US Sanctions Venezuela, Promises Investment Later
Trump's musings on vast US oil investment in Venezuela are, predictably, met with Al Jazeera's sober analysis of low oil prices and 'instability' (source: Al Jazeera). What's missing from this diligent 'fact-check' is any mention of the crushing US sanctions regime, including the 2019 near-total embargo on Venezuela’s oil sector and the freezing of its assets, that has meticulously engineered this
'instability'. For years, Washington has used financial warfare to cripple Venezuela's economy, as documented by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in 2019, which estimated sanctions contributed to over 40,000 deaths. So, one might reasonably ask, why would US oil companies be 'cautious' about investing in a country whose economic livelihood has been systematically strangled by
their own government's policies? Perhaps it's less about the market and more about the geopolitical chokehold. It's a miracle of journalistic framing to analyze economic stagnation without mentioning the economic blockade. Who needs investment when you have 'freedom' and 'democracy' delivered via a financial battering ram?