world-must-stand-up-to-trump-s-aggression

By VIMAL SUMBLY

 

The kind of brutal United States’ aggression on Venezuela was unheard of in modern history. It has, however, some parallels with Saddam Hussein’s overrunning Kuwait in 1990. Saddam, however, did not take the ruling family of Kuwait as captive. He was only bothered about taking control of Kuwait's oil wells and establishing a monopoly over oil. He was soon thrown out of Kuwait by the UN-sanctioned, US-led allied forces. Much later, he was deposed, traced from an underground bunker where he was hiding, jailed, and eventually hanged to death. Maduro was not allowed the time to run away and hide.

 

The pretext for the second phase of attack on Iraq, Saddam in particular, was that he was sitting over a huge pile of chemical weapons. Nothing was found after he was deposed. The Middle East was pushed into chaos and anarchy. An unstable region gave rise to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) also called as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The barbaric brutalities of ISIS are still fresh in the minds of people. The ISIS was a result of the anarchy that the US ushered in the Middle East, just to get rid of Saddam and take control of oil resources. In the process, the US did pay a heavy price in terms of men and resources before withdrawing.

 

There is an uncanny parallel with the US action against Nicolas Maduro-led Venezuela, with that of Saddam’s Iraq. Both had control over huge oil resources. Like Maduro is being accused of sponsoring narcotic trade and terrorism, without any evidence, so was Saddam accused of having stored chemical weapons. Like in Saddam’s case when no chemical weapons were found after his removal, the same is with Maduro. There is no evidence against him of being the supplier of drugs or sponsor of terrorism. Venezuela produces less than one per cent of the Fentanyl, the dreaded drug, that Trump has been accusing Maduro of supplying to the US. Major supply to the US comes from Columbia.

 

The real reason and motive behind this attack is to control the huge oil resources the Latin American country is endowed with. Venezuela has the world's largest oil resources and gold mines. Trump has never made a secret of taking control over Venezuela’s oil rich fields. He repeated and reiterated it after Maduro’s “capture”, saying the US will now be processing and selling Venezuelan oil. Besides, he also said that the US will run the Venezuelan government for the “time being” till a compliant ruler is put in place.

 

Also read: How US captured Maduro and plans to run Venezuela, tap oil?

 

The US had imposed strict sanctions on Venezuela and tried to suffocate it. The sanctions did not work, as China proved to be a much better alternative. China had started controlling the production and supply of oil. More so, the “dollar” trade was getting excluded day by day. Same way Saddam Hussein had bypassed the US. Since the US has all the might, it proved the age-old adage, “might is right” correct.

 

But Trump would do it so blatantly was shocking for the whole world. Maduro may be a dictator. He may have rigged the polls to get re-elected as Trump and the Venezuelan opposition has been alleging, but that in no way justifies the violation of the sovereignty of an independent country. This is complete aggression by a powerful country over a weak nation. This will set a dangerous precedent. World must rise and stand up to US hegemony and bullying.

 

Such things used to happen in ancient and medieval times when a foreign aggressor would attack and overrun a kingdom and take the ruler hostage. The same thing has happened in Latin America with Venezuela having been attacked and overrun and its ruler—the duly elected one notwithstanding the charges of fraud—taken prisoner, handcuffed and paraded in front of cameras and led to a high security prison, where he would be subjected to a sham trial and eventually convicted and sentenced to a life behind bars.

 

This is yet another instance of Trump scorning at and giving a damn to the global order. It also reflects poorly on the authority of the United Nations, which has turned into a toothless tiger and a completely defunct organisation. Imagine any other country acting like the US did. The UN would have immediately asked that country to withdraw within a specific deadline, failing which it would use force, the same way force was used to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

 

Also read: India calls US action in Venezuela a ‘matter of deep concern’

 

What happened in Venezuela must have alarmed Greenland and even Canada. Trump already has his eyes on Greenland, while he has been jokingly suggesting to make Canada the 51st state of the USA. While Canada will definitely be easier said than done, Greenland remains vulnerable again for its rich resources of rare earth.

 

This is an epochal and challenging moment for global order. The US is within its right to establish its global dominance, but should it be allowed to overrun countries the way it overran Venezuela, a small neighbour to America’s south, a Latin American nation.

 

It is time for the world to stand up to the US, and Trump's bullying and aggression. The world leaders must not try to be politically correct and blame Maduro for this. There must be a clear and unambiguous stance like the one taken by France, which condemned the aggression and arrest of the Venezuelan President. France is the only exception in the west that has condemned the US action. Otherwise, all other countries in the West have either maintained silence or supported the US.

 

Of course, Russia and China have also condemned the aggression. Russia has demanded immediate release of Maduro. But again, it is only a token verbal resistance. And Russia or for that matter China, can hardly do anything about it. China, despite its overall might in terms of military, economic, industrial and financial power, is too timid to confront anyone and not at least the US.

 

When Trump started imposing punitive tariffs on trading partners, it was said he was upsetting and violating the rule-based global trade regimes like the WTO. Nobody knew that the tariff action would seem so small in comparison to what he did on January 3; treating and dealing with an elected head of the state, as if he was dealing with another Osama bin Laden. The action was strikingly similar, with helicopters landing in the yard and the target taken unawares. Maduro was relatively lucky for having been spared his life, at least for now.