US Pilot Wounded in Venezuela Coup Attempt: CBS Reports, Forgets History
CBS News reports on a pilot wounded during a botched mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, framing it with the familiar 'sources say' ambiguity. (Of course, direct admissions of regime change ops are reserved for history books, not live news.) The article details the 'pre-dawn raid' by 'Delta Force commandos,' a level of specificity rarely afforded to, say, US involvement in the
1973 Chilean coup or the countless Contra operations in Nicaragua. It's almost as if some interventions are more 'reportable' than others when the outcome isn't quite as planned. One might wonder if CBS missed the briefing on the US history of destabilizing Latin American governments – a pattern so consistent it has its own Wikipedia page. From United Fruit Company to Operation Condor,
Washington's 'concern' for democracy in its 'backyard' has frequently involved private contractors and military personnel. The real story here isn't a pilot getting wounded, but the media's continued commitment to presenting these actions as unfortunate one-offs, rather than planks in a very long, very well-documented foreign policy platform. How many foiled coups get the 'brave pilot' treatment?