Trump's 'Infernal Affairs': Caracas Said Yes, Tehran Said No

Trump’s attack on Iran blew up in his face. Humiliated, he’s been itching for a chance to flex his muscles and blow off steam. He just got it. On social media, he announced the 'largest oil cooperation agreement in history' with Venezuela. Through a deal with a private company, the US now holds 'majority control' over the country’s 65 billion barrels of oil reserves.

The Venezuela Heist Unveiled

Trump’s words were soaked in arrogance. Venezuelan oil, he gloated, was finally America’s 'prize in the bag.' But the twist? This was no surprise. The whole saga was practically scripted—an international political remake of the movie 'Infernal Affairs.'

Just weeks after sending troops to kidnap President Maduro in January, Trump announced that the US would pour money into Venezuelan oil and put its resources under watch. He didn’t even bother with a fig leaf—'snatch the oil' was the plan. But the plot ran deeper. He had long been in cahoots with acting President Rodriguez, scheming to topple the government from within. And he was cutting deals with the country’s oil barons, all set to cash in together.

Trump wanted to run the same play in Iran. Pull it off, and the US would become the 'global energy hegemon.' This time, though, he slammed into a brick wall.

'Infernal Affairs' in Caracas: moles took the oil. Iran resisted.

This is colonialism with a 21st-century face. A smash-and-grab of another nation’s riches, executed in broad daylight. The US just pulled off the perfect plunder of Venezuela’s oil wealth.

Trump’s heist flick didn’t just need brute force. It needed a mole. An 'Infernal Affairs' insider to make the plot work.

The Mole at the Top

Trump unveiled a grand oil cooperation plan with Venezuela last Friday. The acting president was elated. Rodriguez said the agreement could span 25 years, with the US helping to control 17 strategic oil fields. It promised to supercharge production and deliver $209 billion in investment.

Energy experts raised a red flag. The deal wasn't transferring energy to a private enterprise, they argued. It was a handover to another country: the United States. She sidestepped the issue.

Her attitude is no surprise. It traces back to her time as vice president, when Maduro was still in power. As a former oil minister, she had close ties with US oil giants. Even after her promotion, she kept her hands on oil policy. She paved the way for Chevron, the US oil giant, to return to business in Venezuela.

Sources say the White House already knew Rodriguez was 'usable.' If she rose to power, she would fully back US investment in Venezuela's oil industry. Trump had already sniffed out the mole. He secretly assigned her a role in the power grab.

The mole delivered. After US special forces abducted Maduro, Rodriguez stepped in as acting president. She never mentioned 'resisting the US.' Instead, she called for cooperation.

At the end of January, the acting president signed the Oil Law Reform Bill. It let private and foreign investors into the country's oil business. She flung the door wide open for the US government and oil companies to march in.

Recent reports say Rodriguez is actively considering pulling Venezuela out of OPEC. She's discussing it with the US. Washington, of course, approves. If it happens, US influence over Venezuela's oil will only grow.

The move is clearly orchestrated by the US behind the scenes.

The Tycoon and the Underworld

The US didn't just plant moles inside Venezuela's government. It also recruited them in the business world. US media reports reveal a striking partnership: the US government teamed up with a private company to grab control of the country's oil fields. The company? North American Blue Energy Partners. Its boss, Bedangote, had long-standing ties with the US government and oil majors. He was also deeply entangled with Rodriguez. And he had already snapped up a batch of oil fields in western Venezuela.

For Washington, this local tycoon was a made man. One of their own. They knew that using him to control the oil fields would be a force multiplier: half the effort, double the payoff. So the US simply bought into the company. They'd share the spoils, together.

But this tycoon's background was anything but clean. Prosecutors in Zurich had been digging into his accounts. Yet no charges ever materialized.

America's mole in Caracas: Rodriguez made the oil grab possible.

The New York Times dropped a bombshell: the US State Department had leaned on Swiss +

-+authorities to shut down the investigation. Meanwhile, he was handed multiple US entry visas. 、

The message was clear. His relationship with American officials was anything but ordinary.

The Bigger Game

The New York Times analysis reveals the playbook. Trump topples Maduro, then swallows Venezuelan oil. The objective? Reshape global energy markets and fortify US energy security.

With Venezuela's oil under its control, the US can erode the market influence of Middle Eastern nations. After the Iran war, that mission has become even more pressing.

Look at the Iran war through this lens, and the motive snaps into focus. Trump's real driver? Seizing Iran's colossal oil reserves.

Trump launched the war in late February. Then, in an interview with the Financial Times, he was blunt: his favorite thing is taking Iran's oil. It makes a lot of money, he explained.

Trump's a businessman, and he's running the numbers. Iran's oil reserves: 208.6 billion barrels, third largest on the planet. Natural gas: 1,200 trillion cubic feet, also in the global top three.

If the US could grab both Venezuela's and Iran's oil, it would lock down global oil pricing power. It would preserve the petrodollar hegemony. The 'hegemonic' throne would be unshakable.

The Half-Won Hegemony

But Iran is not Venezuela. Trump's grand plan has smashed into a brick wall. He's the one left battered and bruised.

The US bid to become the world's oil hegemon has been thwarted. So far, it's only half-succeeded. For the global balance of power, that's excellent news.

Lai Ting-yiu `

What Say You?

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The Art of War has an incisive passage on military leadership: "He who knows nothing of the affairs of the three armies, yet meddles in their administration, leaves his officers and men bewildered." In other words, a man who does not understand military affairs but insists on interfering will only confuse his own troops. The result is "throwing your own army into chaos and flinging victory away."

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has committed precisely this cardinal taboo of the art of war. The New York Times reported today that his ruthless purge of generals has left the military leadership riddled with holes and effectively headless. Relentless infighting has made the place "as chaotic as the seven warring states."

Hegseth's power games have left the Pentagon in chaos. A stalled Iran war and bad intel have Trump fed up — and his job on the line.

Earlier reports said the Pentagon was in a shambles, and with the war on Iran deadlocked, Trump is growing ever more displeased with him. His position is teetering, and the odds of his being fired are high. Politically, Boss Trump also needs a "scapegoat" ahead of the midterm elections. If so, "Heggy" should be the first choice.

Hegseth was originally nothing more than a TV pundit. He served in the military for a few years, but never rose beyond the middle-to-lower ranks, and his experience of managing an army was limited. It was purely because he caught Boss Trump's eye that he was transformed overnight into the defense secretary.

Had his EQ been high enough, he would have worked well with the senior generals upon taking office and consolidated his own position first. But arrogance is his true nature. After taking up the post, he made enemies on all sides within the Pentagon, squeezing out anyone who crossed him, and not even the senior generals were spared. At the same time, he carried out a wholesale purge of senior officials whose "ideology" differed from his own, and each one was hounded out in turn.

According to The New York Times, this grand purge left the military leadership in tatters. One key figure cut down was the Army chief of staff, General Randy George.

The veteran general commanded great respect and dared to defy the secretary's wishes, which rankled Hegseth deeply. In April this year, with one swift stroke of the blade, Hegseth fired him.

Hegseth then pushed out three generals qualified to succeed General George. In their place, he promoted his own confidant, his former senior military assistant Christopher LaNeve, to serve as acting Army chief of staff. But Congress opposes confirming him in the post, and Trump is noncommittal. The position remains in limbo to this day.

Another Pentagon heavyweight, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, had long been at odds with Hegseth. He was once seen as a contender for the defense secretary job himself, which invited his boss's suspicion. He too has quietly bowed out and is preparing to leave by the end of the year.

Driscoll and General George had been planning Army reforms together. With both men successively forced out, those plans have been shelved.

Key figures in the Department of Defense were sidelined by Hegseth. Chief of Staff General George (right) was fired, and Army Secretary Driscoll (left) resigned.

The New York Times reviewed recent Pentagon personnel changes and found a striking hollowing out at the top. When Hegseth first took charge, the military had ten four-star generals. Most recently, that number has been whittled down to just five.

With too few senior generals, the leadership of some special programs has sat vacant for months. The general responsible for US military affairs in Europe, Christopher Donahue, also retired in July, and no suitable successor has yet been found.

Hegseth has reduced the Pentagon to utter disorder. Trump, the very man who elevated him, has taken note and begun to bristle. The forced departure of Army Secretary Driscoll struck him as a particular shame.

Trump had always held Driscoll in high regard, once remarking that "those are the best guys." He thus takes a dim view of Hegseth sidelining capable people for the sake of a power struggle.

That is merely one of the "sins" in Trump's mind. He has voiced displeasure with Hegseth over several matters. First, at an internal meeting at Camp David earlier, he bluntly accused Hegseth in front of other members of the team of misleading him over missile stockpiles, causing him to misjudge the situation. For the boss, filing false reports on military intelligence is no minor offense. It has to be settled sooner or later.

Second, at a press conference, he pointed at Hegseth in front of everyone and said, "I think you were the first one to speak up and you said, let's do it." He was referring to the war against Iran. He gave no details, but the meaning was plain enough. Hegseth had egged him into starting the war, yet had no strategy to cope with the unfavorable situation that followed. The objectives were not met, and the war sank into stalemate instead. Hegseth must bear his share of responsibility for this "botched, unfinished mess."

Third, there is the recent scandal aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, where sailors somehow endured 250 days at sea in hellish conditions. The affair has disgraced the US military and given the Democrats ammunition to attack in Congress. That is deeply unfavorable for the midterm election campaign. Trump will, of course, put that bill on Hegseth's tab as well.

The South China Morning Post earlier reported, citing reliable sources on all sides, that Trump is considering replacing Hegseth, and his position is expected to be untenable. The likelihood of this happening is indeed high. As Zhao Minghao, a professor at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, put it, cabinet reshuffles ahead of midterm elections are the norm, and "someone has to shoulder responsibility for the Iran war stalemate."

That someone, of course, will not be Trump himself. If he must find someone to carry the can, Hegseth is bound to be his first choice.

Lai Ting-yiu