Two reasons could motivate the acceleration of pressure, according to analysts in Washington: this is Trump’s last term, and in November the legislative elections are announced to be complicated for the Republican majority in Congress
President Donald Trump came to power a year ago with the promise that he would pay special attention to Latin America and the Caribbean, and his actions and statements indicate that he is willing to accelerate the pace.
Washington once again resorts to the carrot and stick strategy, with the capture of Nicolás Maduro, and warnings of direct interventionism in Cuba or Mexico.
And at the same time, with conciliatory calls or invitations addressed to heavyweights in the region, such as the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or the Colombian Gustavo Petro.
“According to our new national security strategy, United States dominance in Latin America will never be questioned again,” Trump warned after the overthrow of Maduro in Venezuela.
It is the “Donroe Doctrine”, the update of foreign policy towards Latin America that was promulgated in 1823 by President James Monroe.
Monroe then announced that he would not allow European interventionism in the region, which became Washington’s “backyard.”
In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt revised this doctrine to specify that Washington was also willing to intervene militarily in those “poorly managed” countries, according to his point of view.
The “Roosevelt corollary” arose precisely after a crisis in Venezuela, accused in 1902 and 1903 by Germany, Great Britain and Italy of not paying its debts.
Washington stood up to a maritime blockade against Venezuela on that occasion, and acted as a mediator. “We have expanded that doctrine, and by a lot,” Trump now boasts.
*Read also: INTERVIEW | US attacks on Venezuela open the door to interventions in other countries
Choose your field
Argentina, where Trump has his best regional ally, Javier Milei, or Honduras, where he intervened directly in the electoral campaign, are examples of the countries that have been chosen judiciously, according to Trump.
For the rest, the message is clear: the days of “soft power” are over, it’s time to choose your field.
“Those who choose to work with (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping should realize that he could not save Maduro from defeat,” summarized the head of the House of Representatives China committee, Republican John Moolenaar.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the first Latino to hold the position, has been calling allies in the region in the days following the audacious coup in Venezuela to explain why they did it and the subsequent steps.
Critical countries, like Mexico, only seem to have the option of being the ones to call, as happened this week with President Claudia Sheinbaum.
In the OAS assembly, for its part, the solemn proclamations of sovereignty do not currently involve any questioning of American hegemony.
Never questioned again
Two reasons could motivate the acceleration of pressure, according to analysts in Washington: this is Trump’s last term, and in November the legislative elections are expected to be complicated for the Republican majority in Congress.
In the case of Cuba, the interest would be personal for Rubio, whose parents left the island before the 1959 Revolution.
«I think it is worth looking at Cuba right now. Marco Rubio is Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. This whole operation [en Venezuela] “It has every appearance of being his,” considered historian Niall Ferguson in a recent debate organized by the Hoover Institute.
But the “Roosevelt Corollary” of 1904 “did not mean that we were going to govern those countries directly. So the ‘Trump corollary’ is more about finding who can competently lead Venezuela,” Ferguson said.
“We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well governed to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States,” explains the new national security doctrine published by the White House in December.
«In Venezuela they have privileged stability. And if you read the ‘Trump corollary’, it is much less oriented to military operations than to the economic aspect,” explained Ryan C. Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
Post Views: 94
