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Venezuela and Oil

Trump did not hide that a major reason for the attack and kidnapping of Maduro was aimed at putting the US in control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, described as “our oil” by Trump.

However, there are other factors behind Trump’s move against Venezuela.  The new National Security Strategy makes it clear: the Monrow doctrine of the 1820s is back on steroids.  Back then, President Monroe declared that European nations must not interfere or try to control Latin America, as this was now the ‘sphere of influence’ for the United States of America.  Now under Trump, globalisation has given way to ‘Making America Great Again’ by firmly establishing Latin America as the US imperialism’s backyard.  That means no country can be allowed to resist US policy and interests.  ‘Friendly regimes’ must be installed to enable both privileged American use of resources and the ability to deny those to competitors. That means growing Chinese influence and investment in the region must be blocked – while Venezuelan oil made up just 300,000 of the 11.3m barrels China imported each day in 2025, according to the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, companies from the People’s Republic had gained a foothold in Venezuela’s oil-drilling industry.

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