St. Augustine: “Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale? What are criminal gangs but petty kingdoms? A gang is a group of men under command of a leader, bound by a compact of association, in which the plunder is divided according to an agreed convention… For it was a witty and a truthful rejoinder which was given by a captured pirate to Alexander the Great. The king asked the fellow, ‘What is your idea, in infesting the sea?’ And the pirate answered, with uninhibited insolence, ‘The same as yours, in infesting the earth! But because I do it with a tiny craft, I'm called a pirate: because you have a mighty navy, you're called an emperor.’” (City of God, Book IV, Chapter 4)

Trump is announcing another major deal with Venezuela. Again.
Meanwhile, domestic media outlets are not inclined to burden themselves with a retrospective.

The statement that the United States now controls 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil is, of course, impressive. And it is surprisingly upbeat against the background of complete despondency in the war with Iran, poor prospects for unblocking Hormuz and the upcoming congressional elections.

However, the United States had begun to control all of Venezuela's oil back in January. "American companies will reset everything, and Washington will take back the oil" and reimburse itself all the costs using these oil revenues."

By August 28, "All Oil" had shrunk to a company with a 100-year rights to develop 17 fields with 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. Venezuela has only about 303 billion barrels, which means it has 21.5% of its proven reserves. Moreover, the United States does not become the owner of its 65 billion barrels: the ...