The Monroe Doctrine Rises Again in Venezuela

On today’s show, host Allen Ruff is joined by Stephen Zunes to talk about his recent article in The Progressive, “The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela: It’s not drugs, democracy, or even oil. It’s power.” 

Following the US’s abduction of Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, Zunes breaks down the Trump administration’s motivations for seizing the state leader and Trump’s vision for the US in the Western Hemisphere. He says the Trump administration is telling a number of lies to justify their actions: calling Maduro a narco-terrorist despite that no fentanyl comes from Venezuela, that Maduro stole “our oil” despite Venezuela nationalizing its oil in the 1970s, and more. 

Zunes puts these lies in the context of international law, the Monroe Doctrine, Venezuelan opposition to Maduro, and the US military’s recent boat-bombing campaign. He says that the US will control all of the oil from Venezuela for the foreseeable future, but “Trump plans to take control of the oil personally and stash the cash in offshore accounts.”

Dr. Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he served as founding director of the program in Middle Eastern Studies.

Featured image of Nicolás Maduro at a meeting in Geneva in 2015 via Flickr. 

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