There's a certain irony to the U.S. government and media campaign against Saudi Arabia, now that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has announced it plans to cut oil production by two billion barrels a day, likely driving up gas prices at the pump just before the midterm elections. Most of OPEC's member nations have had tense relations with the U.S. for decades, while Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as a strong U.S. ally all along.
Of OPEC's 13 member countries, five are in the Middle East and seven in Africa. Only one is in the Western Hemisphere: Venezuela. Since 2019, Venezuela has had no diplomatic relations with the U.S., a result of the failed coup in which the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president, rather than the actual president, Nicolás Maduro, who remains in power. Tensions between the two countries have steadily increased since 1999, when then-President Hugo Chávez (Maduro's predecessor and mentor) declared himself to be socialist and "anti-imperialist."
