The US, under Trump, is unapologetically an empire operating without pretense. International law is for losers. A newly minted War Department, deploying the most lethal killing machine in world history, need not hide behind the sham of promoting democracy.
By Roger D. Harris
Recall that in 2023 Trumpboasted:When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over, we would have gotten all that oil.As CEO of the capitalist bloc, Trumps mission is not about to be restrained by respect for sovereignty. There is only one inviolate global sovereign; all others are subalterns.
Venezuela with our oil under its soil is now in the crosshairs of the empire. Not only does Venezuela possess the largest petroleum reserves, but it also has major gold, coltan, bauxite, and nickel deposits. Of course, the worlds hegemon would like to get its hands all that mineral wealth.
But it would be simplistic to think that it is driven only by narrow economic motives. Leverage over energy flows is central to maintaining global influence. Washington requires control of strategic resources to preserve its position as the global hegemon, guided by its official policy offull spectrum dominance.
For Venezuela, revenues derived from these resources enable it to act with some degree of sovereign independence. Most gallingly, Venezuela nationalized its oil, instead of gifting it to private entrepreneurs and then used it to fund social programs and to assist allies abroad like Cuba. All this is anathema to the hegemon.
Further pushing the envelope is Venezuelas all-weather strategic partnership withChina. WithRussia, its most consequential defense ally, Venezuela ratified a strategic partnership agreement. Similarly, Venezuela has a strong anti-imperialist alliance withIran. All three partners have come to Caracass defense, along with regional allies such a Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico.
The US has subjected Venezuelas Bolivarian Revolution to incessant regime-change aggression for its entire quarter-century of existence. In 2015, Barack Obamacodified what economist Jeffrey Sachs calls a remarkablelegal fiction. His executive order designated Venezuela as anextraordinary threatto US national security. Renewed by each succeeding president, the executive order is really an implicit recognition of Venezuelas Bolivarian Revolution as a counter hegemonic alternative, challenging Washingtons world order.
The latest US belligerence testifies to the success of the Venezuelan resistance. The effects of asphyxiating US-led sanctions, which had crashed the economy, have been partly reversed with a return to positive economic growth, leaving the empire with little alternative but to escalate antagonism using its military option.
TheAFPreports tensions between Washington and Caracas have dramatically risen as if the one-sided aggression were a tit-for-tat. Venezuela seeks peace, but has a gun held to its head.
Reuters,blames the victim, claiming that the Venezuelan government is planning tosow chaos in the event of a US air or ground attack. In fact, President Nicols Maduro has pledged prolonged resistance to Washingtons unprovoked assaults rather than meekly conceding defeat.
Thedeath tollfrom US strikes on alleged small drug boats off Venezuela, in the Pacific off Colombia and Ecuador, and as far north as Mexico now exceeds 75 and continues to rise. But not an ounce of narcotics has been confiscated. In contrast, Venezuela has seized 64 tons of drugs this year without killing anyone, as the Orinoco Tribuneobserves.
Russian Foreign Ministrys Mara Zakharovaquipped: now that the US has suddenly remembered, at this historic moment, that drugs are an evil, perhaps it is worth it for the US to go after the criminals within its own elite.
On November 11, theworlds largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and its accompanying warships arrived in the Caribbean. They join an armada of US destroyers, fighter jets, drones, and troops that have been building since August.
In a breathtaking understatement, the Washington Postallowed: The breadth of firepowerwould seem excessive for drug interdiction in what it glowingly describes as a stunning military presence.
Venezuela is now onmaximum military alertwith a threatening flotilla off its coast and some 15,000 US troops standing by. Millions of Venezuelans have joined themilitia, and international brigades have been welcomed to join the defense. President Maduro issued a decree ofexternal commotion, granting special powers if invaded.
The populace has united around its Chavista leadership. The far-right opposition which has called for a military invasion of its own country are more isolated than ever.Only 3% supportsuch a call.
Their US-designated leader Mara Corina Machado has gone bonkers,sayingno doubt that Maduro rigged the 2020 US election against Trump. According to the rabidly anti-ChavistaCaracas Chronicles, the so-called Iron Lady is not simply betting Venezuelas future on Trump, she is betting her existence.
The legal eagles at The Washington Post now find that the Trump administrationsapproach is illegal. United Nations experts warn that these unprovoked lethal strikes against vessels at seaamount to international crimes.
Even high-ranking Democrats remain unconvinced by the administrations legal arguments. Theyre miffed about being left out of the administrations briefings and not getting to see full videos of theextrajudicial murders.
The Democrats unite with the Republicans in demonizing Maduro to achieve regime change in Venezuela, but wish it could be done by legal means. The so-call opposition party unanimously voted to confirm Marco Rubio as secretary of state, fully aware of theprogramthat he now spearheads.
The corporate press has been complicit in regime change in its endless demonization of Maduro. They report that Trump authorizedcovert CIA operationsas if that was a scoop rather than business as usual. What is new is a US administration overtly flaunting supposedly covert machinations. This is part of Washingtons full-presspsychological pressure campaignon Venezuela, in which the follow-the-flag media have been its eager handmaiden.
The AP reports that Jack Keane, when he served as a US Army general, instructed staff tosee reporters as a conduitfor the Pentagon. This was cited as a criticism of Trump after a few dozen embedded reporters turned in their Pentagon badges. Trump has called out theWashington press corpsas very disruptive in terms of world peace, proving the adage that even a blind dog can sometimes find a bone.
The Wall Street Journalopines: Nobody in the [Trump] administration seems prepared to ask the hard questions about what happens if they do destabilize the [Venezuelan] regime but fail to topple it. Political analysts Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies suggest the answer iscarnage and chaosbased on Washingtons past performances in Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan, Haiti, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, to mention a few.
Foreign Policysperspectivealigned with the Washington establishment is that the level of regional fragmentation is the greatest in the last half century. Regional organizations have become dysfunctionalUNASURhas been destroyed,CELACis useless, and theOAScanceled its summit. The factionalism, Responsible Statecraftagrees, marks one of the lowest moments for regional relations in decades. Bilateral deals with the US are replacing regional cohesion.
This is Latin America under the beneficence of TrumpsDonroe Doctrine. The alternative vision, represented by Venezuela, is CELACsZone of PeaceandALBA-TCPsdevelopment for mutual benefit.
Roger D. Harrisis a founding member of theVenezuela Solidarity Network, is on the board of theTask Force on the Americas, and on the secretariat of theUS Peace Council.
Pressenza New York
