BASIC FACTS

1️⃣ The nation safeguarding the legacy of the anti-colonial revolutionary Simón Bolivar has always been at odds with the so-called Monroe Doctrine under which the USA considers the entire Western Hemisphere to be its exclusive domain.

2️⃣ Combine that with the largest proven oil reserves on earth, alongside gas, gold, iron, and other, abundant natural resources, and Venezuela is an irresistible quarry for the imperialist hyenas.

3️⃣ For most of the 20th century Venezuelan oil was controlled by a small, Western aligned elite while most Venezuelan workers remained in poverty.

4️⃣ The 70s oil embargo, launched by Arab states in response to Israeli aggression against Egypt, sent prices skyrocketing. The Venezuelan elite cashed in but a resulting oil glut and a consequent price collapse saw vultures circling.

5️⃣ International lenders like the IMF and World Bank offered to step in on condition that the Venezuelan government "liberalise" the economy and implement austerity measures - in other words, let the robber barons in and force ordinary Venezuelans to foot the bill.

6️⃣ The fuel subsidies that had enabled the people to cling to survival evaporated. A nationwide uprising ensued; the government responded by massacring protesters in the streets.

7️⃣ Under the revolutionary Bolivarian banner Hugo Chávez came to power, nationalised the oil industry and redistributed oil wealth to the people, declaring that all of South America should be liberated from the predatory economic order. A nation brimming with natural resources and fierce patriotism had defied the Empire again.

8️⃣ For the last 80 years the United States has dominated the world through the dollar and its status as the primary currency in which oil and gas are traded.

9️⃣ Countries like China, Russia, Iran, Brazil and South Africa are building an alternative global financial mechanism outside the petrodollar. If Venezuela, China and the entire BRICS bloc escape the system, the economic basis of US power is gone.

1️⃣0️⃣ For the USA the urgency of dominating oil reserves has become acute and the bulk of those reserves are - guess where? - Iran and Venezuela.