For days I avoided writing about Venezuela because I couldn’t understand the rationale behind Trump’s coup against Maduro. It was clear that Trump neither wanted nor was going to support María Corina Machado in taking power because she “stole” his Nobel Prize. Nor was he going to support Edmundo González, the candidate who won the elections in Venezuela and whom the United States recognized as the country’s legitimate president because Biden endorsed him.
I didn’t expect to hear Trump saying he was already in control, supporting Delcy Rodríguez, the vice president now acting president, believing that with her and the Chavista military command he was going to control the country, hoping that the Chavistas would support him!
The poor Venezuelans, many of them facing deportation in Florida because Trump betrayed them after they supported him in the elections by stripping them of their legal asylum status, want to believe that Trump is helping them return Venezuela to being a democratic and productive nation. But Trump has already said that none of that interests him, nor does he understand it. Instead of saying he was doing it to save democracy and return Venezuela to legality, which would have added more weight to his actions, he preferred to boast that he was doing it for the oil and the investment opportunities for oil companies. These companies, by the way, are in no hurry to return to investing in highly polluting oil and spending billions rebuilding the infrastructure that the Chavistas (like the Mexican Morena narco-state) have destroyed in the name of rampant corruption and enrichment at any cost.
Then there will be no democracy because Trump neither understands nor cares about it. Machado and González will not return because they stole the spotlight from Trump. The Chavistas will remain.
Guyana has not received back the oil that Venezuela stole in an act of aggression that no regional or international populist condemned. It will not be able to sell the oil fields to American companies because, apart from Halliburton (which sells equipment for repairs), Exxon, and Conoco, they are not interested in reinvesting in expensive, heavy crude oil during periods of low market prices.
He won’t be seen as a liberator from tyranny, and no matter how much I pondered the matter, I still couldn’t understand why or what his purpose was until, seemingly out of nowhere, I remembered the ghost under the bed, Mr. Epstein and his pedophile files, and I understood: that, like Netanyahu, Trump needs distractions to postpone—or rather, ignore—the Epstein files. And yes, I believe that for a few days, for quite some time, he will succeed.
His base is happy with the “demonstrated military might.” If he can push Cuba and Nicaragua to change their governments, the news will continue to be a distraction. After 20 days, he’s already back to the topic of Greenland. He’s already back to the topic of the Zetas and the Mexican cartels.
The old criminal from Palenque already complained and tried to cover his tracks (“I’m already retired, but..” said the expresident of Mexico…ha ha) but the fact is that Venezuela will be the perfect distraction until it isn’t and Trump will continue to use the American army for his benefit and peace of mind.
Thus, I discovered that in the era of Trumpism, one doesn’t look for logical or strategic reasons to understand what this man does. One looks for how his actions benefit him and his minions.
In short, enjoy the Venezuela issue during these first few days; the Epstein issue will soon resurface, and then Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico (?), Greenland, Iran (!) will emerge—so many pieces to play with, and so little time to do so.
But here in his stadium, where the view is spectacular, it allows us to understand that in this transactional Trumpian world there is no strategy, nor international or for that matter national interests, there are only personal interests and the need to distract us -with all the necessary show- from the Epstein files.
So now that I understand, I extend my condolences to the Venezuelans who believe this will help them; to the Mexicans who believe Manuel Andrés, his sons, and the Morena narco-cronies will continue in power; to the internationalists who believe there could be a force to defend democracies; to the Americans who believe Trump will stop his relentless attack on democratic institutions and his enemies in Congress (an attack intensified by the media’s distraction). To all of them, I extend my sorrow and invite them to join me in Trump’s stadium, where the world looks different and where we can witness how they play with everyone’s aspirations and desires—including their “allies” sitting back, waiting to see the consequences, which, with any luck, will be nonexistent, neither with Russia nor with China, which, by the way, has just lost a good portion of its Venezuelan oil, or rather, should we say, will have to pay a little more for this oil, and will pay Washington, and we will all continue playing musical chairs until the music stops.
I don’t have tickets for the preferred shade, I only see the game from outside – that’s why we’re in the preferred sun – but at least, I think, we’re already understanding the rules of this new game that we all play and will play for the next few months and, unless by the end of this year the Democrats manage to unite and present a common front, we’ll keep playing for three more years, so put on your hat, and sit with me to watch a game where every day something new and unexpected arises, contrary to all logic and with consequences that I, at least, cannot fully understand, but that won’t stop us from witnessing it.