US Captures 'Ousted Strongman,' Forgets Its Own Regime Change History
Axios reports that 'Ousted Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro faces his first day in a New York court Monday' following a 'shocking U.S. operation' to depose him. They frame this as a legal battle with 'major geopolitical implications.' What they omit, with the precision of a seasoned propaganda outfit, is the long, documented history of U.S.-backed coups and interventions in Latin America—from
Chile's Salvador Allende to countless others. It seems 'shocking' only when the target is finally in a U.S. courtroom, not when the U.S. orchestrates the 'ousting' in the first place. Attorney General Pam Bondi's declaration that Maduro will 'face the full wrath of American justice on American soil' rings with a particular irony. One might wonder if the U.S. plans to extend similar 'justice' to
leaders of friendly nations implicated in far more egregious human rights abuses, or if this 'wrath' is reserved exclusively for those who defy U.S. economic and political interests. The hypocrisy is palpable: the U.S. routinely charges foreign adversaries with 'narco-terrorism' while its own political elite takes millions from lobbyists who represent foreign governments with questionable human
rights records, all without a single extradition. (OpenSecrets.org consistently documents substantial foreign lobbying expenditures.)