Washington Post Editorial Board Discovers Latin American 'Threats'
The Washington Post, ever the beacon of 'democracy abroad,' ran an editorial backing the Trump administration's incredibly subtle (read: cartoonishly aggressive) idea of offering a $15 million bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and conducting military strikes. This audacious 'plan' was rolled out in 2020 by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who conveniently ignored its blatant
disregard for international law. The Post, however, found no such qualms, effectively rubber-stamping a policy that echoes the worst impulses of U.S. foreign policy, from Chile's Pinochet to Panama's Noriega. One might recall the historical context—specifically, the lengthy catalogue of U.S.-backed coups and destabilization efforts across Latin America, from the 1954 overthrow of Guatemala's
Arbenz to countless interventions throughout the Cold War. Yet, for the Post, Maduro is simply a 'dictator' who warrants 'capture,' rather than a leader of a sovereign nation resisting Washington's economic stranglehold. The inherent hypocrisy, of course, is that such 'calls for democracy' rarely extend to Saudi Arabia or other U.S.-allied authoritarian regimes. The Post conveniently forgets that
the U.S. itself has a rather checkered past with electoral interference, especially when the outcomes aren't to its liking. Apparently, destabilizing entire regions is fine, as long as it's cloaked in the noble rhetoric of 'democracy.'