Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/25/trial-of-us-citizen-held-on-terrorism-in-venezuela-to-start
Analysis: A trial was ordered in last Wednesday’s hearing in Venezuelan criminal court regarding Matthew Heath, a US citizen in the South American country on terrorism charges and accusations of being a US spy.
Heath 39, was detained in September 2020 in northwestern Venezuela and charged with terrorism and arms trafficking. Heath’s defense lawyer, Guillermo Heredia, said he rejected the “false” charges.
At the time of the arrest, President Nicolas Maduro stated that Heath was spying on the OPEC nations refineries and that he had been carrying “specialized weapons”. US officials have stated that Heath was not sent to Venezuela by Washington.
Heath was arrested along with National Guard Sergeant Major Darwin Urdaneta, Marcos Garces, and Daeven Rodriguez, the driver of the vehicle. The three Venezuelans were charged with treason, terrorism, arms trafficking, and conspiracy.
Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department, called out Maduro saying that human rights abuses have continued to escalate under the leaders regime and that the leader and his allies have used violence in order to maintain control over the state. In a news briefing Price said, “We believe that Maduro is a dictator”.
Venezuela is currently in the throws of a deep political, social, and economic crisis. This crisis is attributed to plummeting oil prices and two decades of mismanagement under Maduro’s control. Venezuela has been in recession for years and millions live in poverty because of high food prices, low wages, and immense inflation. These factors can foster resentment and descent among citizens, which can account for the alleged actions of Heath’s co -conspirators. But, what about Heath? Why would an American be interested in oil refineries? Heath’s interests in Venezuela’s oil could be the same as the US’s interests. The US is Venezuela’s biggest customer in regards to oil, and any threat to Venezuela’s oil reserves would surely affect the world’s financial markets and global energy.
When looking at the effective regional territory of Latin America, the states of Central America are relatively poor in resources, but the states in South America are much richer. Although Venezuela isn’t the richest state, it still has oil, coal, and iron ore, which gives it importance. If Heath’s involvement in Venezuela was due to spying for the US, it would mirror other times that the US sent spies to other states to collect information to bolster US intelligence. An example of US involvement in other states would be the U-2 spy incident during the cold war. The U-2 spy incident occurred in 1960 when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down by the Soviet Air Defense Forces while performing photographic aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory.