Venezuela isn't just about oil. It's the opening gambit in Trump's plan to untangle the US economy from China ahead of a future confrontation.
The goal: a compliant South America to replace Chinese manufacturing and give US corporates unfettered access to resources 🧵
Jan 4, 2026 19:37This is the clear intention behind the "Donroe Doctrine" set out in the recent National Security Strategy.
The message to South American nations is very clear: play ball, or you'll end up like Maduro.
This is also why the strategy has such a big emphasis on reindustrialisation across the Western hemisphere.
The US can't confront China while its economy is so reliant on it. The solution? Reshore manufacturing to the Americas, exploiting cheap Latino labour instead of Chinese.
The plan has two obvious flaws:
1) Most South American nations aren't on board with it.
2) China has huge investments in South America, and isn't going to give them up easily.
And so l suspect we'll see more interventionism from the US over the coming years — both covert and overt.
And we can expect South America to be a key flashpoint in the new Cold War between China and the US, alongside Taiwan.
