Online Spanish Socials

Venezuela: When the Empire “Strikes Back”

In recent years, Venezuela has stopped being treated as a country and started being treated as a project.
Not debated, not negotiated — managed.

What is framed as “concern,” “stability,” or “temporary liberation” has moved from diplomatic language into midnight operations, press conferences, and quiet regime choreography.

What begins as foreign policy quickly turns into spectacle — where power, resources, and language collide, and sovereignty becomes something performed rather than possessed.

Empire Logic Beyond the Headlines

This brings us to the central question of this meetup:

What do we call it when an empire doesn’t invade — but still decides who runs the house?

From sanctions to “liberation,” from oil barrels to press releases, from handshakes to handcuffs, this session opens a space to reflect on how empire operates once invasion becomes unfashionable — and management becomes normal.

What Is This Event About?

Join us for a provocative, critical meetup exploring the modern mechanics of empire through the Venezuela case. Using recent events, historical reruns, and geopolitical theater, we’ll discuss:

• When does “concern” become control?
• How does language replace invasion?
• Why is “temporary” the most permanent word in Latin America?
• Is oil the cause — or just the excuse?
• What happens when sovereignty becomes a performance?
• And above all: who actually pays the price when empires rebrand power as responsibility?

Why You Should Join:

• 🧠 Critical thinking, not slogans — this is not partisan cheerleading, but geopolitical literacy.
• 🔥 Real events, real stakes — Venezuela, oil, China, the U.S., and Latin America watching in real time.
• 🎤 Interactive debate — not a lecture: your questions, discomfort, and provocations are welcome.
• 🤝 Curious community — for those tired of sanitized headlines and ready to unpack what’s really happening.

Main Cases & Themes We’ll Examine:

• “The Empire Strikes Back”: why the metaphor fits disturbingly well
• “Not an invasion, it’s liberation”: how language reframes power
• Oil, gold, and rare earths: resources as leverage, not destiny
• Interim leaders and borrowed sovereignty
• China’s quiet response vs. U.S. spectacle
• Russia’s silence as strategy
• Latin America’s collective eye-roll — history as déjà vu
• The Monroe Doctrine → the “Don-roe”: empire nostalgia rebranded

Format & Flow (tentative):

• Welcome & opening (ice-breaker)
• Short presentation of 3–4 of the most provocative cases (with visuals)
• Open discussion / debate in small groups
• Collective round: big questions + audience reflections
• (Optional) Suggested reading / resources list + final wrap up

👥 Group Size Policy

🕗 1 attendee: 07:00 p.m. – 07:45 p.m.
🕗 2 attendees: 07:00 p.m. – 08:00 p.m.
🕗 3+ attendees: 07:00 p.m. – 08:30 p.m.