Photo: Marines on board a ship deployed to the Caribbean as part of the war drive against Venezuela
The corporate media and establishment politicians want us to think that a war on Venezuela is in our interests — a necessary conflict for the safety of the American people and democracy itself. This is an outrageous lie. If Trump’s war drive reaches its conclusion and an all-out conflict begins, huge numbers of people in Venezuela and the United States will suffer greatly. But who stands to benefit?
Big oil corporations
U.S.-based corporations used to dominate Venezuela’s oil industry. Venezuela’s government took control of its oil wealth so it could be used to fund social programs for its people – providing healthcare, education, housing and other social rights. Corporations like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have spent over a decade trying to seize Venezuelan assets abroad as a twisted form of “compensation” for their loss of assets. Now, they hope to return and loot Venezuela’s natural resources yet again.
Weapons manufacturers
War is a business. Northrop Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics and so many other military-industrial complex corporations make enormous profits selling weapons to the Pentagon to be used for aggression against countries like Venezuela. For example, the F-35 jets the Trump administration deployed to Puerto Rico as part of the war drive are manufactured by Lockheed Martin, which expects to rake in over $2 trillion from the development, production and maintenance of these warplanes.
Maria Corina Machado and the ousted Venezuelan ruling class
Venezuela used to be dominated by a tiny handful of ultra-rich families, who want to seize control of the country once again with the help of the Pentagon war machine. Take María Corina Machado, the right-wing leader of the Venezuelan opposition who was outrageously just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her family used to be part owners of SIDOR, the main steel manufacturing corporation in the country, but it was nationalized by the government so its revenue could be used to benefit society. Machado has vowed to privatize SIDOR and other public companies.
NOT the U.S. working class
The massive armada Trump has assembled off the coast of Venezuela was paid for with our tax dollars. The USS Gerald Ford – the aircraft carrier Trump deployed to the waters off the coast of Venezuela – cost over $17 billion dollars to build. This is money that could otherwise have been spent on schools, healthcare, job creation, affordable housing and so many other programs that would alleviate the huge burdens on working people. And if the conflict escalates to an all-out invasion, it’s not the children of Boeing or ExxonMobil executives who will be sent to kill and die – they send working class young people to do that in their place.
NOT the Venezuelan people
The idea that war on Venezuela would help the country’s population by “restoring democracy” is a ridiculous lie. Venezuelans have already suffered enormously because of economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. government – which by one estimate caused 40,000 preventable deaths. They will be the targets of the Pentagon’s bombs, bullets and missiles if an all-out war takes place. The political changes the Trump administration wants in Venezuela are the opposite of democracy – they want the country to be ruled by a tiny handful of super-rich families, who in turn take their orders from a foreign power.
NOT the planet
The Pentagon is the world’s largest source of emissions that cause climate change, and military action does irreparable damage to ecosystems. In Puerto Rico, residents of Vieques fought a long struggle over many years to close down the Navy weapons testing site that poisoned the island. But as part of the war drive against Venezuela, the Trump administration has just reopened that facility – Roosevelt Roads Naval Base.
