London Bangla A Force for the community…
LB: US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela. This is so wrong on so many levels that it is hard to know where to begin.
We are not fools
There is no justification for breaking in to another country (except in self-defence) and kidnapping its president. Trump has therefore claimed that the kidnap is an attempt to bring Maduro (and his wife, Cilia Flores) to court to answer charges of drug-running. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the US is at war against drug trafficking organisations, not the people of Venezuela.
There are three problems with this claim.
●First, US prosecutors will have to provide hard evidence in Court that Maduro was a “drugs baron” or the “head of a drugs cartel”. This will be hard, as there is little evidence that Venezuela is a major supplier of illegal drugs to the US. At best, prosecutors will have to rely on Maduro’s political opponents to swear that he had a drug-peddling side hustle to his day job.
●Second, if a prosecuting authority wants to bring to court someone who is overseas, they use extradition treaties. The short-cut of kidnapping a President may be unlawful, which may cause problems with the prosecution.
●Third, no one will believe him.
“The US has launched an unprovoked and illegal attack on Venezuela.
“This is a brazen attempt to secure control over Venezuelan natural resources.
“It is an act of war that puts the lives of millions of people at risk – and should be condemned by anyone who believes in sovereignty and international law.”
Jeremy Corbyn MP
The courts are technically independent in the US – though many judges are political appointments. The courts have been put in a difficult position by their President’s action. Either they will have to cave in, agree with Trump and endorse his actions, regardless of what the law says. Or they will have to follow the law, leading to confrontation with Trump. All that does seem certain is that this trial will not be over quickly.
Drill, baby, drill
Much more plausible than the drugs-and-justice theory is the theory that Trump wants to gain control over Venezuela’s oil. The US economy is struggling, and although Trump keeps telling the US people that they have never had it so good, people are beginning to notice the truth.
Venezuela used to sell concessions to overseas companies to extract its oil. A good chunk of these went to US-based companies before all oil extraction was nationalised in the 1970s. Hence Trump has also said that as well as making Maduro face charges on drugs issues, the US also wants to get “our” oil back. It’s not US oil. It is Venezuelan oil. At best, some US-based companies had extraction rights. But Trump claiming ownership of the oil makes him sound good to a population that has already been whipped up to be extremely xenophobic.
Where now?
Trump’s actions in Venezuela are not done on a whim. He knows the economy is in difficulties: getting a new supply of oil, especially from a source so close to the USA, would really help. He probably asked officials to explore the possibility of taking oil from Venezuela, and they probably told him what he wanted to hear and he probably enjoyed the cover story they gave him.
But the cover story only dealt with the kidnap of Maduro. How Trump intends to get hold of oil is not at all clear. He will either have to rely on Maduro’s colleagues forming a puppet government, or he will have to invade. And even the prize of the oil will not justify the cost of an invasion. Trump slipped the idea that the US is going to “run” Venezuela into a press conference. He was probably going off script. If the intention of kidnapping Maduro was to take over Venezula, that would have been the key message, not the afterthought.
Stop Trump
We know that Trump has his eyes on Cuba, Greenland and Iran, at least. We know that he will be influential in the futures of those suffering in the Middle East and Ukraine. We can’t leave it to western governments who are engaged in a massize appeasement exercise. The people will have to act.
●Email your MP, urging them to tell Prime Minister Keir Starmer to get off the fence and condemn this attack on national sovereignty and international law.
Write to your MP
●Go to the Emergency Picket of Downing Street at 6pm on Monday, 5th January, organised by CND, the Stop the War Coalition and the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign.
●Read more about it:
Trump: reloaded and trigger happy?
Trump: is he gearing up to attack Iran?
