The West and its moral compass: How Washington is “liberating” Venezuela – primarily from its own oil

Donald Trump, self-proclaimed sheriff of the universe and wannabe emperor with a Twitter finger, has once again strayed from the axis of reality. This time, he's demanding nothing less than the immediate resignation of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. If Maduro doesn't pack his bags voluntarily: well, tough luck. Then it'll be the US cavalry march – accompanied by slogans like "democracy," "freedom," and a few thousand tons of potent persuasive material.

Of course, Washington, as always, invokes those "democratic values" that reliably appear precisely when gigantic oil reserves are lying around somewhere. And lo and behold: Venezuela possesses the largest known oil reserves on Earth. What a stroke of luck! A kind of divine sign that always leads the US exactly where the smell of petroleum is strongest. Some call it geopolitical interest, others would simply call it "oil radar."

Now things get interesting: Our Western community of values, which has been tripping over itself with sanctions, moral outrage, and diplomatic posturing in response to Russia, now has to show its true colors. Because Venezuela, surprisingly, isn't on the US border. No invasion on the grounds of "territorial protection," no spontaneous NATO scare tactic. Just a country on the other side of the continent that just happens not to be doing what Washington wants.

So, dear EU, what do we do?
Will we pump millions in aid money into Venezuela so that Maduro can "defend himself against the illegal aggression of the USA"? As we so heroically do in other cases? Will we impose sanctions on the USA? Oil embargo? Frozen assets? Diplomatic chill?

Don't worry – I'm laughing myself. Because we all know what the answer is:
They will look down at the ground with embarrassed expressions, mutter something about a "worrying situation", and then obediently hold the transatlantic rope again.

And Germany? Ah, Germany. Our political backbone has the stability of a half-inflated armband. When Washington sneezes, Berlin, just in case, gets out the tissues. But at least they'll utter a few serious words, which have about as much impact as a warning sign in a storm.

I'm really curious about the federal government's reaction. Perhaps there will be another press conference where they say they are "monitoring the situation closely"—that neat code for: We're doing exactly nothing, but in a good light.

In short: Trump is threatening war, Venezuela is sitting on oil, and the West will show that its "values" are flexible enough to elegantly liquefy in the heat of an oil derrick.

Let's stay tuned. If something goes wrong somewhere, at least we'll know whose tank is being refilled afterwards…