Unheeded ‘Gulf Lesson’

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The US has been involved with Venezuela since oil was discovered there about a century ago, and, for a time, major American companies controlled 98 per cent of the production. Things changed when President Andrés Pérez officially nationalised oil resources 50 years ago, by establishing Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), taking control of the industry.

The multinationals continued operations until President Hugo Chávez was elected in 1998, bringing sweeping changes to PDVSA, and, in 2007, he expropriated American assets as part of his socialist regime. In 2017, US President Trump imposed sanctions on PDVSA, but they were lifted by President Biden.

Today, there are greater threats to Venezuela, as President Trump’s armada of warships awaits orders along the coast. From all intents and purposes, it looks like President Trump plans a regime change and to reclaim oil assets that he believes were wrongfully expropriated in 2007.

Every US president since Dwight Eisenhower has been involved in the game of golf, but none more keenly than Trump, who owns luxury courses around the world. There’s nothing wrong with presidents being involved in the game of golf, but a problem arises when presidents become involved with a gulf. We remember 1964’s Gulf of Tonkin incident with deliberately skewed intelligence that US vessels had been fired upon by North Vietnamese gunboats. That directly led to the US Congress and President Lyndon Johnson deploying forces to South Vietnam, resulting in 11 years of war with horrendous losses on all sides.

Tragically, the ‘Gulf Lesson’ was not learned, as 1990 saw Operation Desert Shield where a coalition of 35 countries, led by President George H.W. Bush, waged war to liberate Kuwait in the Persian Gulf. Former close US ally President Saddam Hussein of Iraq had invaded his neighbour. He was eventually driven out, but remained in power until President George W. Bush started the Iraq War in 2003, but weapons of mass destruction were never found in Iraq.

Now President Trump suggests a regime change in Caracas. Deafening drums of war beat ominously from Washington signalling yet another unheeded ‘Gulf Lesson’, just as Christians sing about their Prince of Peace and the Little Drummer Boy – Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada