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British concessions (while continuing to demand—and secure—US oil rights in the Middle East, where the British and French were in the lead). By 1928, Venezuela had become the world’s leading oil exporter, with US companies in charge. During World War II, the US agreed to a Venezuelan demand for 50-50 profit-sharing. The effect, as predicted, was a vast expansion of oil production and “substantial profits for the [US] oil industry,” which took control over the country’s economy and “major economic decisions” in all areas. During the 1949-1958 dictatorship of the murderous thug Pérez Jiménez, “U.S. relations with Venezuela were harmonious and economically beneficial to U.S. businessmen”; torture, terror, and general repression passed without notice on the usual Cold War pretexts. In 1954, the dictator was awarded the Legion of Merit by President Eisenhower. The citation noted that “his wholesome policy in economic and financial matters has facilitated the expansion of foreign investment, his Administration thus contributing to the greater well-being of the country and the rapid development of its immense natural resources”—and, incidentally, huge profits for the US corporations that ran the country, including by then steel companies and others. About half of Standard Oil of New Jersey’s profits came from its Venezuelan subsidiary, to cite just one example.
    From World War II, in Venezuela the US followed the standard policy of taking total control of the military “to expand U.S. political and military influence in the Western Hemisphere and perhaps help keep the U.S. arms industry vigorous” (Rabe). As later explained by Kennedy’s Ambassador Allan Stewart, “U.S.-oriented and anti-Communist armed forces are vital instruments to maintain our security interests.” He illustrated the point with the case of Cuba, where the “armed forces disintegrated” while elsewhere they “remained intact and able to defend themselves and others from Communists,” as demonstrated by the wave of National Security States that swept over the hemisphere. The Kennedy Administration increased its assistance to the Venezuelan security forces for “internal security and counterinsurgency operations against the political left,” Rabe comments, also assigning personnel to advise in combat operations, as in Vietnam. Stewart urged the government to “dramatize” its arrests of radicals, which would make a good impression in Washington as well as among Venezuelans (those who matter, that is).
    In 1970, Venezuela lost its position as world’s leading oil exporter to Saudi Arabia and Iran. As in the Middle East, Venezuela nationalized its oil (and iron ore) in a manner quite satisfactory to Washington and US investors, who “found a newly rich Venezuela hospitable,” Rabe writes, “one of the most unique markets in the world,” in the words of a Commerce Department official. 15
    The return to office of social democrat Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1988 aroused some concerns, but they dissipated as he launched an IMF-approved structural readjustment program, resolutely maintained despite thousands of protests, many violent, including one in February 1989 in which 300 people were killed by security forces in the capital city of Caracas.
    Though rarely reported in the US, protests continued along with strike waves severe enough to lead to fear that the country was headed towards “anarchy.” Among other cases, three students were killed by police who attacked peaceful demonstrations in late November 1991; and two weeks later, police used tear gas to break up a peaceful march of 15,000 people in Caracas protesting Pérez’s economic policies. In January 1992, the main trade union confederation predicted serious difficulties and conflicts as a result of the neoliberal programs, which had caused