The Trump administration continues to emphasize the alleged threat of Venezuela The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has now been deployed to the region. United States forces have destroyed small boats allegedly used to transport drugs.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the U.S. Department of State is designating the Cartel de los Soles, based in Venezuela and led by President Nicolas Maduro and associates, formally as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The organization allegedly is a criminal network.
On cue, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that this permits new military options against the left-wing regime of that beleaguered nation. In August, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro.
President Donald Trump last month declared the Central Intelligence Agency at his direction is launching covert operations in Venezuela. By definition, “covert” means secret. For a president to announce them publicly is bizarre.
Trump has also referred to criminals and drug traffickers from Venezuela. U.S. efforts to destabilize the economy, one heavily dependent on oil, have been successfully, displacing and dispersing enormous numbers of people throughout the Americas in search of employment.
Given the turmoil, literal and rhetorical, context is important. A basic fact of life is that the United States does not willingly tolerate hostile regimes in the Americas. The Monroe Doctrine stated this concern early.
Instructive history is the ill-fated regime of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. During our Civil War, the government of France seized the opportunity to establish a puppet regime in the former colony of Spain. In 1864, the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian was put in place
After the defeat of the Confederacy, the U.S. government turned attention to the new French colony. The U.S. Army was one of the largest and most battle-tested in the world. Under intense pressure, the French withdrew. Hapless Maximilian was overthrown and executed in 1867.
In 1898, the U.S. secured the Spanish colony of Cuba as well as the Philippines as a result of the Spanish-American War.
Coincident with current developments, the valuable National Security Archives at George Washington University on November 20 publicized information on the Senate Church Committee Report, issued fifty years ago. The special committee chaired by Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho) examined in detail the evidence of CIA excesses.
Operations removed various leaders, including President Juan Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala, former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, General Rene Schneider of Chile, and General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic.
A special assassination target was Prime Minister/President Fidel Castro of Cuba.
CIA Director William Colby and the Ford White House exerted great pressure to prevent publication of committee findings, with partial success. However, the assassination information was published.
President Gerald Ford subsequently signed an executive order forbidding assassination. President Ronald Reagan expanded this order.
Following the devastating terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, armed drones began to be used to kill targeted individuals. The first acknowledged employment of this weapon was against individuals in Afghanistan the following year. The administration of President George W. Bush and each successor has continued to use drone strikes.
The Trump administration so far has been rhetorically aggressive and has carried out limited military strikes, but has avoided sustained ground combat.
