The BBC brought out wealthy Venezuelan Vanessa Neumann to talk about the new US oil grab in her country. But Jeremy Corbyn quickly exposed her shilling for US imperialism.
Corbyn on top form
Corbyn had already condemned the “illegal act of war” in which the US abducted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. But he also took to the BBC to call out Neumann’s absurd assessment that the US coup was “stunning” and “does not break international laws”.
Neumann was totally wrong, of course, as legal experts called it “completely illegal under international law“. The US had absolutely no right to cross into another country to abduct one of its citizens. And when Corbyn pushed Neumann to explain why she thought it was acceptable, she argued that targets for US imperialism:
can be snatched anywhere
US imperialism summed up in a single exchange:
Vanessa Neumann: Maduro was a fugitive from justice@jeremycorbyn: From where?
Neumann: The United States
Corbyn: But he wasn’t in the United States
Neumann: It doesn’t matter where you are. You can be snatched anywhere pic.twitter.com/IpaurD60sS
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) January 6, 2026
US imperialism has long terrorised South America. But its 21st-century destabilisation tactics had been quieter and more subtle until Donald Trump and his elitist backers came in with the type of wildly authoritarian logic Neumann expressed.
Highlighting the fact that it has already threatened Cuba, Colombia and Mexico too, Corbyn rightly asked:
Where’s it gonna end?
It’s not complicated: The United States’ invasion of Venezuela is a total violation of all aspects of international law.
Venezuela first, who’s next? pic.twitter.com/CwG01ZLgKC
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 6, 2026
You may remember Neumann from the last big wave of Venezuela news, when Western governments were trying to anoint far-right randomer Juan Guaidó as its leader.
Since the earth-shaking 1998 election of Hugo Chávez’s left-leaning government in oil-rich Venezuela, the US and its allies had bombarded the country with all types of hostility. But as brutal US sanctions and lower oil prices were strangling Venezuela in 2019, the West dug in behind Guaidó. And Neumann was right by his side.
But who exactly is she?
An embodiment of the billionaire/far-right alliance
As the Canary reported previously, Neumann’s:
European-born grandfather bought the island of Mustique – “a playground for the very rich”.
She then went on to serve her class interests faithfully.
She worked with super-rich thinktanks like the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). At the interventionist FPRI, which is rolling in billionaire cash, she tried to suggest al-Qaeda was in Venezuela (something even the US didn’t believe).
Venezuela’s criticism of Israeli war crimes and support for Palestine are longstanding. And the far-right opposition are both racist and very pro-Israel. So with propagandists often trying to equate pro-Palestine groups with al-Qaeda, despite even right-wing thinktanks accepting they’re not the same, Neumann clearly thought it was worth a shot.
Idolising US war criminals and longing for a “return of the Americans” to Venezuela, Neumann also cosied up to the empire. After lobbying the US on behalf of “oil industry interests“, she founded an organisation reporting for corporations on sectors like “oil & gas” and “finance”, leading her to speak:
at many US military bases around the world
She became “closely connected to the US military and intelligence services“.
As Guaidó‘s representative in the UK, meanwhile, she pushed for more intervention and murderous sanctions. And she developed strong “back channels” to the government at a time when the UK was withholding enough Venezuelan gold to cover “almost its entire budget for food and medical imports“.
In short, Neumann is a perfect embodiment of the billionaire/far-right alliance that wants to rid Venezuela’s government of anything progressive. So it’s no surprise she’s cheering on Trump’s illegality now. But it absolutely is something we should all be resisting.
Featured image via the Canary
By Ed Sykes
From Canary via This RSS Feed.