Brookings: No más

Enough already, Barack. Hombre up, says the Institution;

MEMORANDUMTO: President Obama
FROM: Harold Trinkunas
DATE: January 23, 2014
SUBJECT: Venezuela Breaks Down in Violence

Been reading  HSIB, have we?

 President Maduro, who came to power in a highly-contested election last April, has reacted to the economic crisis with interventionist and increasingly authoritarian measures. His recent orders to slash prices of goods sold in private businesses resulted in episodes of looting, which suggests a latent potential for violence. He has put the armed forces on the street to enforce his economic decrees, exposing them to popular discontent.

Be like W, go to war for oil;

Although the volume of crude oil that Venezuela supplies to the United States has declined in recent years, it is in the U.S. interest that Venezuela remain a reliable source of oil. Popular unrest in a country with multiple armed actors, including the military, the militia, organized crime and pro-government gangs, is a recipe for unwelcome chaos and risks an interruption of oil production. A violence-induced regime change in Venezuela would create a volatile situation regionally.

You can always apologize later.