The Election Fault Line (2018 → 2024)
The legitimacy crisis did not begin this week.
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2018: Maduro’s re-election widely rejected by opposition and many international observers.
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2019: Juan Guaidó recognized by the U.S. and others as interim president.
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July 28, 2024: Another presidential election, again disputed. Opposition figures—most notably María Corina Machado—claimed a landslide defeat for Maduro, citing independent tallies and systematic suppression.
This is where a viral refrain was born and weaponized:
“These machines and this software have been a problem globally for years.”
To Trump supporters, Venezuela became the original sin of election fraud, exported outward.
To critics, it became retroactive justification for regime change.
Unverified footage and message logs circulating on January 3 listed strikes or disabling actions at:
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Fuerte Tiuna (military complex)
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La Carlota airbase
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Government and airport facilities around Caracas
Supporters described Delta-style precision, minimal casualties, and a negotiated exit scenario—Maduro removed, not assassinated.
Opponents described civilian infrastructure strikes, helicopters over Caracas, and information blackouts—language chillingly familiar from Baghdad (2003) and Tripoli (2011).
The same event, two moral verdicts.
A 1933 warning is being quoted again for a reason.
Smedley Butler, the most decorated U.S. Marine of his time, famously called himself “a racketeer for capitalism,” listing interventions done for oil, banks, and corporate interests.
That quote now frames the loudest accusation:
