Gluttony

Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, as stated in Catholic concepts, and can, in addition to the greedy desire for food, manifest itself as a form of covetousness. The recent invasion of Venezuela by the US to seize the country's oil reserves, once again making South America the backyard for evil deeds [1], is a clear example of the manifestation of gluttony (covetousness).

From what is known, there were more than 100 deaths caused by this military invasion and, as the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano once said, “in the struggle of good against evil, it is always the people who die”. To understand a little more about oil in Venezuela, where I was almost twenty years ago [1], I researched the genesis of this “black gold” coveted by the North American empire.

In geological terms, in a very simplified way, it can be said that the oil deposits in Venezuelan territory, located in the so-called Orinoco Belt, are those sedimentary basins mainly related to the transform tectonic plate boundary, existing in Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, highlighting the Maracaibo and Oriente basins [2].

On the other hand, in the Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin located in the central-eastern portion of South America, which houses the Bauru and Guarani aquifers of regional extent, with voluminous groundwater reservoirs of the Southern Cone, exploratory research for oil and gas has not indicated commercial occurrences of these energy resources.

In this scenario, we need to be wary of ambitions to conquer territories outside the US. Oil may be the closest thing to the target, but what about the potentially available groundwater in mega-reservoirs? These could be other targets of covetousness, right? In the case of Venezuelan oil, it belongs to the Venezuelan people, and its use and commercialization should bring social benefits to the greatest number of people in this South American country. It should be emphasized that the collision of tectonic plates has nothing to do with the greed of yet another scoundrel [3] and opportunistic invaders [4].

"True happiness is impossible without true health, and true health is impossible without strict control of gluttony." – Mahatma Gandhi.

Sources [1] “The backyard for wickedness”. Article by Heraldo Campos from 06/01/2025. https://jornalggn.com.br/cronica/o-quintal-para-maldades-por-heraldo-campos/

[2] Alves, RJ 1989. Sedimentary basins: oil potential in South America. B. Geoc. PETROBRÁS. Rio de Janeiro, 3 (4): 321-336, Oct./Dec. 1989.

[3] “Scoundrel”. Article by Heraldo Campos from 07/26/2025. https://cacamedeirosfilho.blogspot.com/2025/07/canalha.html

[4] “Invaders”. Article by Heraldo Campos from 01/23/2023. https://cacamedeirosfilho.blogspot.com/2023/01/invasores.html