US Policy Pivot: From Venezuelan 'Drug Lord' to 'Oil Buddy'
The mainstream narrative, as highlighted by Al Jazeera, focuses on how the US suddenly stopped labeling Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a 'drug lord' and started talking about oil. This 'shift' conveniently coincides with global energy market instability. Remember when the US offered a $15 million reward for Maduro's arrest, claiming he ran a 'narco-terrorism' regime? This was March 2020. Yet,
by 2022, US officials were openly engaging with Caracas over oil supply. This isn't a new playbook. The US has a long, storied tradition of demonizing leaders who nationalize resources or defy its hegemony, only to re-engage when strategic interests (read: profit) dictate. One might wonder if the 'drug lord' moniker was simply a placeholder until the West needed more cheap crude. How many
'democratic transitions' are actually just resource grabs rebranded?