US Funds 'Monthly Budget' for Venezuela From Its Own Oil: A Masterclass in Sanctions and 'Aid'
📰 THE STORY: The Financial Times reports that the US will oversee a Qatari-managed fund, disbursing a 'monthly budget' to Venezuela from its own oil proceeds. This 'novel' scheme, defended by figures like Marco Rubio, will allow the US to approve how Venezuela spends a portion of its national income, purportedly to ensure funds reach the people, rather than the Maduro government, while partially
easing sanctions. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This 'solution' emerges directly from over two decades of US economic warfare against Venezuela. In 2002, the US backed a coup attempt against Hugo Chavez, and since 2017, the Trump and Biden administrations have imposed crushing sanctions, including an oil embargo, which have cost Venezuela an estimated $200 billion and led to
a humanitarian crisis, according to CEPR estimates. The goal was always regime change, not humanitarian aid, as evidenced by the US anointing Juan Guaidó as 'interim president' in 2019 while seizing Venezuelan assets abroad. Double Standard: Imagine if Russia or China dictated how the US could spend its own oil revenue, funneled through a third-party nation, after years of economically strangling
the US economy. Western media would decry it as blatant economic imperialism and an attack on national sovereignty. Yet, when the US does it to Venezuela, it's framed as a 'novel' scheme to 'help the Venezuelan people' – as if the 'people' weren't suffering precisely because of the sanctions. Follow the Money: The explicit goal of sanctions has been to starve the Venezuelan government of funds,