Watch: This Venezuelan’s Question Will Stump Every Single Democrat, Liberal, and Leftist Screaming That Trump Just Wants Oil

So, here we go again: The old blood-for-oil feint.

Never mind the fact that, despite the fact Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, mismanagement by the governments of Hugo Chavez and Nicolás Maduro left production at brutally low levels. Also never mind the fact that virtually no blood was shed. A few explosions, a few helicopters, and we had one of the most wanted narco-terrorists in the world. The most violence done, it seemed, was to the facility housing Chavez’s tomb. You hate to see it.

And by hate, I mean you should see it again, because it it’s awesome:

This is the Cuartel de la Montaña (a military museum), a historic symbol of Chavismo, and it has just been destroyed.

Hugo Chávez’s remains were housed there and, due to the explosion, must have been vaporized. pic.twitter.com/w1bSe2Oh3K

— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) January 3, 2026

So, in just two hours, we took out an indicted narco-terrorist who happened to be the biggest threat, politically, in the Americas. He’ll now face trial under the American judicial system, which — unlike his — isn’t rigged, and won’t end with you getting tortured in a prison for being political opposition.

But you’ve heard both the left and the heterodox/libertarian right spew the same line: This was all about the oil, baby. Here’s Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, reliably doing his thing:

Wake up MAGA. VENEZUELA is not about drugs; it’s about OIL and REGIME CHANGE. This is not what we voted for. pic.twitter.com/myxr979BqU

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 4, 2026

Okay, so let’s assume Thomas Massie is correct. Stopped watches, blind squirrels, etc. One Venezuelan is asking a question we should probably be asking everyone falling back on this platitude: If the United States were interested in oil, why, pray tell, were its enemies so interested in Venezuela, as well?

The genesis of the clip is unclear, but it’s gone viral on social media, and for good reason. It’s a man celebrating Maduro’s Saturday capture, apparently at El Obelisco in Buenos Aires, Argentina; the city is one of the hotspots for enemies of the regime to flee, and El Oblesco was certainly jumping after the news.

THOUSANDS OF VENEZUELANS CELEBRATE MADURO’s CAPTURE AT BUENOS AIRES OBELISCO

In a wave of jubilation, thousands of Venezuelan exiles converged on Buenos Aires’ iconic Obelisco to mark the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The self-organized gathering began at dawn growing to… https://t.co/MPZPpofiwa pic.twitter.com/ZdXpgEkxpV

— Argentina’s Milei News 🇦🇷🤝🌎 (@ArgMilei) January 4, 2026

The gentleman in question, speaking in Spanish, said, “I ask everyone to have faith, I don’t know where it would come from, but I tell everyone to have faith.”

“Don’t fill your head with the idea that the gringos only want oil and that the gringos only want their wealth,” he added. “I mean, I ask them: What do they think? What did the Russians and Chinese want for so long? The recipe for arepas?”

This Venezuelan is spot on:

“Those who say that the U.S. is only interested in our oil, I ask you: What do you think the Russians and the Chinese wanted here? The recipe for arepas?”

pic.twitter.com/0pvlgnloYD

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 4, 2026

Arepas — cornmeal cakes generally stuffed with cheese or meat — are pretty darned tasty, but my guess is Xi and Putin weren’t after that. They were, however, after Venezuela as part of their coalition. And they’re not happy that Maduro took the Gitmo express out of Caracas early Saturday morning.

It’s also worth noting that this gentleman might even be too cynical.

Keep in mind that the Chinese and Russians have good reason to keep the oil out of Western hands. China’s fossil fuel production is heavily dependent on countries that aren’t dependable, and they need more than a few of these arrows in their energy quiver. With sanctions, meanwhile, Russia’s economy is so dependent on the price of oil that, if it falls due to Venezuela’s crude production coming back online quickly and getting into Western hands, the entirety of Putin’s war machine suffers greatly.

America, meanwhile, is the world’s largest oil producer — but might not be able to do it as economically if Venezuela’s decimated oil infrastructure gets rebuilt, which the U.S. will no doubt help do as part of rebuilding the ruin Maduro left. In other words, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot to help democracy. China and Russia were helping shoot Venezuelan dissidents by backing Maduro to fight it.

When you consider that, maybe we were the ones who wanted the recipe for arepas.

Whatever the case, this whole stupid argument, even if you accept the premises of those putting it forward, boils down to one question: Do you think the world will be safer with the United States calling the shots regarding Venezuela or with China or Russia calling the shots? If you can’t answer within the blink of an eye, don’t you dare call yourself “progressive” or “America first.” What you really are is an apologist for dictatorship dressed up in isolationist garb, and you should just be brave enough to admit it and move on.

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