In Venezuela I found people hoping for change but shocked and surprised by the opacity and greed of the Trump administration. The new system, one economist told me, is not exactly colonial, but rather a "coalition of two kleptocracies"
Read more (gift link):
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/12/trump-oil-venezuela-exploitation/689033/?gift=hVZeG3M9DnxL4CekrWGK318lcj0_FOa81hF2ySXljck
@anneapplebaum I can’t even feel shocked anymore. Only disgusted and angry.
“What the U.S. Is Really Doing in [any country Trump thinks he owns, including his own]
Suppressing democracy and extracting resources at the expense of its people”
@anneapplebaum the true shocker though is, that peoples are still surprised...
Oct 23, 2026, 6:18 AMReality has one major flaw:
it does not easily adapt to romantic visions.
Why are ppl surprised ??
America is *and always has been* an administration of pirates.
Initially colonised by European monarchies, early American settlers brought their respective cultures with them and applied it in the centuries that followed. Ruthlessly. They had the money, vested interests and learned corruption to do so.
Nothing has changed.
America is openly stealing $$$ billions of oil wealth from Venezuela and hopes to set itself up as the principle global trader in that grade of oil.
Its not bothered if Hormuz is blocked.
And Trump isn't remotely bothered if military or shipping personnel fester or die. Its means to a lucrative corrupt end.
@anneapplebaum 'a "coalition of two kleptocracies"' isn't that typically what colonialism is, though? Max Havelaar certainly suggests it...