[TrumpCard]

I think we've hit the nail on the head with three points:
(1) At this stage, we don't know the extent of evidence of Maduro's involvement in narcotics trafficking.  
(2) The situation in Venezuela could escalate, but as of now, the situation is not remotely comparable to the situation in Ukraine.  
(3) Using statistics like "the U.S. succeeded in 4/14 military actions to effectuate regime change" is a fraught exercise because the sample sizes are small and the uncontrolled variables are significant.  

Based on these conclusions, I think outsiders to the foreign policy establishment, like most of us on this board, should defer judgment on the whether the U.S. did the right thing.  It's interesting to follow world events, but I tend to tune out reflexive commentary that's based on what, in theory, might happen in the future.  For now, I just hope that the administration has "the goods" on Maduro and that the U.S. doesn't get pulled deep into chaos in Venezuela.  For that reason, I tend to think the posts in this thread on Venezuela are just thread drift and that, at least for now, the exercise of trying to connect the two conflicts in Venezuela and Ukraine is misguided.  For example, although the U.S. may be interested in improving its own access to Venezuelan oil, I think it's highly speculative to posit that U.S. action in Venezuela will significantly alter the overall amount of oil that Venezuela contributes to global supply, let alone effect Russia's economy enough to alter the war in Ukraine.

[TrumpCard]

I think we've hit the nail on the head with three points:
(1) At this stage, we don't know the extent of evidence of Maduro's involvement in narcotics trafficking.  
(2) The situation in Venezuela could escalate, but as of now, the situation is not remotely comparable to the situation in Ukraine.  
(3) Using statistics like "the U.S. succeeded in 4/14 military actions to effectuate regime change" is a fraught exercise because the sample sizes are small and the uncontrolled variables are significant.  

Based on these conclusions, I think outsiders to the foreign policy establishment, like most of us on this board, should defer judgment on the whether the U.S. did the right thing.  It's interesting to follow world events, but I tend to tune out reflexive commentary that's based on what, in theory, might happen in the future.  For now, I just hope that the administration has "the goods" on Maduro and that the U.S. doesn't get pulled deep into chaos in Venezuela.  For that reason, I tend to think the posts in this thread on Venezuela are just thread drift and that, at least for now, the exercise of trying to connect the two conflicts in Venezuela and Ukraine is misguided.  For example, although the U.S. may be interested in improving its own access to Venezuelan oil, I think it's highly speculative to posit that U.S. action in Venezuela will significantly alter the overall amount of oil that Venezuela contributes to global supply, let alone effect Russia's economy enough to alter the war in Ukraine.