PNN – US foreign policy towards Latin American countries is based on the James Monroe Doctrine, which is based on the components of increasing tension with the country’s traditional rivals in its southern backyard.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing Al Jazeera, US President Donald Trump claimed last Saturday that he had received the military plan for operations in Venezuela from the US Department of War and had made his decision on military intervention in Venezuela, but did not reveal the nature of this decision.
James Monroe’s theory of foreign policy
The foreign policy theory of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States and one of the most important founders of the United States, towards South American countries has been considered one of the most important pillars of American foreign policy towards these countries ever since. The Monroe Doctrine is based on the premise that the South American continent is America’s backyard and that the country will not allow any foreign global power to gain a foothold in this strategic region against American national security.
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Beyond the media; what does the Trump administration seek from a military attack on Venezuela?
The Monroe Doctrine was introduced after many South American countries gained independence from Spanish and Portuguese colonialism, reflecting the United States’ desire to keep European powers away from the continent and to impose American dominance over it. The most important manifestation of this theory took place during the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union, in which the administration of US President John F. Kennedy, upon learning of the Soviet plan to establish nuclear missile launch sites on the island of Cuba, blockaded the island to prevent nuclear missiles from reaching it.
In addition to the Monroe Doctrine, the sensitivity of the American right, as Trump’s electoral base, towards South American countries is very high in line with the need to protect America as an all-white country dominated by Protestant Christian values. For this reason, some American thinkers, such as political scientist Samuel Huntington, claim that the presence of Spanish speakers in the United States is a great threat to America’s white national identity and its moral values.
Perhaps Trump’s current immigration policies, aimed at limiting the growth of immigration of ethnic minorities from South America, closing the southern border, preventing illegal immigration, and deporting immigrants, can be evaluated in this regard, which has led to the deportation of more than two million immigrants this year alone.
Is an attack on Venezuela certain?
Venezuela was one of the founding countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1960, which, along with a group of Arab countries, benefited enormously during the Arab oil embargo of the October 1973 war. Relations between Venezuela and the United States deteriorated sharply after Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998. He adopted socialist policies to distribute oil wealth to poor Venezuelans and reduce the economic influence of foreign companies.
To counter US foreign policy after the failed coup to overthrow him in 2002 and also after the US military invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Venezuelan president established strong bilateral relations with traditional US enemies such as Iran and Cuba. The US hostility towards Venezuela did not subside after the death of Chavez and the accession to power of Nicolas Maduro in 2013, and continued to worsen.
During this time, the United States has repeatedly failed in its plans to overthrow and assassinate Nicolas Maduro or kidnap him by bribing the pilot of his private plane. The most recent of these cases was some time ago when it was announced that Maduro’s private pilot had rejected America’s deceptive offers in this regard. The US government accuses Maduro of financial corruption, political tyranny, repression of the opposition, and facilitating the entry of drugs into the US. Trump considers him a serious threat to US national security. As a result, US military attacks on Venezuelan boats have increased in recent weeks, killing dozens of people, with human rights groups condemning the actions as extrajudicial killings.
The nature of US military attacks against Venezuela
Al Jazeera adds that US military intervention in Venezuela seems inevitable, given an analysis of Trump’s handling of foreign crises and his management of limited military interventions. The question now is whether Trump is willing to carry out limited military strikes against Venezuela or whether he is willing to launch a strong military intervention to overthrow the regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
It seems that the US political goals for possible military strikes against Venezuela are high, and Trump is trying to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro. The coming days are likely to be full of many surprises in the Venezuelan crisis. Although a US attack on Venezuela may not seem like a big deal at first glance, this action has dangerous consequences, such as the possibility of a civil war in Venezuela, as well as the potential to shake Donald Trump’s electoral base.