US Tightens 'Noose' Around Venezuela, Forgetting Its Own Neck
Newsweek reports on the Trump administration 'tightening the noose' around Venezuela, as if US intervention there sprang solely from a sudden passion for democracy. This framing conveniently ignores the historical precedent of US involvement in Venezuela's affairs, from supporting coup attempts against Hugo Chávez in 2002 (as detailed by the New York Times and The Guardian ) to the consistent
cultivation of opposition figures by USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy. It's less a 'noose' and more a long-running, poorly disguised chokehold. One might wonder if 'tightening the noose' is the official State Department euphemism for economic warfare designed to destabilize a government that dares to nationalize its oil. The media rarely connects these dots, preferring to present the
US as a benevolent enforcer of 'democracy' (read: 'corporate interests') rather than a serial meddler with a track record of backing right-wing coups across the continent. History, apparently, is only relevant when it validates current policy.