Why U.S.-Russia clash over Venezuela has a familiar ring

Back in 2014 when Russia was first putting boots on the ground in Syria, Moscow justified its military intervention by noting it was acting both in support and at the invitation of the besieged government of Bashar al-Assad.

The United States, on the other hand, had already declared that President Assad had to go and that it was acting in the Syrian conflict in support of the democratic aspirations of the oppressed Syrian people.

Fast forward to 2019 and we see the same big-power tussle playing out in Venezuela.

Once again the U.S. is positioned on the side of the oppressed people and is again insisting that the authoritarian leader – in this case