The Economist writes: ’On January 3rd, hours after explosions were heard in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, Donald Trump made a bombshell announcement. The United States had captured Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s dictator, and flown him and his wife out of the country. A military operation that began in the middle of the night and concluded by sunrise had resulted in an extraordinary act of regime change.
For five months the United States had patiently assembled an armada in the Caribbean, the largest naval force gathered in the region since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Mr Trump has accused Mr Maduro of leading a drug cartel, and accused Venezuela of stealing American oil and territory.’

And: ‘What is unclear is whether someone in Mr Maduro’s inside circle sold him out to America.’

Venezuela may have been a failed state, but failed states can fail more. Not better, just more.

(a sf 2019)