Colombia, Venezuela and US policy

"Venezuela is Latin America's biggest exporter of crude oil and has the world's largest petroleum reserves." - Brian Ellsworth and Andrew Cawthorne, Venezuela death toll rises to 13 as protests flare Reuters 02/24/2014

"Venezuela claims the world’s largest proven reserves of petroleum, an estimated 298 billion barrels of oil." - Michael Klare, The Desperate Plight of Petro-States TomDispatch 05/26/2016

This edition of Empire Files provides a useful reminder that US policy toward Venezuela is closely related to US policy toward Colombia, Human Rights Hypocrisy - Colombia vs. Venezuela TeleSUR English 08/19/2017:

The title is not as descriptive as it might have been about the content of the program, which features Empire Files host Abby Martin interviewing Dan Kovalik, a labor and human rights attorney and professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. They talk about the background of Colombian rightwing paramilitary groups, the origins of the recently-disbanded FARC rebel army, the extent of current US involvement in Colombia, the large number of Colombian immigrants in Venezuela and Venezuelan elections.

Kovalik discusses the situation in the Colombian city of Buenaventura, which he also reported on in Peaceful Protest In Buenaventura, Colombia Met With Terror HuffPost 06/08/2017.