"On September 2, United States President Donald Trump released grainy footage of a missile obliterating a fishing boat off Venezuela's coast. Eleven people died instantly. The administration called them narcoterrorists. Venezuelan sources identified them as fishermen. Since then, the US military has conducted at least 22 strikes, killing 87 people, with investigations revealing that the first attack included a second strike to kill two survivors clinging to wreckage a potential war crime under international law."
"On Wednesday, the US went on to seize an oil tanker in Venezuelan waters, an escalation the Venezuelan government described as blatant theft and an act of international piracy, underscoring Washington's shift towards economic coercion alongside military force. The Trump administration frames all this as counter-narcotics. Critics call it regime change. But the most dangerous dimension of this crisis has nothing to do with Venezuela at all. It is about the consolidation of executive power at home."
US military strikes and seizures against Venezuela prioritize expanding executive emergency powers and consolidating presidential authority rather than securing resources. A missile strike on September 2 killed eleven people labeled by the administration as narcoterrorists but identified by Venezuelan sources as fishermen. Subsequent operations included at least 22 strikes that killed 87 people and an investigation indicates a second strike targeted survivors, a potential war crime. The US seized an oil tanker in Venezuelan waters, which Caracas called theft and piracy, reflecting a turn toward economic coercion alongside force. The US frames actions as counter-narcotics while critics call them regime change. Venezuela holds 303 billion barrels of proven reserves but production has collapsed and infrastructure is severely degraded, with restoration requiring about $58bn. Legal pathways to Venezuelan oil already exist. The US could lift sanctions.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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