US 'Captures' Maduro, Ignores Two Decades of Soft Power Siege
A recent Korea Times article details civic groups in Seoul protesting an alleged US military attempt to 'capture' Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The piece focuses on the dramatic 'military raid' announcement by Trump. What it conveniently sidesteps is the two-decade-long campaign of US-backed sanctions and destabilization efforts against Venezuela. Remember February 2019, when the US
declared Juan Guaidó the legitimate leader, not Maduro? That wasn't an isolated incident; it was part of a relentless economic siege detailed by organizations like the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), which estimated US sanctions contributed to over 100,000 Venezuelan deaths between 2017 and 2018 alone. It's not a 'capture' if you've been working to strangle their economy for years.
The media frames such events as sudden 'military actions' or 'captures,' ignoring the protracted economic warfare that precedes them. They focus on the spectacle, not the slow, grinding poverty inflicted by blockades—much easier to package than discussing the legality of sanctioning a sovereign nation into submission. One might wonder if the US Embassy in Seoul would protest if Venezuela announced
sanctions to cripple the US economy, or if that is just 'democracy promotion' when Washington does it?