By Luis
Manuel Aguana
There's a scene from the Hollywood classic The Godfather that has always struck me because of its realism. It's when, at a meeting of all the Mafia bosses after the murder of the Godfather's eldest son, they all bitterly complained that the Godfather, Don Corleone, didn't share his network of corrupt politicians and judges with the rest of the group.
The Godfather responded by stating that he had never refused to share anything, except for the drug trade. Mafia boss Don Barzini, who was presiding over the meeting, replied: “Times change. It's not like years ago, when we did whatever we wanted. Refusal isn't the attitude of a friend. If Don Corleone has all the judges and politicians in New York, then he should share them with us, let us draw water from the well. Of course, he can present an invoice for such a service. After all, we're not communists…” (Taken from the film The Godfather).
That scene came to mind as I watched President Donald Trump give a speech in Corpus Christi, Texas, stating next to a Venezuelan oil tanker that the US “will take charge of refining and marketing crude oil from Venezuela both domestically and globally” (see in Spanish, Versión Final, Trump anuncia que EE. UU. controlará la refinación y exportación del petróleo venezolano, in https://diarioversionfinal.com/mundo/trump-anuncia-que-ee-uu-controlara-la-refinacion-y-exportacion-del-petroleo-venezolano/).
If, due to the capitulation and arrest of Nicolás Maduro Moros, the US already controls our oil production and decides how much of OUR oil is allocated to the country, the least one would have to ask, if any sovereignty existed in Venezuela, is how much we would pay for this service, as Mr. Barzini requested, because “after all, we are not communists.”
But currently, we cannot present the bill we deem appropriate for this service, not only because they are already in charge of everything, including our main export resource, but also because since January 3rd, we have been a tutelary country, whose sovereignty was stripped away that day by US military force.
I am not going to enter into an anti-imperialist ideological discussion here; it would be ridiculous. What happened is nothing more than the result of a series of regrettable events that began the moment Hugo Chávez Frías took office as president of the Republic and culminated in his open alliance with Castro's communist Cuba after April 11, 2002. The rest was carried out by Chávez and his successors, along with their international associates, who entrenched the so-called socialism of the 21st century and literally destroyed the country's productive infrastructure, plunging more than 90% of the Venezuelan population into poverty and causing the exodus of more than 8 million compatriots.
But the fact that there were valid reasons to remove the head of drug trafficking from Venezuela, and that this person coincided with the individual illegitimately holding the presidency of the Republic, does not negate, through Trump's actions, the sovereignty that Venezuelans possess over their territory and the resources within it. Venezuelans still own the oil and the other resources found underground, which have never belonged to any government, but rather to the Venezuelan people as a whole.
However, the representation that popular sovereignty grants to the country's governments is now being exercised "temporarily" by the US as a result of an act of force, through its appointed interim presidency, which is part of a plan devised for the country, under threat of suffering the same fate as its predecessor.
Now, the question many of us in Venezuela are asking, including, of course, the ambitions of the entire political leadership, is when sovereignty will "return" to the Venezuelan people. And this question is reflected in their demands for elections to be held as soon as possible. However, it is far too early for a clear answer. The US still has much to dismantle of the mess left by the regime after 27 years of tyranny, especially the military and repressive apparatus that sustained it in power.
But this is where the real question arises: to whom would sovereignty be returned after this dismantling? To the politicians of parties dissolved and destroyed by years of cohabitation with a tyranny? To the political leaders who share responsibility for the misery into which they have plunged us for 27 years? And this is where the US should focus its attention, if, as I hope to believe of any US administration (even though they say they'll bury me in a white coffin), they truly wish to return sovereignty to Venezuelans as soon as possible.
But every time I read or see a statement from President Donald Trump, it seems that returning the country's sovereignty to us is not in his interest. It seems that the US will continue to manage and administer our resources—and the country in general—indefinitely, despite the initial euphoria of having thrown off the yoke of 21st-century socialism.
In this context, elections that would hand the country over to those who have never managed it well and who succeeded in bankrupting the richest nation in Latin America—and here I speak in general terms and putting myself in the shoes of Americans—doesn't seem to be the best alternative for the US in the short or medium term. And perhaps Venezuelans would even prefer Americans to manage the country's affairs rather than these politicians. This misfortune has led us to this lamentable state.
Any sufficiently astute American president could see from afar that taking the country away from a gang of criminals was like taking candy from a child, but returning it to its rightful owners is something else entirely. And in the process, they could take advantage of what the criminals had already been exploiting for years, and at the same time, earn the gratitude of the entire world for having rid us of that nightmare, because in the end, economically speaking, we would have much more than under the previous administration.
These are uncomfortable realities, but they must be faced because the future of the nation is at stake. From this tiny online platform, we have always advocated for the Venezuelan people to decide their own destiny. Therefore, it is necessary to explain to the US that an alternative to surrendering sovereignty to politicians would be to hand it over to the Venezuelan people in its most genuine expression: an original National Constituent Assembly, so that they can decide Venezuela's future.
It is only through the convening of a Constituent Assembly that the return of sovereignty can best be realized. And only through this assembly, provided there is a clean electoral system in place, can the genuine representatives of the Venezuelan people be given the power to appoint a legitimate Transitional Government, refound the State, and create a new constitutional text that will usher in a new political era for the nation. Elections would then take place, under the terms of a new Constitution, once the political parties, destroyed after 27 years of Castro-Chavista-Maduro tyranny, have been rebuilt within the original National Constituent Assembly.
This should be the process for returning sovereignty to the Venezuelan people. But we also recognize that this step will not come without a price, and therefore, a legitimate representation of the Venezuelan people will have to openly discuss the terms of this return with their guardian, the United States. But as they aptly pointed out in The Godfather, times have changed, and of course they will be able to present an accounting to those legitimate representatives of popular sovereignty for the much-appreciated assistance since January 3rd, with our deepest gratitude. After all, we are not communists…
Caracas, March 3, 2026
Blog: TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email:
luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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