An era of noble (Nobel) gestures
Believe it or not! Look at the relationship between a well-known opposition leader in a resource-rich nation, and the leader of a superpower that invaded the former to abduct its president, and his wife, to usurp the resources. Maria Corina Machado, the opposition figure in Venezuela who won the last Nobel Peace Prize, “presented” her medal to the US President Donald Trump, who recently kidnapped the Venezuelan leader. According to the White House, Trump, who has consistently roared that he deserves the Nobel Prize, intends to keep the Nobel medal, possibly as a reminder of how the world wronged him, and failed to realise his grand personality.
The act itself reveals several facets of Trump and Machado, the attitude of the Nobel committee, use of violence if threats and warnings fail to achieve geopolitics and diplomatic issues, and the disdain that leaders have for their counterparts, and for the masses. In a post on social media, Trump trumpeted, “Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done (worked out peace in eight global conflicts). Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you, Maria!” He acted as if the Nobel was his, and his only, and he was the most-deserving winner in the world.
Machado, as an example of near-perfect ego-massage, compared her ‘graceful, kind, natural, and obvious’ act to what happened hundreds of years ago. Marquis de Lafayette, a French nobleman who helped the US during the latter’s war of independence against the British, presented a medal “bearing the likeness of George Washington (first US president) to Simon Bolivar (who freed South American nations, including Venezuela, from Spanish rule).” The Venezuelan opposition leader said, “Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal… as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
However, the reason for the great gesture was something personal, which was couched, as leaders do, in national interest. After Machado’s discussion with Trump at the White House, and the medal-exchange ceremony, the former said, “We are counting on President Trump for freedom in Venezuela. President Trump knows the situation in Venezuela; he cares about how the people of Venezuela are suffering.” What she hinted at was that after the abduction of the previous president, she should be the next leader. She wants the return of democracy in Venezuela, after allegations of ‘rigged’ elections, which implies her return to the seat of power.
As usual, no one knows the real mind of Trump. As usual, he wavers, sways, takes about-turns, and moves forward and backwards. Trump has maintained that there was a need to remove Nicolas Maduro, the previous president, because the latter was an ‘illegitimate’ leader, there were irregularities in the last elections, and involved in issues related narco-terrorism. Despite backing the opposition, or Machado, Trump later said that the former lacked the “respect” to become the next Venezuelan president. The US president favours Maduro’s vice president, who is the interim president. He warned Machado to bow down to the US demands to help the American oil giants.
No one has any doubts that the primary objective of the American intervention in Venezuela is about crude oil reserves. Despite small production, the nation has the largest oil reserves in the world, more than Saudi Arabia. Experts are sure that with billions of dollars of investment, and influx of American technology, oil production can be scaled up. This will allow the US to have a stranglehold over a large portion of global oil supplies, which will enable it to dent the economic influence of Russia, and the Middle East. The violent actions in Venezuela is a backhanded slap on China, the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil, and America’s Enemy No. 1.
Hence, for Machado, Trump matters more because the latter can get her into power, and make her the new Venezuelan president. She will be fine even if she remains the puppeteer, and her deputy becomes the official leader. For Trump, Machado matters only if she listens to him, and does exactly what she wants. The exchange of the Nobel medal was, therefore, a step in the right direction. He does not care about Venezuela. He cares about the oil reserves that the American giants can capture, and sell over the next few decades. Clearly, it is a transactional relationship, linked with egos, ambitions, hubris, and grab for power (political or economic).
The Nobel Committee, which was criticised as not-so-noble in the past for the ways it chose the various prize winners, is convinced that Machado and Trump are two protagonists in a one-act play that may go on for several acts. The Norway-based committee reiterated the Nobel medal cannot be transferred to another individual. Earlier, in a tweet, it posted that the prize “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others,” and clarified that the recipient’s name “stands for all time.” It does not matter if the medal physically changes hands. Machado is, and will always be, the Nobel winner.
The irony is that the woman who won the highest peace prize is engaged in semi-violent acts to wrest power in Venezuela, where elections are rigged. The man who was awarded the medal by the actual winner has invariably talked about rigged elections in the US, and even egged the people to attack Capitol Hill. Of course, such talks vanished when he became the president for the second time. The same will happen to Machado, who will forget the election manipulations after she, or her loyalist, becomes the next Venezuelan president. But there is a more important concern.
Here is the American president, who is convinced that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize because he mediated eight global war-like conflicts, and managed peace between several nations. He is currently involved in getting the two parties to agree to a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. However, Trump is the same individual who invaded Venezuela to kidnap a president, and has issued threats of violence against Greenland, and Colombia. On the one hand, he abhors violence and the use of force. On the other, he initiates random, sudden, and meaningless acts of violence against nations. But then, as we have seen for years, there is no easy way to understand the mind and machinations of President Trump.
