2 MONTHS AGO VENEZUELA WAS A HUGE STORY AND THE PANICANS WERE RAGING <\/p>\n
As we consider where the Iran war is headed, let\u2019s check in on Trump\u2019s first regime-change operation this year. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported, \u201cVenezuela\u2019s Crude Exports Double in February Under US Oversight.\u201d It\u2019s even better than that. Stand by for refueling.<\/p>\n
Remember the good old days in January, when President Trump \u201cintervened\u201d in Venezuela, and the entire progressive establishment lost its collective mind? \u201cAnother Iraq!\u201d they shrieked. \u201cBoots on the ground!\u201d They howled, \u201cRegime change never works!\u201d And they kept saying the word, \u201cquagmire!\u201d\u2014 although I\u2019m pretty sure they don\u2019t know what that word means.<\/p>\n
Believe it or not, all that was two months ago. Let\u2019s check in.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg reported yesterday that Venezuela\u2019s oil exports doubled in February. They\u2019ve shot up to roughly 1.4 million barrels a day from only 800,000 in January. That\u2019s $2 billion in oil sales in a single month \u2014which is a lot for that benighted country\u2014 all flowing through U.S.-managed accounts earmarked for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.<\/p>\n
They expect another $5 billion in the coming months.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the part progressives wish would disappear. Under former President Maduro (now president of his cell block), Venezuela was shipping 90% of its oil to China. For the privilege, China got a massive discount, paying as much as $21 per barrel below market price.<\/p>\n
In other words, Maduro\u2019s dictatorial regime was fire-selling Venezuelan oil to prop himself up while his people starved. Under the new U.S.-supervised arrangement, that discount collapsed to just $6 below market. Venezuela now makes nearly 30% more on every single barrel, and the money is going into humanitarian and reconstruction programs instead of into Maduro\u2019s Swiss bank accounts.<\/p>\n
Mind you, I\u2019m not arguing that intervention is justified whenever a third-world dictator strikes a bad deal with China. At the end of the day, that\u2019s a Venezuela problem. Driving China out of Latin America was the goal, but a side benefit is that Venezuelans are almost immediately enjoying the blessings of de-Chinazation.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s check the \u2018quagmire scoreboard\u2019 (South American edition). Two months in, we have: a murderous dictator captured, political prisoners freed, diplomatic relations renewed, elections being planned, oil exports doubled, revenue redirected to the people, and China lost its sweetheart deal on oil stolen from American oil companies.<\/p>\n
President Trump will never get the credit for this, but this is truly historic. I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s anything historically comparable to this turnaround in Caracas. Remember\u2014 Trump did something new, bold, and different with this new style of regime change. He took out the leader, but left the government in place. That was a massive political risk, but it also created dizzying new possibilities.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s innovation was making a lightning recovery possible. I can\u2019t find a single example of a post-regime-change country hitting all of these markers within an eye-watering 60 days:<\/p>\n
…Dictator removed and facing criminal trial<\/p>\n …Political prisoners freed (540+ and counting) and political prisons closed<\/p>\n …Sweeping amnesty law passed covering 25 years<\/p>\n …Oil exports doubled \u2014 $2B in revenue in one month, flowing through transparent channels<\/p>\n ….Diplomatic relations restored<\/p>\n ….10-12% annual GDP growth projected<\/p>\n ….No ongoing military occupation<\/p>\n …..China weakened<\/strong><\/p>\n Maybe most astonishing of all: rebuilding Venezuela is costing America nothing; we are actually making money on it. Talk about the Art of the Deal. If you\u2019d tried to sell me on this idea a year ago, I\u2019d have called it impossible. I probably would have argued with you about it.<\/p>\n What makes the Venezuelan recovery historically unique is its self-funding mechanism. Every other major post-regime recovery \u2014Germany, Japan, South Korea, Iraq\u2014 required massive external capital infusion. Once again, Trump saw potential that nobody else did: use Venezuelan assets.<\/p>\n Caracas crouches over the world\u2019s largest proven oil reserves. The wealth was always there. The only thing standing between Venezuela and prosperity was the guy who was stealing everything. Remove the guy, redirect the revenue, and the country starts healing\u2014 using its own money.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not just historically fast. Trump might have created a genuinely new model: the anti-quagmire, featuring rapid regime change without nation-building\u2014 where liberating a country\u2019s own resources is the reconstruction plan. No occupations, no hundred-billion-dollar restoration packages, no forever wars.<\/p>\n If that\u2019s a \u2018quagmire,\u2019 then we need more and better quagmires.<\/p>\n Iran is a bigger, pricklier problem than Venezuela. But Trump\u2019s unprecedented, creative approach to the Caracas turnaround suggests his team also has similarly innovative ideas for handling Tehran. If so, it\u2019s good news for us, and great news for the Iranian people. Let the man work.<\/p>\n JEFF CHILDERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2 MONTHS AGO VENEZUELA WAS A HUGE STORY AND THE PANICANS WERE RAGING As we consider where the Iran war is headed, let\u2019s check in on Trump\u2019s first regime-change operation this year. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported, \u201cVenezuela\u2019s Crude Exports Double in … Continue reading