Trump and Venezuela. Regime Change. Stuff.

Response to a Friend’s Facebook post. 

I DON’T think a Washington “regime change” of Venezuela, if ever, would be cool with China. The top buyer of Caracas’ oil is Beijing. But I feel Mr Trump's recent aggressive moves vs. alleged cartel ships in Venezuela, apart from the obvious, also serves as part of his tactics per trade with China. A few shudders could force Nicolas Maduro to shut his waters from cartel transit, as Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum gets strict on Rio Grande, Darien Pass, and Gulf of Mexico on President Trump’s pressure. Same case in a recent drama in Iran. Selective thrillers. China is Tehran's #1 oil customer. The CCP won't allow shipping disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. 

       Meanwhile, the insane U.S. military buildup everywhere is a Washington habit. The report about another near Venezuela doesn’t really surprise me. America maintains 750 bases in 80 countries! The last regime changes in Asia were in 1945 (Philippines and Korea) and 1963 (Vietnam) or, you may also count 1986 in the Philippines. Yet there are currently 41 U.S. military bases in the region. Including satellites, some sources say 300! 

       Why can't the U.S. simply do the military brinkmanship trick or "gunboat diplomacy" there in the East since the 21st century strode in? In Myanmar, especially? Or shake North Korea a bit? Actually create real hostilities in the South China Sea besides fishing boat "quarrels"? 

       China.

       ADD: Despite biggies Japan and South Korea (and the Philippines) as all-out Washington political hound dogs, they are economic allies of China. Refer to RCEP, for example, which also has Australia and New Zealand as members. India and Indonesia are BRICS.

FB Friend: The bill is coming due for a faltering U.S. hegemony.

U.S. (global) hegemony has already "faltered." The signal was ushered by the 2000 trade pact between Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin, which cleared the path for China to enter the WTO and the universal economic terrain that was dominated by the U.S. and Europe for centuries. Anyhow, Mr Trump as in other POTUSes before him will always abide by America's military narcissism to influence global relations although Donald tries to diversify a bit mainly due to China not biting Washington's traditional hawkish dare. 

       Yet as I keep on saying, the U.S. will stay #1 as long as it maintains a relatively cordial relations with China and BRICS and continually challenge/s NATO and Europe's timewarped belief that the West is still as mighty as the 18th century. But Mr Trump is demonized big time, regardless of the dovish insistence in his playbook. ☮️☮️☮️