On a spring night in the Oval Office, #Trump asked Secy of #State #MarcoRubio how to get tougher on #Venezuela.
It was just before Memorial Day, & anti-leftist Cuban American lawmakers whose votes Trump needed for his signature domestic policy bill were urging him to tighten a vise on Venezuela by stopping #Chevron’s #oil operations there.
#law #criminal #murder #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #Congress #WarPowers #oil #piracy #theft #InternationalLaw
nytimes.com/2025/12/27/us/poli…
Beverley reshared this.
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •But #Trump did not want to lose the only US foothold in Venezuela’s #oil industry, where #China is the biggest foreign player.
Trump was considering allowing Chevron to continue. But he told #Rubio, a longtime hawk on #Venezuela & #Cuba, that they had to show the lawmakers & other doubters they could bring the hammer down on Nicolás #Maduro, the “leftist” [really NYT? That’s just a lazy descriptor.] autocratic leader of Venezuela, whom Trump had tried to oust in his first term.
#law
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •Another aide in the room, #StephenMiller [aka Satan], said he had ideas. As #Trump’s homeland security adviser, he had been talking with other ofcls about Trump’s campaign vow to bomb fentanyl labs. For various reasons, that notion had faded, & in recent weeks Miller had turned to exploring attacks on boats suspected of carrying drugs off the shores of #CentralAmerica.
#law #criminal #murder #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #Congress #WarPowers #Venezuela #oil #piracy #theft #InternationalLaw
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •#StephenMiller’s deliberations had not focused on #Venezuela, which does not produce fentanyl. But 3 separate policy goals began merging that night — crippling #Maduro, using #military force against [alleged] drug cartels & securing access to Venezuela’s vast #oil reserves for US companies.
Two months later, #Trump signed a secret directive ordering the #Pentagon to carry out military operations against Latin American drug cartels & specifically calling for maritime strikes.
#law #murder
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •Though the justification was drugs in general, the operation would concentrate enormous naval firepower off the coast of #Venezuela.
The result has been an increasingly militarized pressure campaign intended to remove #Maduro from #power.
It has been marked by #US strikes that have killed at least 105 people on boats in the #Caribbean & the eastern #Pacific, a quasi-blockade of #oil tankers entering & leaving Venezuelan ports & threats by #Trump to carry out land strikes in Venezuela.
#law
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •Roknrol reshared this.
Nonilex
in reply to Nonilex • • •This account of how #Venezuela moved to the center of the #Trump admin’s #ForeignPolicy agenda this year — to the point of a possible #war — is based on interviews with current & former #US officials, almost all of whom agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivities about national security & fear of retribution.
#law #criminal #murder #WarCrimes #ExtrajudicialKillings #Congress #WarPowers #oil #piracy #theft #InternationalLaw
Chris Johnson
in reply to Nonilex • • •Brian Gordon
in reply to Nonilex • • •Does anybody know who the Trumpists want to replace Maduro with? I'm guessing it will be someone who's the opposite of a decent human being, probably a rightwing dictator who will allow the Americans to loot #Venezuela.
"The result has been an increasingly militarized pressure campaign intended to remove #Maduro from #power."
Yvonne ‘looks undocumented’
in reply to Nonilex • • •My quick skim through the article shows that nowhere does it mention the ridiculous lack of qualifications of either Rubio or Miller.
The cabinet is populated with vengeful men who are no more mature than middle school boys.
Seems like that would be worthy to point out.
sigh. I know, we’re talking about the NYT, so what did we expect?