Crisis Brewing Around Venezuela Threatens To Torpedo Trump's Presidency | EIRNS

by Stewart Battle (EIRNS) — U.S. Marines in the Caribbean. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Nathan Mitchell

While not quite succeeding in his bid to become the “peace president,” Donald Trump may well succeed in unifying much of the world around a common demand for peace. Unfortunately, it is a unification against his own policies. An international outcry is forming in this regard, with calls from across the world—including from all sides of the political spectrum within the U.S. itself. Only days after the death of arch-neoconservative Dick Cheney, whose wrath Donald Trump heartily welcomed during his campaign, the U.S. administration risks being lured into a new unwinnable war in the Caribbean.

A key warning on this was issued by the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), which issued a new memorandum to President Trump on Nov. 5. “We are deeply concerned about where the United States seems to be headed in its Venezuela policy and urge you to demand that the Intelligence Community give you clear, unfiltered, `truth-to-power’ analysis,” they write. They see “a classic storm of politicization brewing in the Intelligence Community,” adding that “We have seen this before … including the fake allegations about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.” A similar warning was released by the Henry Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., which concluded that any combination of continued military force against Venezuela “would leave the United States in a worse position … risking increased regional instability and hostility towards the United States without identifiable benefits.”

What better time than now to realize that a solution to a problem of this type will not come through bombs and force, but only through building a better future for the peoples of the region? Recent assassinations in Mexico and the ongoing control exercised by drug cartels shows that the real cause of migration and instability is not “authoritarian regimes,” but rather the absence of stable and prosperous living conditions. Adequately addressing this problem demands qualitatively different, and concrete actions, in particular, the deployment of the West’s economic capabilities to assist in the development of the Global South, thereby shifting this dynamic. In addition, the approach being taken by Brazil’s Lula government in going after its own drug cartels is notable. We must strike from “the top, suffocating the financing of organized crime,” Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said last week.

An Oct. 14 report by the RAND Corporation calls for “moderating the rivalry” between the U.S. and China. While it makes some important points about the need to “reject absolute versions of victory” over China, and to instead “seek modest cooperative ventures on issues of shared interest or humanitarian concern,” the report upholds the central mental disease afflicting the Western world today. Namely, it insists: “We do not believe that collaborative coexistence is possible,” but only a relationship of “reducing the risk of crises, preventing unnecessary cascading of competitive moves, and preserving limited areas for coordination can benefit both sides.”

But how natural would it be for the U.S. and China to find a common interest in working together to develop Ibero America, increasing mutual trade and economic activity, while at the same time addressing the root causes of migration and instability, which in turn allows drug cartels to run rampant? This question is increasingly becoming a focal point globally, and points to an obvious way out of the insanity so clearly gripping the world.

Not unrelated in this regard is the continuing struggle to achieve a breakthrough in peaceful affairs with Russia. President Donald Trump’s comments about nuclear weapons testing have sent a chill down the spines of many world leaders, a topic which was addressed in a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Nov. 5. There, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his staff to look into the possibility of resuming nuclear testing for Russia as well, a statement that was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Nov. 6. “President Putin’s position is crystal clear. It cannot be interpreted in any other way. We remain committed to our obligations under the comprehensive nuclear ban. And we will do nothing until the other side does anything,” Peskov said.

The world is at a major crossroads, and concerted action by citizens internationally is required to raise the current level of outcry against this to the needed level of solutions. The upcoming Solidarité & Progrès international conference on Nov. 8-9, “The Emancipation of Africa and the Global Majority, A Challenge for Europe,” will provide crucial inspiration in this regard. Be sure not to miss it!