Yesterday’s events in Venezuela stirred long-forgotten memories.
In 2011, Libya was attacked. It was presented as a humanitarian intervention. Gaddafi was framed as the enemy of the West, a dictator who had to be removed. At that point in history, the United States still acted together with its Western allies. That is an important difference to today.
The reaction to Venezuela, especially in Europe, has taken the form of indirect support by declaring Maduro a despicable leader. Yes, neither leader was admirable, and there are certainly better systems than dictatorships, although the West has not always been selective, as its support for Pinochet in Chile demonstrated. There are many reasons to dislike such leaders and to wish for their removal, one of them being freedom for the people. But this is only meaningful if there is genuine and broad support from the population, and if that motivation is sincere.
Sadly, in both cases, local people were not the priority. In both cases, it was about oil, gas, and large financial interests. In Libya, this claim has often been disputed. Yet shortly before the war, contracts from major oil companies were circulated to other firms for work in Libya. I saw these myself. Although I no longer have access to them, I remember the surprise at the sudden surge of interest in Libyan oil fields from companies that had not previously operated there. We found this concerning and decided to decline the work. That decision proved right when Tripoli was bombed and attacked. There was no blood on our hands, and our instinct that war was imminent was, sadly, correct.
As with Libya, Venezuela does not appear to be primarily about the people. It is not about narco-trafficking. It is about oil. The difference this time is that Europe is unlikely to benefit economically, while the United States may do so alone. Yet through moral and political support, Europe still carries responsibility.
We can only hope that the changes in Venezuela do not cause the same chaos and death as they did in Libya.
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