# Trumpy enigma:Venezuela's Maduro told not to flee the country by Russia and Bolton

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpy-enigma-venezuelas-maduro-told-not-to-flee-the-country-by-russia-and-bolton/833301>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 1, 2019, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpy-enigma-venezuelas-maduro-told-not-to-flee-the-country-by-russia-and-bolton/833301 "2019-05-01T03:24:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpy-enigma-venezuelas-maduro-told-not-to-flee-the-country-by-russia-and-bolton/833301/21 "2019-05-01T19:34:54Z")

</div>

> [@KarlGauss](#):
>
> It’s not so much about a short term bump in oil prices as it is about longer term access to the oil in Venezuela.

For the foreseeable future, that probably won’t matter much. The US is now practically a net producer of oil, and certainly relies less on imports much less than it did, say, 10-20 years ago. Moreover, even under Chavez, it was impossible for Venezuela not to sell it to the United States, considering the US and China are the two largest oil consumers.

I see the Russian game in Venezuela being somewhat similar to their game in Syria. Anything that Putin can do to disrupt America’s alliance can weaken us, which is what he wants regardless of whether he puts Russian boots on the ground there or not. Putin wins by disrupting the American economic hegemony and weakening it over time to the point where we have less and less influence on what happens at their doorstep.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpy-enigma-venezuelas-maduro-told-not-to-flee-the-country-by-russia-and-bolton/833301/22 "2019-05-04T17:42:20Z")

</div>

So, yeah, Bolton, Abrahams and others look like the boobs they are. However, they do have access to information and are the “best people for the job”, but never mind that, Trump will toss them under the bus.

**Donald Trump contradicts top aides by suggesting Putin not meddling in Venezuela**

> **[Donald Trump contradicts top aides by suggesting Putin not meddling in Venezuela](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/03/donald-trump-putin-not-meddling-venezuela-contradicts-pompeo-bolton/1090693001/)**
>
> Donald Trump said Putin is not looking to get involved in Venezuela, days after Mike Pompeo accused Russia of propping up Maduro's government.

> [@](#):
>
> WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump contradicted his own top advisers Friday by suggesting Russian President Vladimir Putin was not meddling in Venezuela.
> 
> “He is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela, other than he’d like to see something positive happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday. “I feel the same way.”
> 
> His remarks came just days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Russia of propping up the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is in the midst of a political showdown with opposition leader Juan Guaido. The Trump administration has pushed hard to oust Maduro in favor of Guaido, calling Guaido the legitimate leader of Venezuela.
> 
> Russia is a key Maduro ally, and the Kremlin has been sharply critical of the Trump administration’s support for Guaido.

With [del]friends[/del] leaders like that, who needs enemies like Maduro?

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumpy-enigma-venezuelas-maduro-told-not-to-flee-the-country-by-russia-and-bolton/833301.md?page=1)