Niall Stanage, journalist: “You couldn’t ask for a more textbook example of what colonialism or imperialism are”

The journalist Niall Stanage says the United States’ intervention in Venezuela is a “textbook example of what colonialism or imperialism are”.

“That’s what’s happening”

Speaking in the wake of U.S. forces’ stunning night-time raid on Caracas, which on Saturday saw Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro captured and taken to New York, Stanage told C-SPAN: “I do think it’s important for those of us in the media to state facts where they plainly exist, even if some people from political positions don’t want those facts to be acknowledged.”

Stanage, who is the White House columnist for The Hill, continued: “What the United States is involved in, in Venezuela, is clearly an imperialist or colonialist effort.

“President Trump was asked on Air Force One last night: ‘Who’s in charge of Venezuela?’ He said: ‘We’re in charge.’ That means that the United States has used its military might to take control of a foreign country.

“President Trump has been abundantly clear that extracting oil from Venezuela is a driving force in that effort.

“You couldn’t ask for a more textbook example of what colonialism or imperialism are. The use, by a larger country, of force against a smaller country, to take control of it, directly or indirectly, and to exploit its resources. That’s what’s happening.”

U.S. to “run” Venezuela as Trump hints at further targets

In a news conference on Saturday, Trump told reporters that the U.S. is “going to run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” can be guaranteed in the country. He also outlined American plans to oversee an overhaul of Venezuela’s “badly broken” oil industry.

“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies - the biggest anywhere in the world - go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure,” the U.S. president said.

Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, has now been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president, but in an interview given on his presidential plane on Sunday, Trump insisted that the U.S. is “in charge” in the South American country.

“We’re dealing with the people who just got sworn in,” the 79-year-old told reporters from Air Force One. “Don’t ask me who’s in charge because I’ll give you an answer and it will be very controversial.” Asked to clarify this statement, Trump responded: “It means we’re in charge.”

Since this weekend’s Venezuela strike, Trump has also hinted at U.S. interventions in other countries and territories.

For example, he has warned Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, to “watch his ass”, and has repeated his claim that the U.S. “need” Greenland, an autonomous territory that is part of Denmark, “for national security”.

Maduro: “I am innocent”

Maduro, who has been indicted by the U.S. on drugs and weapons charges, on Monday pleaded not guilty in a New York court, declaring, per AP: “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.” The 63-year-old’s wife, Cilia Flores, who was also seized and indicted by the U.S., likewise pleaded not guilty.

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