BY: DONALD SEVILLA
A SWIFT DISPENSATION OF JUSTICE OR A CLEVER EXCUSE TO RUN OIL?
The swift removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from his office and literally from his own country by US Special Forces to face justice, just shows how arrogance and bullheadedness as a homegrown dictator can cause one’s quick downfall.
Maduro started from humble origins, was a bus driver who was an activist for people’s rights. But the perks of power changed him and his lifestyle.
Absolute power corrupts even men with a strong socialist agenda.He was pro-poor to begin with but ended up filthy rich while the rest of his country grappled with insane inflation making it so difficult to live day by day.
Part of Maduro’s troubles stemmed from unchecked corruption and excess, aside from being accused as supporting cartels who brought drugs into the US.
This should serve as a lesson to our politicians who feel on top of the world and their game at the moment, relishing every penny of their wealth and fortune while our people suffer.
Yet we do not expect the US to intervene and whisk our corrupt officials away to face American justice. We can only hope that our leaders would suddenly develop a conscience to end our malady.
While what the US did was highly controversial and could be the subject of intense debate as to its legality under international law and recognition of sovereignty, how we wish such quick, forceful action to dispense with the corrupt will be undertaken in our shores.
But the Philippines does not have huge oil reserves as Venezuela does.We have nothing of tangible value to world trade except our precarious location in a contested waterway that superpowers covet.
US interests in the Latin American region are at stake in Venezuela and America’s role in geopolitics cannot be undermined.
But that’s how world politics work.Maybe too, that’s how they envision to make America great again!