It's definitely a war with these places being the proxies for the U.S. v. Russia. Russia supports a country that tries to get out from underneath the dollar, that causes further escalation etc. Venezuela is vulnerable because their crude is most profitably refined here in the U.S. Gulf Coast and that market is now effectively closed to them.

The Maduro governmnet, inept as it is, is on the right track with an oil-backed crypto to end-run U.S. sanctions. Also, Russia gets to have a case study to learn from with their crypto-ruble.

There are no alliances in geopolitics, only opportunities.