“The company made bad decisions.”
Chevron has the right to make business decisions, some good, some bad, as should all American companies. Most decisions made by large oil corporations are based upon long-term conditions, which in this particular case might have been to be the only one left in Venezuela doing business AFTER Maduro was removed or no longer in power. They have every right to take such a position if they think it will pay off in the long run.
What I don’t agree with is the U.S. government essentially using an American company to conduct foreign policy and asking their share holders to bear the cost. We all pay taxes for that purpose and the weapons for removing someone like Maduro are readily available to a President. Use those weapons that are already paid for.
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What would the US position have been if in the middle of WWII, a US company chose to build a company location in Japan or Germany? We are at war. Undeclared or not, we are at war. We are fighting an asymmetrical war, but war never-the-less.
Under an official declaration of war, I see no problem with trump's action here. Without one, it's an entirely different situation. We are NOT at war with the country of Venezuela. In this instance, Trump is doing more harm to an American company than either Chavez or Maduro. Chevron has a long standing presence in Venezuela which predates it's recent dictatorships. Even with Chavez and Maduro, they are still in business there while Trump wants to put them out of business entirely. In earlier times when our government didn't like the leader of another nation it took him out in some form or fashion. Now, it seems, we take out American companies and punish their share holders. Something is wrong with this picture.
Having an American presence there of some sort has strategic value to the national security interest of this nation. Chevron doing business there represents some semblance of American presence without the burdens that come with trying to engage their leaders on a diplomatic level. Why throw this asset away by running them out of the country?