Washington is Trying to Start a War with Venezuela

https://trt.global/world/article/f3ee26bac380

The United States has been trying to overthrow the government of Venezuela for over twenty years. Washington detested Hugo Chavez and his campaign to destroy the Empire's domination of Latin America. The US attempted to oust him in 2002 but failed. Chavez remained popular until his death in 2013.

At that point power shifted to Nicolas Maduro who has also been consistently opposed by Washington. The first Trump administration attempted to install Juan Guaido but failed, and its clear there have been several assassination attempts against him - some with convincing evidence pointing to the United States.

There is something of a diplomatic split within US corridors of power - in part motivated by the interests of oil companies. Chevron (a major player in South America) has been granted certain contracts and for a time (during Biden's tenure) it looked as if tensions were cooling and a deal was in the offing. But then controversy resumed over oil reserves in Guyana and some obscure border questions. And even while Chevron is pumping oil, the US is working to overthrow Maduro and (it seems clear) looking for an excuse or justification for military strikes or an invasion.

For over a decade the US has worked to make Venezuela's economy scream - reminiscent of Nixon's policy regarding Chile in the 1970's. Venezuela has suffered and this has in turn fomented a refugee crisis. The US has also utilized Colombia at times in order to destabilize Venezuela, and Bogota-Caracas relations remain strained. Caracas (for its part) has offered support to some of the rebel groups within Colombia during the long conflict which now seems to be nearing its end. The American media (and especially the Right) have laboured to present Venezuela's woes as the result of Maduro's socialist policies even while ignoring the extenuating circumstances.

Now, even as Chevron continues to pump oil, Trump has (without any real evidence) has painted Maduro as a major player in the international drug trade and placed a large price on his head. This is especially rich given the long documented history of US ties to drug networks from Southeast Asia, to Afghanistan and Türkiye, to Latin America.

Trump has now sent a battle group to the Caribbean and recently struck a so-called 'go fast' boat off the coast of Venezuela - destroying the boat and killing all on board. The Pentagon claimed it was smuggling drugs and yet many of the experts who have analyzed the footage are more inclined to think it was a boat smuggling refugees or immigrants.

The Venezuelan Air Force 'flew near' one of the American destroyers in the now contentious waters leading Washington to claim it was a provocation and act of obstruction.

It seems clear enough that Washington is looking for a Gulf of Tonkin-type incident, something that can be used to justify an expansion of military activities in the area - all in the lead up to some kind of invasion or support for a coup already in the works. Washington is clearly looking for trouble. The Noriega scenario also comes to mind.

The US keeps pushing and any response is quickly painted as 'aggression' on the part of Venezuela.

And why is Venezuela so important? It's longstanding defiance has been something of an open wound for Washington and there is great pressure to resolve this festering situation - all the more as China is looking for opportunities in the region. Secondly (and of primary importance), Venezuela has some of the largest oil reserves in the world. Not only does the US want them, they want to ensure China and other nations are denied access.

See also:

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2023/12/chevron-wall-street-and-venezuela.html