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Which country will be Trump’s next target? The list is long and contains a European ally
In an unprecedented move yesterday morning, the United States pulled off a Hollywood blockbuster-style raid: elite forces snatched Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from his independent South American nation and whisked him straight to US soil. Since taking office, Trump has threatened military intervention against several American states. Let’s run through them now.
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Trump’s team takes control over Venezuela
Even his harshest critics admit it: under Trump’s leadership, yesterday’s operation in Caracas was a clean sweep. US special forces simply kidnapped President Maduro, who’s now cooling his heels in a Brooklyn jail awaiting court on Monday. The American president claimed Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, is cooperating with the Americans – but Reuters says otherwise. They’re demanding her extradition while her loyalists keep a iron grip on the country. Meanwhile, the US President touted a “peaceful transition” with Venezuela under American oversight, US firms rebuilding its (oil) infrastructure, and profits shared from extraction. He didn’t elaborate.
- US military operation in Venezuela sparks diplomatic uncertainty for Hungary – with FM Szijjártó’s reactions
Critics cry colonisation unfolding before our eyes; supporters hail it as a chance for Venezuelans to get back on the path to prosperity. Interestingly, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, isn’t in the regime-change picture – Trump reckons she lacks the support.
US forces may intervene in more Latin American countries
And talking of prosperity: Trump’s gripes aren’t limited to Venezuela. He thinks other Latin American nations are failing too. At yesterday’s press conference, he name-checked Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia.
The New York Post reports Trump called Mexico a “drug cartel playground” that “needs sorting out”. He’s previously accused its leaders of letting illegal migrants flood into the US and turning a blind eye to drug trafficking.
Trump struck an even tougher tone on Colombia’s President. He accused Gustavo Petro of running “cocaine mills”, insisting the President himself cooks the stuff. “They’re shipping it to the United States, so he’d better watch his back,” Trump added.
- PM Orbán claimed Trump promised financial shield for Hungary — but the U.S. President denies it
Trump didn’t slam Cuba over drugs, but for failing to provide decent living standards for its people – so America must step in to help Cubans, he says. He brands the Caribbean island a failed state hooked on Venezuelan oil, even sending security forces to Caracas. “We’ll have to talk about Cuba sometime,” he warned. Secretary of State Marco Rubio went harder: Cuba’s led by a “senile” figure, and the regime is “a catastrophe”.
Since the mid-19th century, the US has meddled in countless Latin American countries – fewer are the ones it hasn’t touched. Some saw full invasions (like Cuba, though it flopped); others got “help” with coups. Check out The World in Maps’ chart below.
Will Trump target Europe too?
Before his inauguration, Trump mused about reclaiming the Panama Canal – vital for US interests – back under American control. Washington handed it to Panama in 1999, but conservatives call that hasty. With China’s growing influence, calls are mounting to retake the Atlantic-Pacific shortcut, which handles 80% of US shipping and shaves 12,000 kilometres off the New York-San Francisco route.
The US also wants Greenland for security reasons. The Danish autonomous territory won’t hear of it. Last March, Trump talked annexation (a unilateral takeover). In December, he appointed a special envoy who argued it’d benefit both sides. Trump’s beef? Too many Chinese and Russian ships buzzing around – a national security threat.
- Unexpected message from Putin to PM Orbán: Trump, Kim, Erdogan, Castro, and Fico among recipients
Last but not least: Canada. Trump once floated it as the US’s “new 51st state”. Ottawa flatly refused, but experts say his jabs fuelled the Liberals’ shock April election win last year after they’d been flagging.
How the world has reacted on the US raid
At the UN Security Council, Britain and France – as expected – skipped criticism, unlike Russia and China. Iran followed suit, no surprise there.
- The US wants to tear the European Union apart, with Hungary involved
Many Latin American nations condemned the US aggression: Brazil’s President, Colombia’s, Chile’s, and Cuba’s. But Argentina’s backed Trump, along with the EU, several of its members, Israel, and partly Canada. Norway urged respect for international rules, per the BBC.
The World in Maps charted supporters and condemners. From the Americas, only the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Guyana, and Ecuador side with the US.
Hungary remains silent
The Hungarian government never misses a chance to champion Hungary’s “sovereignty” against the meddling European Union, swatting away every imagined or real “intervention” from Brussels into its internal affairs. Yet, when it came to yesterday’s US military operation on the soil of a sovereign state, they fell curiously silent. Both Prime Minister Orbán and Foreign Minister Szijjártó had nothing to say—except, of course, about the plight of Hungarians living in Venezuela.
The civilized world needs to shape up, get its act together, and reclaim the globe. We are facing the triple whammy of Communism, Islamo-fascism, and totalitarianism. All three are already wreaking havoc in the West, including large parts of Europe.
A partial list:
1. Brazil
2. Colombia
3. Iran
4. Turkey
5. Russia
6. China
7. Every European country where opposition politicians have been prosecuted or barred from running for office, or where elections were overturned
8. Every European country where thousands of people get arrested for social media posts.
Take ’em out!
Not achievable, of course, but a guy can dream, huh!
If you want to ‘reclaim the globe, Dear Michael – you go right ahead.
We have many many severe problems here in the South and we will focus on that – not rebuilding Yankee power to serve ‘transnational corporate interests.’
Venezuela was Cuba’s main benefactor. The plan is that if you take Venezuela the Cuban government will fall. Cuba is on the edge of being a failed state. The next stop for Trump will be Cuba. By overturning the dictatorships in both countries Trump will gain a lot of status. I’m not a Trump supporter but that is how I interpret it. Oh and Russia gets its’ ass kicked out of the Western Hemisphere.
Yes, I agree with you, Larry – Trump has clearly decided to follow a William McKinley-esque gunboat policy to assert Yankee power from the Andes to the Arctic.
I think he is going to take Greenland, and, as well, Western Canadian provinces are clearly leaving Canada and showing greater and greater interests in joining the disUnited States.
As to Russia : Trump seems to be thinking of a world in several poles – a Russian Pole, an American Pole, and a pole or two to be determined.
It would seem that China and India will be ‘poles’ and, Saudi-Arabia another.
I think another pole will be a Hungarian-Turkish-Iranian pole, stretching to Kazakhstan and China.
In any case, Trump is definitely thinking of the Western Hemisphere as a consciously concerted North American empire.
“The Hungarian government never misses a chance to champion Hungary’s “sovereignty” against the meddling European Union, swatting away every imagined or real “intervention” from Brussels into its internal affairs. Yet, when it came to yesterday’s US military operation on the soil of a sovereign state, they fell curiously silent. Both Prime Minister Orbán and Foreign Minister Szijjártó had nothing to say—except, of course, about the plight of Hungarians living in Venezuela.’
Of course Hungary’s leaders had ‘nothing to say’.
Trump, in numerous ways, is a Hungarian benefactor, and, in his debt, they are obliged to say nothing.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of Venezuelans are thrilled beyond belief. As for Maduro, 90% did not recognize him as the rightfully elected president. The real president, elected by the people is exiled to Spain.