VENEZUELA.- US MEDDLING.

 

Venezuela rests on the northernmost tip of South America with the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean in the north. On the west it is bordered by Colombia and on the east by Guyana and in the south by Brazil.  It has a land area of about 916,000 Sq. Km and had a population of 30 million. A vast majority of its people live in the North in its cities and its capital Caracas. 92.6% of Venezuela is Christian.

Venezuela was colonised by Spain in the year 1522 AD. It became independent from the yoke of Spain in 1811 AD itself and was part of the Columbian republic. It separated as a sovereign country in the year 1830. In the 19^th century Venezuela suffered from political turmoil and autocracy and was ruled by military dictatorships till the mid-20th century. From 1958 onwards, the country had a series of Democratic governments and the period had economic prosperity.

Economic shocks in the 1980’s and 90’s led to major political unrest. The collapse of confidence of the people in political parties was seen in the 1998 Presidential election. In 1999, a new constitution was made by the constituent assembly and was ratified. The government then started populist social welfare policies as the Oil prices were then soaring. The earlier years of the regime did see reduce in economic disparity and inequality. The poverty again started to increase rapidly from 2010 onwards. The 2013 Presidential election led to another crisis as it was disputed and there were widespread protests which continue to this day. First the Chavez and then Maduro administrations shifted from Democracy into an authoritarian state. Nicolos Maduro became the President of Venezuela in the year 2013 where he won 51% of the vote. The opposition contested the vote but it was rechecked and ratified by the SC.

Venezuela has the world’s largest known oil reserves and is fully dependent on exports of oil which was to the tune of 86% of its export share. Its economy was o dependent on oil that after the oil fell steeply from USD 100 to USD 40, Venezuela got into deep trouble and its economy got into recession. In 2015, Venezuela’s inflation had crossed 100%. Between 2014 and 2024 about 7.7 million people left Venezuela comprising of 25% of its population.

In 2016 Maduro declared an emergency and took more powers. The situation in Venezuela worsened further creating shortages even for food. In 2017 Maduro banned opposition parties form contesting elections. In 2017 the Trump government imposed mores sanctions on Venezuela and has frozen the USD 22 billion assets held overseas by Venezuela. These sanctions were responsible for a 59% decline in Venezuelan oil production compounding the crisis further.

Maduro won the 2018 election with a 68% vote share. However, that was challenged by Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Germany, France and the USA. What I fail to understand here is that how can other countries challenge and election in another country. It is like us challenging an election in the US, does not make any sense at all.   

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world estimated at 303 billion barrels. The US companies first developed the oil reserves in Venezuela but they were nationalised by the Venezuelan government in the 1970’s. Venezuela now earns only a fraction of the revenue compared to the revenue it earned earlier due to sanctions by the US. So the idea is to remove Maduro and install a pro US government so that they can grab the oil. Venezuela could export only USD 4 billion worth of oil in the year 2023 which is far far less than that of Saudi Arabia which is 181 billion USD. Place restriction on a country that is already in trouble and choke the exports of its main commodity so that the economy of the country is finished. The US is nothing l3ess on this than China on Taiwan. If the US does this, then why should not China grab Taiwan?

The following is what the Trump aide Stephen Miller tweeted on X.

American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property. These pillaged assets were then used to fund terrorism and flood our streets with killers, mercenaries and drugs.

The US gathered the largest military force in the region of the coast of Venezuela and also carried out multiple strikes on boats which the US claims as carrying drugs, of course without providing any proof. They are now out to grab Venezuelan oil in the guise of controlling drug trafficking.

The above tweet clearly means that the US is going to grab all that oil now. Just because the American companies developed the wells, they claim it as their own.

The USA has finished off Venezuela, and I think this is the worst type of robbery if it grabs Venezuelan oil. China should immediately garb Taiwan then. After all both are brothers going hand in hand. The only difference is the US makes noises about democracy, freedom of expression and so on. Ultimately what it does is this. China at least says Taiwan belongs to it and it is peopled by the Chinese. Nothing of the sort is between the US and Venezuela.

When the world becomes Unipolar this is what happens, might becomes right, because there is none to check that.