Though Trump’s electoral victories cannot be attributed to any one thing, his “America first” narrative certainly struck a chord. Venezuela has many problems, including drug gangs and authoritarian rule, but they hardly justify what Trump has done. Even so, the Trump White House reckons that the costs attributable to “illicit opioids, primarily fentanyl” (including death, treatment, crime and lost labour productivity) totalled $2.7tn in 2023. But there are no grounds for claiming that either the US government or any US petroleum company literally owned Venezuela’s oil or land and was robbed. The same can be said for his arrogating the right to open up Venezuela’s oil sector to investments from US corporations.

Source: The Guardian January 05, 2026 01:49 UTC