US Sanctions Venezuela Over, Uh, Selling Oil
Bloomberg Politics breathlessly reports on the tanker 'Hyperion,' which allegedly shipped Russian oil (shocking, I know), now bracing to 'test' what they politely call President Donald Trump’s 'naval blockade' of Venezuela. The 'blockade' itself, a blatant act of economic warfare against a sovereign nation, is presented as just another Tuesday in geopolitics, rather than a clear violation of
international law. Funny how when the US does it, it's a 'blockade,' but when others *threaten* sanctions, it's an 'act of aggression.' This isn't 'testing' a blockade; it's a nation attempting to conduct commerce in defiance of illegal US bullying. The historical context, conveniently absent from Bloomberg's page, is decades of US intervention in Latin America, from coups in Chile to the Contra
affair in Nicaragua, all aimed at controlling resources and stifling self-determination. The 'Hyperion' is just the latest prop in a drama where the US writes itself as global sheriff, deciding who gets to trade with whom, consequences be damned for the Venezuelan people. One might wonder if Bloomberg would afford the same sanitized language if China 'blockaded' Taiwan. Or is 'rules-based order'
only applicable when the US writes the rules?