I recently visited Mexikoplatz (Plaza de México) in Vienna, dedicated to Mexico in 1956 for the reason explained on this monument there in Spanish:
My translation: "In March of 1938, Mexico was the only country that officially protested to the League of Nations against the violent annexation of Austria to National Socialist [Nazi] Germany. In homage to this act, the City of Vienna bestowed the name of Mexico on this park."
At the close of la intervención estadounidense en México (Mexican-American War in the US) with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848, Mexico lost more than half of its territory to an Anschluss by its hostile neighbor to the North. At the time of the Austrian Anschluss, that was 90 years in the past. By comparison, 90 years ago was the midst of the Great Depression in the US, of which a few Americans alive today have personal memories, and many more have parents or grandparents who had adult memories of the time.
Mexico and other countries in Latin America know very well that American actions in their region are not always well-intentioned. And don't always respect their national sovereignty or promote democracy and the rule of law. To name only one of many additional examples, there was the process by which the former Colombian state of Panama became a separate country with the support of the Teddy Roosevelt Administration that wanted to have the US build and control the Panama Canal.
Recent elections in Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico have opened some new possibilities and risks for Latin America, and I plan to post more on this. In this post, I'll focus on Venezuela.
Venezuela
I won't try to recount here what a clown show the Trump Administration coup attempt against Venezuela's government of President Nicolas Maduro has been. And continues to be, because the Biden-Harris Administration hasn't backed off from it or the aggressive economic sanctions that accompany it.
Not everything is foreign policy about oil. But for the US and 'Venezuela, almost everything is about oil. Because Venezuela is a petrostate. In fact, "Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, is a case study in the perils of petrostatehood." (Amelia Cheatham and Rocio Cara Labrador, Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate 01/22/2021) That one sentence from the website of the stereotypically Establishment Council on Foreign Relations, is an excellent brief statement of what always needs to be at the center of awareness when discussing US-Venezuela policy and of Venezuelan politics.
Being a petrostate is a blessing when oil prices are strong. It's a curse when they drop, which is what has happened in recent years. An oil industry as big as Venezuela's drains labor power from other sectors, which is a huge reason that agriculture in Venezeula is chronically deficient despite excellent land and resources for it.
Maduro is now making publicly conciliatory moves to Biden's government. And is offering favorable deals to foreign oil giants on very favorable terms. Erik Schatzker et al describe the current government initiatives as expressed by Maduro in a long interview with Bloomberg in Venezuela’s Maduro Pleads for Foreign Capital, Biden Deal in Caracas Interview Bloomberg News 06/18/2021
Full Interview With Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro Bloomberg Politics 06/18/2021 (in Spanish with English subtitles):
The hawkish Eli Lake (Maduro Has Only Himself to Blame for Venezuela’s Plight Bloomberg News 06/18/2021) describes the latest gestures this way, in a passage far too typical of the poor coverage of Venezuelan affairs in the US press:
“If Venezuela can’t produce oil and sell it, can’t produce and sell its gold, can’t produce and sell its bauxite, can’t produce iron, etcetera, and can’t earn revenue in the international market, how is it supposed to pay the holders of Venezuelan bonds?” he said. “This world has to change. This situation has to change.”While corruption (a chronic problem around the oil sector with petrostates) and government policy (as on longterm investment in oil infrastructure) played a role, we still need to keep the central point in mind: "Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, is a case study in the perils of petrostatehood."
It’s tempting to concede his point. Trump’s policies — imposing sanctions, attempting to get humanitarian aid directly to Venezuelan citizens and recognizing the head of Venezuela’s legislature as its interim president — have not produced free and fair elections.
At the same time, it’s important to remember that Venezuela’s economy was in free fall before the U.S. imposed sanctions. Indeed, the hyperinflation and collapse of the oil sector has more to do with the socialist policies and corruption of the Maduro regime than with the economic penalties imposed on it for stealing the 2018 election.
Refugees leaving Venezuela constitute a serious humanitarian crisis, which is inevitably worsened by US sanctions. The US press and public seems to take economic sanctions as a peaceful alternative to war, which they can be. But many of the economic sanctions the US imposes does hurt the well-being of ordinary people, with the aim of creating popular pressure on the government being sanctioned. Americans need to be very realistic about this.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) currently describes the situation this way:
People continue to leave Venezuela to escape violence, insecurity and threats as well as lack of food, medicine and essential services. With over 5 million Venezuelans now living abroad, the vast majority in countries within Latin America and the Caribbean, this has become one of the largest displacement crisis in the world.
Ongoing political, human rights and socio-economic developments in Venezuela compel growing numbers of children, women and men to leave for neighbouring countries and beyond. Many arrive scared, tired and in dire need of assistance. [emphasis in original]
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