Numerous outlets have picked up on the AP story this past week telling us that Trump was serious about wanting to invade Venezuela last year (here, here, here, here). Below I have posted an excerpt from a decent article at The Greanville Post discussing the geopolitics of the US relationship with Venezuela. You can read the entire Greanville article here.
“Even as Washington attempts to tighten the noose around the Venezuelan economy, China has provided somewhat of a lifeline to the Maduro government. Venezuela’s Finance Minister Simon Zerpa issued a statement after meetings in Beijing this week that the China Development Bank and China National Petroleum Corporation have agreed to invest $250 million in Venezuela’s beleaguered state-run oil corporation, PDVSA, which has seen production levels drop to an all-time low this year. In addition, he reported that China was prepared to extend a “special loan” of $5 billion “for direct investment in production.”
“While Venezuela has in the past exported 40 percent of its oil to the US market, it has increasingly shifted toward China, paying off loans with crude oil. The Venezuelan oil sector, however, still remains dependent upon the US for the import of technology, light crude and other products needed to blend with Venezuelan heavy oil for export.
“With Venezuela boasting the world’s largest proven oil reserves, China’s role in propping up the Maduro government provides an additional motivation, beyond the profit interests of the US energy conglomerates, for Washington to intervene.
“These motives have been spelled out in the recent national strategy and defense documents issued by the Trump administration and the Pentagon, defining both Russia and China as “revisionist powers” seeking to challenge US global hegemony and charting a course of preparation for “great power” conflicts.
“Venezuela and Latin America as a whole will be an arena for these conflicts. Trump’s demands to know why the US cannot simply invade Venezuela are not merely the ravings of the right-wing demagogue in the White House, but a warning of what is to come.”
I have written a number of posts about US interference (yes, coercive interference, not aid, assistance or diplomacy) in South America, particularly in Venezuela (here, here, here). It is naive to assume that the president will not happily revisit his original, military instincts should future developments in Venezuela unfold (as they are) in ways that US corporate interests don’t appreciate.
God’s people need to keep their ears and eyes open.
We especially need to keep our hearts open to the Holy Spirit and the Prince of Peace, while pursuing the mind of Christ our suffering Savior.
We must continue to speak out against any and all moves to expand the daily, global bloodletting performed by our drones and other military forces.
Don’t forget. We already have some 800 military bases in 170 countries across the globe. Though we have had secret operations, such as the CIA and special forces personnel, in Venezuela for some time, the church cannot stand by and remain silent in the face of another US “dirty war.”
Pay attention. Be informed. Pray for peace. Pray for our leaders to resist the temptations of power, violence and corporate profit over human lives. Use the tools of your citizenship to pressure your elected representatives towards righteousness rather than wickedness, justice rather than exploitation, and mercy rather than America-first-callousness.
