U.S. 'Sabre-Rattling' in Venezuela Is about More than Drugs
U.S. 'Sabre-Rattling' in Venezuela Is about More than Drugs
"All of this may produce a backlash against the U.S. over the medium term," said AS/COA's Brian Winter to The Observer.
This week, the USS Gerald R Ford – the world’s largest aircraft carrier –arrived in the Caribbean. The US now has 15,000 troops, dozens of aircraft and a fleet of warships in the region.
The last time it amassed such force there was in 1989, when it invaded Panama to depose its dictator, Manuel Noriega. Now it raises the question as to whether the Trump administration plans to do the same in Venezuela, where its longtime antagonist, President Nicolás Maduro, stole an election last year.
But this US armada is already the most vivid application yet of the “Donroe doctrine”: Donald Trump’s revival of the 1823 Monroe doctrine, in which the US marked the Americas as its patch – and was willing to impose its will through force.
“The Trump White House is paying more attention to Latin America than any administration in at least 30 years,” said Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly. “But the question remains: how far are they willing to go?” [...]
Meanwhile Maduro-aligned paramilitaries have been sent to neighbourhoods across Caracas to quash dissent, while the president urged citizens to report neighbours suspected of “disrupting internal order”. The assembled US forces fall far short of what would be required for a land invasion, which would probably be a step too far for Trump’s supporters, who are allergic to foreign wars. “The Maga base would never allow it,” said Winter. “And without boots on the ground, I don’t see how you get [regime] change...”