FLASH
Shkruar nga Belen Fernandez
Trump's new violent tactics build on years of US sanctions and interventions that have devastated ordinary Venezuelans...
Tensions between the United States and Venezuela escalated again this week after the Donald Trump administration took another aggressive action against the Latin American country, seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Trump called the ship “the largest ever seized” and asked reporters to follow it by helicopter to see the event for themselves.
The incident comes as the US has repeatedly attacked small vessels in the Caribbean, accusing them of drug trafficking, a claim that many experts say is unfounded. Trump himself has said he will “keep the oil” seized, sparking criticism of the true intentions of the US intervention, which is often disguised as a war on drugs.
Meanwhile, there have also been news of secret CIA missions being sent inside Venezuela and the country's airspace being closed by a unilateral decree from Trump, however, flights to deport migrants to Venezuela continue.
A war that has been going on for years
The latest actions are part of a broader conflict that began earlier. Since the failed coup against Hugo Chavez in 2002, the US has pursued a steady course of sanctions and pressure on Venezuela. These measures, which were intensified by Trump in 2019 to support opposition leader Juan Guaidó, have had severe humanitarian consequences.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington estimates that sanctions caused over 40,000 deaths in 2017-2018 alone. In 2020, a UN report estimated that 100,000 people had lost their lives due to sanctions, while more than 2.5 million Venezuelans faced severe food insecurity.
The Trump Paradox and the War on Drugs
Ironically, while the US is taking action against so-called drug traffickers in Venezuela, Trump has pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras convicted of drug trafficking in the US. This move further raises doubts about the sincerity of the US strategy in the region.
For many international observers, the situation in Venezuela is increasingly resembling the US intervention in Iraq in the early 2000s, with unfounded accusations and severe humanitarian consequences.
A young Venezuelan who had attempted to immigrate to the US through the Darien Gap and was subsequently deported to Caracas said curtly, “I have no words,” when asked about the current situation. This sentiment represents hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens who are suffering the consequences of a geopolitical conflict that goes beyond their borders.
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