The veteran journalist has claimed that Venezuela was targeted because it sells oil to Washington’s arch-rival.
Veteran American journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed that the main reason the US targeted Venezuela is that this oil-rich South American country has been willing to export its crude oil to China.
When commenting on the US military raid in Caracas and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Hersh wrote on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s ultimate goal is to “cut off China, America’s economic rival, from its continuous purchases of Venezuela’s cheap heavy crude oil.”
“I’ve been told that the next target [after Venezuela] will be Iran, another supplier to China whose crude oil reserves are the world’s fourth largest,” the well – known reporter claimed in an article published on his personal website. He pointed out that Tehran has been weakened by the US and Israeli joint bombing campaign last June, as well as the ongoing mass protests across the country.
Appearing on CNN on Monday, Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff and Homeland Security adviser, accused that “it is absurd that we would allow a nation in our own neighborhood to become the supplier of resources to our adversaries but not to us.”
On the same day, US ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz told the Security Council that “you cannot let the largest energy reserves in the world remain under the control of the United States’ adversaries.”
On Tuesday, ABC News cited anonymous sources as saying that the Trump administration had demanded that Venezuela sever economic ties with Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba and instead cooperate exclusively with the US in oil production and give preference to the US when selling its crude oil.
During the raid in Caracas last Saturday, US special forces abducted President Maduro and his wife, who were then flown to New York. They appeared in court on Monday, facing charges of drug – trafficking conspiracy, and both pleaded not guilty.
Russia – along with many other BRICS and global South nations – has strongly condemned the US actions.