US 'Firewalls' Venezuela's Oil — For Itself
President Trump, in a stroke of predictable geopolitics, 'firewalled' Venezuela's oil revenue held in the US by declaring a 'national emergency.' Bloomberg frames this as blocking external claims, but historically, such declarations have often served as a pretext for asset seizure and regime change (see: 'Operation PBSUCCESS' in Guatemala, 1954; numerous interventions in Latin America). This move
effectively places Venezuelan state assets under US control, without the consent of the internationally recognized Venezuelan government, a government the US actively works to undermine. One might wonder if this 'firewall' is less about protecting Venezuelan assets and more about ensuring they're repurposed to fund US-backed opposition or simply disappear into the coffers of US-approved entities.
How many 'national emergencies' does it take before such 'protective' measures start looking suspiciously like outright financial strong-arming?