By labeling drugs as “weapons of mass destruction” and their traffickers as “narcoterrorists,” Donald Trump maintained for months the appearance that his stranglehold on Venezuela was about American lives. The significant military build-up in Caribbean waters revealed that ‘regime change‘ and the possible violent end of autocrat Nicolás Maduro hung in the air.
Immediately after the extraordinary operation in which American commandos kidnapped Maduro and his wife from their safe house early this Saturday and brought them to New York for prosecution, Trump showed that he is really concerned about Venezuelan oil and imperialist power.
“We are going to ensure that the oil flows as it should again” and “We are going to run the country” – which can mean both governing and operating – Trump said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. “Until we can achieve a safe, appropriate and sensible transition.” An open ending, no clear plan. We shy away from this boots on the ground not,” he threatened further military escalation on land.
The echoes of previous US interventions and invasions, especially that of Iraq (2003-2011), were loud. Trump also claimed that “peace, freedom and justice for the great people of Venezuela” would be crucial. The type of interference that a large part of his supporters abhor. In any case, he believes that he is far too concerned with foreign policy and not enough with domestic concerns.
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Regime change
It soon became clear that the decapitation of the regime does not mean that Trump attaches great importance to real change of that regime and to democratic self-determination by the Venezuelans who have lived for years under Maduro’s reign of terror. Trump has “not really” had contact with the recent Nobel Prize winner María Corina Machado, the most popular opposition leader. “She is a very nice woman, but she has no respect in the country,” he claimed.
Trump has more confidence in Maduro’s interim successor, his longtime vice president and oil minister, Delcy Rodríguez. “She is, in principle, prepared to do what we deem necessary.” Whether voluntarily or not. “She has no other choice.”
Rodríguez responded in a fierce televised speech that Venezuela “will never again become a colony of another empire” and called Maduro the country’s “only president.” However, she did keep the door open for “respectful relations” with the US.
Oil
Respectful relations, as Trump makes clear to the entire Western Hemisphere with his intervention in Venezuela, mean: doing what he says and closing deals. “All political and military leaders must realize that what happened to Maduro can happen to them too.” A message that was also intended for Colombia, Panama, Cuba and Denmark. The wife of Stephen Miller, the most rabid man in the White House, posted Saturday evening a brat tweet with an American flag on the map of Greenland and the word “soon”.
“We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors. We want to surround ourselves with stability. We want to surround ourselves with good energy (sources),” Trump said. And “it won’t cost us anything, because the money coming out of the ground is significant.” Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, but its exploitation has collapsed since the beginning of this century due to corruption and socialist mismanagement.
“We are going to call in our very large American oil companies, the largest in the world. They will invest billions of dollars, restore the badly damaged oil infrastructure and thus make money for the country.”
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Source from Maduro
The military action itself, ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’was described by Trump with the usual superlatives as “an extraordinary overnight success, with breathtaking speed, power, precision and competence.” A Reuters reconstruction shows that the CIA – perhaps helped by the $50 million tip money offered to snitch on Maduro – had a source close to Maduro who kept them informed of his exact whereabouts. There were said to be no American casualties. According to Venezuelan reports, as many as forty people were killed on their side.
Maduro arrived on Saturday evening in a sweatsuit and slippers in New York, where Justice Minister Pam Bondi had already announced that he would face “the full wrath of the American justice system.” One narco president is not the same as another, according to Trump. A few weeks ago he pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former leader of Honduras who was serving a 45-year prison sentence for his proven role in drug trafficking. Just before Honduras again elected a president favorable to him.
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International law
Trump attempted the military kidnapping to package as self-defense and law enforcement, but there is no doubt that his kidnapping is against international law. An act of war without congressional authorization also violates the U.S. Constitution. But these are not matters that Trump cares about. And no one can hold him to it – except for a (hopeless) impeachment.
The Democratic opposition reacted angrily and wants a vote on a ban on further military interference in Venezuela. Trump has “declared war on a foreign nation without authorization, without notice, and without any explanation to the American people,” wrote Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. “Whatever comes next, President Trump will bear the consequences.”
Most Republicans praised the successful capture of Maduro, the bravery of their own soldiers and Trump. Some did ask to “hear more about the administration’s plans for a smooth transition,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana) posted. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) wondered “what could justify this action from a constitutional perspective.” But after a conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he went back to his cage. “The kinetic action was used to protect and defend those who executed the arrest warrant.”
Trump likes to hark back to the history in which America would have been great and follows the old Monroe Doctrine with his imperialism in the Western Hemisphere. The lesson he proclaimed in all three of his presidential campaigns against military intervention, pretexts, pretexts and regime change – the total uncertainty after the ‘we got him‘ from the autocratic leader – he seems to have been conveniently forgotten.
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