US is exploiting Venezuela’s disaster to cement its colonial stranglehold

The Donald Trump regime was already getting its way in oil-rich Venezuela after illegally abducting its president in January. But two devastating earthquakes on 24 June gave Trump and his allies a chance to further solidify their colonial stranglehold. And interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez has seemed all too willing to help.

Rodríguez had already been seeking to please Trump since she took charge at the start of the year. But since June’s horrific natural disaster killed over 6,000 people, her subservience to US interests has been even clearer. For example, she has:

1. Withdrawn from the International Criminal Court (ICC) just as Trump has stepped up his attacks on the institution to defend genocidal Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. Academic Francisco Rodríguez called this “part of a bargain with Washington” that proves “Venezuela is a protectorate in all but name” and “is not conducting a foreign policy of its own”.
2. Signed into law sweeping changes to the energy industry which give Venezuela less control and private corporations more profit.
3. Allowed the US to take over Venezuela’s main airport and seaport, with around 2,000 US marines entering the country and US aircraft essentially controlling the skies and coastline. Former government official Elías Jaua called this “another escalation in the military occupation” of Venezuela.
4. Been cosying up even further with Benjamin Netanyahu’s settler-colonial apartheid state and its cheerleaders in the US Congress.
5. Given the green light for Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in Venezuela.

Corporate vultures circle Venezuela’s devastation, with Rodríguez’s permission

At a London event on 30 July, an energy investment executive shared his thoughts on how things are looking for corporate interests in Venezuela under Delcy Rodríguez, especially in the wake of the 24 June disasters. He insisted:

The time is now… There is a window opening. There is an opportunity right now, and we can’t afford to miss that.

Many years of murderous US sanctions have helped to lay waste to Venezuela’s oil industry. But with the Trump regime now ‘administering’ Venezuela’s massive oil sales with Rodríguez’s compliance, corporations may be more willing to take the risk and get on board with Trump’s shameless neocolonial plan.

As author Naomi Klein has described, moments of national trauma can make people more vulnerable to political manipulation. Time after time, unscrupulous politicians have used tragic events like earthquakes to push through pro-corporate measures such as privatisation or deregulation. And Venezuela seems to be no different.

Elías Jaua, for example, warned that the area the earthquakes hit the hardest (La Guaira):

is set to undergo a process of gentrification and displacement of the local population, so that the Trump family, their associates, and business partners can secure the best plots of land to develop a real estate enclave linked to port, airport, and tourism services.

He said this following Rodríguez’s decision to allow real estate developers from the US to visit La Guaira after the natural disasters.

Local social activist José Félix Valera, meanwhile, told Truthdig about mainly US contractors clearing land despite ongoing recovery efforts. And this is prime land for development. Because as he added, the demolitions are taking place on:

the largest flat plots [of land] facing the Caribbean Sea in the region, and that has a lot of implications from a geopolitical standpoint but also for tourism.

Israel wants a piece of the action too

As the Canary reported previously, Rodríguez has also allowed Israeli figures into the country despite her predecessors’ longstanding (if sometimes inconsistent) opposition to the apartheid state’s crimes in Palestine. Talking about Israel’s post-disaster involvement, Venezuelanalysis explained that:

Tel Aviv is poised to play an important role alongside Washington in post-earthquake reconstruction planning, while the formal reestablishment of diplomatic relations appears imminent.

It also listed some of the key Israeli individuals and groups that entered Venezuela, which included:

• Occupation enforcers Brigadier General Elad Edri and reservist Brigadier General Yossi Pinto (who has a “documented record of war crimes and human rights violations”).
• Veteran occupation propagandists like Roni Kaplan and Yosef Garmon.
• Incoming Israeli ambassador to Mexico Yoed Magen — “an unapologetic proponent of US-Israeli genocide” who “has endorsed collective punishment” and endorsed both US-Israeli wars against Iran.
• Disinformation vehicle ZAKA, soft power whitewasher IsraAID, and occupation collaborators SmartAID and Magen.

A US takeover that was long in the making

Ever since the US lost its influential position in Venezuela following Hugo Chávez’s 1998 election win, the Western billionaire class has invested much time and energy into regaining control of the country.

In the early 21st century, the US couldn’t be as blatant with its terror campaign in Latin America as it was during the Cold War. So it tried numerous strategies to retake Venezuela. And Donald Trump’s first administration stepped up the hostility with brutal sanctions that hit ordinary people the hardest.

From 2017 to 2018, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) estimated that over 40,000 extra people died in Venezuela as a result of Trump’s sanctions regime. Amid this economic warfare, millions of people left the country. But the ultimate US goal of getting rid of the government still failed.

Venezuelanalysis‘s Ricardo Vaz told us in 2024 that, in all the Western news about Venezuela:

the main aspect that is either ignored or whitewashed are sanctions.

Ending the sanctions would help Venezuela recover. But that’s not Trump’s priority.

Following the 2026 earthquakes, sanctions are unlikely to end completely despite them impeding a proper recovery in the country. Because as Venezuelan political scientist William Serafino told Truthdig:

The sanctions are what guarantees U.S. appropriation of Venezuelan resources at a clear disadvantage to Venezuela.

The UN’s Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has said full reconstruction following the disasters would cost $37bn. And this is something that gives the US empire massive leverage. Because sanctions have helped to freeze over $22bn of Venezuelan assets in the international financial system, with London freezing a further $4.2bn in gold.

On top of that, the US has apparently collected over $13bn since January alone as a result of its mafia-style control of Venezuelan oil sales. The Trump regime will keep this money indefinitely (possibly until it’s absolutely clear that Venezuela’s government is under its thumb) despite the country’s urgent need for it.

In short, all of the resources the US and its allies have stolen from Venezuela could immediately cover the full reconstruction costs. But the Trump regime won’t give away its political and economic leverage that easily. So it has promised a pitiful $386m for Venezuela’s recovery, while exploiting the disasters to further its occupation.

Rodríguez, meanwhile, has no excuse

It’s absolutely true that a combination of illegal US military action and the ongoing sanctions regime have put Venezuela in a difficult position. But there is little in Delcy Rodríguez’s response in recent months to suggest she’s someone with any real interest in resisting Donald Trump’s neocolonial assault.

Other countries in the world have shown that even in the toughest positions you can hold your head up high and refuse to surrender.

Rodríguez, however, has chosen another path. By welcoming the US military, representatives of a genocidal apartheid regime, and unscrupulous corporations into Venezuela, she has willingly become yet another puppet for US interests. And there is no excuse for that.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

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