Venezuela: The Ghosts of the White House

Approximately 58.000 American soldiers and 3 million Vietnamese died in the Vietnam War, including 1 million soldiers in combat and 2 million civilians. Who won the war?

Getting into a war is easy; getting out of it is difficult. The most common ingredients are well-known.

An imperialist president weakened in his own country. A military industry eager for profits, a thirst for oil, and the worn-out excuse of defending democratic values. And, of course, the "red threat," which has made a strong comeback.

The US entered Vietnam dragged in by the French. They left almost 20 years later defeated and humiliated. It was the greatest military adventure in their history. A scar that split the United States in two and left traumas that haunt them to this day.

What counts in war is not just military superiority. The willingness, motivation, and conviction of the soldiers to engage in combat are decisive factors. How far are you willing to go to win? What motivates you to risk your life invading a poor South American country that poses no threat to your family in California or New York?

In one of the secret peace negotiation meetings in Paris between Henry Kissinger and the representative of then-North Vietnam, the US Secretary of State argued that his country was winning all the battles. The communist's response was a determined "so what?".

American doctor Hal Kushner spent six years as a prisoner of war among the Viet Cong. On one occasion, he tried to persuade his captor by arguing that the US was winning every battle. "To defeat us, you'll have to kill them all, one by one," the guerrilla fighter replied.

Venezuela has an identity, a people, a territory, a language. It has history and tradition. It is not an artificial union of ethnicities and/or religions carried out by imperialists intoxicated by post-war victory dividing the "spoils of the world" among themselves. Many countries in Africa and the Middle East still pay the price for sterile nationalities. This is not the case with Hugo Chávez's country.

A fight between brothers is one thing. It can be bloody, leaving dead and wounded. An invasion of your home is quite another. Those who support it will celebrate. The majority of the people will watch suspiciously, trying to understand what an imperialist power is doing in their backyard.

Any penguin from Patagonia can understand that there is no humanitarian concern or democratic commitment in the heart of Donald Trump.

Is American society willing to receive its children in body bags to satisfy the greed of its oil industry and save the skin of a president threatened with impeachment?

China has tripled its military budget. Russia has invested ten years' worth of high oil prices and made its military complex the most advanced on the planet. Two giants that seem to be on the side of the Venezuelan president. The defense of territory and sovereignty will transform Maduro into the reincarnation of Bolívar.

Uncle Sam's greatest victory in history wasn't achieved through weapons. It was through the economy that he saw the Soviet Union crumble. The landing of Marines in South America will be a sign of weakness. Desperation from a power that sees its global leadership increasingly threatened.

In times of irrationality, all options seem to be on the table. If you look out the windows of your office, Trump will see Ho Chi Minh and Le Duan celebrating in their beautiful gardens, every April 30th, one of the most epic victories in human history.

If you talk to the ghosts of Lyndon Johnson and Nixon in the White House, you won't commit this military and political blunder, entering a battle with an unpredictable outcome close to home.