US Sanctions Venezuela, Ignoring Two Decades of Failed Policy
The Financial Times frames Trump's renewed sanctions and seizures against Venezuela as 'turning up the heat' on a 'crisis'. This narrative conveniently forgets the US has been turning up this particular heat since Hugo Chávez dared to suggest nationalizing oil in 2001. Sanctions, coup attempts (2002, remember?), and economic warfare have been the constant under both Republican and Democratic
administrations, all while the Venezuelan people bear the brunt. This isn't turning up the heat; it's reheating a cold, stale dish of regime change. One might wonder if the 'crisis' in Venezuela isn't merely a convenient byproduct—or perhaps, the intended effect—of a sustained campaign to control its vast oil reserves. After 20 years of 'maximum pressure' leading to economic collapse and mass
migration, how many more 'turns' of the screw are needed before even the Financial Times might question the stated objectives? Or is 'democracy promotion' simply a euphemism for destabilization when a country doesn't play ball?