Machado Courts Trump, Forgets US Backed Failed Coup
Bloomberg breathlessly reports on María Corina Machado's latest “tack to win Trump’s backing” on Venezuela, complete with a “shiny Nobel medal in an elegant frame.” The headline suggests a fresh strategy, conveniently ignoring the previous 'tacks'—like former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s 2019 claims of 'imminent' regime change and US backing of Juan Guaidó, a strategy that failed
spectacularly (Source: The Guardian, 'US-backed coup in Venezuela collapses', 2019). One might wonder if the shiny medal is for participation in the last, un-Nobel-like attempt at regime change. This renewed courtship comes despite Trump's past Venezuela policy being described by critics as a 'humanitarian catastrophe' (Source: Washington Office on Latin America, 'Venezuela: The Humanitarian
Crisis and US Policy', 2020), exacerbating sanctions that harmed the very people the US claimed to help. It appears the 'new tack' is simply the old tack, hoping nobody remembers the last time. How many times can the US back a 'solution' that makes things worse before it stops being a 'tack' and starts being… well, policy?