Venezuela was actively brokering deals to sell oil to BRICS nations. BRICS being a huge part of the recent spike in gold prices and in the process of developing a gold backed alternative to the US petrodollar/USD (the "unit").
The damage these deals would have done to a dollar already weakened by the administration's trade policies would have been substantial. The long term knock-on effects would have been disastrous.
The US invades Venezuela. No more deals. Problem solved.
What's not being talked about, at least in this context, is Venezuela's absolutely massive untapped supply of gold. If realized the value could be in the trillions of dollars. Fuck the oil. It's oversupplied and on its way out. This is a goldrush.
BRICS nations as of December were estimated to control 50% of global gold production. Surprise! The US is now sitting on enough gold (including our own reserves) to undermine the "de-dollarization" BRICS has been pushing and essentially control its market value.
Unfortunately almost all that gold is still in the ground.
The play here is mining and specifically Newmont (NEM) who's former head of strategy, David Copley, was appointed by Trump to lead his "National Energy Dominance Council".
This is a long play. LEAPS are your friend. Shares are better
Position: 2200 shares NEM