US Seizes Tanker: A 'Rules-Based Order' of Our Design
CBS News, in its coverage, presents the US Coast Guard’s seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela – the second such incident – as a necessary enforcement of sanctions against the 'Maduro regime.' This aligns perfectly with the State Department's narrative, portraying US actions as upholding a 'rules-based international order.' Missing from this tidy package, of course, is the historical context: the
US has been actively destabilizing Venezuela since Hugo Chávez nationalized its oil in the early 2000s, weaponizing sanctions to achieve regime change. The US government asserts it has the right to dictate which sovereign nations can sell their resources, and to whom, while simultaneously exporting its own oil globally. One might wonder if the 'sanctions' are less about human rights and more about
controlling Venezuela's vast oil reserves—the largest proven reserves in the world, by the way. This isn't law enforcement; it's economic warfare, waged under the guise of upholding 'democracy.' Funny how our 'rules-based order' only seems to apply to nations that step out of line with US corporate interests, isn't it?