RealClear World: Corporations Tried to Whitewash Maduro’s Oppression

By Cláudia Nunes

This week, the United States deployed bombers, warships, and thousands of Marines to the Caribbean, moving closer to Venezuela in an operation the Trump administration justifies as a “counter-narcotics” mission. 

Whether Washington’s new military posture aims to topple Maduro or simply pressure him, this sudden hardline shift exposes a contradiction. This is the same administration that, only a few months ago, decided to grant new business licenses to Chevron, following strong appeals from conservative and corporate circles advocating a policy of “cooperation with Caracas,” at a time when neither drug trafficking nor human rights violations seemed to concern Washington.