HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!

Illegal, criminal, stupid

I suspect Greg Grandin is not so pleased that his great new book, America, América : A New History of the New World has become so timely. In any case, it provides a lengthy chronicle of U.S. imperial depredations in Central and South America. So the invasion — don’t call it an “arrest” — of Venezuela’s ruler is not new in basic form. It especially resembles George H.W. Bush’s assault on Panama, ostensibly to capture its leader Manuel Noriega.

The drug rationale for Maduro’s kidnapping wears especially thin, after Trump pardons of Ross Ulbricht and Juan Orlando Hernández. I wonder if any of his coterie thought of that, or if they think at all, or if what they think matters at all.

In the Grandin book, the history of the Monroe Doctrine undergoes an interesting twist. Originally it was regarded favorably by South American anti-colonialists, who hoped it would provide them protection from European imperial machinations. It was seen as a defense of national sovereignty. Later of course it devolved into a default license for all sorts of U.S. assaults on such sovereignty, of which there were many.

The New York Times has a not-bad editorial condemning the invasion. Would that the comrades of Democratic Socialists of America could summon equivalent umbrage. I dropped into its discussion board and found nothing on Venezuela since October. Since then an acceptable statement has been issued. I hasten to add that the machinations of some DSA leaders should not be confused with the fine work done by DSA chapters, not least in supporting the rise of a socialist mayor for New York City.

Back in the day, those of us mobilized against the Vietnam War sought Marx-y explanations, such as that the U.S. wanted to exploit rubber production in Vietnam. These days the material explanation holds more water, since Venezuela holds an enormous share of the world’s oil reserves. Our addled president still thinks in terms of oil as the basis for world power.

One thread the oil bit pulls on goes to Grandin’s story about Latin & South America’s social-democratic heritage. One milestone was Venezuela’s nationalization of its oil in 1976. This points to a broader potential U.S. objective, unwinding the entirety of the region’s social-democratic reforms since its liberation from the old imperial rulers, mainly Spain but also France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.

I keep thinking of Orwell’s Oceania-Eurasia-Eastasia trichotomy: the world under the sway of three super-powers. We would need to adjust this, but not too much. The European Union is still a thing that might once again include Great Britain, even Canada. I would not hold out much hope, given their location, for Australia and New Zealand escaping the burgeoning advance of the Peoples Republic of China. Orwell’s Oceania is shrinking to the U.S.

In any case the superpowers are acquiring license to do as they please in their own neighborhoods. If Trump can invade Venezuela, why can’t Putin have Ukraine, and the PRC take Taiwan? As critics of Imperialism have pointed out from the start, the space for a ‘home country’ to brutalize its lessers flows seamlessly to its ability to tyrannize its own citizens.

It’s not only a foreign policy matter.