After the alleged dislodging and whisking away of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from the government of Venezuela, U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have become unrestrained and unbridled saying anything he likes , doing anything he likes . His subsequent actions—most notably the seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela—amount, in the eyes of many, to piracy in the twenty-first century. He is eyeing Greenland , after his operation in Venezuelan oil field ‘successful’.
Trump’s conduct resembles that of a blood-thirsty predator: once it tastes blood, it seeks more and more. Emboldened by what is described as a stealth operation in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, involving Maduoro and his wife, Trump intensified his campaign, launching what became the fifth interception of a Venezuelan oil tanker while simultaneously reviving forcible occupations toward Greenland, Cuba, Columbia and of course India in other way, whatever he sees through his eyes. Trump and his cohorts—such as the Secretaries of Energy, State Affairs, and Internal Security Affairs—were tasked either with flexing muscle or intimidating, browbeating , and no matter killing the so-called offending states. Some secretaries were picked up and selectively deployed to ‘show red eyes’ to India together with China , attempting to subjugate it by threatening tariffs as high as 500 percent—an impossible and absurd harangue. India and China , in particular, became the latest target of this political theatre, confronted with threats of a fantastical 500 percent tariff—an empty and implausible display of bravado by Trump and his Secretaries. The maddening behaviour of his Secretaries with no cheques from the senate the US legislature remind us a few lines of Rabindranath who in his timeless poem ‘Dui Bigha jami’ , wrote , babu jata bale parishad dal bale tar bahugun ( the sycophants far excel the Zamindar). Rabindranath was the philosopher and visionary and realized the true nature of the sycophants which remain same despite the time difference. This delirious rhetoric and threat for punishing India for continuing to purchase Russian oil, escalated into myth-making and sabre rattling , especially , in the aftermath of the Maduro episode—purportedly dislodged and spirited away through Trump’s brand of political banditry. Entire US machinery were chosen by the kingpin to enforce a singular mandate: that Venezuelan oil flow only to the United States. Monitoring oil destinations became their principal functions of the cohorts, and any deviation by Venezuela, however minor, was met with zero tolerance.
Republican Senator Razer Wilker openly supported these moves, urging oil companies to ensure that not a single tanker of Venezuelan oil reached Cuba. He even suggested a minimum $100 billion investment to revamp Venezuela’s infrastructure—under U.S. oversight.
In another incident of piracy US had dared to seize a tanker, later identified as Marina, that had reportedly been pursued for over a month after attempting to evade a U.S. blockade around Venezuela. Despite the presence of Russian naval assets, including a submarine in the vicinity, but U.S. warships intercepted the tanker without any resistance—an outcome that raised eyebrows across the world.
During the pursuit, the tanker’s crew reportedly painted a Russian flag on its hull and claimed Russian protection. Nevertheless, it became the latest vessel targeted by the U.S. Coast Guard as part of Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela.
In a particularly harsh statement, U.S. State Secretary Marc Rubio reportedly demanded that interim President Delsy Rodríguez sever all ties with Iran, Russia, China, and Cuba. To repeat , Venezuela, he said, must trade oil exclusively with the United States—its crude destined for no other nations. The blockade by US , meanwhile, caused massive oil surpluses within Venezuela, crippling its economy . Cuba has long depended on approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day from Venezuela, but the Trump administration and its allies appeared determined to sever this lifeline. True to his habitual reliance on threats, Donald Trump addressed Cuba as if it were another subservient state like India , warning it to reach an agreement with Washington “before it is too late.”
Trump claimed that Cuba had been mired in chronic poverty and economic distress, surviving largely on Venezuelan oil and financial support, while in return providing security services to what he labelled Venezuela’s “dictator.” Now Trump takes self responsibility to ameliorate the sufferings of the Cubans. He fixes his programme without any mandate from the concerned country. He further asserted that Venezuela would no longer require “protection services” from what he described Cubans as thugs and extortionists who had allegedly held the country hostage for years.
But the rhetoric escalated to the point of farce. When a social media user asked jokingly whether Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, would become the president of Cuba, Trump responded that it “sounds good.” In the same breath, he issued threats toward Colombia, warning that failure to reach a “necessary deal” could result in the same fate as Venezuela.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned that seizing another country’s natural resources violates international law. Yet such warnings appeared to fall on deaf ears, as U.S. officials continued to inflame tensions with rhetoric closely aligned with Trump’s confrontational posture.
Before whisking away Maduoro US attention shifted toward Greenland, an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty for the last three hundred years and controlled by a NATO ally. Although European leaders ridiculed and derided Trump’s remarks, he remained undeterred and wild. Reports suggested that Washington was considering options to assert control over the island in post Maduoro times . For stiffening control , Trump resorted to falsehood to say that Greenland is surrounded by both Russia and China . In December , Trump appointed Jeff Landrike , the Governor of Louisiana as special envoy of Danish Arctic region which met with stiff opposition from Mete Fredrichsen , PM of Denmark and Janes Freidrich Nielsen , OM of Danish Arctic Region. At the same time, the administration intensified hostile rhetoric toward Iran, further stoking what many described as war psychosis.
Trump and his inner circle appeared oblivious to the reality that such actions resemble the plundering of other nations’ resources. His absurdity and lunacy rose to such an extent that he hardly dithers to say that I want Greenland. He reportedly dismissed the relevance of international law, ( to say that he is untrammelled by any component of international law) claiming instead to be guided solely by his own moral compass—a compass that critics argue points unmistakably toward megalomania.
But the most intriguing aspect in plundering operations in the taking away the wealth of different economies of the world by US is the role of Russia and China who are seen giving in to the pressure of bully Trump without any minimum resistance! And there is no murmuring on their parts. In post Maduoro scenario , China who has already a stronghold and poured thousands of dollar , if not more for infrastructure , oil refiners and air defence system and that leveraged for oil since the time of Hugo Chavez for a quarter century period but now seen , decamping from Venezuela almost silently with hardly any murmuring. The simultaneous submission by Russia by not resisting the oil tanker pasted with Russian flag in Atlanta although a nuclear submarine was in the vicinity of the oil tanker and of course the Chinese unconditional withdrawal from the soils of Venezuela obviously raise the pertinent question if they are really intimidated by the US , although China claims to be another super power along with US? So, two conclusions may follow : Is there any unwritten understanding between China and US ie, China will continue to plunder the resources from South China Sea unchecked and can freely attach Taiwan in lieu of US’s plundering spree in any part of World with indications of no resistance from the US and Russia will not be deterred from fresh attacks upon Ukraine; So these are the most plausible answers , currently doing the rounds! The attack exposed the gulf between China’s great power rhetoric and real reach in the Western Hemisphere. People noticed that , Russia appears to be fatigued after war with Ukraine and unwilling for expanded wars with US.
