lucas26 Yes the US military might is well above that of anyone else in the world I think that is fair to say.
It doesn’t mean there is any risk to Brazil. Maduro was a very special case
- Not supported even by his own people
- Elected in a rigged election which independent observers say he lost by a landslide
- Turns out Trump did it because of the Venezuelan oil revenue
- The operation was surprisingly fast and clean - not even anyone trying to shoot down the helicopter with an infrared seeking manpad - there is something missing in the official account here, beyond military suppression of the air defences
The main thing that protects countries from the US is that despite Trump’s actions in Venezuela the US is increasingly retreating from the rest of the world. It retreated from Afghanistan - that was initiated by Trump - it’s trying to get NATO to take more responsibility in Europe and didn’t strongly support Ukraine - even Biden could have been far stronger in his support for Ukraine.
I think it is correct to say that the US is by far the strongest military in the world in its ability to do an operation like this.
Russia is far weaker. The main comparable nations are in NATO. China’s military might is comparable on paper but it’s never been tested in combat in modern warfare apart from the border conflicts between Pakistan and India which is not much of a test and didn’t test its most advanced equipment.
Also both Russia and China have virtually no military presence outside of their own territory and very nearby countries.
They have nuclear subs but subs can’t carry fighter aircraft. They have ships but the ships are very slow and not stealthy and they can’t carry aircraft either. Russia doesn’t have an aircraft carrier and the Chinese one can’t travel further than the southern Phillipines.
Russia and China have no capability to do an operation like this in South America. or Central America. They have no bases anywhere near. And no way to get fighter jets to the area.
Russia has long range strategic aircraft which it flies for thousands of miles in demonstration flights to show its supposed ability to reach anywhere in the world. But they can’t take fighter jets with them. They don’t have the range. They are very vulnerable and obvious in radar as they aren’t stealth bombers either. Russia has no stealth bombers. It has no equivalent to the US B-2 Spirit or the new B-21 Raider Its strategic bombers are ancient Soviet era models before the modern ideas of stealth bombers.
China is developing a true stealth bomber but it’s been in development for years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an_H-20
And without the fighter jets and either bases or else aircraft carriers then long distance bombers are very limited in what they can do.
So it is true. Only the US and a few other nations in NATO such as the UK and France could carry off an operation like this.
And what protects the weaker countries is that the US has a policy of retreating from interfering in world affairs like this.
It often still does it but it could do this sort of thing far more than it does and the direction is towards doing it less.
Trump especially has shown zero tolerance to any US casualties - that’s the most notable thing. He has done many strikes and operations in both his presidencies but they never need to US casualties except I think some operations in his very first year in office.
He is very risk averse for any risk to US soldiers or civilians.
It’s remarkable that they did this, landed a helicopter in Caracas close enough to Maduro’s residence to go inside and capture him and fly him out of Caracas without a single US death only minor injuries.
There are details here that haven’t been revealed that would explain how it is done. We may not know for a long time how it was done.
Trump does a lot of bluster but his actual operations are conducted with very high levels of detail and with a lot of patience and care and secrecy.
He creates the impression of being an impetuous man but in reality he is very careful and cautious especially when it comes to anything military.
