General Discussion

Venezuela has been demonized since Chavez who:

1) Was a non-white / non-colonial leader of Venezuala

2) Nationalized the oil industry.

In WWII, the two biggest refineries serving the allies in Europe were located on nearby Aruba and Curaçao, Lago Colony and Royal Dutch Shell oil, producing a majority of the oil used by the European allies

Lago Colony was owned by Standard Oil, then the largest oil company in the world. In late 1930s about 40% of crude processed by Standard Oil in total was from the Maracaibo Basin. It was a major source of gasoline and shipped to Germany before WWII. Germany attacked Lago Colony in WWII and failed.

Royal Dutch Oil had similarly provided fuel to Japan and WWII embargoed Japan in the Pacific then lost its oil holding in the Dutch East Indies to Japan.

During the PNAC days, the USA put FOL (military lily pads) on Aruba and Curaçao for drug interdiction and with room for staging war. Other FOLs were established in Ecuador, Paraguay, Honduras and ? (note I am typing from an aging and decayed brain).

Recall The Revolution Will not be Televised https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Televised_(film) about the failed Chavez coup attempt in 2002. The coup attempt was followed by a western-backed national oil strike and a Venezuelan separatist movement to break off Maracaibo (western Venezuela)

Recall Natalee Holloway gone missing. It was likely used as a cover. There were multiple connections to the GOP in her classmates and Alabama community. An oil research vessel mapped the ocean floor between the Antilles and Venezuela looking for Natalee in a crab trap with the daily progress on Faux. The same area that was mined in WWII to protect against German U-Boats. Venezuela was also blamed (no doubt true) for harboring FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). There was a French mediator (can't recall the name) that met with FARC and Colombia in Ecuador. The meeting was bombed and mediators killed and subsequently the USA was told to close the FOL in Ecuador (sounds similar to Doba). Dick Cheney was on Aruba with Air Force 2 and a contingent when the FARC / Ecuador bombing occurred but that has been long disappeared from the internet. Part of the group was partying in Carlo's and Charlie's, where Natalee disappeared, when Ecudor was bombed. I am saying Natalee's misfortune was used as a cover. Aruba was formerly a Dutch holding but foreign affairs are still handled by The Netherlands. The FOL contract was with the Dutch not Arubans and many Arubans did not like the FOL as it presented a risk and some differed in POV. Have zero idea if those FOLs still exist. Infrastructure and runway improvement to handle military planes were constructed at the time 25 years ago.

If WWIII was to get real, one of the first actions would be to control western Venezuela, the richest oil patch in the western hemisphere.