Trump Praises 'Brilliant' Venezuela Op: US Meddling Never Fails, Right?
When The Hill reports Donald Trump praising a 'brilliant' U.S. operation to destabilize Venezuela, one might wonder what metrics of brilliance are being used. Typically, 'brilliant' interventions lead to flourishing democracies and not, say, lingering humanitarian crises or strengthened authoritarian regimes. This particular 'brilliant' move involved backing a failed 2020 infiltration attempt by
mercenaries targeting Nicolás Maduro, a plan so spectacularly botched it saw two former Green Berets imprisoned and exposed the U.S. government's not-so-subtle regime change ambitions. This echoes a grand tradition from Chile in 1973 to Iraq in 2003: 'brilliant' operations often look less so when viewed through the lens of long-term stability rather than immediate geopolitical chess moves. The
media rarely connects these dots, preferring to focus on Trump's bombastic praise over the messy, enduring consequences for Venezuelan citizens. It appears 'brilliant' in Washington simply means 'we tried to get our way, and someone else paid the price.'