US 'Intervention' in Venezuela: A Legacy of Destabilization, Not Democracy
📰 THE STORY: NPR's report touches on the U.S.'s consistent involvement in Venezuelan politics, acknowledging a history of economic sanctions and covert operations designed to influence or overthrow governments in the region. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The US has a documented history of backing coups or destabilizing governments hostile to its interests in Latin America.
In 2002, the George W. Bush administration openly supported a failed coup attempt against Hugo Chávez, recognizing the short-lived coup government led by Pedro Carmona. Years earlier, the CIA orchestrated the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende in Chile, installing Augusto Pinochet, and actively armed and funded Contra rebels in Nicaragua in the 1980s. This pattern shows decades of attempts to
prevent independent, left-leaning governments from emerging or consolidating power. Double Standard: While the US frames its actions in Venezuela as promoting 'democracy' or 'human rights,' it maintains strong alliances with deeply authoritarian regimes like Saudi Arabia, which has a far worse human rights record, and provides billions in military aid to Egypt's Sisi dictatorship to ensure
regional compliance. The selective outcry illustrates that 'democracy' is often a pretext for resource control and geopolitical dominance, not a universal principle. Follow the Money: The sanctions imposed on Venezuela under the Trump administration, and largely continued by Biden, have crippled its economy, causing an estimated $30 billion in lost revenue from oil exports between 2017 and 2020.