Venezuela in TW 2000

[rcaf_777]

Why not have the 1992 coup succeeded and Hugo become a Soviet ally it makes Cuba stronger and might give you some interesting encounters

[Olefin]

I don't see the US standing by and letting Venezuela go Marxist in a 1st edition world for sure - but there is a good chance that given the continuing US-Soviet confrontation of the 1st edition that Chavez may have never been let go from prison

In a second edition timeline you could see Chavez being released and forming his political party as happened in our timeline

However in both timelines Venezuela gets nuked in late 1997 as part of the attacks against oil production - after that the country would probably rapidly fall apart into a vicious fight over what was left

given the locations of the refineries and other infrastructure in the country Caracas probably would not be hit by nukes - but you could see that city rapidly fall apart as panic would hit the country after so many of its cities would be hit by nukes going after their refineries

and remember it depends on when the Soviets hit the refineries - were they hit by conventional weapons, Spetsnaz or Soviet supported guerillas before the war went nuclear or after the TDM when it was time to make refineries glow?

About the only one that might still be standing would be the San Roque refinery as it specializes in paraffin production and its production rates are very small

[Slappy]

In my Caribbean campaign, Venezuela was a major point of interest.

The country itself was always fairly weak and disorganized. The nuking of refineries and major production centers quickly pushed the government over the edge. The place essentially ceased to function at anything but a local level as what army and police there were took their guns and walked off. Most major production ceased, but there were a lot of small wells out in the country, offshore or on islands that survived to at least some extent.

The resulting chaos became a major playground for the regional players: Cuba, France, Holland, the UK and occasionally the US. The Europeans had only token garrisons in their Caribbean possessions (ABC islands for Holland, French Antilles, Barbados for the UK), but they had better institutions and discipline. The vast majority of their forces were in tact and they had defendable islands with limited room for guerilla action.

Cuba and France were the major players. The Cuban government was a shadow of its former self and controlled only a third of the island, but they started way ahead of the Europeans and were intent on maintaining access to oil. France had little to spare in the region, but benefited greatly from relative order at home, and they were also very keen to diversify their sources of oil. Holland, the UK and the US were mainly there for color. Their resources were more limited, and the Dutch and Brits more interested in getting oil for local use than to send back to Europe.

The PCs worked as mercenaries, mostly for the Dutch out of Aruba. They were protecting small oil sites, performing recon of enemy sites and doing some small raids. It was a fun little campaign before real life issues caused it to disband.