University of Chicago professor Robert Pape, director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, painted a bleak picture on the path ahead when it comes to President Donald Trump\u2019s unprecedented attack on Venezuela, the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and Trump\u2019s announcement that the U.S. will occupy the South American country.<\/p>\n
Pape spoke to WBEZ host Sasha-Ann Simons on \u201cIn the Loop\u201d Monday about the unfolding developments, starting with Saturday\u2019s military strike in Caracas, the country\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe [U.S.] control of Venezuela is not going to be good for Venezuela. It\u2019s not going to be good for America, and it\u2019s not going to be good for Chicago,\u201d Pape told Simons.<\/p>\n
Here are four major takeaways from WBEZ\u2019s conversation with Pape, an expert on international security affairs and political violence.<\/p>\n
1. Trump\u2019s use of force in Venezuela is \u201cextremely dangerous for Chicago\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump is normalizing the use of force, the use of violence, for his particular political goals. He is not hiding it. He\u2019s not sugarcoating it. \u2026 It\u2019s with the use of force in Venezuela directly for plunder, to take the oil. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo what we need to understand is this is extremely dangerous for Chicago. Chicago has essentially been the poster child for him using force against a liberal city. In fact, he\u2019d been very upfront about not liking the leadership of our city and our state, and this is something that we have to be particularly concerned about going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. With no obvious short-term path, Trump is sending the U.S. \u201cdown a dark road\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we have much of a path forward, certainly not in the next year \u2014 maybe after the midterms. But the big picture here is President Trump is sending us down a dark road. I have studied regime change [and] political violence for 30 years. I\u2019ve taught for the U.S. Air Force in detail how these operations unfold. And the fact of the matter is the occupation of Venezuela \u2014 and that is what has happened; we now control the government \u2014 occupation is not about how many boots are on the ground. It\u2019s who controls the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. There\u2019s no precedent for seizing Venezuela\u2019s oil assets<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to understand this \u2014 that we have never had a president cavalierly announce the seizure of another country\u2019s prime assets as the main objective in an operation.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about putting in power a regime that will give America the oil.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also important to say that this is really a delusion, the idea that we will ever control the oil in Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Civilian oil contractors will be targets for Venezuelan guerrillas <\/p>\n
Trump said U.S. oil companies will run Venezuelan oil assets. \u201cThat means civilian contractors have to go in \u2026 [They] would be really vulnerable to a handful of snipers shooting at them. That is what those civilian contractors would face if they went in there… <\/p>\n
\u201cAs we go forward, Venezuela is primed for guerrillas, primed for insurgency. It\u2019s got the mountains of Afghanistan, the jungles of Vietnam. It is perfect for small little groups to get line of sight at these civilian contractors working in these fields … and that\u2019s why those oil companies, you\u2019re already hearing them saying, \u2018We\u2019re not going in.\u2019 And the reason is because this is way too dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
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