Lawmakers 'Split' On Venezuela, United Fruit Co. Remembers Its Glory Days
CBS reports that congressional leaders were briefed on a 'mission to strike Venezuela' and 'apprehend' Nicolás Maduro, with some lawmakers 'seeking more answers.' (Perhaps they're wondering if they can spin this one as a 'humanitarian intervention' too). This narrative conveniently sidesteps the US's long, documented history of interfering in Latin American sovereign nations, from the Bay of Pigs
to countless CIA-orchestrated coups, all often justified by vague security threats or protecting 'our interests'—which invariably turn out to be corporate profits, oil, or banana republics. Remember Operation PBFORTUNE in Guatemala? Or the 2002 coup attempt against Hugo Chávez, which the US State Department definitely wasn't secretly pleased about. The real 'split' isn't on if the US should
meddle, but rather how overtly . It appears the ghost of Senator Joseph McCarthy is asking: 'Are we not concerned about the true ideological purity of our tropical fruit sources?' One might wonder why there's always a 'justification' waiting in the wings for non-compliant nations rich in resources, yet never for those with similar human rights issues who happen to have friendly oil despots.