Geopolitical Economy Report

To justify bombing Venezuela and abducting President Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump falsely accused him of leading the so-called "Cartel de los Soles". But the US Department of Justice was forced to admit that this "Suns Cartel" doesn't exist. The USA lied -- while the CIA actually has trafficked drugs in Latin America. Ben Norton reports. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44c0jf5ygyE Topics 0:00 US attacks Venezuela 0:21 (CLIP) Trump wants Venezuela's oil 1:12 Trump's colonial war on Venezuela 2:08 US DOJ admits it lied about Maduro 3:25 92-year-old judge oversees show trial 3:53 "Cartel de los Soles" doesn't exist 5:05 WMD lie 5:46 Venezuela does NOT produce fentanyl 6:28 Cocaine-producing countries 7:12 (CLIP) Biden official admits truth 8:21 CIA trafficked drugs in Venezuela 11:01 (CLIP) 60 Minutes on CIA drug trafficking 11:42 DEA agent accuses CIA of trafficking 12:58 CIA, cocaine, Nicaraguan Contras 14:47 Trump pardoned Hondura drug trafficker 16:13 (CLIP) Juan Orlando Hernández 16:39 Ecuador's drug-linked President Noboa 17:42 Colombia's drug lord Álvaro Uribe 18:50 USA armed Mexican cartels 19:34 US allies in Mexico are narcos 20:23 Drug links to Argentina's Javier Milei 20:43 Marco Rubio's links to cocaine trafficking 22:52 US Special Forces links to drugs 23:55 Trump attacks Colombia President Petro 24:37 Afghanistan opium production 25:59 Opioid epidemic in USA 26:34 Purdue Pharma and Sackler family 28:55 US imperialism based on lies 29:42 Outro

After the US military bombed Venezuela and abducted President Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump said "we're going to run the country", potentially for years. "We're in the oil business", he added, boasting that US corporations will exploit Latin America's natural resources. Ben Norton reports. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZHOuHUboeY Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump: USA will "run" Venezuela 0:48 US coup attempts in Venezuela 1:55 Trump bombs Venezuela 2:44 Trump boasts of taking Venezuelan oil 3:17 Colonial Monroe Doctrine 3:46 Trump: "we're going to run the country" 4:23 Oil in Venezuela 5:08 Trump press conference 6:00 (CLIP) Trump's colonial plan 6:32 Years of US occupation? 7:23 (CLIP) US plan to pillage Venezuela 8:43 (CLIP) Boots on the ground 9:22 (CLIP) US oil corporations 10:00 Critical minerals & rare earth elements 10:37 Wall Street vultures 11:41 Venezuela's oil belong to Venezuelans 13:18 (CLIP) Trump: "They stole our oil" 13:55 Trump threatens more attacks 14:41 Casualties of US strikes 15:18 (CLIP) Trump threatens officials 15:47 Trump supports drug trafficker 16:42 (CLIP) Pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández 17:32 US Special Operations forces & drugs 18:32 US imperial plans for Latin America 18:57 (CLIP) Asserting US "dominance" 19:27 Monroe Doctrine to Donroe Doctrine 20:16 (CLIP) Trump invokes Monroe Doctrine 21:11 China & Cold War Two 23:39 Threats against Cuba 25:11 (CLIP) Marco Rubio threatens Cuba 25:49 Colombia's President Gustavo Petro 26:22 (CLIP) Threats against Gustavo Petro 26:34 US sanctions Colombian president 27:15 War Secretary Pete Hegseth 28:04 (CLIP) Hegseth threatens the world 28:48 (CLIP) Hegseth: Oil and dominance 29:15 (CLIP) "Peace through strength" 29:33 General Dan "Razin" Caine 30:16 (CLIP) US military threatens the world 30:31 Invader invokes "self-defense" 31:18 (CLIP) US military claims "self-defense" 31:37 Trump's Freudian slip 32:03 (CLIP) "Precise attack on sovereignty" 32:16 Marco Rubio, warmonger 33:11 (CLIP) Do what USA says, or else 33:40 Rubio wants to pick foreign leaders 34:33 (CLIP) "President of peace" 35:02 Trump has bombed 10 countries 35:40 US empire intervenes across planet 36:32 Outro

The US government bombed Venezuela, and Donald Trump abducted President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country to be tried in a show trial on politically motivated charges. Ben Norton explains the real reasons behind the USA's imperialist war on Venezuela. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnD0p5F7MNs Topics 0:00 USA kidnaps Venezuela's President Maduro 1:07 Trump bombs Venezuela 2:01 Reasons for US war on Venezuela 5:00 Marco Rubio's crusade in Latin America 7:02 Political balance in Latin America 8:04 Venezuela's oil 9:43 (CLIP) Trump vows to take oil & ships 10:14 (CLIP) Trump wants oil & land 10:58 Coup leader María Corina Machado 11:24 (CLIP) Machado offers $1.7 trillion in assets 13:02 (CLIP) Corporations will "make a lot of money" 13:56 Critical minerals & rare earths 15:37 Colonial Monroe Doctrine 16:20 US National Security Strategy 17:26 'Trump Corollary' is imperialism 18:26 US colonialism in Latin America 19:57 USA seeks control over Latin America 20:31 Trump targets Brazil 21:07 Sanctions on Colombia's Gustavo Petro 22:10 Trump threatens to attack Mexico 22:46 US meddling in Latin America 23:25 Argentina's Javier Milei 24:14 Electoral coup in Honduras 25:00 Trump frees drug trafficker 25:36 USA supports drug traffickers 27:10 "Cartel of the Suns" doesn't exist 27:40 Lies about drugs & Venezuela 28:13 (CLIP) Biden official debunks drug lies 29:23 WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction 30:38 USA plans show trial against Maduro 31:31 China & Latin America 33:09 Trump targets China in Venezuela 34:29 China partnership with Venezuela 36:36 Why Latin America prefers China 37:05 Venezuela-China relations 37:47 Russia partnership with Venezuela 38:20 Iran partnership with Venezuela 38:42 Global South unity 39:04 Palestine 39:16 Africa (Burkina Faso) 39:47 Latin American regional unity 41:19 US imperialism vs humanity 42:04 Outro

De-dollarization is growing around the world. Central banks are buying tons of gold, which overtook US Treasury securities in reserves in 2025. Even private investors are diversifying out of dollar assets, as risk rises. Ben Norton explains how Washington's sanctions, Trump's tariffs, and the weaponization of US-dominated international financial institutions have backfired. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVjy1Hlh5zc Topics 0:00 Dedollarization increases 1:36 US sanctions backfire 2:20 Donald Trump threatens BRICS 2:49 Central bank holdings of US Treasuries 3:59 China de-dollarizes 5:29 US trade war on China failed 7:10 Foreign holdings of US bonds 8:09 Government vs private investment 9:53 Central banks buy lots of gold 10:51 No return to gold standard 13:30 Gold as neutral reserve asset 14:28 Gold overtakes US Treasury holdings 15:07 Gold price skyrockets 16:18 Nixon Shock to Trump Shock 17:08 This is not just about Trump 19:04 2008 financial crisis: turning point 20:48 Western seizure of Russia's assets 22:26 Ukraine war fuels gold purchases 23:21 Central bank undeclared gold buying 26:04 Uruguay dedollarizes 27:48 Argentina's Javier Milei 28:40 Sovereignty vs imperialism 29:09 Investors de-risk out of US assets 33:37 Decline of US dollar dominance 34:14 Global South de-dollarizes trade 35:35 New BRICS payment systems 36:25 Internationalization of renminbi 37:15 Financial multipolarity 38:48 Outro

In Cold War Two, the USA is pressuring countries to cut ties with China and recognize Taiwan separatists. Donald Trump blatantly meddled in Honduras' 2025 election and backed a political coup to put in power right-wing oligarch Nasry "Tito" Asfura, who strongly supports Taiwan and Israel. Ben Norton discusses US imperialism in Latin America. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhV7wRi8yYM Topics 0:00 Cold War Two 0:48 Monroe Doctrine 1:27 One China policy 2:23 US arms sales to Taiwan 3:09 Countries that recognize Taiwan 5:04 Map of Taiwan recognition 5:29 Electoral coup in Honduras 7:14 US-backed 2009 military coup 7:53 Trafficker Juan Orlando Hernández 9:05 Trump meddles in Honduras election 10:27 Electoral coup 11:27 US puppet Nasry "Tito" Asfura 12:19 USA, Israel, and Taiwan 13:06 Diplomatic relations with China 14:17 Cutting ties with China 15:14 US National Security Strategy 16:51 Israel - Palestine 19:05 Central American Arab pro-Israel leaders 22:21 US-backed electoral coup 27:54 US imperialism in Latin America 28:44 Honduras resists US coups 30:23 Anti-imperialist resistance 31:27 Outro

The US government is seizing oil tankers and stealing Venezuela's crude. Donald Trump boasted that the USA will "keep" the oil and the ships. This is piracy. Ben Norton explains how Washington is blatantly violating international law in its imperialist war on Venezuela. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_pxZ-Rl6DM Topics 0:00 USA is stealing Venezuela's oil 0:58 (CLIP) Trump: "We're keeping" the oil 1:22 Worst piracy on Earth 2:33 Trump's war plans 3:51 US blockade & sanctions are illegal 5:19 UN experts: US bombing is illegal 6:57 (CLIP) Trump: Venezuela's oil is ours 7:41 US laws don't apply worldwide 9:06 Maduro asks UN for action 9:59 China supports Venezuela 11:46 Trump threatens Maduro 12:08 María Corina Machado 12:19 (CLIP) Machado vows to privatize oil 14:25 Gunboat diplomacy 14:58 Colonial Monroe Doctrine 15:28 Trump & Roosevelt Corollary 17:29 US colonialism in Latin America 20:43 Big Stick policy 21:12 US National Security Strategy 22:26 Anti-imperialist General Smedley Butler 24:46 US imperialism in China 27:23 War for Wall Street 28:53 Criminality of US empire 29:39 Outro

Donald Trump imposed a naval blockade on Venezuela and admitted that he wants to take the country's oil and give it to US corporations: "They took our oil rights. We had a lot of oil there. They threw our companies out, and we want it back". Ben Norton explains how Washington's colonial war seeks regime change. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXjnaqfzO-Y Topics 0:00 Intro 0:36 Venezuela nationalized huge oil reserves 1:36 Trump claims US owns Venezuela's oil 2:32 (CLIP) Trump on Venezuela's oil 3:19 Trump's 1st coup attempt in Venezuela 4:32 (CLIP) Trump wanted to "take it over" 4:44 ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson 6:04 Stephen Miller: USA owns Venezuela's oil 7:23 Marco Rubio, warmonger 7:52 Naval blockade of Venezuela 8:33 Piracy: USA seizes oil tankers 9:14 Chevron allowed to pass siege 9:46 USA chokes off exports & imports 11:26 "Make the economy scream" 12:33 US coup attempts 13:00 US sanctions on Venezuela 14:24 Corporate media propaganda 16:49 UN experts: US sanctions are illegal 19:05 Imperial war of aggression 20:29 Outro

The winner of Chile's presidential election, José Antonio Kast, is the son of a German Nazi official. He is a US-backed far-right extremist who loves Donald Trump, Israel, and fascist former dictator August Pinochet. He is also very anti-China, and will assist in Washington's attempt to impose its imperialist Monroe Doctrine. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYtCi-Wh3FU Related videos: Javier Milei is making Argentina a resource colony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3qgYZMYkj0 Why Trump is meddling in Honduras: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtKShReciYQ Topics 0:00 US interventions in Latin America 2:18 Javier Milei's Argentina 2:51 Chile's President-elect José Antonio Kast 3:27 Map of political balance in Latin America 4:28 Marco Rubio 4:55 US war on Venezuela 5:27 Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet 6:53 Operation Condor (Plan Cóndor) 7:14 Cold War Two 7:44 CIA support for Nazis 8:23 Nazis who fled to South America 8:55 José Antonio Kast's Nazi father 10:36 Neoliberal Chicago Boys 12:14 Myth of Pinochet's "economic miracle" 15:18 Economic growth rates in Chile 16:20 Corrupt privatizations under Pinochet 17:50 Javier Milei deindustrializes Argentina 18:40 José Antonio Kast supports Pinochet 20:24 Kast loves Israel 20:42 Kast hates China 22:18 Brazil's far-right coup leader Bolsonaro 23:04 Kast loves Donald Trump 23:33 Kast wants mass privatizations 24:43 Chile: world's top copper producer 25:30 Lithium reserves in South America 27:42 Failure of President Gabriel Boric 28:35 Boric supports Ukraine 29:18 US corporate media praised Boric 30:58 Boric: pro-US, NGO-funded fake "left" 34:02 "Nothing will fundamentally change" 34:46 Political balance in Latin America 36:17 Trump meddles in Honduras 36:35 US empire targets Latin America 37:34 Outro

How does China's economic model work? Political economist Ben Norton explains the ideas behind Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, discussing China's socialist market economy, historical development, reform process, poverty reduction, industrial policy, and more. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E89qUXTX-k Topics 0:00 Introduction 1:07 China has world's largest economy 3:01 China's economic development 3:54 Poverty reduction 6:56 Rising incomes 7:42 Life expectancy 8:57 Mortality rates 9:34 Reform and Opening Up 10:16 To get rich is glorious? 11:35 Deng Xiaoping's ideology 13:54 Primary stage of socialism 14:28 Chinese capitalists 15:54 Industrialization & urbanization 16:55 Birdcage economy (Chen Yun) 18:17 State ownership 19:40 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) 20:49 Grasp the large, let go of the small 22:22 Public property 23:16 SOE assets 24:14 Provincial & local governments 25:51 Golden shares in tech companies 26:54 Huawei, biggest worker-owned company 27:17 Rural cooperatives 29:09 Democracy in China? 31:40 Foreign investment in China 33:49 Global value chain 34:34 Foreign direct investment (FDI) 35:48 Industrial policy evolution 38:22 New quality productive forces 39:23 China's green energy revolution 40:24 World's manufacturing superpower 41:04 US deindustrialization & financialization 43:22 US bubble economy 44:37 China popped real estate bubble 46:50 Inequality & uneven development 48:31 Eras of the PRC 49:01 Common prosperity in New Era 49:34 Gini coefficient 50:26 Labor income vs capital income 51:48 Poverty alleviation 52:17 Wages of Chinese workers 52:44 Labor unions in China 55:19 USA funds anti-China labor groups 57:02 Marco Rubio takes over NED 57:32 Delivery workers 58:30 996 system is banned 59:23 Working hours in China 1:00:25 Imperialism & division of labor 1:03:51 AI & new cold war 1:04:45 Silicon Valley model: monopoly 1:05:43 Market competition in China 1:07:44 China opposes private monopolies 1:08:10 State planning 1:09:05 Cold War Two

The Donald Trump administration revealed the US empire's new plan for global dominance in the 2025 National Security Strategy. The goal is to impose hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, reviving the colonial Monroe Doctrine, to move supply chains out of Asia and bring manufacturing into Latin America via "nearshoring", in order to economically decouple from China and prepare for conflict in Cold War Two. Ben Norton analyzes the important document. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idkurWogst8 Topics 0:00 Summary of US National Security Strategy 2:45 US economic dependency on China 5:25 USA loses China war games 6:45 Why Trump targets Latin America 7:41 Marco Rubio, war hawk 9:34 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on China "threat" 10:17 Main goals of Trump's foreign policy 10:35 Improve Russia relations 11:30 Brief summary of US strategy 12:01 Western media misunderstands report 13:24 Whitewashing US imperialism 14:45 Obama's pivot to Asia 15:18 Asia is 1/2 of global economy 16:05 Hillary Clinton's "Russia reset" 16:34 Second Cold War aims at China 17:38 Main goals of US foreign policy 21:29 First target: Latin America 23:13 Second target: China 24:37 US dollar dominance 25:47 (CLIP) Trump threatens BRICS 26:16 Weaponizing technology 26:44 Natural resources in Americas 27:27 Hypocritical buzzwords 29:38 Culture war 32:00 Regions targeted by US empire 32:22 Colonial Monroe Doctrine 33:51 "Enlisting" US vassals 35:30 Nearshoring manufacturing 37:58 Militarizing Latin America 39:04 USA threatens countries 40:30 Natural resources 41:30 "US must be preeminent" 41:55 Cutting off Chinese technology 42:58 Goal: "an American-led world" 43:59 US government serves corporations 45:51 Strategy in "Indo-Pacific" region 46:21 Criticizing China's independence 47:17 Pacific: 21st century's "battleground" 47:52 Asia is half of world GDP (PPP) 49:08 Decline of Western hegemony 51:04 Supply chains 51:31 Economic war 52:21 India 55:12 Japan, South Korea, Australia 57:22 Dollar as global reserve currency 57:45 Taiwan 1:01:28 Europe 1:02:20 Russia 1:03:15 EU as captive US market 1:04:47 West Asia (Middle East) 1:05:18 Oil and natural gas 1:06:19 Israel 1:06:56 Africa 1:08:15 Conclusion 1:08:49 Outro