Tag Archives: venezuela

A few brief takes on the U.S. invasion of Venezuela.

• Remember when Trump’s beef with Maduro was all about fentanyl, despite experts assuring us that Venezuela does not ship fentanyl to the US? Now the revised indictment does not even mention fentanyl.
• By giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Machado, the Nobel Committee effectively gave cover to Trump’s invasion.
• Trump’s complaint that Maduro stole an election is undercut by the fact that he tried to do the same thing. Also, Trump is not even pretending that the US aim is to install the actual winner of the last election.
• A big loser will be Cuba, whose oil supply depends upon Venezuela through a barter arrangement. For Rubio, the ability to squeeze Cuba’s energy supply may be a primary motivation. Don’t be surprised if the US goes after the Cuban government down the road.
• Trump had a Freudian moment in his press conference when he blurted out “it was an attack on sovereignty.”
• The press is using the White House’s language in calling Maduro’s capture an “arrest” rather than a kidnapping. The latter is especially apt to describe the detainment of Maduro’s wife and son. Pam Bondi had to scramble to add the wife to the indictment at the last minute.
• Trump claims that the US occupation will be costless because we can pay for it with Venezuela’s oil. The last time we heard that was after the invasion of Iraq.
• The explanation of what comes next is all of the place – from Rubio’s earlier assurance that we were done with Maduro’s capture, to Trump’s claim that we would run the country, to his later argument that we would just take the oil.
• This is about as obvious an example of blatant 19th century imperialism as one can imagine. Trump made it clear as day by invoking the Monroe Doctrine.
• Beyond the resource grab, Trump also seeks to assemble a bloc of right-wing, MAGA style government across the hemisphere, including Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Venezuela, and El Salvador. Meanwhile, he is seeking to undermine left wing governments, including those in Brazil, Columbia, and Cuba.