The United States’ military operation against Venezuela has exposed Washington’s diminishing capacity to achieve objectives through diplomacy or influence. Its forcible seizure of Venezuela's president and overt calls to take control of the country's oil industry further reveal the U.S. as a super-disruptor of international law.

Venezuela has the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, with approximately 303 billion barrels or about 17 percent of the global total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Wielding the “club” of hegemony, the U.S. strikes Venezuela’s oil resources, undermining post-war international rules and the global order. Its wide-open greed seeks not just “black gold,” but to choke other nations’ independent development. This brazen interference exposes America’s long-standing pattern of trampling rules and plundering strategic resources.