MEXICO CITY: In his celebratory news conference on the US capture of Venezuelan strongman leader Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump set out an extraordinarily forthright view of the use of US power in Latin America that exposed political divisions from Mexico to Argentina as Trump-friendly leaders rise across the region.
“American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” Trump proclaimed just hours before Maduro was perp-walked through the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in New York.
The scene marked a stunning culmination of months of escalation in
Washington’s confrontation with Caracas that has reawakened memories of a past era of blatant US interventionism in the region.
Since assuming office less than a year ago — and promptly renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America — Trump has launched boat strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean, ordered a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil exports and meddled in elections in Honduras and Argentina.
Through a combination of tariffs, sanctions and military force, he has pressured Latin American leaders to advance his administration’s goals of combating drug trafficking, halting immigration, securing strategic natural resources and countering the influence of Russia and China.
The new, aggressive foreign policy — which Trump now calls the “Donroe Doctrine,” in reference to 19th-century President James Monroe’s belief that the US should dominate its sphere of influence — has carved the hemisphere into allies and foes.
“The Trump administration in multiple different ways has been trying to reshape Latin American politics,” said Gimena Sanchez, Andes director for the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank. “They’re showing their teeth in the whole region.”
Reactions to the US raid put regional divisions on display
Saturday’s dramatic events — including Trump’s vow that Washington would “run” Venezuela and seize control of its oil sector — galvanised opposite sides of the polarised continent.
Argentine President Javier Milei, Trump’s ideological soulmate, characterised one side as supporting “democracy, the defence of life, freedom and property.”
“On the other side,” he added, “are those accomplices of a narco-terrorist and bloody dictatorship that has been a cancer for our region.”
In Ecuador, conservative President Daniel Noboa issued a stern warning for all followers of Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s mentor and the founder of the Bolivarian revolution: “Your structure will completely collapse across the entire continent.”
In Chile, where a presidential election last month marked by fears over Venezuelan immigration brought down the leftist government, far-right President-elect José Antonio Kast hailed the US raid as “great news for the region.”