“The United States government feels it must be in control of the Western Hemisphere.”
That’s from UNBC political science professor Gary Wilson after ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife were arrested last week following a large strike and military operation.
Wilson told Vista Radio with American President Donald Trump announcing Venezuela will send upwards of 50-million barrels of oil, which will be sold at market price, the move could spell bad news for Canada’s oil sector.
“These prices are usually determined on an international markets but by allowing Venezuelan oil to enter the market where it was previously sanctioned that could drive the price of oil down, something Donald Trump is hoping will happen because that would lower the impacts of inflation in the United States.”
“In the case of Canadian oil, specifically taking it out of the oil sands, it’s much more expensive to extract that oil and sort of puts Canadian producers in a bit of a difficult situation. I mean, obviously our oil is a lot more expensive than the oil we get from Venezuela or the Middle East.”
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels as of 2023.
Maduro and his wife are facing charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy after being taken into custody in New York.
He adds it’s also part of the U.S. Security Strategy where other countries like Canada, Columbia and Greenland are in the political crosshairs.
“It also has implications for other parts of the Western Hemisphere. There have been discussions since the development in Venezuela about Cuba, about Columbia and even about Mexico, But, I think even here in Canada we should be very concerned about this sort of flexing of American muscles,” added Wilson.
He added the value of taking over such countries from an American point of view is both economic and strategic.
“It would mean having access to critical resources like oil and gas but also critical minerals, rare earth minerals, which can be found in Greenland. That is part of it – ensuring that the steady and controlled supply of those materials.”
“In the case of Venezuela, the Maduro government and Chavez government were a bit of a thorn in the side of the United States over a number of decades, in a similar way Cuba has been. These are socialist countries who are at odds with the United States. In the case of Venezuela, they had strong connections to Russia and China. The Americans in exerting their control of the Western Hemisphere are saying to Russia and China that this is our backyard and stay away from it. We will be in control of the resources.”
When asked if he has seen any type of president or world leader taking control of the Western Hemisphere, Wilson noted this type of hostile takeover hasn’t been done since the 19th Century.
President James Monroe introduced the Monroe Doctrine during his annual address to the U.S. Congress back in 1823.
He warned the European powers not to interfere in affairs of the Western Hemisphere.
However, American presidents like John F. Kennedy, did not adopt the Monroe Doctrine, but Trump revived it, favouring dominance and prioritizing trade over democratic values
“The United States has always been a very powerful country, there is no doubt about it compared to others in the Western Hemisphere but this is kind of a new level of manipulation and control over what is going on in the United States’ back yard.”
“The taking of Maduro is not exactly unprecedented. We can look back to the 1980’s where the Americans capture Manuel Noriega from Panama and brought him back to the United States, so this has happened before. What has not happened before, is where the United States has tried to control part of the territory in an ally called Denmark, a fellow NATO member.”
“If that happened, whether militarily or not, that would be unprecedented. If the Trump administration is willing to takeover Greenland, it’s one thing to take over a socialist-narco state like Venezuela and remove its leader to control the country but it’s another thing to attack a fellow NATO member and ally.” said Wilson.
“It becomes much easier to see the US exerting more control over Canada as we have seen. He has already laid down that root with the 51st State rhetoric. I don’t think that is going away – that will resurface at some point.”
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