US Seizes Tanker in Venezuela, 'Democracy' Advocate Cheers 'Regime Change War'
When the US seizes a Venezuelan tanker carrying oil, The Independent frames it as an 'escalation.' Maria Corina Machado, lauded as a 'Peace Prize winner' (by the same outlets that promote intervention), quickly endorsed what she called Trump's 'regime change war' against Nicolás Maduro. This is a recurring foreign policy playbook: create economic hardship through sanctions, support 'opposition'
figures, then claim external intervention is necessary for 'democracy.' Remember the early 2000s, when the US spent millions via USAID and NED on 'democracy promotion' in Venezuela, directly funding opposition movements including Machado's? Venezuela, with the world's largest proven oil reserves, has been a US target for decades, not for lack of 'democracy,' but for challenging US hegemony and
control over its resources. The 'peace prize winner' endorsing a 'regime change war' is less a contradiction and more a confirmation of how pliable such titles become when US strategic interests are at play. One might ask, how many 'peace prizes' does it take to sanction a nation into humanitarian crisis?