US 'Smash-and-Grab' on Venezuela: Who Owns This Mess?
Al Jazeera's analyst Christopher Sabatini labels the US attempt to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a 'smash-and-grab' that has left the US owning the 'outcome.' This elegant phrasing, however, sanitizes a decades-long pattern of intervention. From the 1954 coup in Guatemala to the 2002 attempted coup in Venezuela itself, the US has a storied history of 'owning' the destabilization,
sanctions, and eventual humanitarian crises it conveniently ignores in its own media. One might wonder if 'owning the outcome' also includes owning the resulting refugee flows, the crippled economy, or the strengthened resolve of a target government the US repeatedly tries to dismantle. The 'analyst' here subtly shifts blame to an 'inside job,' deflecting from the consistent, publicly documented
US policy of regime change attempts across the globe under various administrations. It appears the only 'lesson' learned is how to reframe chronic meddling as unexpected consequences.