The news that the Royal Navy is deploying to the Caribbean in response to Venezuela’s deepening humanitarian crisis is both heartening and deeply ironic. Heartening because it shows Britain still has the balls to project power where needed, ironic because it’s a grim reminder of the cycles of history: the fall of Rome, the collapse of the Spanish Empire, and now the implosion of a once-prosperous petro-state. Venezuela is a perfect illustration of what happens when ideology trumps pragmatism, when a ruling class wallows in decadence while the masses starve.
The earthquake, of course, just accelerated the inevitable. But let’s be honest: the crisis was baked in long before the ground shook. Maduro’s regime, with its absurd attempts to cling to power and its pathetic reliance on Cuban secret police, has presided over the destruction of a nation that was once South America’s wealthiest.
Now we see the Royal Navy, that aging but still formidable force, sailing to offer aid. It’s a gesture of civilised responsibility, but also a reminder of how far the region has fallen. The Carribbean, once the playground of empires, is now a theatre for humanitarian tragedies.
Perhaps this deployment will also serve as a warning to other wannabe autocrats: the West, for all its faults, still has the means and the will to intervene when suffering reaches a certain threshold. But don’t expect any thanks from the chattering classes who despise any display of national strength. They’ll call it gunboat diplomacy, even as the aid ships dock.
