The Lucky Few Club

The people of Venezuela, Greenland and Ukraine are so "lucky" to have resources that have put them in imperialism's crosshairs.

Image via Venezuela Analysis on X

Via the Communist Party of Greece (KKE)

The people of Venezuela are “lucky”. Their country has the largest oil reserves in the world and sits on a veritable gold mine —one that could ensure energy self-sufficiency, and more, while providing cheap fuel and electricity for its people.

The people of Greenland are also “lucky”. Their country holds vast reserves of rare earths, crucial in the era of new technologies. Its geographical position makes it a key player in the exploitation of the Arctic’s wealth and the opening of new sea routes, as melting ice brings the northern corridor into focus.

The people of Ukraine were also “lucky”. The country is known as the “breadbasket of Europe”, with enormous productive capacity that could ensure food security and the supply of cheap, high-quality products. Its extensive pipeline network makes Ukraine an energy hub, while its “highly sought-after” geographical position and long Black Sea coastline add to its strategic importance.

In recent days, these countries have dominated international developments.

In Venezuela’s case, this has taken the form of US intervention, resulting in a new political situation that aligns Venezuela with US interests. The first priority has been securing the country’s energy wealth for US benefit, with the US gaining access to Venezuela’s heavy oil. Beyond controlling sales to its competitors, the US is acquiring energy reserves vital to its war preparations, expanding and reinforcing its “living space” in the Western Hemisphere.

For similar reasons, Greenland is also in the US’s sights. It is regarded as crucial for regional defence against Russia and China, while offering a strategic foothold for controlling a larger part of the Arctic. At the same time, it represents a treasure trove of mineral reserves, the control of which is decisive in the struggle for supremacy.

As for Ukraine, the situation is well known. Its agricultural wealth already belongs to US and European agribusiness giants, as does much of its mineral wealth. The country has been ravaged by years of imperialist war, significant parts of its territory have been occupied by capitalist Russia, and Western imperialist powers are competing to divide the spoils —all while the people continue to pay the price of an ongoing war.

So are the peoples of these three countries truly “lucky” —“lucky” to face imperialist interventions, wars, destruction, threats, and blackmail, precisely because of their wealth and their position on the map?

In our country, the government and all the Euro-Atlantic powers praise Greece’s geostrategic position along trade and energy routes, unanimously supporting the bourgeoisie’s goal of turning the country into a “bridge” between East and West. The discovery of energy reserves in the Ionian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean has raised high expectations among Greek and “allied” monopolies.

Thus, the Greek people, too, are being welcomed into “the lucky few club”!

We should remind those who attempt to downplay the dangers, invoking Greece’s “strategic partnership” with the US and its membership in NATO, that Denmark has been a member of this imperialist alliance since 1949 and maintains the highest level of military cooperation with the USA. There is a US base in Greenland, and Danish troops have taken part in the US imperialist interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The real misfortune facing the peoples of the entire capitalist world is that the bourgeoisie holds power in every country. It owns and exploits mineral wealth for its own profit, benefits from its geostrategic position in trade and energy, and seeks to strengthen its standing through participation in imperialist alliances such as the EU and NATO. And when competing interests collide, there is no crime against the peoples that imperialism will hesitate to commit.

There is only one way for the peoples to truly benefit from the wealth and all the other “advantages” their countries possess: to overthrow the bourgeoisie and free their countries from imperialist alliances. They must take power and control of the economy into their own hands. This is the call of history in our era, as the prospect of a new generalized imperialist conflict grows stronger than ever!

The article was published in the column "Our Opinion" in Rizospastis on Tuesday, 20 January 2026.