The Donroe Doctrine, Venezuela’s fragile pragmatism, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• On January 15, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met with U.S. President Donald Trump after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025.
• Simultaneously, CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's interim President, in Caracas.
• President Trump described Ms. Rodríguez as "a terrific person" with whom the U.S. was "getting along very well."
• The U.S. military intervention in Venezuela led to the abduction of sitting President Nicolás Maduro.

Detailed Insights:

• The "Donroe Doctrine" signifies a shift from traditional U.S. imperialism, focusing on resource extraction while maintaining a compliant governing apparatus.
• Delcy Rodríguez is navigating Venezuela's economic subordination by negotiating with the U.S. to ease sanctions, despite defiant rhetoric.
• The U.S. prefers "regime management" over "regime change" to maintain equilibrium with the armed forces and ruling party, led by figures like Vladimir Padrino López and Diosdado Cabello.
• Crushing U.S. sanctions since the late 2010s have targeted Venezuela's oil sector, leading to hyperinflation and economic collapse, with limited support from China and Russia.
• Hugo Chávez's 2001 Hydrocarbon Law, which favored Venezuelan control over oil profits, is now being renegotiated due to economic pressures and U.S. intervention.
• Rodríguez managed to achieve modest GDP growth and oil production recovery through arrangements like the 2020 Anti-Blockade Law, allowing greater private investment in the oil sector.
• Despite the blockade, commodities traders have received licenses to move Venezuelan crude, with revenues flowing through accounts accessible to the Venezuelan state only with American approval.
• The situation highlights the limits of the emerging multipolar order, as neither China nor Russia confronted the U.S. in Venezuela, emphasizing the need for the Global South to act in concert.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Monroe Doctrine: A U.S. policy opposing European colonialism in the Americas, asserting U.S. dominance in the region.
• Neocolonialism: Control of a state's economic and political policies by external forces, despite its nominal independence.
• Bolivarianism: A socialist political ideology prevalent in Venezuela, emphasizing national sovereignty and wealth redistribution.