Sanctions-Strangled Venezuela: FT Frames Economic Sabotage as Homegrown Failure
📰 THE STORY: The Financial Times highlights how interim President Delcy Rodríguez has reportedly turned to former Ecuadorean officials, including exiled ex-President Rafael Correa, to advise on rescuing Venezuela's struggling economy amidst US sanctions. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: In 2002, the US-backed an attempted coup against democratically elected President Hugo
Chavez, publicly supported by figures like Otto Reich. Since then, successive US administrations have pursued a policy of 'regime change,' escalating to economic warfare. In 2017, the Trump administration imposed crushing financial sanctions, blocking Venezuela's access to international financing and oil exports. By 2019, further sanctions on the state oil company PDVSA and the Bank of Venezuela
crippled 99% of the country's foreign currency earnings. These actions, not 'socialist' blunders, are the primary drivers of the economic crisis. Double Standard: The FT frames Venezuela's economic struggles as a problem requiring 'rescue' by 'socialists,' while ignoring how similar (or far less onerous) sanctions against nations like Iran are widely reported as the deliberate tools of US foreign
policy designed to inflict maximum economic pain. When the US imposes sanctions that crash a national economy, it's 'pressure.' When the targeted nation struggles, it's 'failure.' The narrative implicitly absolves the sanctioning power. Follow the Money: The 'humanitarian aid' narrative often advanced by the US for Venezuela masks a substantial financial outlay for regime change activities. USAID