Venezuela: US operations aimed at toppling Maduro?
After the US Navy attacked several boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean, US President Trump has now announced plans to combat drug smugglers on land as well, and has authorised CIA covert operations in Venezuela. As the US strengthens its military presence in the region, Venezuela has appealed to the UN Security Council for support. European media see the Maduro regime as the real target of the operations.
Change must come from the bottom up
The US president is making it harder for Venezuela to make a fresh start, Tages-Anzeiger stresses:
“Something has to change in Venezuela. Many people there are suffering, for example because of food and medicine shortages, because their freedom of expression is being suppressed, or because of power cuts and crime on the streets. ... There is hardly any political leadership on this planet that has failed as badly as the supposedly 'socialist' despot Nicolas Maduro. And that is why it is right to remove this man from power. Nevertheless, the role that Donald Trump is playing here is very unfortunate, and possibly even dangerous. ... A successful new start will only be possible if the Venezuelans themselves create the conditions for it.”
Macho posing in the backyard
Columnist Isaac Rosa points in eldiario.es to decades of CIA interference in Latin America:
“Applying the 'Monroe Doctrine', Latin America was the backyard that had to be protected from communism (and everything was communism). ... Now the CIA is returning to Latin America, if it ever went away: Trump has authorised 'covert operations' in Venezuela, a country that has suffered from interference for almost 30 years. After imposing sanctions, funding opponents and putting a bounty on Maduro's head, Washington is now closing in: the US navy has been deployed to the Caribbean and 27 people have been assassinated. ... Trump is doing the same thing as many other presidents (including Democrats), only instead of hiding it he's bragging about it.”
Intervention without invasion
The Guardian sees genuine US military intervention in Venezuela as unlikely:
“That CIA operations and war planning are being aired so enthusiastically may suggest that the US hopes regime change will come through Mr Maduro fleeing (unlikely), or that it still cherishes the long-held (and so far unevidenced) wish that military and security forces will turn on him. Others suspect that this is the latest example of Mr Trump's blunt 'or else' approach to foreign policy - designed to extract more from Mr Maduro. The US has a long and inglorious history of intervention in Latin America. But Mr Trump will be wary of angering Maga supporters with military action.”
Left-wing dictatorships are red rags for Trump
The US president is acting according to a simplistic friend-foe logic in the region, says De Volkskrant:
“Trump wants the Latin American countries to dance to his tune. Left-wing leaders are punished, right-wing leaders supported. ... In this new reality, Nicolás Maduro is the biggest villain. Trump likes dictators, but not left-wing dictators. ... American sources tell Politico and the Washington Post that they doubt the US will actually invade Venezuela. But one thing is certain: with the help of the CIA, the Americans will try to undermine and psychologically wear down Maduro in order to up the pressure on the Venezuelan president as much as possible.”