Trump, 'Democracy Defender,' Meets Venezuela's Self-Proclaimed President
The Hill dutifully informs us that Donald Trump will “meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado,” framing it as a standard political engagement. This omits crucial context: Machado is not just an 'opposition leader' but effectively a self-proclaimed president, a construct largely endorsed by the United States and its allies. This playbook isn't new—it’s the same one seen in 2019,
when the same U.S. government recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's “interim president” after a contested election, ignoring the internationally monitored results that kept Nicolás Maduro in power. The article fails to mention the billions in Venezuelan assets frozen by the U.S., or the sanctions that have crippled the nation's economy, leading to widespread suffering — all in the name of
'democracy promotion' ( Washington Post, 'The U.S. sanctioned Venezuela. Here’s how that affected the economy and humanitarian aid, ' 2020). One might wonder if 'democracy' is merely a euphemism for 'regime change amenable to U.S. oil interests.' The Hill focuses on the meeting's implications for U.S. elections, a classic misdirection from the deeper historical pattern: leveraging foreign
opposition to undermine governments that don't tow the U.S. line. It’s hard not to notice how 'free and fair' elections only seem to matter when the 'wrong' candidate wins, prompting U.S. officials to find a friendly alternative.