Not the way she used to be.
The paranoid classes need to revive the "51st state" nonsense to take one's mind off of the further decrepit state of affairs in Canada.
Trump doesn't even need to physically invade Canada, if that's what he wanted.
He has already caused the village idiot to resign, he publicly humiliated the carpet-bagger, his tariffs are paralysing, he could overturn the dairy price controls board, and - with the recent capture of Maduro and the subsequent liminal state of Venezuela, the unheeded calls for a pipeline are ever-more urgent.
But people can't help themselves:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent actions in Venezuela and his overall strategy for the Western Hemisphere should serve as a warning to all Canadians and require a more fulsome response from its political leaders, Canada’s former ambassador to the United Nations says.
Bob Rae, who finished his five-year ambassadorship last November, told Global News in an interview that the U.S. under Trump is rejecting multilateralism in favour of asserting its dominance over the hemisphere, without “any notion of legality.”
“We’re basically being told (by) the Americans, ‘We will do whatever we can get away with, and who’s going to stop us?'” he said. “Which is a licence to take over any country that they feel is getting in their way.
“We’re not in Kansas anymore. This is a new ballgame and we need to understand the consequences of this.”
Trump had already raised fears in Canada and elsewhere with his new national security strategy that seeks to restore and update the Monroe Doctrine, a 200-year-old foreign policy statement that envisioned American dominance over the Western Hemisphere and was used to justify U.S. interventions in Latin America for over a century.
The seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces over the weekend — as well as Trump’s subsequent threats against Greenland, Colombia and Cuba — have underscored the reality of that strategy.
Although Trump has not similarly revived his threats of making Canada the 51st U.S. state, Rae said that doesn’t mean Canadians should rest easy.
“We’re on the menu,” he said. “If you don’t think we’re on the menu just because he hasn’t mentioned the words ’51st state,’ I think that’s really missing the boat in terms of what this administration is about.”
Oh, shut up, Bob.
**
Canadians don't understand freedom.
I was born and raised in Venezuela in a lower-middle-class family. My life changed shortly after I completed my engineering degree, when I was awarded a graduate fellowship sponsored by the World Bank.
That opportunity took me to the United States, where I earned a master’s degree form the University of Colorado Boulder. Halfway through the program, Hugo Chávez won his first election. Aware of his history, including leading two failed coup attempts in 1992, I delayed my return to Venezuela, convinced that life under his leadership would only deteriorate. I was right.
Because I could not remain in the United States due to the constraints of my visa, I secured another destination by the end of the program. Canada became an option through a graduate fellowship at the University of Toronto.
That path led to permanent residency and, later, Canadian citizenship. Having firsthand experience of the misery, tragedy and injustice of that period — which was marked by assassinations, disappearances, political persecution and electoral manipulation — the following seven points are essential to grounding any serious discussion of recent events.
1. People should not refer to the individual in custody as “President Maduro.” Any legitimacy he might once have claimed to that title ended in July 2024, when he lost his own sham election to the opposition candidate, Edmundo González. A Washington Post investigation found that González won with approximately 67 per cent of the vote, based on official electoral records collected at voting centres throughout the country. Maduro rejected the result and ordered the arrest of González, who now lives in exile.
2. Maduro is alleged to have headed a sophisticated and well-financed international criminal organization. Networks aligned with the extremist leadership in Iran, Cuba, China and Russia are deeply embedded in this structure. Maduro’s objective has always been singular: to remain in power and expand his influence at any cost. Political influence was purchased wherever necessary, particularly within economically fragile countries, where oil was used as bribes. The regime has also been accused of financing friendly political parties and candidates in foreign countries, particularly in Spain.
3. Under Maduro, Venezuela has become a major conduit for drug trafficking, allegedly in co-ordination with Colombia’s National Liberation Army, a cartel that operates openly within Venezuelan territory, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Tren de Aragua gang.
4. Around eight-million Venezuelans fled the country with little more than the clothes they were wearing, escaping persecution and, in many cases, near certain death. I have friends, neighbours and acquaintances who left on foot, with nothing but their determination to survive.
5. Venezuela sits atop extraordinary natural wealth, including oil, diamonds, aluminum, gold and many other rare and valuable minerals. Prior to Hugo Chávez, this wealth was transferred, however imperfectly, to the Venezuelan people. No single party controlled national wealth indefinitely, and political power rotated through democratic processes. Over the past two decades, that wealth has been consolidated in the hands of a small group of now insanely wealthy and powerful individuals with no interest in the public good. Their priorities remain unchanged: to cling to power and expand their reach.
Removing Maduro alone is insufficient. Between six and 12 additional figures from the same inner circle would likely also need to be removed for any meaningful change to occur. Diosdado Cabello, Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez and Vladimir Padrino López would be an essential starting point. As long as they remain in power, Venezuela will remain unchanged.
7. Maduro and his inner circle are deeply unpopular. Those who publicly support them generally either benefit directly from the system or receive handouts, sometimes as little as a small plastic bag of basic food items. When demonstrations appear under slogans such as “Hands off Venezuela,” the participants are often not even Venezuelan.
Foreign intervention has been entrenched in Venezuela for more than 25 years. Allowing Venezuelans, finally, to decide their own future would represent a radical departure from the current reality, in which they have no meaningful choice. The legality of recent events will be debated for decades, likely framed by some as yet another United States interventionist act. But for those born in Venezuela, myself included, the reality is simpler: we are living with one less tyrant.
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