LONDON - The United States is going through a major economic crisis, which is why Trump talks about controlling places like Greenland or the Panama Canal, and makes threats of military action against the oil-rich Venezuela, and even talking about annexing Canada.

This is because the financial crisis in America is enormous and its debt has topped $38 trillion. Therefore, it looks for control over new, resource-rich lands and new investments.

This is the nature of capitalism, when it exhausts itself within certain limits, it starts thinking about expansion to strengthen the capitalist system. It is not satisfied with just financial dominance over the global financial system; it needs land and new investments.

Among the countries that say “no” and want to be free and sovereign over their own wealth are those that Trump and the U.S. administration dislike. The same goes for Iran, or any other country that opposes Washington’s control and interference in strategically important regions for Western interests, like West Asia.

The same situation applies to northern South America, the countries that aren’t loyal to the United States and oppose its dominance over their resources and politics. The U.S. wants to change their systems and make them subordinate.

This requires certain excuses and justifications. For example, in South America, drug trade (especially in Colombia) is widespread. Since the Colombian and Venezuelan governments don’t see eye to eye with the U.S., Trump uses the issue of drug trafficking and its impact on Americans as a pretext for intervention. His goal is not really to fight drugs, nor is it a convincing one. It’s not legally acceptable internationally to justify invading another country under the pretext of combating drugs.

The problem of drugs belongs to the country itself, it’s that country’s responsibility to fight drugs within its borders. It’s not an international legal justification to violate another nation’s sovereignty under the banner of fighting drugs. This is a weak and flimsy excuse for political interference. When the U.S. wants to intervene, it always has to find some justification, even a weak one.

Its real hostility is toward the Maduro government in Venezuela, Petro in Colombia, and the Cuban government, because the U.S. considers them its “backyard.” These are countries rich in resources, but their political systems are not in harmony with the U.S.

So, the main goal is political. For example, Venezuela, which has come under extreme pressure from the United States with threats of military action, has a lot of oil, gas riches as well as minerals like gold, Iron, and diamonds.

These countries have undergone revolutions, and their leftist governments oppose U.S. dominance and control.

American capitalist hegemonic system keeps countries and peoples dependent, preventing them from developing or controlling their own affairs. As a result, the region remains underdeveloped, like all regions under foreign domination and colonial influence.