By Scaria Cherian
The U.S.’s recent attack on Venezuela reveals its continuing greed for oil and minerals. It is a repeat scenario of what has happened in Africa, West Asia and in Latin America. The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro shows America’s rivalry with the Bolivarian Party and the leftist government in Venezuela, as well as its objective of controlling natural resources and maintaining global hegemony – an approach historically associated with coups and invasions. The United States has always kept a close watch on the natural resources of Third World and developing countries. Therefore, Venezuela, with the largest oil reserves in the world, has always been in the radar of the U.S. Since the oil industry in Venezuela was nationalized, during Hugo Chávez’s tenure, America viewed Venezuela as an enemy and threat to their hegemony. The nationalization and ousting of American oil firms such as ExxonMobil and Chevron provoked the American state.
Since 2000s, the U.S. has as many times tried to invade Venezuela. During Hugo Chavez’s period, America even plotted a coup which was ousted by the Bolivarian leader and the people of Venezuela. But since then, the country has been punished with over 600 sanctions by United States. When Trump got into power for the second time, he has accused Venezuela as the centre of narco-terrorism and has attacked Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean and killed more than 100 Venezuelan citizens since last September. It was evident from those brutal incidents that Trump and his allies were eyeing to bring down Maduro from power at any cost. The awarding of Nobel Peace Prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader, who is also a firm supporter of Israel, Maria Korina Machado was also a plot that was set to make the world that everything was going wrong in Venezuela. America’s attack on Venezuela is not just about having control of the natural resources but not to lose the hegemony they have been enjoying for a while.
Petrodollar and America’s Supremacy
Venezuela having the 17% of world’s total oil reserve has been trying to overcome the US sanctions with help of China. Since US put oil sanctions, China has bought 80% of Venezuelan oil. Adding fuel to fire, these transactions has not been in dollar but Yuan which has threatened US. US has been aware that once the countries start using domestic currencies for oil trade, the supremacy of petrodollar will be lost which will eventually lead to the end of American supremacy in international trade.
Once such a move happens, US dollar will weaken and will boost alternative currencies like Yuan and Euro or even gold, forcing a move towards a multipolar world order with reduced US monetary control.
Countries like, Brazil now conducts 25-30% of its China trade in local currencies while Argentina being governed by a libertarian right-wing government still repays the IMF debts in RMB. The recent reports from Bank of China tells that 77% of the ASEAN business prefers RMB over Dollar for trading with China. The dollar system is being challenged by the Global South and third world nations and the continuation of this will be catastrophic to US influence and supremacy. The strengthening of BRICS+ and have decided to move away from US dollar by boosting gold accumulation. BRICS nations now control about 50% of the total gold production and their plan to introduce BRICS currency backed by gold have threatened Trump and American administration.
Furthermore, US has an eye on the rare earth mineral deposits in the Bolivarian nation. As per Venezuelan government sources, the Orinoco mining arc holds about 300,000 metric tons of rare earth minerals. It is estimated to be worthy of $200 billion once the mining starts. With the need for technological advancements in multifaceted aspects and of artificial intelligence, the role of rare earth elements is imminent and these elements could decide the power dynamics in international relations and geopolitics. With China restricting their export of rare earth elements once the tariff war took place, US has been focused on securing rare earth elements from other sources. US has been importing 80% of its rare earth elements and was heavily depended on China until the restrictions came into action. Finally, the manner in which Trump administration saw to stop the decline of US dominance was to bomb Venezuela and capture their President as US has done in the past with whoever tried to challenge their dominance.
Apart from the oil and minerals, it can be understood that US has bombed and captured Maduro in order to create a ruckus in Venezuela and thereby creating instability which then can be taken over or controlled by America. Trump has been pushing for the complete control of the western hemisphere similar to that of Munroe Doctrine. His recent comments on seizing Panama Canal, taking control of Greenland and the renaming of Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America shows his intentions of creating a sphere of influence the region. Control over the western hemisphere provides ample resources and lucrative markets where US can thrive. The control of western hemisphere can make sure that US don’t lose its dominance to China and to challenge the emerging multipolar world order.
It is high time that world leaders and international organisations recognised the imperial character of the American state. The devastation caused in countries such as Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Congo stands as glaring instances of US aggression and its long-term damage to economies, political systems, and sovereignty. America’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere, including Latin and North America, along with Trump’s plan to build a “Riviera” in Gaza, indiates an expanding imperial vision. Unless this expansionism is confronted through collective resistance, the world may witness even greater catastrophes in the years ahead.