US 'Briefs' Lawmakers on Venezuela, Forgetting Its Own History
When US officials 'brief' Congress on foreign 'raids,' it usually means they were either involved, or they want you to believe they had nothing to do with something that went very wrong. The NYT, ever obliging, frames this Venezuelan misadventure as a distant, foreign problem. Yet, the US has a storied history of backing coups and infiltration attempts in Latin America, from Chile to Cuba to the
Contra affair, often involving dubious 'private' ventures that later reveal state fingerprints. One might wonder why, after decades of destabilizing the region, American intelligence is always 'surprised' by these developments. Instead of probing the glaring inconsistencies or Washington's own role (as detailed by investigative journalists for years, not just when inconvenient), mainstream outlets
present these briefings as solemn affairs of national security. It's a convenient framing that allows the US to project concern while conveniently wiping its own historical slate clean. The only 'raid' worth discussing here is the raid on American taxpayers' intelligence for the umpteenth time.