By Evan Graver | Plot Recon – Where Thrillers Get Tactical
Geopolitics isn't background noise—it's plot fuel. And if you're writing thrillers, reading thrillers, or just trying to make sense of global power plays, Venezuela is the canary in the coal mine.
This post unpacks Monroe 2.0, Part 2—where Venezuela fits into the BRICS vs. West showdown, why rare earths and gold are the new battleground, and how this all ties together in what I call The Donroe Doctrine.
🔥 What Is the Donroe Doctrine?
In Part 1, I talked about how Trump is countering Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere. Part 2 takes it global: Venezuela isn’t just about oil—it’s the lynchpin in a proxy war involving China, Russia, Iran, and the rise of BRICS.
This isn't fiction. It just sounds like it.
🏦 BRICS, Sanctions, and the Financial War
BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (now joined by Egypt, Iran, UAE, Ethiopia)—is building an alternative to the Western economic order.
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Venezuela wants in, backed by China, Russia, and Iran.
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They’re pushing away from the SWIFT banking system and into CIPS, China’s alternative.
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BRICS now holds 20%+ of global gold reserves and is launching a Precious Metals Exchange to settle trade in gold, not dollars.
Their goal? Undermine the U.S. dollar's dominance without firing a shot.
⛏️ The Rare Earths Power Play
Rare earth elements = power.
BRICS owns 72% of global reserves and is demanding settlement via gold through CIPS. This gives them control over key materials for:
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EVs
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Smartphones
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Military gear
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Wind turbines
Trump's trade outreach is a direct countermeasure. He’s trying to cut off BRICS' economic advance by undermining their weakest link: Venezuela.
🛢️ Why Venezuela Matters
Venezuela is the BRICS wedge into the Western Hemisphere—backed by:
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Russia (arms, oil, debt, and defense treaties)
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Iran (oil tankers, Quds Force, and covert ops)
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China (infrastructure and strategic influence)
But their grip is weak. Maduro’s regime is collapsing under its own weight: sanctions, failing oil output, and fractured alliances.
🕵️ Quds Force, Hezbollah, and Tren de Aragua
Iran’s elite Quds Force has turned Venezuela into a launchpad for proxy warfare:
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Hezbollah uses illegal gold mining in Venezuela to fund terror—$500M/year.
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They work with Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s most dangerous gang, which now has global reach.
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The U.S. has designated Hezbollah, Tren de Aragua, and others as transnational criminal organizations.
This is narco-terrorism fused with geopolitics.
🧨 The Jefferson-Madison Parallel
Let’s time travel.
In the 1800s, Thomas Jefferson fought the Barbary Pirates with half-measures. It took James Madison and a full naval strike to shut it down permanently. Sound familiar?
Trump seems to be taking a Madison approach to transnational crime:
“I’m done messing around and this is going to end now.”
The goal? Collapse the entire criminal ecosystem—not just cartels, but the proxy actors behind them.
🇨🇺 The Cuban Factor
Cuba and Venezuela are deeply intertwined—security, intelligence, even doctors. But Cuba is broke, Venezuela can’t pay, and the alliance is cracking.
If Venezuela falls, Cuba’s leverage crumbles.
🎯 The Real Target: BRICS’ Weakest Link
Here’s the big picture:
Break Venezuela, and you break...
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Russia’s arms funnel
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Iran’s Quds footprint
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Hezbollah’s funding chain
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Tren de Aragua’s smuggling ops
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Cuba’s intelligence shield
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China’s Latin American foothold
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BRICS' dream of a gold-backed economic alliance
Venezuela is the keystone. And The Donroe Doctrine aims to pull it.
💣 For Thriller Writers: This Is Your Sandbox
You want high stakes? This is it.
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Rogue Quds cells in Latin America
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Hezbollah laundering gold through crypto
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Chinese rare earth mining deals with cartel protection
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Drone ops over the Caribbean
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CIA factions playing both sides
This isn’t the backdrop. This is the plot.
🧢 Final Word
This was Monroe 2.0, Part 2—and I’ll say it again:
If Venezuela falls, everything upstream collapses.
Sunlight is coming. And in thriller fiction, that’s the spark that sets the fuse.
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