Of the federal government paid for it it should be the government's, not Patel's.

It's about the coltran, stupid.

Ask him about its coltran.

Trump has quietly launched a company called Vulcan Elements for the purpose of seizing control of Venezuela's vast reserves of the rare earth element, coltran, as soon as Maduro is gone. The Pentagon has already awarded Trump's compsny a billion-dollar contact; the invasion is already a done deal.

And Thiel et al want land in VZ to start another autonomous "State", perhaps that's why he's insisting that VZ give him "stolen" land. I don't think it matters that his statement is all bollocks, the important thing is the demands. It is a shakedown, a shabby one, but a serious threat all the same.

And not just oil, but the rare earth mineral coltran, which Venezuela has tons of, and which Trump will begin mining and processing under his new company, Vulcan Elements, as soon Maduro is out of the way. (The Pentagon just awarded Trump's company a longterm contract worth almost $1 billion.)

The global coltran sources are concentrated in Africa and S America. The Dem Rep of Congo (DRC) has the most reserves, est'd at 60-80% of global total. Rwanda, Brazil, Nigeria, China are also big mining countries.

Coltran is critical in producing cellphones and computers.

This is the real reason our Prez wants to take over Venezuelan anything. Venezuela has a lot of Coltran and only limited military strength.

Why are so many of your colleagues failing to understand that you do not ever want to give Trump more power over anything?

Never.