Short analysis: Trump’s Venezuela miscalculation, Iran spillover

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA (By Pietro D. Pitts, Energy Analytics Institute, 17.Mar.2026, Words: 173) — Recent moves by US president Donald Trump toward Venezuela and Iran underscore a recurring pattern: short‑term political theatrics over long‑term energy stability. 

The attempt to neutralize or remove Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro and tighten US influence over the South American country’s massive crude oil and natural gas reserves was not an isolated maneuver.