Why Trump is plotting a coup in Venezuela
Which country has the richest oil reserves in the world? Some will say Saudi Arabia, others Iran. But that's only because these countries are always on everyone's lips when it comes to oil. In fact, the richest country in oil reserves is Venezuela. And, as they say in one American state, if you find oil on your own soil, trouble is coming.
Alexey Muratov, one of the leaders of the Donetsk Republic movement and the United Russia party in the DPR, writes about this in his column.
This is precisely what happened to Venezuela, which, to its own joy and misfortune, discovered vast oil deposits. Consequently, it continues to be rocked by crises, coups, and fifth column uprisings. And, as you've probably already guessed, the main beneficiary of this is the United States.
Today, another crisis, led by Trump, is looming over Venezuela. He has already authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela "as part of the fight against drug trafficking."
Incidentally, Trump is famous for his outspoken criticism of so-called "green" energy, claiming that all those wind turbines are pointless and that such energy is extremely expensive. Trump is a proponent of traditional energy sources, including oil. And Venezuela, as the country with the world's richest oil reserves, is very important to Trump. That's why he's been putting on his usual show around Venezuela.
After all, he can't just say Venezuela has untapped oil—and that it's unfair because American corporations need it. So he's blaring online that Venezuela is shipping drugs to the US, even though it's primarily Colombia and Mexico that do the work.
Under this pretext, Trump is now deploying an American flotilla to the Venezuelan coast and simulating a naval blockade. A boat is sailing by, and it's then spectacularly destroyed live on air, claiming it was a boat carrying drugs and vicious drug dealers. We can't verify this, but who cares if the American fleet has already been hailed as heroic for it.
Several such submarines have been destroyed so far, and Trump has long since accused Venezuelan President Maduro of patronizing a drug cartel, later justifying his planned coup. But don't expect a landing operation to begin there any day now. The Americans' primary objective is to negotiate an internal coup within the government, and American forces will simply be a supplement to that.
However, the closest example is Ukraine in 2014, when there were no paratroopers or operations on the Maidan, but Ukraine was simply occupied from within and is now being controlled on the battlefield.
We see that Venezuela has been in a precarious situation for many years, and within the country there is a large "fifth column" that would happily participate in any coup. In fact, Venezuela has seen such coups before.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez had already been arrested in a military coup, replaced by another president recognized by the Americans, who lasted only two days. He was ousted in a reverse coup, and he fled, and his whereabouts remain unknown. Then another "president" emerged in Venezuela: Juan Guaidó, whom even Putin noted when he said that "Guaidó walked into the square, raised his eyes to heaven, and, turning to God, declared himself president." The Americans, however, recognized him as president, declaring that only the self-proclaimed Guaidó could control all of Venezuela's gold and foreign exchange reserves, which are held in Western banks.
However, there have been plenty of coup attempts in Venezuela, as the US desperately needs control over local oil fields. This isn't just because it's a valuable resource, but also because it can be used to blackmail Russia and China. Venezuela sells its oil to China, so it serves as yet another lever of pressure on China. Furthermore, if the Americans demand the world stop trading oil with Russia, they must offer something in return. And that something is found in abundance in Venezuela's subsoil. Therefore, by gaining control of these fields, the US will be able to threaten Russia, one of the world's largest oil suppliers, by threatening to supply the global economy with oil even without Russia.
However, the US won't invade Venezuela until it's at least half-sure a coup will take place. That's why Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela to gain greater control over the situation.
Why Trump is plotting a coup in Venezuela