Do we have a tiger by the tail?

 

"Today, on Capitol Hill, will be some Q+A sessions with returning Congressmen and Senators. Everybody is anxious to know what the plan is. Stay tuned on this one - it should be the most interesting week (and month). In the meanwhile, hold tight to that tiger's tail." 

You have to hand it to those Commies. They take over a well-run, oil rich nation, and turn it into crap. Chavez and Maduro back-to-back really did a number on this once beautiful and wealthy nation. Now, to have peace once again in the shire, to practice the revived Monroe Doctrine, we have gone into Venezuela and removed the illegitimate puppet regime. As reported many times over, the operation to remove Maduro and wife went like clockwork. Total success. Now it is the morning after (so to speak), and we need to figure out what to do with this tiger by the tail.

Here is the good news. Venezuela has high grade oil and lots of it. Enough to allow each citizen to live the good life once again. Here is the bad news. All the equipment which we had installed in Venezuela years ago (before they became Commie), is in such disrepair, it might take ten years to bring it up to standards. Lots of time, lots of effort, lots of money. Will it be worth it? Sure will. But then a question begs to be asked. What is the ten-year plan until the oil infrastructure is restored? 

My biggest fear is that without enough oil revenue in the near term, they will fall back to exporting drugs. Or - another bad idea is that the US "adopts" Venezuela until the oil starts flowing again. That would not be a good look for us, plus the costs would be enormous. What would be ideal would be to find an alternate commodity which could help the people prosper and not be drugs. But how, with such a tattered-up government? The people in charge are Commies, and we need a good old strong dose of capitalism down there.

It is important that the new government in Venezuela be their own. By the same token, it is important that the new government look nothing like the one we just got rid of. My thinking is the unfortunate byproduct of this liberation is a strong influx of administrators, military boots on the ground, equipment and money. The fact we are breathing new life into the idled Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico could be a hint as to which direction we are heading. 

Today, on Capitol Hill, will be some Q+A sessions with returning Congressmen and Senators. Everybody is anxious to know what the plan is. Stay tuned on this one - it should be the most interesting week (and month). In the meanwhile, hold tight to that tiger's tail.