To the surprise of absolutely no one, Trump has started to make it clear that his primary interest in Venezuela is neither liberal democracy nor the sale of illegal drugs; he wants to “take back” what he considers to be “our” oil. Is there any merit to this?
Absolutely not–the oil is not within America’s borders. It is apparently true that giant multinational oil companies headquartered in the US once had more right to exploit and profit from Venezuelan oil than they do today. I have trouble seeing how that made the oil yours and mine, or how restoring those rights would benefit us much in the future.