Wait a Minute
- mpgoede
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Wait a Minute
18 December 2025
It is one week before Christmas. Last night, it was abruptly announced that Trump would deliver a national address. Like many others, I assumed he was about to escalate his “war” with Maduro, especially after the news that, the day before, he had effectively “banned” all oil tankers.
Instead, the speech took a different turn. Trump spoke about his eleven months in office, about the mess Biden allegedly left behind, and about how well he himself is doing. He claimed to have ended eight conflicts and wars. Not a single word about Venezuela. Not a word about the Epstein Files (NOS, 2025).
And yet. Before and after that speech, recordings circulated in which Trump talks about reclaiming America’s oil resources and assets—read: those of American corporations. These, he claims, were wrongfully seized by Maduro and Venezuela through nationalization. Wait a minute. Wasn’t this all about fighting drug trafficking and smuggling? Or is it, once again, really about oil?
At the same time, the new head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli, warned in her first public speech that control over technology is shifting global power away from states and toward corporations and individuals, with profound implications for international security (Metreweli, 2025). I cannot help but think of the visible influence of Big Tech on Trump, already evident during his inauguration eleven months ago.
It makes me question the true role of the conflict with Maduro. And the role of the Military-Industrial Complex. None of this is new. One particularly revealing moment was the way then–Prime Minister Rutte—now Secretary General of NATO—consistently gave corporations a receptive ear (Follow the Money, 2022).
Curaçao is no exception. It is more than visible, and demonstrably so, that politics here caters to large investors. This is often framed as development or stability, but the underlying question remains: development for whom?
Back in 2017, I wrote:
“The corporation (globalization: de-sovereignization and marginalization of community). The nation-state is getting weaker. By applying the shock doctrine (Klein, 2007), governments serving corporations implement measures that benefit the elite. Some state that the financial crisis of 2008 was a shock that was used to fortify capitalism (Žižek, 2015)… The corporation, via donations to political parties, has caged politicians to serve the interest of the corporations (Hickel, 2016). This is not new. The role of the Military Industrial Complex has been documented since the 1960s (Cox, 2014). However, there are new strategies.”(Goede, 2017)
Eight years later, the question is more urgent than ever. If technology, capital, and military power continue to converge—and if states increasingly follow rather than lead—what remains of democratic control?
What to think.
Miguel Goede
References (APA)
Cox, R. W. (2014). The political economy of a plural world: Critical reflections on power, morals and civilization. Routledge.
Follow the Money. (2022). The Shell Papers: How multinationals gained access to the Dutch prime minister’s office. https://www.ftm.nl/artikelen/shell-papers-algemene-zaken
Goede, M. (2017). The future of democracy: The end of democracy as we know it. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/39655240/The_future_of_democracy_the_end_of_democracy_as_we_know_it
Hickel, J. (2016). The divide: A brief guide to global inequality and its solutions. Windmill Books.
Klein, N. (2007). The shock doctrine: The rise of disaster capitalism. Metropolitan Books.
Metreweli, B. (2025, December 15). First public speech as MI6 Chief. London.
NOS. (2025, December 17). Trump valt beleid voorganger aan, pocht over economie en belooft meer koopkracht
Žižek, S. (2015). Trouble in paradise: From the end of history to the end of capitalism. Melville House.