Venezuela Still Has a Flag. Washington Has the Treasury.

The closest historical parallel is not Iraq.

It is the old American protectorate system:

Leave the local government standing.
Control the money that keeps it alive.

That is what The New York Times describes in Venezuela.

The U.S. Treasury receives most of the country’s export revenue. Washington determines how it is released. Marco Rubio reportedly holds leverage over its oil, sanctions, senior appointments, foreign policy, and even the timing of elections.

Venezuela has not been annexed.

It has been placed in receivership.

The historical irony is almost perfect: the Roosevelt Corollary grew partly from a Venezuelan debt crisis, then became the rationale for American financial control across the Caribbean.

Now that system has returned to Venezuela itself.

Modern empire does not have to replace your flag.

It only has to take your treasury.