Admittedly, Trump is a bit of a character and there is a certain level of cinematic drama involved with invading a country, kidnapping its president and dragging him through the streets of your cities limping in leg-chains. Why not go ahead and say it? Its gangster.
But there really is no spectacle here, not really. Nothing terribly unusual or out of the ordinary. Regime change is standard policy for the US, not extreme measure. How else can you describe the foreign policy of a nation who attempts regime change 70 times in forty years? The US has been actively attempting to topple Maduro for over 10 years. Even Barak wanted a piece of him. There is absolutely nothing out of character with the events of the last few days. Every single instance of US aggression against administrations for which it developed a disliking was as much as illegal and as much an affront to the UN charter as Trump’s Maduro stunt.
The fact is, when you pay the bills, you make the rules, and that has always been the underlying precept governing US International affairs. And as demonstrated by Trump’s edict yesterday (click for memo), if you don’t like playing ball with us, then, it’s our ball, we can take it and go home.
The problem has always been with the zombified somnambulists parroting pompous poo poo using meaningless words such as ‘rules-based order’ and ‘law-based systems’. They have never meant anything more than ‘at the convenience of our sponsors’ regardless of how many tied and jacketed dignitaries attend however many air-conditioned conferences sitting in plush elegance at the old bastard Uncle Sam’s furnished table.
Every delegate understands, but chooses to pretend otherwise, that they are there for entertainment purposes only and at the end of the day, all these delusion-denying designated dignitaries must defile themselves kissing the nether parts of what they know to be a conscience-free bully with a big stick who acts the decent part but contemns and despises all but himself, who alone has the right of rule and has the purse and the bombs to prove it.
Why pretend anymore? It’s unhealthy. What we must now think hard about, is our dance between the raindrops.
Cant beat ’em Timeline
1999 Venezuela pays off its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The institution subsequently closes its offices in the country.
2007 Venezuela pays off its World Bank debt and announces its withdrawal from both organisations as part of a broader policy of economic sovereignty under President Hugo Chávez.
2014 US shale becomes world’s top oil producer, OPEC cartel weakens, Oil Prices crash. Venezuela’s economy struggles
2017 US sanctions prevent Venezuela from restructuring debt. Official reason given for sanctions to “deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing to maintain its illegitimate rule, protect the U.S. financial system from complicity in Venezuela’s corruption and impoverishment of the Venezuelan people, and allow for humanitarian assistance.” In November Venezuela defaults. US frames default as ‘untrustworthiness and corruption’
2018 Venezuela tries to access their $2 billion gold reserves stored in the Bank of England
2019 At Trump’s behest, UK freezes assets. Jeremy Hunt, UK Foreign Secretary aligns with US in recognising Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela.
By 2020 Venezuela responds by converting 2 billion dollars worth of bullion to unfreezable bitcoin at $5000/coin and trades in bitcoin.
2024 Venezuela joins BRICCS and starts trading to China in Yuan, completely avoiding the Western financial system.
2026 Despite Maduro’s arrest and the appointment of an interim leader, the UK government still refuses to recognise the current administration. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed in January 2026 that the gold—now worth an estimated $4.8 billion—will remain frozen at the Bank of England until a stable, ‘democratically’ elected government is in place
YeKengalé 