"Donald Trump's recent claims that the US should keep Venezuelan oil from seized tankers are part of a broader belief in rightwing resource imperialism, experts say. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has escalated pressure on Venezuela, invoking drug-trafficking claims. This month, the US intercepted two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil and began pursuing a third, while intensifying its campaign against the country's president, Nicolas Maduro."
"This month, the Trump administration labeled fentanyl which it says flows from Venezuela a weapon of mass destruction. On Monday, Trump suggested oil seized from Venezuela could be treated as a US asset. Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it, he told reporters. Maybe we'll use it in the strategic reserves. We're keeping the ships also."
"Trump's belief in what Bigger calls resource imperialism emerged during his first presidential campaign. Then, he repeatedly suggested that though the US should not have waged the Iraq war, it should have taken the country's oil in compensation for the costs of the conflict. You win the war and you take it, he told ABC in 2015. You're not stealing anything We're reimbursing ourselves."
Trump has called for seizing Venezuelan oil and suggested oil from intercepted tankers could be treated as a US asset or placed in strategic reserves. The US recently intercepted two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, pursued a third, and intensified pressure on President Nicolás Maduro while invoking drug-trafficking claims. The administration labeled fentanyl allegedly flowing from Venezuela a weapon of mass destruction. Critics compare the offensive to the Iraq war, citing regime-change rhetoric, security pretexts, and oil interests. Patrick Bigger described the global energy policy as relying on threats of violence or withholding aid to secure energy inputs.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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