The EU Response to the Venezuela Strike and Coup

I must say Europe's hypocrisy regarding the Venezuela raid is pretty staggering. Apart from some tepid appeals to the integrity of international law, the leaders of the EU have more or less acquiesced to American banditry and naked aggression - and its public proclamation of colonial-style expropriation of resources.

The US has provided no proof regarding the charge that Maduro leads a drug cartel. Further the equation of narco-trafficking with 'terrorism' is a monumental stretch, if not just plain absurd.

Ironically, the former Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernandez (who was pardoned by Trump and is now free) did speak in terms of harming 'gringo' society through the importation of drugs. And yet he was an American asset and like so many other US-backed dictators and proxies worked hand in glove with the CIA in the production and smuggling of drugs - and the laundering of profits. It's worth remembering that the US backed a coup in Honduras back in 2009 that would eventually lead Orlando Hernandez into power.

The charges against Maduro are bogus as is the entire US narrative surrounding these events. The US has been trying to overthrow the Venezuelan government for more than twenty years and seize control of its oil reserves. That's what this is all about, the reserves and the profits they represent, and the geostrategic value in terms of blocking Beijing. This is why Trump and Hegseth have been bombing boats off the Venezuelan coast. It was quite literally a terror campaign.

The US has (in international terms) behaved as a rogue state, completely outside the law.

Was Maduro an illegitimate president? Who is to say? Even if he manipulated elections, does this give America the right to bomb his country and kidnap him? And don't believe the lies - civilians died. It is certain and more will come out in time.

Was the nation in shambles? Certainly. The US played a large role in creating those conditions by crippling Venezuela's economy and by means of sanctions it was hardly able to function - which in turn led to increased corruption and the like.

Maduro was a terrible leader but in terms of morality, Trump can claim no superiority. Trump is a thug and the gangster-style posturing of Trump and Rubio during the extended press conference testifies to this.

But imagine this scenario - say, Vladimir Putin made a case the Zelenskiy was corrupt and illegitimate - that he had stolen the election. And his government corruption (which is palpable and universally recognized) was hurting Russian interests and was a national security threat to Moscow.

So in light of that, he launches a massive air raid and captures Zelenskiy and ships him off to Moscow and puts him in prison - and then declares he's going to 'run' Ukraine until the situation is under control and the political situation has been stabilized.

What kind of reaction would that generate?

Do you think EU leaders would just shrug their shoulders and issue tepid statements?

Of course not. We know what would (and has) happened - and how they (and Washington) quickly turned it into a horrific proxy war that neither side can back down from. And unlike Trump's claims vis-à-vis Venezuela, Putin actually had a case to make regarding Ukraine and security concerns related to NATO and its expansion.

The EU won't risk alienating the United States - at least not when they need US weapons to fight the proxy war in Ukraine, and all the more as so many of them have tethered themselves to US energy supplies. They are on their knees, forced to acquiesce to US interests.

And yet how can they look at themselves in the mirror? How can they maintain a straight face as they address their populations? They have abandoned any claim to integrity. The EU leadership is a joke and this episode demonstrates that despite the strains and sometime tensions, despite Brexit, Europe is still very much a component of the Atlanticist US Empire.