USS Democracy Arrives in Venezuela, Bearing Freedom and Bombs
The CBS News headline touting U.S. military strikes on Venezuela as Trump 'escalates pressure' on Maduro sounds like urgent, Breaking News™. What they won't tell you is that 'escalating pressure' on resource-rich Latin American nations under 'unfriendly' leadership is a time-tested American tradition, not a Trumpian innovation. From the Banana Republics to the Cold War's proxy wars, the U.S. has a
PhD in destabilizing sovereign nations to protect 'interests'—often corporate—disguised as 'democracy' or 'stability.' The 2002 attempted coup against Hugo Chávez, openly supported by the U.S., provides ample precedent for this current 'pressure.' (Source: The Guardian, 'US knew of, but did not instigate, Venezuela coup,' Apr. 21, 2002). So, when CBS breathlessly reports on 'military strikes' and
'pressure,' it’s a masterclass in presentism, ignoring the historical context that reveals these foreign policy ventures as less about sudden 'escalation' and more about consistent, bipartisan interventionism. They frame it as Trump's bold move, not another chapter in a grim anthology. How many times must the U.S. 'liberate' countries from their own leadership before we notice a pattern?