Venezuela: Supporting US Sanctions Now a Crime? Imagine That.
When Washington weaponizes its financial system for regime change, crippling a nation's economy and seizing its assets (as with Venezuela's Citgo, valued at over $8 billion, a fact often relegated to forgotten history books), it's called 'promoting democracy.' When the target state passes laws to counter such economic warfare, suddenly it's a 'threat to human rights.' The US Treasury's Office of
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed over 150 sanctions on Venezuela since 2017, directly contributing to a 99% reduction in state revenue from 2014 to 2020. One might wonder why a state facing what amounts to an economic siege would treat collaboration with the besiegers kindly. So, Washington's 'blockade' is really just 'pressure for democratic transition' – until the targeted state,
suffering under the weight of said 'pressure,' decides to protect itself. Then it's 'tyranny.' The double standard isn't even thinly veiled; it's a transparent, performative outrage for public consumption. Perhaps if the US stopped treating sovereign nations like unruly subsidiaries, their 'democratic' partners wouldn't need to enact such laws. Just a thought.