Most Americans are probably not following the tragic events in Venezuela.
The violence is out of control, as reported daily by several bloggers like Fausta's Blog. There is more at Caracas Chronicles. The good people of Caracas, and other cities, are coming face to face with a ruthless regime that won't hesitate to fight back and kill demonstrators.
Add Ukraine and Syria and most Americans are ready to wash their hands and tell the world to take their problems to the UN. I understand it.
How did that work for us in the 1930's? We spent the second half of the 1930s avoiding the world.We spent the 1940s fighting a world war.
I understand the American indifference but someone needs to remind us that US interests are at stake here. This is what a president does. He explains why some countries matter, no matter how much we want to look the other way.
Venezuela is the 4th largest supplier of oil for the US. It ranks behind Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico in thousands of barrels per day. The September numbers tell the story:
| CANADA | 2,324 | 2,240 | 2,157 | 1,937 | 1,971 |
| SAUDI ARABIA | 1,465 | 1,075 | 1,180 | 1,082 | 1,072 |
| MEXICO | 1,099 | 1,150 | 1,113 | 1,108 | 1,132 |
| VENEZUELA | 759 | 806 | 893 | 919 | 928 |
(The top five sources of US crude oil imports for September were Canada (2,324 thousand barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1,465 thousand barrels per day), Mexico (1,099 thousand barrels per day), Venezuela (759 thousand barrels per day) and Nigeria (529 thousand barrels per day))
This is why the events in Venezuela are a matter of national security for the US. What do you think would happen to our gasoline, or home heating prices, if there was a major disruption in Venezuela?
President Obama should explain these matters of national security to the American people. Maybe Americans would show more interest in world affairs if they understood that we are all connect in a global economy.
Yes, a lot of great shortstops have come from Venezuela. A lot of oil is coming every day too!
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