US Offers to Reimburse Firms for Coup-Soured Oil Deals
Donald Trump, days after attempting to install a new leader in Venezuela—an effort Bloomberg coyly frames as 'ousting strongman Nicolás Maduro'—suggested the U.S. might subsidize companies to 'rebuild' the very industry his administration helped cripple. The U.S. has maintained a suffocating sanctions regime against Venezuela for years, specifically targeting its oil sector, which has
systematically dismantled its economy and impoverished its people. Now, apparently, American taxpayers are on the hook to clean up—and profit from—the mess made by 'foreign policy' decisions that prioritize resource control over human welfare. One might wonder if the 'reimbursement' is for damages incurred during the US-backed 'transition,' or simply a pre-payment for future plunder. It's a
classic case of privatizing profits and socializing costs. The same firms that likely benefited from the initial destabilization will now line up for government handouts, courtesy of the American public, to 'stabilize' things once it's profitable again. How generous of the U.S. government to offer a safety net for corporate adventurism, especially when 'democracy promotion' so often smells like
crude oil.