are organized into armed militias.
If the shoe was on the other foot we would issue an ultimatum of 24 hours for the presidents safe return.
I just don’t see how this ends well. Maybe the military sees the writing on the wall and rolls over?
Was treason necessary for his position to be known to the US ahead of time?
Given that the US had intel on Maduro’s location, the necessary steps to capture and extract him were to deny the local air defences, neutralize his personal guard (did he even have one at the time of capture?), and extract. I don’t know how the extraction happened, but it’s not the first time US spec ops carry out an extraction from deep in enemy territory. No reason to think this was impossible without inside collaboration.
And he has not really primed a successor. In all this time he needed to make a contingency, and now it is all up in smoke. The US gets to feel tough, and the whole world sees that resistance is nonexistent/futile.
With Chavez he always remained in the country. I think in this case, if it’s true he’s been successfully captured and flown out by the US, it might be over for Maduro. The rest of the government remains.
What happens now is the real question. These people think Machado will peacefully ascend to power and open the floodgates to looting, but the military is Maduro loyal and the people are organized into armed militias.
If the shoe was on the other foot we would issue an ultimatum of 24 hours for the presidents safe return.
I just don’t see how this ends well. Maybe the military sees the writing on the wall and rolls over?
deleted by creator
I think they just got steamrolled
Was treason necessary for his position to be known to the US ahead of time?
Given that the US had intel on Maduro’s location, the necessary steps to capture and extract him were to deny the local air defences, neutralize his personal guard (did he even have one at the time of capture?), and extract. I don’t know how the extraction happened, but it’s not the first time US spec ops carry out an extraction from deep in enemy territory. No reason to think this was impossible without inside collaboration.
Fair point I’ll delete my comment since it’s pure speculation based on frustration
And he has not really primed a successor. In all this time he needed to make a contingency, and now it is all up in smoke. The US gets to feel tough, and the whole world sees that resistance is nonexistent/futile.
The vice president appears to have taken control and the rest of the government is intact.