05/01/2026
𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐳𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲
by Tod Maffin - https://farandwide.news
I once went to school with a sociopath. Grade seven. His name was Brian — big kid.
Brian’s only real consideration was himself. He didn’t hold doors because there was nothing in it for him. He would walk up and take food straight out of your lunch, no asking, no eye contact. If you spoke to him and it didn’t benefit him, he simply didn’t answer.
Rules are fine, as long as they apply to someone else.
Then one day, Brian came walking down the hall. He was in tears. The vice principal was in tow. The two of them came up to me and a couple of kids in the hall, and the vice principal said “Brian wants to know why you hate him so much.”
The United States invaded another country and kidnapped its president overnight. It was illegal, both under international law and its own laws, but I think it’s obvious to any country other than itself that it has simply suspended law now.
The U.S. is often confused by how other countries see it. The most clear example of this came on 9/11. Here, outside the States, we watched news reports of Americans being interviewed — and almost every one was some variation of “Why would they do this to us? What have we ever done to them? Don’t they like freedom?”
No, what we don’t like is arrogance and hypocrisy.
Somehow, the U.S. has bought into the mythology that it’s the world’s police force and justice system. Those things already exist internationally. They come with courts, treaties, inspectors, and rules that are supposed to apply to everyone, especially the big kids.
But the U.S. has opted out of major parts of that system.
- It never joined the International Criminal Court
- It never ratified the Nuclear‑Test‑Ban Treaty.
- Or the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, even while enforcing its rules when convenient.
- And most horrifyingly, some of the additional protocols of the Geneva Convention — that ones that strengthen protections for civilians and limits methods of warfare — were sent to the senate in 1987 and are still waiting for a vote.
Rules are fine, as long as they apply to someone else.
That pattern didn’t start yesterday in Venezuela.
- In 1954, the CIA helped overthrow Guatemala’s democratically elected government. Why? Land reform threatened U.S. corporate interests.
- 2003. Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction. Mobile labs. Aluminium tubes. None of it was true. The U.S. went around the UN Security Council when it couldn’t get approval and invaded anyway. Why? To regain influence over the global oil system.
- 1973, the U.S. backed a coup in Chile because Washington didn’t like the outcome of a vote.
The invasion of Venezuela last night isn’t about fentanyl; it’s not even made there. It’s about, as it always is with the U.S., money.
Trump even said so himself this morning. The US would take control of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves and recruit American companies to move in. Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world’s crude oil global reserves.
Money.
Remember who Trump picked as Secretary of State in his first term? The chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil.
In other words, your sovereignty is an inconvenience to our ability to enrich ourselves.
Let’s be clear. What the U.S. did is an act of war. And it should be a stark warning to nations like Greenland. And, yes, Canada. With all our oil reserves the U.S. wants. And the critical minerals it desperately needs. Trump’s already been laying the groundwork with false claims about fentanyl here. Even as recently as this morning on Fox and Friends ("Plenty [of drugs] come in from Canada, by the way.")
And if you think I’m overreacting, know that the Canadian military has confirmed it’s setting up air defence systems, hiring more forces, and even considering how a civilian force would work. (See: "Canada's Top General Says We're Ready for War" — National Post, Dec 17 2025)
Which is why it’s especially baffling that, according to a tweet from its leader today, the Conservative Party of Canada is squarely in Trump’s corner. https://x.com/PierrePoilievre/status/2007461129308565875
That, my American friends, is why the world doesn’t trust your country. It’s not about freedom. It’s about decency.
Being strong doesn’t mean you get to ignore the rules. It means you’re strong enough to follow them, even when you don’t like the outcome.
Brian didn’t think he was a villain. He thought he was practical. Efficient. Above the inconvenient rules of the classroom. Teachers spent years cleaning up his messes, while the rest of us learned to keep our lunches close and our expectations low.
No one trusted him. No one wanted to be around him, even when he needed help.
And eventually, everyone noticed that wherever Brian went, things got worse.
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* NOTE: An earlier version of this essay misrepresented the Venezuelan president's rise to power. I have removed the error.
