US 'Attack' on Venezuela: The Independent Discovers Sanctions
The Independent inquires about Venezuela’s $150 billion national debt, asking 'who will take it on following the US attack?' The framing is classic: acknowledge a problem, call it an 'attack,' but neatly sidestep the fact that the US, under successive administrations, waged a documented campaign of crippling sanctions designed to collapse the Venezuelan economy and oust its government. (Remember
the Executive Order 13884 , banning transactions with the Venezuelan state, or the freezing of assets, including the $7 billion from Citgo, Venezuela's US refining subsidiary?) This isn't a sudden 'attack' but a slow strangulation, meticulously executed for years, costing tens of thousands of lives and billions in lost oil revenues. One might wonder at the timing: now that the 'attack' seems to
have achieved its desired economic devastation, the concern turns to the debt collectors. It's almost as if the architects of economic warfare are now positioning themselves as benevolent problem-solvers. The US imposed sanctions that blocked Venezuela from accessing international credit and selling its oil, directly contributing to its debt crisis, then wonders aloud about the consequences. It’s
the rhetorical equivalent of setting a house on fire and then asking, 'Who will pay for the water damage, now?'