ِAfasianet - Dr. Muthanna Abdullah - U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced the closure of airspace over Venezuela. This came in a warning message posted on his social media site. This action has sparked a lot of speculation about what will happen next, especially since there have been U.S. military buildups that have begun in the Caribbean since last August, with the U.S. deploying naval and air forces, including a nuclear-powered submarine, aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, and landing 15,000 troops off the coast of Venezuela. Washington carried out air strikes on more than 20 Venezuelan ships in the Caribbean and Pacific at the beginning of September, which it said were suspected of smuggling drugs into the United States, but without providing any evidence to support the accusation, killing more than 80 people.
The United States of America has made it clear that the aim of this large-scale military deployment is to curb the smuggling of drugs and human beings into its territory. While some statements were made that the goal of the military deployment is to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and take over his country, through a scenario based on pushing some Venezuelan opposition to take to the streets, and demand a change in the anti-United States policy, cooperate with it in stopping drug smuggling operations, and then provoke unrest inside Venezuela to a great extent, leading to the overthrow of the political system with the help of Washington, without entering a state of war.
These statements are based on some American statements, which consider that Venezuela is doing everything that bothers the United States, and that it has positioned itself in a situation hostile to Washington, and has entered into alliances and agreements with countries hostile to the United States, and there is no tangible change in this trend, and therefore it is time for more pressure to push the Venezuelan people to overthrow the regime.
Trump has formed a conviction that exerting maximum pressure will lead to changing the policies of countries in accordance with his interests, and this avoids making the decision of military confrontation that he does not want.
The analysis of American policies during the era of President Trump clearly indicates that a large part of the White House's moves are related to the personality of the president himself, as his personal convictions prevail over the strategic interests of the United States, and his entourage rivals him in this, especially his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Frobio has a hawkish thought towards all Latin American countries, especially Cuba and Venezuela, and believes that very great pressure must be put on these countries, and therefore, even if the American claims are dealt with Logically, they are not convincing enough.
Drug trafficking to the United States comes primarily from Mexico and Colombia, which are two of the largest suppliers of the substance, so why is the focus on Venezuela? Today, the United States of America is engaged in a cold war with China, and the latter has strong relations with Venezuela, as there is something similar to the Sino-Russian alliance in dealing with Latin American countries, as well as the relationship between Venezuela and Iran comes as another factor, but it seems that the most important factor in this American move against Venezuela is precious metals.
Trump believes that these minerals should be obtained wherever they are found, in order to get rid of Chinese bargaining in this aspect. There is also an important point that explains the American pressure on many countries, which is that Trump, since his first term, has been convinced that pressure to the maximum extent will lead to a change in the policies of countries in accordance with his interests, and this avoids taking the decision of a military confrontation that he does not want, and even if he is forced to enter into a military confrontation, he calculates how it will be and when he will end it, as happened with Iran recently. As for Venezuela, he knows very well that the military game with it will not be easy at all, as the war in this arena will not be a classic war, but a guerrilla war, and Maduro has supporters inside and around the country, and the Venezuelan army supports him greatly. These countries even declare it explicitly and clearly.
They and the leftist parties that came to power in Latin American countries are in a state of great political dissonance, especially since the United States supports some right-wingers who have come to power, such as the former Argentine president, whom the United States has pressured not to prosecute. Since the beginning of the 1990s and after the end of the Cold War, American policy has changed from direct military intervention in these countries to political opposition and a policy of maximum pressure. This policy has allowed many leftist parties in Latin America to come to power, such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and others.
It has also made them active parties in political life, and its voice is loud in its opposition to Washington, but without paying the tax that it used to pay in the 1970s, as the United States intervened in these countries and changed their political systems as it wished and however it wanted. Giving the president of the world's largest country and the greatest military power the right to close the airspace of another country and surround it from all sides with military force has no legal basis on which to rely It clearly shows how force has prevailed over international law at present.
The Drug Control Organization has previously said in US reports that Venezuela is free of drug cultivation. Therefore, it is clear that the control of wealth has become the main concern of the occupant of the White House, especially since oil, precious metals, and gold, which is stored in Venezuela, occupy more importance than oil, all of which are present in this country. If there are those who support Trump from his entourage, he also faces U.S. opposition to this policy toward Venezuela. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has said that the president's reckless actions are pushing America back toward a costly foreign war. He has also been criticized for political interference in Honduras. But the trader's mentality seems to be completely in control of him.