Is Venezuela better off since the U.S. took charge?

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough for the Venezuelan people, they now have to contend with the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes.

In any event, it’s been roughly six months since the U.S. intervened militarily in Venezuela and illegally kidnapped then-President Nicolás Maduro. Where does the beleaguered country stand today?

If you were to listen to U.S. President Donald Trump, the Venezuelan people are now some of the happiest on the planet. “The people are very happy. They’re dancing in the streets because they have a lot of money coming in through the big oil companies that are all moving in,” he said unashamedly.

Have the lives and well-being of most Venezuelans substantially improved? Or, is it just more of the same under a different leader (Delcy Rodríguez) — and, more importantly, a Venezuela under American tutelage?

Of course, the U.S. has a long history of military intervention in countless Latin American countries over the last 250 years or so. It has always promised economic prosperity and a better life, liberal democracy and greater accountability, political freedoms and respect for human rights.

But the actual record says something entirely different.

In the case of Venezuela, some things have changed, while much remains unchanged. Maybe over time the outcome will be different, but there is plenty to be concerned about in today’s Venezuela.

There are some reports that Venezuela’s economy, now that the punishing U.S. sanctions regime has been removed, is set to grow by three or four per cent this year (though it was already growing under Maduro’s reign). But the real question is whether any of that growth will reach the Venezuelans most in need — instead of leaving the country or staying in the hands of compliant local elites.

More significantly, the critical oil sector is going to be dominated and exploited by major U.S. oil multinationals. It’s all very reminiscent of how the U.S. owned and controlled sugar, coffee and banana plantations throughout much of Latin America and the Caribbean in the 20th century.

There are those who will argue that Venezuela will now be able to access badly-needed funds and loans from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. But Venezuela’s past involvement with these organizations has oftentimes meant extraordinarily tough economic medicine to swallow.

To be sure, the attached conditionality required to tap into these monies only exacerbated the dreadful living conditions on the ground in Venezuela. In fact, the resulting socio-economic fallout played a huge role in eventually bringing into power Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian Revolution in the late 1990s.

Yes, it is true that some long-suffering political prisoners have been released under Rodríguez’s tenure, while others have reportedly been sent to other detention facilities.

Moreover, the notoriously feared El Helicoide prison, infamous for torture in the centre of Caracas, has not seen its doors shuttered. And while Rodríguez has moved to sideline some key members of the previous Maduro government, there are many (including in the military) who still remain as part of the governing structure.

Does anyone seriously believe that Trump cares about fostering regime change or greater democratization in Venezuela?

For all intents and purposes, Nobel laureate María Corina Machado, arguably a more legitimate candidate to be president of Venezuela, has been kicked to the curb.

It is highly unlikely that she will ever see the inside of Miraflores (Venezuela’s presidential palace), let alone come to power in a free, fair and multi-party democratic contest.

Besides, President Rodríguez doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. She will be expected to do Trump’s bidding and keep the oil sector largely serving U.S. economic and political interests. If that means a return (or continuation) of a more repressive regime, then so be it.

What is most troubling is the seemingly mad rush of American oil companies trying to cash in on Venezuela’s petrol wealth.

It looks very much like a return to the bad old days of colonial exploitation — installing a make-believe democracy, dictating to the servant-like Rodríguez government, maniacally extracting oil profits and leaving the majority of the population still impoverished.

Life under the Maduro government was no picnic for ordinary Venezuelans — and no one should wish for its return. But at least some of the oil money trickled down to the downtrodden and poorest communities. Under Trumpian imperialism, that is much less likely to happen.

As one dispirited Venezuelan, who has yet to see any influx of petrol dollars, recently told the Washington Post: “There’s no middle class here. I think we’re worse off.”

And that is surely to be the end result of classic neo-colonialism in the Trump era.

Peter McKenna is professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.