cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/6977610
cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/12317
A top Brazilian official is warning President Donald Trump that a US military attack on Venezuela could easily spiral out of control into a “Vietnam-style” regional conflict.
Celso Amorim, chief foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said in an interview published on Monday by the Guardian that a US military strike on Venezuela would inevitably draw nations throughout Latin America into an armed conflict that would be difficult to contain.
“The last thing we want is for South America to become a war zone—and a war zone that would inevitably not just be a war between the US and Venezuela,” he said. “It would end up having global involvement and this would be really unfortunate.”
Amorim added that “if there was an invasion, a real invasion [of Venezuela]… I think undoubtedly you would see something similar to Vietnam—on what scale it’s impossible to say.”
While acknowledging that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is disliked by many other South American leaders, Amorim predicted that even some of Maduro’s adversaries would rally to his side in the face of destabilizing military actions by the US government.
He also predicted that anti-US sentiment would surge throughout the continent in the event of an invasion, as there is still major resentment toward the US for backing right-wing military coups during the Cold War in Chile, Brazil, and other nations.
“I know South America,” he emphasized. “Our whole continent exists because of resistance against foreign invaders.”
The Trump administration in recent weeks has signaled that it plans to launch attacks against purported drug traffickers inside Venezuela, even though reports from the US government and the United Nations have not identified Venezuela as a significant source of drugs that enter the United States.
The administration has also accused Maduro of leading an international drug trafficking organization called the Cartel de los Soles, despite many experts saying that they have seen no evidence that such an organization formally exists.
Trump late last month further escalated tensions with Venezuela when he declared that airspace over the nation was “closed in its entirety,” even though he lacks any legal authority to enforce such a decree.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that Maduro is remaining defiant in the face of US pressure, as he is refusing to go into exile despite the threat of an attack on his country.
According to the Post’s sources, Maduro’s inner circle of allies “shows no signs of imminent collapse,” even as he has limited his public appearances and beefed up his personal security amid fears that he could be the target of an assassination attempt.
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
I fucking hate this timeline
it’s the one we’ve created for ourselves thanks to self re-enforced propaganda.
remember this the next time someone tells you that you MUST vote democrat or republican.
Don’t confuse “top official” with military official. He’s a civilian politician who was once minister of defense. He’s from the right-wing of the governing Worker’s Party and is currently an advisor for Lula.
The same Lula who did not recognise Maduro’s election in 2024, blocked Venezuela’s entry into BRICS, won’t even name Venezula in official speeches, and is now cozying up to the USA in exchange for the end of the tariffs.
Brazil won’t intervene. It might even help the US.
I don’t think he is implying that Brazil will hop to the defense of Venezuela necessarily, I think he is more concerned that (parts of) Brazil will become a Laos or a Cambodia in the conflict and it will spiral out of control. In Laos almost 200k people were killed which was 10% of their population and another 750k were displaced. Unexploded shells harm up to 50k people every year into the 2020s from that conflict.
I don’t see how that affects his analysis, though. An American attempt to oust the Venezuelan government would likely lead to a wide scale guerilla war and South America would likely become more anti-American in the process.
That someone so high up in the administration is saying it likely means there are reasonable fears of this becoming a major issue.
on the other hand venezuela is actually prepared to fight back, unlike most the us attacks. i can only hope venezuelans kick usian ass like the vietnamese did before.
i’ve heard of MST saying they would help but yeah, i don’t expect anything from lula except more neoliberal bullshit. really wish brazil had a better way out tbh, but i don’t see it.
i also wouldn’t expect much of any support from the rest of latin america; there’s too much inertia from pro-capitalist/pro-american forces throughout the region to let it happen.
