Here's a thought and not too far fetched

[Aviation Pro]

The reason for all the extrajudicial murdering of Venezuelans has nothing to do with curbing narcotics here in the U.S. otherwise why wouldn’t the fucking child rapist simultaneously slaughter the user community? No, the IMO real underlying reason is so he can muscle in on the trade and get his cut just like every fucking lowlife mobster.

After all, why go after the oil, which would require a massive infusion of infrastructure when you have a production and distribution system just ready for plucking.

Sigh, I miss the times when we didn’t negotiate with terrorists.

[RandomNumbers]

1. I miss the time when we didn't elect terrorists as President. nt

[mercuryblues]

2. Oil. Oil. Oil.

[rurallib]

8. yeppers - something like 3X the Arabian reserves.

It is always money and oil.

[Ars Longa]

12. Yes!... In that order!

[dflprincess]

23. Exactly

I had MSNBC on this morning and nearly lost my mind during the discussion on Venezuela & no one mentioned the oil.

[hatrack]

38. Too bad they're too stupid to realize that the majority of Venezuela's oil is Orinoco extra heavy crude

So, to "Git They're Awwll!!", you'd have to duplicate the Athabascan tar sands industry, probably multiple times.

You'd have to do it in some of the most rugged, remote terrain on the planet (unlike northern Alberta, which is remote but relatively flat and accessible).

And you'd have to ignore economic reality - there'd be no business case at all for developing this anyway when the Gulf producers retain their ability to boost output for pennies on the barrel.

The Orinoco Belt is a territory in the southern strip of the eastern Orinoco River Basin in Venezuela which overlies the world's largest deposits of petroleum. Its local Spanish name is Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco (Orinoco Petroleum Belt). The Orinoco Belt is located in Guárico and south of the Anzoátegui, Monagas, and Delta Amacuro states, and it follows the line of the river. It is approximately 600 kilometres (370 mi) from east to west, and 70 kilometres (43 mi) from north to south, with an area about 55,314 square kilometres (21,357 sq mi).

The Orinoco Belt consists of large deposits of extra heavy crude. Venezuela's heavy oil deposits of about 1,200 billion barrels (1.9×1011 m3), found primarily in the Orinoco Petroleum Belt, are estimated to approximately equal the world's reserves of lighter oil.[1] Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. has estimated that the producible reserves of the Orinoco Belt are up to 235 billion barrels (3.74×1010 m3) which would make it the largest petroleum reserve in the world, slightly ahead of the similar unconventional oil source in the Athabasca oil sands, and above Saudi Arabia.[2] In 2009, the US Geological Survey increased the estimated reserves to 513 billion barrels (8.16×1010 m3) of oil which is "technically recoverable (producible using currently available technology and industry practices)." No estimate of how much of the oil is economically recoverable was made.[3]

The Orinoco Belt is currently divided into four exploration and production areas. These are: Boyacá (formerly Machete), Junín (formerly Zuata), Ayacucho (formerly Hamaca), and Carabobo (formerly Cerro Negro). The current exploration area is about 11,593 square kilometres (4,476 sq mi).

EDIT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orinoco_Belt

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. It's oil

Russia and the Saudi’s want Venezuelan oil flow reduced or at least made more expensive so they can charge more for theirs.

Trump is happy to help (for a little fee, of course)

[Ocelot II]

4. Venezuela isn't a major producer of illegal drugs; it produces no fentanyl at all and very little cocaine.

Its involvement in drug trafficking comes from its role as a transport hub for cocaine from Colombia. So why isn't Goldsphincter invading the source, Colombia? It is the oil he's after; Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, and it has the largest refinery in the Western hemisphere. Even though the oil is of lower quality than that from the Middle East, it's valuable and refinable.

[Aviation Pro]

5. Why hasn't the used asswipe gone after the users?

Because there’s billions of dollars to grift there.

[GopherGal]

7. GoldSphincter

Recc-ing for "Goldsphincter"
Definitely stealing that one.

[ultralite001]

29. Cue Shirley Bassey... "Goldsphincter"

He's the man...
The man w/ the Midas Tush...
A Spider's Tush...

Such a cold sphincter...
Beckons you to enter his web of sin...
But don't go in...
🤣🤣🤣

[ananda]

22. And it turns out Koch has the precise refinery in Texas.

What a surprise.

[republianmushroom]

6. Just like Bush and Iraq, oil .

[bucolic_frolic]

9. There is the ongoing court-ordered liquidation of CITGO, Cities Services

which was once owned by the federal oil company of Venezuela. It was a complicated litigation with moving parts.

[lonely bird]

33. Yeah, just looked

It is tied to issues of the holding company. Citgo is sound. The holding company is due to Maduro.

The auction process according to the mighty Google has been “contentious”.

Had to correct my error. The holding company issue is due to Maduro.

[bucolic_frolic]

35. "the mighty Google" is a great term that could stick

it sort of describes it, and sort of describes what we don't like about it

[Mister Ed]

10. That's been my suspicion from the start. n/t

[Irish_Dem]

11. Trump wants a cut of the drug trade.

Putin has a drug and sex trade operation, and along with stealing all of Russia's
oil for himself, he is the richest man in the world.

This is what Trump wants.
To be the world's first trillionaire.
(According to Michael Cohen, Trump's long time attorney.)

[Ocelot II]

14. There is no drug trade in Venezuela. It's a conduit for cocaine shipments from Colombia.

The interdiction of small boats on their way to Mexico is a ruse. He wants control of the oil, of which Venezuela has the largest reserves in the world. This is Iraq 2.0.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Trump's accusations are usually confessions.

Something is going on about drugs.
I don't know what it is.

Putin is running a drug/sex ring.
I can well imagine Trump wants the same income flow.

[global1]

16. What If The Tr**p Crime Syndicate Is Already Into The Drug Trade The States &.....

they're just destroying the competition by blowing up the Venezuelan boats and their distribution line into the states? I hear there's big money in the illegal drug trade in the states. And you know how DJT likes big money!!!

[Ocelot II]

18. The drugs carried by those little boats are a tiny fraction of the amount sent to the US

by other means. Blowing up a few small boats won't have any appreciable effect on drugs entering the US; Goldsphincter's motives have to do with intimidating and overthrowing Maduro (who is unquestionably a bad guy) in order to take over the vast oil reserves. Maduro is Saddam Hussein 2.0, a nasty dictator whose overthrow can be justified with some other ruse.

[Irish_Dem]

26. Trump is sending a message by blowing up the boats.

Whether they do any actual damage is not the point.

We are speculating what messages and to whom.

Well yes of course he wants Venezuela's oil.
This is a given and no brainer.

We think there are some other pieces to it as well.

[mercuryblues]

36. He's devolving

The message only makes sense to him.

[Irish_Dem]

37. He is getting crazier and crazier.

[Irish_Dem]

20. Yes I wondered about the same thing. Literally blowing his competition out of the water.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. You seem to be assuming he's thought it all through. I wouldn't bet a sack of garbage on it.

He sees oil wealth and thinks he can just take it. "Infrastructure"? What's that? That's something the little people mess with. He just buys and sells and swindles and takes.

Turnip has never contributed anything more to a project than his highly prized KKK signature and a bucket of lies.

[BadgerMom]

17. Easier still: he's following orders.

Whose orders, you ask? I can’t be sure but Putin and the Saudi princes jump to mind. Once we had intelligence services that might have known. Now? Not so much.

[Irish_Dem]

21. Trump has thought about how to be the richest man the world.

It has been a long time goal according to Michael Cohen, his previous attorney.

Trump is obsessed with wealth.
Of course he is thinking about it.
And so are his minders, family, and friends.

[eppur_se_muova]

24. Maybe "obsessed with" and "thinking about" are different things.

Turnip doesn't do *any* deep thinking, and shows disdain for people who do.

[Irish_Dem]

25. Trump has street smarts, and an instinctual animal cunning.

He thinks about revenge, destroying people, getting attention and fame.
And stealing money from others.

He is obsessed with these topics and thinks about little else.

And he has done a very good job achieving his goals.

[Cheezoholic]

15. Don't forget, the 2nd largest refinery in the world is sitting there n/t

[AverageOldGuy]

27. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You have proven that you are smarter and more inciteful and more in tune with reality than every single talking head, pontificator, host, and media outlet in the entire USofA.

[Ol Janx Spirit]

28. Is it too soon to consider that the most egomaniacal and dumbest person to ever rise to the...

...position of POTUS sees having the only military superpower and not using it to take over the world and become the richest and most feared person in modern history--possibly all of history--as a waste of a great military?

Securing the largest reserve of oil in the world would be a major piece in the puzzle.

And before we say he is too stupid to have this thought we must admit that this is actually a very stupid thought to have, so....

[usonian]

30. Don't overthink it. It's EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN

What better diversion than a war?

He's Mussolini Junior invading Ethiopia.

He's going down, because "revelation" will crush his empire.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220735608


^^^^^ Great Thread, and not even mine! ^^^^^



He's the inheritor of the Trump/Epstein blackmail operation, since that unfortunate Epstein incident.


Look at all his insane, brutal, desstructive acts, and what is the icing on the cake?

Destruction of the White House and shutdown of the government.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20751348

It's about the uncovering, and hence, the destruction of the Trump/Epstein blackmail empire. Money and power gone. POOF!



When the scheme is exposed, 
Away go:

• his uuge blackmail revenue stream,

• blackmail power.

• Everything.



Blackmail depends on secrecy. 
He's racing to seize dictatorial power before his business falls apart. 



Andrew is the first domino to fall. 
And BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST.



Bye, Bye Dumpie, and all his victims, and all his enablers, and who knows what percentage of the Supreme Court (some are obvious candidates)

[Traildogbob]

31. Promises made

He campaigned on fighting for the people. In his world only billionaires are considered people, the rest of us are takers. Yea, THEY TAKE all our taxes for themselves.
I read here last week we are near 2 fucking Trillion added to our debt since January. The fastest debt increase in history, but they cut millions of jobs to stop waste and fraud. Who took that trillion plus in debt? If I need to answer that, well, yes we are really fucked.
Imagine the debt increase in 3 more years, maybe the rest of his life and his Spawn that will become inherited Kings. No worries, Ivanka and Melania will never be Queens, Christian Nationalist and Nazis will never put a woman on top. Before Jr, Eric and Barron are done with their reign, we will be a scorched earth hell scape anyway.
Happy Halloween, we ALL should be terrified this time.

[tinrobot]

32. He's trying to provoke a war response from Venezuela

They want to start another Iraq so they can grab the oil.

[lonely bird]

34. He is a kleptocrat

Nothing more, nothing less.