Extremely interesting article, thank you for sharing!

Should read "regime change".

Once again Trump dropped the ball on regime reneging at the last moment on promises made to oust the socialist dictatorship. He failed to support Guaido at a crucial moment and has effectively sidelined Machado. For as long as the Chavista regime remains in power the people of Venezuela will suffer.

I am still mortified that Washington removed Maduro but left the regime in power. The authoritarian regime is now in a state of extreme paranoia which is driving a crackdown on any opposition real or imagined which will only see more civilians imprisoned without due process, tortured and murdered.

Ironically, Delcy has had a hand in extrajudicial detention, imprisonment and torture.

Now you're threatening the life of Colombia's democratically elected and constitutionally appointed president! Ironically, you can't vote in the presidential election. You must be reported to the Fiscalia to be investigated for sedition and using a carriage service to menace and threaten.

The Cartel de los Soles contrary to the author's assertion does exist, but it is not a vertically integrated expansive criminal syndicate like the Medellin or Cali Cartels. Rather it is a loose alliance of Venezuelan government officials, politicians and businessmen who traffic cocaine.

What I don't understand is why gringos who can't vote in Colombia's presidential election are so invested in Colombian politics and making seditious statements on social media.

That is the same as threatening Colombia, because Petro is the legitimate democratically elected president chosen by the people and appointed in accordance with the constitution.

As long as the authoritarian socialist regime remains in power repression will only worsen! The opposition is the chief target, with government of Delcy Rodriguez along with Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino seeking to destroy any legitimate opposition groups prior to further U.S. intervention.

Wow looks totally delish!

Crucial to maintaining heavy oil operations is the supply of Iranian condensate. Extra-heavy crude produced in the Orinoco Belt won't flow until mixed with condensate. The U.S. blockade is preventing Iranian condensate from reaching Venezuela forcing PDVSA to shutter operations in the Orinoco Belt.

PDVSA can't redirect crude oil into storage tanks because there is no capacity, hence the use of tankers to store crude and current efforts to shutter non-crucial operations. This is magnified by a lack of domestic refining capacity.

Gringo sex and cocaine tourism is rampant. Colombian authorities do little to combat it with members of the traditional elite promoting it. Tourism is naturally exploitive, it does nothing to promote genuine economic development nor the urgently needed transferal of capital, skills and technology.

There is no need for "harsh enforcement" and I never said that! Simply enforce the law! There is a need for people from first world countries who were born with considerable advantages and entitlements to stop exploiting desperate vulnerable impoverished people in a war-scarred developing country!

There is no such thing as good headlines or good sex tourism! It isn't only Medellin, Bucaramanga, Cali and Barranquilla are being corroded and destroyed by drunken gringo cocaine sniffing sex tourists and pedophiles. Colombia is the new Thailand or Philippines.

Trump has thrown Venezuela's opposition under the bus once again! This isn't about the restoration of democracy and rebuilding liberal democratic capitalist Venezuela, it is about settling scores and spreading some kind of bizarre early Cold War neo-colonial U.S. imperialist ideology!

According to gringos, HSI and even the Colombian authorities, notably Fico, it is acceptable in Medellin and other parts of Colombia as long as they getting a payday!