US Sanctions Venezuelan Officials Again: Freedom, But For Whom?
Al Jazeera highlights the latest US sanctions, targeting relatives and associates of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. This comes just days after the US imposed a blockade on Venezuela's oil tankers. The US government cites 'corruption' and 'undemocratic practices.' Yet, conveniently omitted from this narrative is the fact that the US has been actively seeking regime change in Venezuela since
at least 2002's attempted coup against Hugo Chávez, an effort funded and supported by US agencies including the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), as detailed by numerous investigative journalists. One might wonder if 'democracy' means 'compliance with US economic interests' when the world's self-appointed freedom police target every nation that dares to nationalize its resources. With oil,
natural gas, and gold reserves, Venezuela's 'corruption' often seems to align perfectly with its unwillingness to cede control to Western corporations. The timing of an oil tanker blockade followed by 'humanitarian' sanctions is just a coincidence, of course—nothing to see here but pure, unbiased benevolent intervention.