The unique perspective and provocative opinions of Joe O’Neill
Foreign Fodder
11/9.
9/11. 8/31. Three infamous international dates from
the last 30 years: The Berlin Wall falls in 1989; America is attacked in 2001
and Hong Kong is confronted by a post-colonial turning point. On Aug.
31, 2014, China declared a state of limited democracy for Hong Kong.
Locals have still not accepted it, and resistance, as we’ve been seeing daily,
has turned violent.
As
we know, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro remains in power despite
sanctions, isolation and military-intervention threats by the Trump
Administration. And his country continues apace toward economic collapse and
humanitarian disaster. Now, however, the U.S. has softened its approach—promising
not to seek punishment of Maduro if he would just voluntarily leave. “This is not
a persecution,” stressed Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s special
envoy for Venezuela. “We’re not after him. We want him to have a dignified exit
and go.” Wonder what Stephen Miller and John Bolton think. Buena suerte.