Donald Trump is Trumpista

Venezuelan historian Manuel Caballero maintained that it was a mistake to try and pigeonhole Hugo Chavez within the traditional and descriptive ideological limits of socialism, conservatism, capitalism, communism, etc., claiming “Hugo Chávez no es comunista, ni socialista, ni musulmán, como dijo él alguna vez. Pero es todo eso a la vez si le garantizan que puede quedarse toda la vida en el poder. Chávez es chavista y lo que él adora de Fidel Castro no son las cosas que Fidel hizo o dejó de hacer en Cuba, sino su casi medio siglo en el poder.”

The lucid description, arguably the most proficient ever, could be applied just as well to Donald Trump. The world bears witness that Chavez and Trump share that characteristic of acting, first and foremost, according to their own transitory ideas and mission, whatever those may be. Remaining beyond the reaches of the law, or rather existing in a special sphere devoid of accountability is a permanent must have. Neither had the time to be bothered with justification for their actions: they did / do things because they could / can. End of. But Chavez, and his Cuban idol, demonstrated a greater ability at accumulating and hoarding power. Thus far, Trump has a chequered record and as much as he would like to basically die in office like the other two, it is yet to be seen how exceptional America’s exceptionalism truly is, in allowing such things.

When it comes to Venezuela, Trump’s military and almost instant action to capture Nicolas Maduro, force Delcy and Jorge Rodriguez to bend the knee and hand over the oil sent shockwaves around the world. Its returns were huge in terms of propaganda and political capital, that Trump then wasted just as quickly. The Caracas raid of January 3rd provided Trump, and his challenged close advisors, with a false sense of might and real capabilities. They seriously thought that similar goals could be achieved in Iran, that a Persian Delcy could be found to guarantee a "successful" outcome. It backfired spectacularly, and as a result the whole planet has been pushed close to a global recession by Trump’s sheer greed and ignorance.

In the league of strategic miscalculations, Trump is going down as the undisputed king. Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine or Netanyahu’s destruction of Gaza aren’t even close because those conflicts aren't as global from the energy point of view. As time elapses and realities beyond Truth Social set in, it is evident in both Venezuela and Iran that as Chavez famously said “Por ahora, los objetivos que nos planteamos no fueron logrados", that is Trump is nowhere near to achieve regime change in either country. Actually, it could be objectively argued that chavista puppets in Venezuela and instability in the Persian Gulf are far more rewarding financially for Trump Inc.

It is a given that Iran’s fundamentalist theocracy can and will outlast Trump. In the race for survival in dire and stagnant economic climates, Iran beats America every day of the week. The ruling clique in Iran wrote and perfected the book of Life under Western Sanctions. They don’t need U.S. Dollars, Western banks, insurance and clearing houses, nor to be part of that stream of commerce. Iran has proven that life beyond all that is not only possible, but can sustain and make thrive its regime since 1979.

Ditto Venezuela. Delcy and Jorge Rodriguez are already running circles around the plan devised by the Trump administration. The phrase “PDVSA es una caja negra” is known to those who have followed Venezuela for a long time. Trump sent his military to snatch Maduro and Cilia, threatened the rest, promised a brighter, freer and better future, but PDVSA continues to be a black hole. Only this time proceeds for opaque oil trading weren't going to bolichicos accounts in Switzerland, but to a fund in Qatar controlled by Trump. We are none the wiser as to how much oil has been sold, for how much, where is being kept, what agreements has the Trump administration done with the world’s most corrupt trading houses for further trading PDVSA oil and derivatives, who is getting paid, what, where and how much, the amount of remittances thus far back to Venezuela’s Central Bank… Not a single accountability report has been presented either by the Trump administration or its chavista proxies, so the obvious question is: how is this better than the previous regime?

Talk of elections have been absent from the agenda. It is unknown what legal basis underpins Trump's and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's belief that they, and only they, can decide when Venezuela will have elections, under what conditions, or whether the leader of the opposition can make it back to the country or not. And talking about the opposition… nothing has been heard from that bunch about any of the questions above, no demands for transparency have been made, therefore the epitome of the ideal pusillanimous and subservient local chief in a Trumpian “regime change” isn’t just Delcy: chavismo and the opposition are just as “good”.

Venezuela’s Constitution is clear about timescale (90 days) and what should happen when a presidential absence of power occurs. It’s been over 90 days already and no announcement has been made, making Delcy as illegitimate as the captured Maduro, constitutionally and legally speaking. Does that bother Trump, his cabinet, their sitting puppet or Venezuela’s opposition? Of course not!

Uselessness, beyond what’s strictly financial or political self serving benefit, is another significant character treat that Trump shares with Chavez. Chavez never completed much, apart from his goal of consolidating the “revolution” and gaming the system to remain in power. On that he was exceedingly good. Trump lacks the depth, focus and interest to see through the plan required to make Venezuela free and prosperous again. A selected group of his chums will take the oil for sure, but Trump doesn’t have the time nor the care required to bring back democracy (after all there's abundant evidence of how much he cares about democracy when it went against his wishes). When pondering about Venezuela’s future, it isn’t what Venezuelans want what informs Trump’s personal agenda. We have no sit at that table.

In the meantime, the world observes Trump with keen focus. Every last of his unending cagadas is meticulously analysed. His Iran campaign is not only prolonging the suffering there and all but eliminating regime change prospects, but kicking far into the future a resolution to the Ukraine war, vastly increasing Putin’s capacity to wage wars and destabilise other countries, fuelling conflicts across the Middle East and Africa, unnecessarily endangering and weakening Europe, while strengthening Pakistan, China, India and the BRICS, and forcing financial hardship on his fellow American citizens, which by the way never voted for any of it. The world is yet to wake up to the lasting and incredibly damaging economic consequences that Trump's Iranian adventure will bring. All on one of his deranged and fleeting whims. He missed geography, history, and dragged us all to his barren banality. Despite it all, no one must ever forget that 77,302,580 Americans still saw Trump as a legitimate and proper representative (?).

​Chavez was chavista, and Trump is Trumpista. Their respective administrations are unquestionably the most corrupt that either country has seen. Corruption is a key policy: it is promoted, encouraged and brazen, it is the glue that keeps all wannabe instamillionaries together in seizing every possible chance to turn a quick buck. If in the process markets suffer, economies suffer, peoples suffer, and trust in institutions starts waning even better: more chances for people in the first circle to "make" more money in the midst of the chaos and get away with it. Chavez destroyed Venezuela. Trump exhibits a similar urgency to destroy his country. He'll never admit to it, of course, it's all in the name of MATA (Making America Trumpista Alast).