Of course it’s all about the oil for Trump, but let’s be honest.  It was all about the oil for us too.  Let’s not pretend that Maduro and Chavez didn’t buy friends in the Caribbean through PetroCaribe… oops! Who said that?

So the US arrested Nicholas Maduro and everybody has an opinion.

At the United Nations, diplomats from France, Denmark, Russia, China and many Latin American states have condemned it as a violation of international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty.  They warn that the world is less safe when powerful countries take unilateral military action. The UN Human Rights Office said the intervention sets a dangerous precedent. 

On the other hand, many Venezuelans are happy that Maduro was ousted. The socio-economic situation there has been under strain for years under his leadership. Access to healthcare and other basic needs were increasingly challenging leading to mass migration, often illegally. Ask anybody in Trinidad or Guyana.  They have not been happy about it.

So, for Venezuelans, this is an opportunity for growth and change, even if the US doesn’t have the best of intentions.  Because while the charges against Maduro are supposedly for narco-terrorism, President Trump has made no secret of the fact that the US wants to control Venezuela’s oil.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, capable of producing an estimated 300 billion barrels.  Trump has openly talked about reviving US oil company involvement in Venezuelan fields.  But for many Venezuelans, they’d rather Trump have it than Maduro.

He gave it to us too in the Caribbean, to buy us as allies, and it worked.  How do you think Jamaica was able to bring down its debt to GDP so fast?  We got a great deal by only paying back 50 percent of our Petrocaribe debt because Venezuela needed the money.

And now, when Trinidad was forced to choose between Maduro and Trump,  I actually don’t blame Kamla for going with Trump, given the instability that an unstable Venezuela has caused in her country. Same goes for Guyana, a large portion of which Venezuela has claimed for decades.  

I come from Belize, a country that’s been claimed by Guatemala for centuries, so I know what it’s like to live with a hostile neighbour next door.

When it comes to oil prices, we now have Guyana with oil, Suriname emerging, and Venezuela coming back on stream.  We’re about to be flooded with oil, which will likely send prices down.

And the fact of the matter is, a politically and economically stable Venezuela is good for all of us.  We might not like how it happened.  And there will also be some other things we don’t like.  US imperialism has its own set of consequences.  But let’s not be hypocrites and act like this is not all about the oil for us too!

I wish the people of Venezuela well.  I hope everything works out in their best interest and that their new government is able to negotiate decent terms and royalties on any new oil contracts to the benefit of their people.

And that’s the bottom line.