US Seizes Venezuelan Oil, Asks 'Why They Mad Tho?'
Professor Rachel VanLandingham dissects the 'legality' of the US seizing Venezuelan oil, while a Democratic Representative laments healthcare failures. This selective outrage is a classic; you'll find no mention of the crippling US sanctions on Venezuela—sanctions that cost Venezuela's oil industry an estimated $23 billion from 2017 to 2020, according to a 2021 CEPR report. The same sanctions
that, by 2019, had reportedly cut Venezuelan government revenue by 99%, as reported by the UN. It’s a peculiar brand of 'balanced' discussion when the root causes – our causes – are conveniently forgotten. One might wonder if the 'legality' of starvation via sanctions ever gets a slot. They discuss military strikes and seizures, but the context of deliberate economic strangulation? That’s
apparently outside the 'balance of power' scope. How many times does a nation have to be economically kneecapped before its resources become 'fair game'?