Times change, not so business

Jul 01, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

(Kaieteur News) – America! America! America! America is on a roll. Can’t make a misstep. Unable to do any wrong. In the right place, and in the money. Venezuela. From savaging sanctions that dispatched the citizens of a pariah state all over, to soothing symphonies of help. America taking the lead. Many countries feared to whisper the name Venezuela up to a few months ago. They are now rushing forward with good intentions, and a heart of gold. Above them all, stand the USA. Even in a time of Venezuelan national tragedy, the damage of which will take some time to assess, the U.S. holds the cards, will benefit still more. I begin at the beginning.

There’s that big, bubbling, beauty: the splash of 300 billion barrels. Who cares about thicker and bitter? Business for Exxon and Chevron. Business for oil refineries in Louisiana and others around that square. Recall what I said: America in the money. From oil, there is oil infrastructure. Rehabilitation is a little on the tame side. Try a complete overhaul, with new technology and architecture. Go the whole nine yards, and wander over decayed, dilapidated nonoil physical infrastructure. A cool trillion (American) is taking shape. Business, business, business. The U.S. industrial complex can’t do all the work. Some small jobs should trickledown to countries that are given the greenlight by DJ Trump’s men on the ground in Caracas. China can continue to rearrange the sphere on its side of the world. The U.S. is busy anticipating and well along with its moves to rearrange matters to its own advantage this side of the globe.

Sanctions lifted. Venezuelans lifted. Lest I neglect, Wall Street sharks lift themselves from their skyscrapers in Manhattan and travel to the magic in Lakes Maracaibo and Orinoco. From oilmen to moneymen. From builders to bankers. Those who don’t have a New York accent are sure to have a good ole down home Texas twang. But there is still more to those trillion-dollar plus enchantments in Venezuela. For out of catastrophe and adversity come opportunity and prosperity. And who is best positioned, who has the controlling say, of who is in and who shouldn’t bother to show their faces? The good ole USA and DJ Trump. Business is business, and post-earthquake business pays with the same kind of currency.

Though the damage is not yet fully known, a decent estimate is that there are heavy billions that will be needed to repair the damage, get Venezuela back on its feet again. Its credit is the best. For there is nothing that can beat the collateral of 300 billion barrels. Plus, a signoff from a newly benevolent Uncle Sam. Money begets more money. America is the living embodiment of that state. Its US$40 trillion debt spiral given its proper consideration. Simply look at where and how it is perched in Caracas. Calling the shots. Dictating the flow. Oil billions. Banking billions. Road billions. Billions for this, that, and the thorough. And now to top all those, there are earthquake related billions. Truly, it doesn’t rain, it pours.

Look who is there with a hanky for tears and balms for pain. America. Look at others following the leader, and setting foot out of the woodwork. A hearty hand for Venezuela in its time of turbulence and more trouble. America’s backyard is now its front lawn. The white tables, the comforting chairs, the glistening silver, all speak of the treasures of this hemisphere long yearned for, now all in hand. Nobody is rocking the SS America. No one is stepping out of line. A Trumpian leader in Columbia. Venezuela and Guyana in the bag, and labouring under their yokes of Washington’s command and control. Trinidad making clear where its heart is. Guyana, as usual, playing at the shifty. Working overtime to give the impression of being savvy. Still possessing some potency of its own. Indeed, the domino theory has come to past, but with a difference. The dominoes have all fallen America’s way.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper

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business, GHK Lall, Times change, Venezuela

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