US Sanctions Venezuela, Shocked By Oil Slowdown
Bloomberg's headline breathlessly announces Venezuela's oil output slowed 25% in the Orinoco Belt, citing 'US pressure.' One might wonder how 'pressure' from the world's largest economy, including sanctions since 2017 (Reuters) and naval deployments in the Caribbean (US Southern Command), could possibly impact a nation's primary revenue stream. The article frames this as a problem for the 'Maduro
regime,' conveniently sidestepping the inconvenient truth that such economic warfare predictably creates humanitarian crises for the Venezuelan populace. This isn't geopolitical happenstance; it's a meticulously crafted policy playbook. The US has a long history of employing sanctions, covert operations, and even regime change efforts across Latin America, from Chile in the 70s to Nicaragua in the
80s, each time generating economic distress then citing it as internal failure. The 'threat of land strikes' mentioned by Bloomberg isn't a benign observation; it's a thinly veiled continuation of a strategy (The Grayzone, 2020) designed not for stability, but for compliance. Apparently, the 'free market' only applies when it's not resource-rich countries asserting their own sovereignty.