The Venezuela Thread

don’t most latin american countries use USDs de facto since they have insane inflation?
In some countries, yes. But generally speaking, we have our own currencies (pesos, soles, reales, colones, etc) and maybe sometimes use dollars for mortgages because it's advantageous in some ways. Of course though, our currencies basically depend on the dollar completely, and our economies rise or fall when the price of the dollar does.

There are countries that get a lot of American tourists so some businesses do accept dollars, but they convert them into the local currency.
 
don’t most latin american countries use USDs de facto since they have insane inflation?
Brazil has changed its currency 5 times in the last 40 years. If you read an older book you will see things like kids shining shoes for 40 thousand "réis".
Latin America (which Brazil is not part of) itself mostly doesn't even bother. It takes a few days after a rigged election for most of the countries to erupt into Cuba-tier chaos anyway.
 
Population comparison:
Guyana: 790,000
Venezuela: 30,500,000

One big factor in this budding conflict is Brazil, the regional giant.
Maybe if Bolsonaro was still in power things would have been different, but Lula - a socialist - won't intervene.
 
Maybe if Bolsonaro was still in power things would have been different, but Lula - a socialist - won't intervene.
It's not about ideology but about ties with the US. People like Boric and Boluarte claim to be socialists too, but follow the US in foreign policy (both close to the Democratic Party, the former particularly close with Sanders)

The only actor making any calls in this part of the world - outside of heavily sanctioned pariah states like Venezuela, is America. Likewise Brazil will either follow the US or stay out of it - but not go against the USA. If the USA makes it clear to Maduro that he needs to pull his turd back in he will. If the US doesn't establish that deterrence, he might actually go ahead with it.
 
If it came to blows, the US would likely operate from Puerto Rico, which is little over 500mi from Caracas, as opposed to from aircraft carriers in the Caribbean that could be sunk by hypersonic missiles. I don't think China wants any war in the region, but Russia might well repay the favor for being constantly attacked with long range missiles from Ukraine by throwing a few rockets down Maduro's way...
 
If it came to blows, the US would likely operate from Puerto Rico, which is little over 500mi from Caracas, as opposed to from aircraft carriers in the Caribbean that could be sunk by hypersonic missiles. I don't think China wants any war in the region, but Russia might well repay the favor for being constantly attacked with long range missiles from Ukraine by throwing a few rockets down Maduro's way...

Russians not going to do anything like that. What do they benefit from overt direct engagement with US forces?
Personally, I don't want this to go through as I want US oil contracts to be fulfilled compared to socialist land grabbing for economic means.

But I'm biased since I work in the industry and may have a financial incentive in Guyanna Ops.
 
The Russians would not intervene directly, but they could provide Venezuela with long range weaponry, and more S-300s (they have a couple of batteries already, not enough to be a threat as they would be taken out on day 1 of a conflict with the US). Also perhaps Iran might be a potential supplier of rockets to VZ.
 
The Russians would not intervene directly, but they could provide Venezuela with long range weaponry, and more S-300s (they have a couple of batteries already, not enough to be a threat as they would be taken out on day 1 of a conflict with the US). Also perhaps Iran might be a potential supplier of rockets to VZ.
The logistics of Iran doing this would not be hard for the Navy to intercept and destroy. Whose going to safeguard these deliveries?

We absolutely have Intel on these sorts of things.

S. America was not my AO from my time in the military... But I doubt very seriously that Iran is capable of directing both the Houthi, Hezbollah, and Venezuela concurrently.
 
Venezuela already has a lot of Russian military hardware, including a squadron of Su-30 fighter jets. It doesn't look like the US Navy has seized any military shipments to VZ yet. Of course in times of war that will change, but we're not there yet.
 
Typical socialist dictator tactic to distract the starving masses with a new enemy to blame.
I also thought that Yemen were extremely poor but they apparently have enough resources and expertise to harass and strike at other ships despite being surrounded by hostile Sunni Arabs and American ships. Maybe the Hyperinflation front is not the full story.

The people may be starving but the troops are well fed, and get paid in dollars.
 
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