Venezuela: America’s Launching Point for Controlling South American Countries and Extorting the Gulf
By Basma Mustafa Al-Jawkhi
Trump hasn’t given up on Venezuela; he wants to kill two birds with one stone and achieve multiple goals.
First, seizing Venezuelan oil after overthrowing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Second, Controlling Latin American countries
And thirdly, pressuring its rivals, Russia and China
And extorting the Gulf states
Venezuela has an area of approximately 916,000 square kilometers
And a population of about 30 million
It is located relatively close to the United States,
About 2,000 meters from the Florida coast
Its Caribbean coast connects maritime trade routes between continents
And its proximity to the Panama Canal gives it economic and political influence over international trade
Venezuela also represents a crossroads of immense natural resources,
A crucial geographical location, and geopolitical conflict,
Making it a strategically important focus for the United States
Venezuela is bordered by Guyana, Colombia, the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and Brazil
It lies south of the Bermuda Triangle, which is located in the area before reaching Venezuela,
And overlooks the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans All of this makes Venezuela a prime target for America.
And all the countries bordering Venezuela possess immense wealth.
Guyana, a small country, boasts the fastest-growing economy, a combination of vast hydrocarbon resources, mineral and agricultural resources, supported by unique biodiversity. Oil, in particular, fuels its rapid economic growth.
Brazil also possesses considerable wealth, with oil reserves ranking approximately fifteenth globally. It has a strong agricultural and industrial sector, the strongest economy in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is a major producer of coffee, beef, and poultry.
All the countries bordering Venezuela are rich in resources.
It’s as if Trump is asking himself, “Why focus on plundering the Middle East when I have South America to choose from?”
Trump imposed an air embargo on Venezuela,
attempting to halt any support from any country, particularly Russia and China.
At the same time, he hopes that this embargo will
cause a coup by Venezuelan military generals against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
On the other hand, Trump had promised before the previous presidential election to
eradicate drugs.
Now we come to this important point: Trump is using the pretext of drugs to seize Venezuela.
Venezuela is not a drug-producing country, according to a United Nations report.
Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia
produce more than 80 percent of the world’s cocaine.
Venezuela is merely a transit route for about 10 percent of heroin shipments.
As for fentanyl, which causes most deaths in the United States,
it is manufactured by Mexican cartels using chemicals imported from China.
This report, including its findings, comes from the United Nations.
It confirms that Venezuela has no connection to the drug trade that Trump claims,
and there is no evidence that it is a source of this substance. Or even a party to its manufacture.
What Trump is doing is nothing but brazenness and provocation.
He claims that all his bullying
against Venezuela is to fight drug traffickers.
At the same time, a UN report states that
Venezuela has no connection to anything.
Trump is deliberately lying openly, provocatively, and brazenly.
As for the illegal immigration crisis, which Trump uses as his justification for his actions against Venezuela,
this crisis began when the United States imposed sanctions and a criminal economic blockade on Venezuela.
This blockade has resulted in inflation and all the crises Venezuela is experiencing.
So how can Trump’s claim be true,
that the fall of the regime in Venezuela will end the crises?
If the United States government is the main reason for what is happening in Venezuela,
and on the contrary, what Trump wants to do in Venezuela is nothing but an attempt to spread chaos and collapse the country from within,
and then seize control of it.
The solution is to sit down at the negotiating table,
and lift the economic blockade and sanctions,
so that Venezuela’s crises gradually end.
Trump wants to pressure Venezuela,
through military deployment, and even more so by closing its airspace, as we mentioned,
until a coup occurs, which he hopes will establish a loyal regime in Venezuela.
This would give him the opportunity to seize Venezuela and its resources,
and then Venezuela’s neighboring countries,
and become the dominant power in the entire Latin American region.
He also aims to reduce the role of Russian and Chinese companies,
to expand the field for American companies.
Furthermore, Trump wants to offer a sacrifice before the upcoming elections,
which is Venezuela and its resources, under the pretext that he is eliminating drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Trump’s biggest supporters in this are the states of Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Arizona, due to their rejection of Venezuelan immigration,
and specifically Florida, because of its ideological hostility towards the socialist regime,
and its hatred for the Venezuelan leader. Nicolás Maduro
The US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio,
who previously fled the Castro regime and is originally from a Cuban family,
let’s see what he’s trying to do regarding Venezuela.
He harbors great animosity and intense hatred for President Nicolás Maduro, whom he considers a dictator and for socialist regimes in general.
Trump has dreams he wants to realize through Venezuela.
After his desperate attempts to overthrow the government and oust President Maduro,
he will then seize the oil and simultaneously work to lift the economic embargo and sanctions.
This will increase Venezuela’s oil production to its pre-embargo levels.
This increase will undoubtedly benefit America,
resulting in lower inflation and interest rates and easing the burden of US debt.
Secondly, Trump’s control over the world’s largest oil reserves,
will also be a pressure tactic against China, Russia, and Iran.
And a powerful extortion of the Gulf Arab states,
But Trump’s long-term dreams,
cannot be realized, especially in a short time, for several reasons:
Firstly, because of Russia and China’s support for Venezuela.
And because of the weakness of Venezuela’s infrastructure under the pressure of sanctions. This problem requires a long time and significant investments to solve.
The presence of national strength in Venezuela,
and the cohesion of its people and their support for President Maduro.
The strength of the Venezuelan army and its good armament.
Therefore, Trump does not want to enter into a war with Venezuela now.
He is only pressuring President Maduro,
the Venezuelan army generals, and the Venezuelan people,
attempting, through American bullying,
to overthrow the government, get rid of President Maduro, and spread chaos,
and then install an administration loyal to the American regime, through which he can achieve his short-term dreams.
To resolve the current situation,
we must adopt a language of dialogue and understanding,
and reach a fundamental solution that suppresses this American bullying,
which ignites conflicts and wars in the region.
There must be a commitment to international law,
and an understanding that the pretext of fighting drug traffickers,
claimed by the Washington government, will not be effective.
What will be effective is the language of dialogue, with America leaving Venezuela alone and not interfering in its internal affairs.
All forces deployed in the Caribbean must be withdrawn, and the sanctions and economic blockade against Venezuela must be lifted.
If America truly wants to fight drug traffickers,
it should cooperate with the Caribbean nations.
An international conference must be convened to discuss and adopt a language of dialogue and negotiation,
instead of igniting the region and entering into conflicts,
and protracted, endless wars.
Long live a free Venezuela! 🇻🇪
