Venezuela
Liberating Latin American Oil.
Well, if your leader is a fugitive of American justice
And if your people need a liberation from their own soil
If you're a threat to our national security
Well, we're probably just in need of your oil
Songwriter: Jesse Welles.
If today is Saturday, this must be Caracas.
You never know who Donald Trump will bomb. Some countries get badmouthed over a long period without anyone being blown up, and sometimes American democracy comes in the night in the form of high explosives.
Just a week ago, Trump launched strikes in Nigeria, which he called a Christmas Present.
“They were going to do it earlier,” Trump said of the West African airstrikes. “And I said, ‘nope, let’s give a Christmas present.”
“They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated.”
Then yesterday morning, Trump started threatening Iran, saying that if that regime were to crack down on political unrest, then he would take action.
God forbid we should have a Middle Eastern state that uses its military forces against its own citizens, right, Mr Netanyahu?
Of course, Trump has been attacking Venezuela for some time. Murdering simple fishermen and claiming they were “narco-terrorists,” or indulging in piracy on the high seas and liberating fully laden Venezuelan oil tankers on their way to market.
Still, when you consider how many threats Trump makes, you never know which countries will get bombed and which are just being mocked by the bully.
Even though the rhetoric had been heating up, it still came as a bit of surprise to hear that the US had invaded Venezuela. I posted:
Sounds like Venezuela is getting a taste of ‘Merican Freedom.
Guess that’ll teach them for having oil.
It’s certainly not hard to conclude that oil reserves, rather than narcotic production, were the key driver here, but what else might be a factor in Trump’s decision to send in the troops?
A brief intermission…
This year, I took a couple of weeks off over Christmas for the first time in years, assuming that you good folks would be ok with me taking a break, like anyone else.
And this is what happened to my subscriptions…
Basically, they fell off a cliff, and I lost the equivalent of all the new subscribers I had attracted over 2025 in just a couple of weeks, which was hugely demotivating.
I appreciate that costs are high. After writing yesterday’s newsletter about lamb, I went to the butcher, but the price of beef and lamb was so outrageous that I left with chicken. I’ve deliberately kept my subscriptions affordable at $80 per year, and given what's happened, my appetite for sending newsletters out free is pretty low.
If a subscription that works out to less than $7 per month when paid annually isn't going to break the bank, please subscribe today. I would very much appreciate your support. It enables me to write this newsletter, and if enough people chip in, I’m happy to send out more free ones.
Why Venezuela?
Usually, Trump prefers to blow up brown people who are not Christians, but Socialist Latinos (with oil) are also a valid target, it turns out.
These times call for strong measures, and it needs to be of consequence if it’s going to distract the US public from all that Epstein stuff.
Not a major one like taking out Putin; he’s a strong man and must be respected, but someone with less of a KGB background who is not backed by nukes. What could be better than a unionist who started as a bus driver?
Step up, Nicolás Maduro, you’ll do nicely.
Just a quick invasion, snatch President Maduro and his wife, and then home in time for breakfast. What could be finer?
So why Venezuela? Is it:
The War on Drugs, and Trump believes he can disrupt the supply of narcotics to the US?
All about the oil? Are you even serious?
Because Venezuela is famous for producing Beauty Queens, and heck, it’s not like Melania is fun anymore?
Liberating the world from socialism, one country at a time?
Realistically, it’s a combination of a few of those, coupled with the fact that Trump saw the Venezuelan leader as weak. I mean, here he is responding to the hijacking of an oil tanker last month, not meeting strength with strength but instead singing a song about not worrying and being happy.
Now I’m not going to pretend that Maduro’s last election result was kosher or that he treats dissenters well. Still, Trump has not only been fine with right-wing dictators in Latin America, but he has actively supported them.
From Bolsonaro in Brazil to wee Davey Seymour’s mate Javier Milei in Argentina, and the purchase of their recent election via a gift of $20b from Trump to Make Argentina Great Again.
Whatever we might think of the dictatorship that has existed in Venezuela, it’s another thing altogether to have Trump deciding unilaterally who stays in power and who gets taken back to Washington.
Meanwhile, ever at the UN, if you remember those guys, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “The secretary general continues to emphasise the importance of full respect – by all – of international law, including the UN charter. He’s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”
So what happens now?
So now that Trump has removed Maduro from power and his country, what’s the plan?
You know how this story goes, the US act quickly and then spends decades trying to extract itself from a situation of its own making. Trump’s limitless belief in his own abilities suggests that few lessons, if any, have been learned from past endeavours.
The US has a history of removing regimes in Latin America that it doesn’t like and installing more agreeable arrangements that suit it better, but these arrangements never seem to work out very well for the majority of citizens.
Trump doesn’t seem the nation-building type. Sure, he might slap his name on a few buildings or golf courses, but you know he’s going to be easily distracted.
Already noises are coming out of Washington that suggest Cuba might be the next cab of the rank when it comes to receiving some good ole’ American Freedom.
Trump said, “Cuba, as you know, is not doing very well right now. That system has not been a very good one for Cuba. The people there have suffered for many, many years, and I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now, very badly failing, and we want to help the people.”
The one thing that might save that regime is the fact that they don’t have any oil. Not that this is about oil, of course…
Asked about Venezuela’s oil industry, Trump replied: “We’re gonna be very strongly involved in it. That’s all. What can I say? We have the greatest oil companies in the world – the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it.”
Well, I guess that settles why the US chose to invade the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, rather than someone else who might deserve it more
As for Maduro, this is what Trump had to say about him: “He was in a house that was more like a fortress than a house. It had steel doors, it had what they call a safety space where it’s solid steel … He was trying to get into it, but he got bumrushed so fast that he didn’t.”
What statesmanship!
U.S. Attorney General, and first against the wall when the war crime trials begin, Pam Bondi, tweeted, “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
The “full wrath of American justice,” what a delightful phrase, perhaps it should be added to the Statue of Liberty, so people around the world know what America stands for now.
As for what happens to the Venezuelan people, Trump said, “We’re making that decision now. We can’t take a chance on letting somebody else run it and just take over where he left off … We’ll be involved in it very much. And we want to do liberty for the people.”
That sounds like a very controlled rollout of freedom. Liberty for the people, providing they choose someone agreeable to their American overlords.
Don’t you love the smell of democracy in the morning?
I’ll wrap it up there for today, have a good Sunday, folks, and just be glad we haven’t got much in the way of oil.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
To end today, here’s Jesse Welles with his song, Venezuela:
Nick, firstly, I am gutted about your subscription numbers.
Yes, I know things are tough, but come on, folks, we need Nick's news because it's about the only one we can trust to be honest and unflinching.
If you can afford it, please give a guest subscription as well as paying for your own. Putting it in some kind of perspective: $80 will buy 9 salmon and lemon butter pies from a bakery in Waikanae, or 16 cappucinos (if they are still $5 each), or 4 kg of mince, or ... (add your own comparatives). And none of them give the same value as Nick's Korero, not do they? Be honest!
Anyway, Nick, this morning I told my husband about the Venezuelan president being captured (had seen it on fb) and he said 'why?' 'Oil' sez I.
Glad to see that Jesse Welles agrees and you too. But I do wish none of us were because we didn't need to be having this conversation.
Nigeria and then Cuba next? WTAF?
Hell in a handbasket.
Hugs, Nick,
Marilyn
Damn, here we go again, this sort of thing did not go well in Iraq..Vietnam, Libya, Syria, etc etc etc