Government shutdown, Venezuela: Donald Trump evolves into the best propagator of neoliberal fascism that tends to become a norm
by
system failure
Even
before the 2016 US presidential election, this blog supported that
Donald Trump is a
pure
sample of neoliberal barbarism.
Many almost laughed at this perception because Trump was being
already promoted, more or less, as the 'terminator' of the neoliberal
establishment. And many people, especially in the US, tired from the
economic disasters, the growing inequality and the endless wars, were
anxious to believe that
this
was
indeed his special
mission.
Right
after the elections, we supported that the US
establishment gave a brilliant performance
by putting its reserve, Donald Trump, in power, against the only
candidate that the same establishment identified as a real threat:
Bernie Sanders.
Then,
Trump
sent the first shock wave to his supporters by literally hiring
the Goldman Sachs banksters
to run the economy. And right after that, he signed
for more deregulation
in favor of the Wall Street mafia that ruined the economy in 2008.
In
2017,
Trump bombed Syria for
the first time, resembling
the lies that led us to the Iraq war disaster. Despite
the fact that the US Tomahawk missile attack had zero value in
operational level (the United States allegedly warned Russia and
Syria, while the targeted airport was operating normally just hours
after the attack), Trump sent a clear message to the US deep state
that he is prepared to meet all its demands - and especially the
escalation of the confrontation with Russia.
Indeed,
a year later, Trump built a pro-war team that includes the most
bloodthirsty, hawkish neocons. And then, he ordered a second
airstrike against Syria, together with his neocolonial friends.
In
the middle of all this 'orgy' of pro-establishment moves, Trump
offered a controversial withdrawal of US forces from Syria and
Afghanistan to save whatever was possible from his
'anti-interventionist' profile. And it was indeed a highly
controversial action with very little value, considering all these US
military bases that are still fully operational in the broader Middle
East and beyond. Not to mention the various ways through which the US
intervenes in the area (training proxies, equip them with heavy
weapons, supporting the Saudis and contribute to war crimes in Yemen,
etc.)
And
then,
after this very short break, Trump returned to 'business as usual' to
satisfy the neoliberal establishment with a 'glorious' record. He
achieved a 35-day government shutdown, which is the "longest
shutdown in US history".
Trump
conducted the longest experiment on neoliberals' ultimate goal:
abolishing the annoying presence of the state. And this was just a
taste of what Trump is willing to do in order to satisfy all
neoliberals' wet dreams.
And
now, we have the Venezuela issue. Since Hugo Chavez nationalized
PDVSA, the central oil and natural gas company, the US empire
launched a fierce economic war against the country. Yet, while all
previous US administrations were trying to replace legitimate
governments with their puppets as much silently as possible through
slow-motion coup operations, Trump has no problem to do it in plain
sight.
And
perhaps the best proof for that is a statement by one of the most
warmongering figures of the neocon/neoliberal cabal, hired
by Trump.
As John Bolton cynically and openly admitted
recently, “It
will make a big difference to the United States economically if we
could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the
oil capabilities in Venezuela.”
Therefore,
one should be very naive of course to believe that the Western
imperialist gang seriously cares about the Venezuelan people and
especially the poor. Here are three basic reasons behind the open US
intervention in Venezuela:
1)
The
imperialists want to grab the rich oil fields for the US big oil
cartel, as well as the great
untapped natural resources,
particularly gold (mostly for the Canadian companies).
2)
Venezuela must not become an example for other countries in the
region on social-programs policy, which is mainly funded by the oil
production. The imperialists know that they must interrupt the path
of Venezuela to real Socialism by force if necessary. Neoliberalism
must prevail by all means for the benefit of the big banks and
corporations.
3)
Venezuela must not turn to cooperation with rival powers like China
and Russia. Such a prospect may give the country the ability to
minimize the effects of the economic war. The country may find an
alternative to escape the Western sanctions in order to fund its
social programs for the benefit of the people. And, of course, the
West will never accept the exploitation of the Venezuelan resources
by the Sino-Russian bloc.
So,
when Trump declared the unelected Juan Guaido as the 'legitimate
president' of Venezuela, all the main neoliberal powers of
the West rushed
to follow the decision.
This
is something we have never seen before. The 'liberal democracies' of
the West - only by name - immediately, uncritically and without
hesitation jumped on the same boat with Trump towards this
outrageously undemocratic action. They recognized Washington's puppet
as the legitimate president of a third country. A man that was never
elected by the Venezuelan people and has very low popularity in the
country. Even worse, the EU parliament approved
this action,
killing any last remnants of democracy in the Union.
Yet,
it seems that the US is finding increasingly difficult to force many
countries to align with its agenda. Even some European countries took
some distance from the attempted constitutional coup, with Italy even
trying
to veto
EU's decision to recognize Guaido.
Donald
Trump is the personification of an authoritarian system that
increasingly unveils its true nature. The US empire makes the
Venezuelan economy 'scream hard', as it did in Chile in 1973. The
country then turned into the first laboratory of neoliberalism with
the help of the Chicago Boys and a brutal dictatorship. So, as the
big fraud is clear now, neoliberalism is losing ground and
ideological influence over countries and societies, after decades of
complete dominance.
This
unprecedented action by the Western neoliberal powers to recognize
Guaido is a serious sign that neoliberalism returns to its roots and
slips towards fascism. It appears now that this is the only way to
maintain some level of power.
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