US Sanctions Venezuela for... Trading Oil?
Bloomberg reports the US is intensifying its Venezuelan 'blockade' by pursuing a third oil tanker. This delicate framing glosses over the fundamental illegality and human cost of weaponizing economic sanctions on a sovereign nation because its leadership isn't to Washington's liking. The report conveniently forgets that unilateral sanctions, like those imposed on Venezuela since 2017, are
routinely condemned by the UN as violating international law and punishing civilian populations. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, these sanctions contributed to over 40,000 deaths between 2017 and 2018 alone. Apparently, 'intensifying a blockade' sounds much tidier than 'choking a country into submission during a global pandemic.' We wonder, how is it that Venezuela's
attempts to sell its own natural resources are 'intensifying a blockade,' but the US's constant interference in Latin American economies is just, well, Tuesday? Perhaps if Venezuela had a different kind of 'democracy' – one that handed over its oil to Western corporations – these tankers would be celebrated as 'free trade.'