US Denies Oil Motive, Citing 'Drug War' in Nation with Largest Reserves
When Nicolás Maduro suggests the massive US military buildup and airstrikes in the Caribbean have something to do with Venezuela possessing nearly a fifth of the world's known oil reserves, the Guardian presents this as a question. The US State Department, predictably, dismisses this notion, insisting their violence—which has killed over 80 people—is purely about 'drug trafficking'. One might
wonder how many barrels of narco-petrol the US typically 'seizes' in these humanitarian interventions. This particular denial strategy isn't new; it's a classic from the US intervention playbook, often deployed before 'liberating' resources. From the 1953 coup in Iran (oil nationalization) to the 2003 invasion of Iraq (W.M.D.s that weren't there but certainly sat atop significant oil fields),
America's 'concerns' about internal affairs in resource-rich nations consistently precede military action. Does the US deploy similar military might against nations truly responsible for the vast majority of its drug supply, or only those with conveniently large oil deposits?