‘Discretion is better part of valour’, that is one lesson which friend Nicolas Maduro would probably have learnt a little late though. Venezuela is a sovereign nation and has its rights, but then it also has world’s largest oil reserves and apparently even huge deposits of silver. While it may be a blessing, but the boon has actually turned into a bane as when you antagonise the Global super bully and hob-knob with its rivals, or start planning to trade in any currency other than US$, you know you are living dangerously, especially if you don’t have the muscle to protect yourself.
Venezuela was a relatively stable country known as the global capital of beauty pageants, as their lithesome lasses trumped the other contestants 23 times in the last seven odd decades. Then Hugo Chavez came to power with his Marxist socialist ideology and spate of nationalisations followed, resulting in the American companies being forced to extricate. Having seen something similar at close quarters in Cote d’Ivoire in the first decade of this century, when Ivorians decided to cast their lot with anti-French politicians (their colonial masters), the country plunged into a civil war. Finally the UN Peacekeepers stepped in but it was the French who brokered peace and the French companies returned to take over from where they left and the country is peaceful. The same script will be replayed here, American businesses will flock to this resource rich nation and all will be well.
Americans are known to have effected regime changes whenever it suits them, the excuses could be weapons of mass destruction to drugs but the actual reason is the threat posed to the hegemony of Petro$. As is well known, after Kissinger convinced the Saudis that oil trade would be in American$ only in return for addressing their security concerns, dollar became the fiat currency and rest of the world had to tow the line. Whenever there was an attempt to get out of this Dollar stranglehold by any country, the ruler was toppled and anarchy followed, be it Iraq, Saddam Hussein or Libya – Gaddafi. Maduro too was toying with the idea of joining BRICS and trading oil in Chinese Yuan, that was the sin he committed for which he has been abducted and brought to the US for standing trial for some supposed drug related offences.
The American actions are in blatant violations of international norms and has invited criticism from the UN as also from China and Russia, but that is mere tokenism as there are no actions which are envisaged by any of them individually or collectively. May be both China and Russia are in a way looking forward to exploiting this precedence in their respective backyards themselves in times to come. There are major lessons for smaller countries here, firstly avoid getting into a confrontationist mode with a bigger power and secondly before aligning with any rival powers weigh the pros and cons. Flirting with Russia and China, knowing fully well that they are not in any way capable for standing up for Venezuela in case of any eventuality should have acted as a deterrent.
There are lessons for India as well, although we are a much bigger and more powerful nation, the first one being standing up for its own principles. India has always followed the righteous path and weathered many a storm in its nearly eight odd decades of independent existence. Sovereign nations have rights to choose their systems of governance, their allies, their economic model and so on, but more importantly they need to be able to safeguard their interests. If that fails then the sovereignty itself is questionable. India has managed to weather the tariff tantrum by skilful diplomacy so far, addressed the currency issue also by resorting to trades in rupee, rial, rouble or yuan as the case may be. Diplomacy requires deftness and hence we have consciously chosen not to rebut or provoke even some unfounded claims during OPERATION SINDOOR. We need to be on our guard as the global situation is rather volatile and global institutions and watchdogs have more or less become defunct, in an eerie similarity to events pre second world war, when League of Nations collapsed.
9 thoughts on “VIGILANTISM IN VENEZUELA”
This is dadagiri, global powers need to go beyond mere criticism and take some concrete actions,
An aspirant of Novel Peace prize ,is now bent upon disturbing the world peace.
A very informative article indeed.
This is not about Maduro…it’s about Power!
Yesterday’s sone ki chidiya aka India under British colonial rule was stripped not because it was weak in spirit, but because it lacked the hard power to protect its wealth. Today, Venezuela risks becoming a modern sone ki chidiya, rich in oil and minerals yet increasingly vulnerable to coercion, regime engineering, and economic subjugation…now under Trumpian neo-colonialism.
All this unfolds despite the existence of the United Nations, the Security Council, and the much-vaunted global norms of sovereignty and international law…institutions that appear robust only when the interests of major powers are not at stake.
The Venezuelan episode once again exposes a hard truth of international politics: norms protect the strong; the weak are protected only if it suits the strong. Else, we see more nations opting for NUKEs.
India growing in soft power, though not a global mil power, might be at the cross-hair of US manipulations. Satellite nations’ manipulation clearly targets Us. Exercising choice of response and not reacting as expected will be the key response. India needs to focus more strongly on building Nationalism & defeating the enemy no 1 INDIA.
Super. Very well written. Loved every word, Suyash. Excellent!
Very well surmised Sir.
Maduro should have known better not to dare the US in its backyard. On the contrary, he failed miserably to read the writings on the wall as was being played out by Trump over the past few months. Foolishness and Foolhardiness are very dangerous traits in politics and power games, and worse in love.
Time for us to tread very carefully and watch out. However, we may attempt to copy book a similar capture in our neighborhood 😀
This is the same script that is being written again by Unvle Sam . Petro dollar is being protected and threats being nullified . There is long list of regime changes have taken place for this.
India stands to gain economically if Iran is pulled off though . IMEC may come off , but the BRICS may be delayed .. It seems inevitable though .
Good write up and keep it coming .
It is not about oil alone..US has far more reserves..
It is having Russia, China and Iran in its backyard and the minerals which are in plenty in Venezuela.
My backyard is my backyard, your near border is also my backyard…
That’s bullying!
And no one can do anything. But gives a chance to Rissia n China.
There is no rule based international order..
Only power based international order…
Amazing as always Suyash!
It has become a free for all as far as the International Diplomacy is concerned!
Jiski Laathi uski Bhainse!!!