The capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, his transfer to the United States to face drug trafficking charges, and Washington’s subsequent backing of a government headed by the Chavista Delcy Rodríguez do not constitute a mere episode of foreign policy.
The operation—which involved the entry of American personnel into Venezuelan territory and the “extraction” of the president from his residence—abruptly reshaped the regional chessboard and revealed that, beyond the rhetoric about democracy, the strategic priorities of Donald Trump’s administration were something else: the objective of the U.S. government was to install a puppet government that would allow it to control the production and sale of hydrocarbons. More precisely, what it sought was to cut the flow of Venezuelan oil to China.
It is noteworthy that, in the face of this development, the applause from the new right has far exceeded the criticism. In fact, very little has been said about the fact that Chavismo remains unscathed and displays a degree of servility toward foreign power worthy of the worst military right that governed in the 1970s.
At the same time, Trump asked Mexico to stop supplying oil to Cuba. Against all expectations, President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed, which caused the flow of hydrocarbons to the Caribbean island to halt and unleashed a series of problems in the country. Immediately—just as occurred with Venezuela—a segment of the new Latin American right lavished praise on Trump, claiming that this measure placed the final nail in the coffin of the withered Castroist regime.
But there has also been very little reflection on the humanitarian crisis that Cuba was already experiencing as a result of the U.S. economic blockade, a situation that is now being profoundly aggravated by the lack of fuel. One cannot endanger the lives of a population one claims to defend through a policy of brutal scarcity.
On the other hand, in March 2022, Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, began imprisoning all individuals suspected of belonging to gangs as the only way to combat the maras and street crime. It was later revealed that his true objective was not to strengthen the rule of law, but to establish a rigid dictatorship that would keep him in power forever. Today there is security on the streets of El Salvador, but in exchange one of the most severe dictatorships has been erected. Many leaders of the new right applaud this authoritarian drift, but few ask whether citizens should surrender freedoms and sovereignty in exchange for security.
It seems that some want to believe that Venezuela’s Chavista puppets, the humanitarian crisis in Cuba, and Bukele’s dictatorship are merely passing episodes, as if they were the necessary twilight that precedes future full freedoms. The idea is that, once Venezuela stabilizes and achieves the dreamed-of prosperity, a paradise of democracy will arrive; that, after the collapse of the Cuban population and the resignation of the tyrants who govern it, times of peace and kindness will follow; or that, when Bukele tires of governing and the last gang member has rotted in prison, luminous times will come in which freedom will shine.
Unfortunately, nothing indicates that this will happen, since Donald Trump has very little interest in protecting democracy, which, in fact, he does not believe in. This figure is not waging a war against dictatorships nor for the progress of Latin America; his real battle is against the megapotencies China and Russia, which are what truly concern him.
Recently, Trump convened the presidents he considers aligned with his policies. Among those invited were Javier Milei of Argentina, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, and Rodrigo Paz of Bolivia. From this meeting emerged a commitment to reduce China’s economic influence in Latin America. However, it will not be easy for the new Latin American right to fulfill this promise, given the difficulty of dispensing with Chinese investments in the region, which reached 600 billion dollars in 2023.
One thing is to applaud Trump; another is to fulfill his wishes.
Autor
Political scientist. Professor and researcher at San Francisco Xavier University (Sucre, Bolivia). PhD in Social Sciences with mention in Political Studies from FLACSO-Ecuador.
