In search of oil or democracy?

The Netherlands [ENA] The world is once again in turmoil. In fact, there has never been a day when the world was not in turmoil. Personally, I remember a time of calm only during the Soviet period in which I was born and spent my childhood and adolescence. That was because I was a child and un-aware of what was happening in the world. At school, we were also taught that the USSR was a strong state and that no matter what happened...

...in the world, we, as Soviet citizens, would always be safe. And we believed that we were. The Soviet Union collapsed, and the global balance of power was disrupted. One hegemonic state remained: the United States of America. Since then, it has been, almost without excep-tion, the sole dominant voice in world affairs. The world is in turmoil. What is happening in Iran is one issue. Russia’s occupation of Ukraine has already moved into the background. Perhaps one of the goals was precisely this: to push the latter into the background. Perhaps. Who knows.

Incidentally, according to many political experts, Iran may be next. At present, however, the topic under discussion is the abduction of the Venezuelan president and his wife by the United States. As is known, they were taken to New York. This has been justified by labeling the Venezuelan president a dictator. But who is more of a dictator? The one who ignores the laws of his own country and rules authoritarianly, or the one who violates another country’s borders, disregards international organizations, rules and laws, and abducts that country’s president together with his wife?

It is an interesting question, in my view. Even the American media approaches this issue differently from the country’s president. Some excerpts from the U.S. press: The New York Times: “An illegal and reckless move.” The Washington Post: “Trump did not obtain congressional approval for the Maduro opera-tion.” All of this says a great deal. In reality, President Trump had long been trying to force the Venezuelan president out of power by every possible means. He was preparing for it. Still, it was difficult to imagine things going this far. President Trump had repeatedly spoken about the oil reserves in that country and about American companies being pushed out of Venezuela, particularly from the oil sector.

Even so, it was hard to expect such an outcome. After the incident, the U.S. president openly declared that Venezuela would be temporarily governed by the United States, claiming this would be done through legal means. Yet the question remains open: how lawful is it to violate another country’s borders and abduct its president together with his wife? How consistent is this with international law? Is the real goal truly the restoration of democracy, or the return of American oil companies to Venezuela and, indirectly, control over the country’s oil? I would like to conclude with a quote from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables: “Is the crime of those who punish not greater than the crime of the one being pun-ished?”