Absolutely, Sanctions helped destroy the Apartheid regime in South Africa which was arguably a moral and good thing to do.
The problem is that they have been used excessively in situations where there is no moral reason to do so and they should only be used as a tool as last resort. Instead they are used to "impose" the will of America and it allies ignoring the sovereignty and the will of the people in sanctioned countries and causing untold pain to ordinary civilians.
Good Analysis here on Trump's motivations, keep in mind that America currently has a debt of $32 Trillion dollars:
The real reason the US is invading Venezuela goes back to a deal Henry Kissinger made with Saudi Arabia in 1974.
And I'm going to explain why this is actually about the SURVIVAL of the US dollar itself.
Not drugs. Not terrorism. Not "democracy."
This is about the petrodollar system that has kept America the dominant economic power for 50 years.
And Venezuela just threatened to end it.
Here's what really just happened:
Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
The largest on Earth.
More than Saudi Arabia.
20% of the entire world's oil.
But here's the part that matters:
Venezuela was actively selling that oil in Chinese yuan. Not dollars.
In 2018, Venezuela announced it would "free itself from the dollar."
They started accepting yuan, euros, rubles, anything BUT dollars for oil.
They were petitioning to join BRICS.
They were building direct payment channels with China that bypass SWIFT entirely.
And they were sitting on enough oil to fund de-dollarization for decades.
Why does this matter?
Because the entire American financial system is built on one thing:
The petrodollar.
In 1974, Henry Kissinger made a deal with Saudi Arabia:
All oil sold globally must be priced in US dollars.
In exchange, America provides military protection.
This single agreement created artificial demand for dollars worldwide.
Every country on Earth needs dollars to buy oil.
This lets America print unlimited money while other countries work for it.
It funds the military. The welfare state. The deficit spending.
The petrodollar is more important to US hegemony than aircraft carriers.
And there's a pattern of what happens to leaders who challenge it:
2000: Saddam Hussein announces Iraq will sell oil in euros instead of dollars.
2003: Invaded. Regime change. Iraq's oil immediately switched back to dollars. Saddam lynched.
The WMDs were never found because they never existed.
2009: Gaddafi proposes a gold-backed African currency called the "gold dinar" for oil trade.
Hillary Clinton's own leaked emails confirm this was the PRIMARY reason for intervention.
Email quote: "This gold was intended to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar."
2011: NATO bombs Libya. Gaddafi sodomized and murdered. Libya now has open slave markets.
"We came, we saw, he died!" Clinton laughed on camera.
The gold dinar died with him.
And now Maduro.
With FIVE TIMES more oil than Saddam and Gaddafi combined.
Actively selling in yuan.
Building payment systems outside dollar control.
Petitioning to join BRICS.
Partnered with China, Russia, and Iran.
The three countries leading global de-dollarization.
This isn't coincidence.
Challenge the petrodollar. Get regime changed.
Every. Single. Time.
Stephen Miller (US homeland security advisor) literally said it out loud two weeks ago:
"American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property."
He's not hiding it.
They're claiming Venezuelan oil BELONGS to America because US companies developed it 100 years ago.
By this logic, every nationalized resource in history was "theft."
But here's the DEEPER problem:
The petrodollar is already dying.
Russia sells oil in rubles and yuan since Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia is openly discussing yuan settlements.
Iran has been trading in non-dollar currencies for years.
China built CIPS, their own alternative to SWIFT with 4,800 banks in 185 countries.
BRICS is actively building payment systems that bypass the dollar entirely.
The mBridge project lets central banks settle trades instantly in local currencies.
Venezuela joining BRICS with 303 billion barrels of oil would accelerate this exponentially.
That's what this invasion is really about.
Not stopping drugs. Venezuela accounts for less than 1% of US cocaine.
Not terrorism. There's zero evidence Maduro runs a "terror organization."
Not democracy. The US supports Saudi Arabia, which has zero elections.
This is about maintaining a 50-year-old agreement that lets America print money while the world works for it.
And the consequences are terrifying:
Russia, China, and Iran are already denouncing this as "armed aggression."
China is Venezuela's biggest oil customer. They're losing billions.
BRICS nations are watching a country get invaded for trading outside the dollar.
Every nation considering de-dollarization just got the message:
Challenge the dollar and we will bomb you.
But here's the problem...
That message might accelerate de-dollarization, not stop it.
Because now every country in the Global South knows what happens if you threaten dollar hegemony.
And they're realizing the only protection is to move FASTER.
The timing is insane too:
January 3rd, 2026. Venezuela invaded. Maduro captured.
January 3rd, 1990. Panama invaded. Noriega captured.
36 years apart. Almost to the day.
Same playbook. Same "drug trafficking" excuse.
Same real reason: control of strategic resources and trade routes.
History doesn't repeat. But it rhymes.
What happens next:
Trump's press conference at Mar-a-Lago sets the narrative.
US oil companies are already lined up. Politico reported they've been approached about "returning to Venezuela."
The opposition will be installed. Oil will flow in dollars again.
Venezuela becomes another Iraq. Another Libya.
But here's what nobody's asking:
What happens when you can no longer bomb your way to dollar dominance?
When China has enough economic leverage to retaliate?
When BRICS controls 40% of global GDP and says "no more dollars"?
When the world realizes the petrodollar is maintained by violence?
America just showed its hand.
The question is whether the rest of the world folds or calls the bluff.
Because this invasion is an admission that the dollar can no longer compete on its own merits.
When you have to bomb countries to keep them using your currency, the currency is already dying.
Venezuela isn't the beginning.
It's the desperate end.