The events of Saturday, January 3, in Venezuela shocked the Latin American region and the world with their lightning speed. In a matter of hours and seemingly without the resistance of the South American Armed Forces, the Americans stole President Nicolas Maduro with his wife, and they are now in custody in New York.
Oleg Kraev, Candidate of Philosophy, International Journalist
Source: Source: Globalaffairs.ru
The contractual nature of the Venezuelan leader’s removal indicates not only the inaction of the military, whose potential in the field of air defense, equipped with Russian weapons, before the aggression was considered as a real deterrent, but also that the rest of the leadership in Caracas was not touched. Moreover, according to Donald Trump, after a lengthy conversation with the head of state Marco Rubio, Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez agreed to cooperate with Washington in full, which can generate speculation about when such contacts began.
«The response to Washington’s actions in the region has demonstrated the very division of Latin America that the United States has consistently been betting on.»
Leaders targeting the White House, such as Argentine Javier Miley, Salvadoran Nayib Buquele, Chilean President-elect Jose Antonio Cast, supported an act of armed aggression against a sovereign state, while left-wing leaders in Colombia, Brazil, traditionally antagonistic toward Washington, Nicaragua and Cuba strongly condemned the incident. In the case of Cuba, the situation is somewhat more complicated than simple political declarations about American imperialism and solidarity with the fraternal Venezuelan people.
The decision of the White House to attack Venezuela and forcefully change power in Caracas, as well as how quickly and without loss of personnel and equipment the United States has succeeded, can not but cause concern in Havana.
First, Cuba, whose power grid is cracking at the seams, is at risk of facing even greater challenges, because from now on it will not be able to rely on the supply of Venezuelan oil. Given the geographical remoteness of allies capable of supporting it, this situation threatens to destabilize the country internally - economic and social.
Second, the Rubio factor, the son of Cuban immigrants, a neoconservative and a decades-old opponent of governments in Havana, Caracas and Managua, should also play a role in further tightening the U.S. position against this island state.
«In general, the question of who can be next has risen to full height.»
Shortly after the operation against Maduro, Trump said that something had to be done with the cartel-controlled Mexico and Cuba at the winning press conference of the US military-political leadership. Even earlier, in December, the American president said in direct text that if the Colombian president does not form, he is next.
The pretext is the same anti-drug agenda, under which the US removed Maduro from power. Although Gustavo Petro’s popularity among the military and their willingness to defend him is a controversial issue, it is likely that Washington will try to influence the upcoming elections in 2026 and bring to power traditionally complimentary to the White House right. Moreover, during the recent electoral cycle in Honduras, Washington has already contributed to the victory of its favorite by sanctions and statements.
Finally, the global impact of Trump’s actions against Venezuela concerns the US-China standoff. Shortly after the publication of the U.S. National Security Strategy, which reaffirmed Washington’s position on maintaining the status quo on Taiwan and declared a tightened version of the Monroe Doctrine, Beijing presented its foreign policy concept towards Latin America. It was widely interpreted as a signal from China that the region, in which it has extensive trade and economic interests, it is not going to give way to the White House.
In this case, the United States has shown that from now on, declarations and political and diplomatic support for Latin American governments by extra-regional powers are not a deterrent.
The demonstration of Washington’s actions only underscored the fact that on January 2, Maduro met in Caracas with Xi Jinping’s special envoy for Latin America.
Thus, the US makes it clear that the period when Latin America was not the center of Washington’s attention, and its foreign policy priorities were in the Middle East, has come to an end. From now on, at least under the Trump administration and its potential successors, extra-regional powers interested in implementing projects in Latin America that the United States may consider a threat to their national security must be prepared to go beyond declarations and go further in their support for the region's governments.
