MRS THATCHER notoriously revived her political fortunes in 1982 by going to war with Argentina. She flew to the US to insist that its then President, Ronald Reagan, drop US attempts at being neutral and give the British military adventurers vital arms and ammunition without which they could not WIN the war.
Thatcher, who became PM in 1979, then went on to wage all-out war in the UK against the mineworkers and the printers until she was brought down by the anti-Poll Tax revolution. Today, US President Trump is pursuing his ‘America First’ policy, to try to prevent a revolution in the US by restoring its economic supremacy at the expense of its allies and China, and by providing jobs for millions of very angry US workers.
However, the stock market boom that his policies initially touched off is now biting the dust and is rapidly turning into a vicious worldwide trade war and slump – at the same time as a worldwide banking crisis is rapidly re-emerging. Politically, his shutdown of the US government to clinch the billions required for a wall to keep South Americans out of the US has also backfired – to become his disaster.
Trump is now following the Thatcher trail and seeking to rescue his political fortunes through a war to destroy the Maduro government in Venezuela and to seize its oil resources, the biggest in the world. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has lashed out at the United States over the new unilateral sanctions just imposed on his country’s oil sector.
On top of the new sanctions, Trump is moving 5,000 troops to Venezuela’s neighbour Colombia, while openly declaring that military action is not ruled out. His EU allies, who have been posing as anti-US since Trump began his trade war, have now rushed to give him support, also adding their own demands, giving Maduro eight days to resign or else they will recognise the pro-imperialist Juan Guaido as president.
The UK, whose media and politicians have posed as ‘critical’ of Trump, has also rushed to support him, and decided that the Bank of England will not carry out a request from Venezuela to return $1.2bn of gold reserves that it holds, back to its owner. The move of the British Bank was swiftly praised by the self-proclaimed ‘interim president’ of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, who tweeted: ‘The process of protecting the assets of Venezuela has begun.’
In fact, a military intervention will set the whole of the Americas ablaze, including the US itself. Guaido has been recognised as the ‘legitimate’ leader of Venezuela by the US, Canada, and the majority of South American nations including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that his country will maintain its principle of non-intervention and the right of national self-determination in its approach to the crisis in Venezuela. Maduro is backed by Cuba, Bolivia and Mexico in the Americas and also Russia, China and Turkey. He must also be backed by the workers of the world, especially the US workers, and all workers’ political parties, including the UK Labour Party.
The struggle that is erupting is of vital importance. If Trump succeeds he will attack the US workers as Thatcher did the UK workers. Also, the US has just announced that it has started to produce new low-yield nuclear warheads for ‘local wars’.
The US National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) confirmed on Monday that the first unit of the W76-2 warhead is in production at the Pantax Plant in Texas and will be delivered to the military by the end of the 2019 fiscal year.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova yesterday denounced Trump’s plans to develop small tactical nuclear weapons for local wars. Faced with this threat, the workers of the world must disarm the imperialist powers with socialist revolutions!
