It’s far too early to prophesy the effects of the American attack on Venezuela, though recent history provides plenty of ugly warnings.

And it’s a thankless task to list all the reasons for the attack, from Epstein distraction to a sphere-of-influence carve up of the planet (watch out Taiwan) to the basic idea that President Donald Trump opposes any and all restraint on his power. (The United Nations charter: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” The US constitution: "The Congress shall have the power…To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.”) Also, so much fun playing Army: Here’s the president of the US Saturday morning: “I watched it literally l like I was watching a television show. If you would've seen the speed, the violence—it was an amazing thing."

(I think we can take it for granted that the stated charges from the attorney general are not the reasons, since pretty much everyone agrees that that Venezuela is not a big drug exporter to the US and the president just pardoned the president ofHonduras who actually was a serious pusher. Oh, and “Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns” is something we now encourage for Americans.)

But the following chart is certainly suggestive.

Those are the countries on Earth with the biggest oil reserves, and they are almost without exception the same places we’ve been involved in endless fighting or, in the case of Canada, endless threatening. (Greenland, by the way, also has significant oil reserves; it put them off limits in 2021, banning oil exploration on climate change grounds). We probably don’t care much about human rights violations in Venezuela, because human rights are not currently on the top (or the bottom) of our State Department’s concerns (except for white South Africans). But we almost certainly care deeply about that oil. In fact, it’s not exactly hidden—here’s what Trump said in mid-December.

And as he said Saturday morning on Fox News, regarding the Venezuelan oil industry:

I do not, in the short run, know of a way to rein in this kind of imperialism. Congress as currently constituted will not stand up to Trump, and we don’t get a chance to start reconstituting Congress till November; even if the Democrats controlled........

© Common Dreams