US 'Focuses On Pressure,' Because 'Military Options' Were Too Obvious
This is Washington's standard playbook. A U.S. official, conveniently anonymous to Reuters, declares a shift from bombs to poverty. (Lesser of two evils, they imply). Yet, these 'economic pressures'—sanctions that throttle a nation's ability to trade and feed its people—are a slower, often more agonizing form of warfare. Remember, the UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions, Alena Douhan, found in 2021
that US sanctions on Venezuela had 'devastating impact on the entire population.' So, the 'focus' isn't really on avoiding harm, it's on avoiding the PR headache of open military intervention for now. The goal remains what it's been since Chávez: control over Venezuelan oil. How many civilian lives does 'sanctions' claim before it's called what it is: economic strangulation for geopolitical gain?