Helaman Sanchez

Venezuela’s economic and political situation is dire. Government mismanagement and a collapse of oil export revenues in 2014 created a devastating economic crisis, causing a sixty-six percent drop in GDP and a mass exodus of over ten percent of the population [1]. Food, water, and power shortages are frequent, with the price of many groceries skyrocketing by several thousand percent in the last year alone [2]. The country also faces political strain; Nicolás Maduro, the incumbent president of Venezuela, held an illegitimate election last year, which prompted the National Assembly to declare a constitutional crisis and appoint Juan Guaidó as temporary president [3]. The power struggle still hasn’t been resolved, with both Guaidó and Maduro claiming the title of president. However, despite the continuing severity of the situation, the United States should resist the urge to intervene on Venezuela’s behalf.

During the early hours of September 14, explosions broke out at an Aramco oil field in Saudi Arabia. As the Saudi government rushed to contain the blaze and investigate the attack, a group of Yemeni rebels, known as the Houthis, claimed responsibility for the bombing. Saudi Arabia soon began to suspect, however, that the perpetrator was likely its regional arch-nemesis, Iran, possibly with the assistance of the Houthis rebels [1]. About a day after the attacks, and amidst international oil market chaos, Donald Trump tweeted from his personal Twitter account, "Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom” [2]. This isn't the first time that Trump has come dangerously close to attacking Iran this year, the “culprit,” nor is it the administration's most trivial reason for doing so. And while the Saudis got their fire under control within hours, Trump’s Iran foreign policy is a fire that has been blazing for two-and-a-half years with no end in sight.

The issue of reparations is an elephant in the room of American history. The idea of reparations for slavery has existed since 1865, when General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered that every newly freed slave family be given 40 acres of land. Unsurprisingly, his order was never carried out [1]. Since that time, calls for reparations have been made by many African American activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ta-Nehisi Coates [2, 3, 4]. More recently, 2020 presidential hopefuls, such as Elizabeth Warren, have made reparations a key part of their platforms [5]. I believe that we indeed have a responsibility to pay reparations, and that the most effective way to do so will be to implement policies that reduce wealth inequality for all Americans.