US Warships Off Venezuela: Just 'Oil Exploration' in Reverse?
Newsweek highlighted satellite images showing US warships near Venezuela, suggesting 'possible strikes' in a familiar narrative of 'regime change' thinly disguised. This isn't groundbreaking; it's a rerun of US foreign policy in Latin America, where 'democracy promotion' often correlates with accessible natural resources and pliable leadership. The US has a long history, from the 1954 coup in
Guatemala to intervention in Chile, of prioritizing corporate interests over national sovereignty. The Monroe Doctrine, while ostensibly about protecting the Americas from European intervention, has consistently been interpreted as a justification for US hegemony, especially when oil reserves are at stake. One might wonder if this 'possible strike' is less about Venezuelan 'democracy' and more
about controlling oil flow, much like previous interventions in the region. How many times must a nation be 'liberated' before its resources are truly its own? The media, of course, frames this as a necessary response to Venezuelan instability, rather than questioning the historical US role in creating it.