Washington and the Breakdown of the Colombia-Venezuela-FARC Peace Process

[Socialistlemur]

1. The ongoing takeover of Venezuela by Cuba and their ties with Iran etc got Obama moving

I watch the region closely and it seems to me the ongoing takeover of Venezuela by Cuba, and the Venezuelan ties to Iran, China, Russia and the dictators' club in general made President Obama turn and pay attention to what was going on. This of course provoked a reaction.

One has to be incredibly naive to expect zero response when Venezuela's autocratic regime has a leadership which spouts provocation and insults all the time, pals around with the Iranians, sends help to Assad, and backs the FaRC in Colombia. To behave as Venezuela, and by extension the hidden hand in Cuba are doing, and expect no retribution is Silly.

The Venezuelan government, probably as recommended by Raul Castro, has finally realized a rock was about to fall on its head, and asked for a meeting between Kerry and Jaua. I think the Obama administration is very measured, and the president is incredibly smart. This means they'll let Kerry talk and talk...and keep on piling up the rocks. If the Cubans and Venezuelans continue to seek confrontation there's going to be very harsh reactions. Can't poke a stick at a lion and expect not to get zapped. And I bet the lion is lining up Brazil and other backers, I expect Dilma Rouseff to visit Washington, make cooing noises and buy USA weapons. In exchange the USA will back off and let Brazil defacto control the region in the long term. The USA thinks Brazil is fine. But a Cubazuela allied with Iran and Russia isn't acceptable.